Opinion: The UFC Keeps Living Dangerously

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Editor’s note: The views and opinions expressed below are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sherdog.com, its affiliates and sponsors or its parent company, Evolve Media.

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I’ll be the first to admit that UFC 318 exceeded expectations. Despite being one of the flatter pay-per-view offerings on paper, the product in the cage was phenomenal. However, despite the fact the end result proved to be about as entertaining as any other PPV the UFC has put on this year, they shouldn’t be let off the hook that they didn’t offer the paying customer a product worth shelling out full price for. I don’t just say that in defense of the fans but also to ensure the UFC covers its own ass in case of catastrophe striking.

The main event of Dustin Poirier and Max Holloway was perfectly acceptable, even if it wasn’t a divisional title fight, something that is the main event more often than not. However, the co-main event between Paulo Costa and Roman Kopylov? That’s one of the worst co-main events the UFC has had in quite some time. For example, the three previous PPVs had title fights in the co-main event slot and five of the last seven overall had a big gold belt on the line. In the instances where the co-main was without a championship at stake, it at least featured a fan favorite who near or at the peak of their powers. Costa may have been someone the UFC saw as marketable at one point, but with a single win in the 2020s—and four losses in his last five contests entering the event—he was potentially fighting to keep his job. Maybe he could get away with being in the co-main event on a Fight Night, but that’s scraping the bottom of the barrel if its PPV-worthy at all.

If it were a one-off, I’d probably keep my trap shut. But as of the publishing of this article, there isn’t a co-main event scheduled for UFC 319, the co-main event officially being listed as TBD at this point. That doesn’t mean what will ultimately be the co-main event isn’t already scheduled on the card as its plausible either Geoff Neal vs. Carlos Prates or Michael Page vs. Jared Cannonier gets promoted to that status. After all, we’re just about three weeks away UFC 319 and good luck getting a high-level contest worthy of that status in that amount of time. Every day that goes by makes it even less likely something gets booked.

There are many who are convinced the UFC will reschedule the contest between Movsar Evloev and Aaron Pico, originally supposed to take place this weekend in Abu Dhabi. The reason for Evloev’s withdrawal has yet to be revealed, so I wouldn’t completely discount it as a possibility, but I also don’t believe it will slide into that spot. Not saying that there aren’t injuries or illnesses out there that would require a delay of three weeks, but typically it requires a greater amount of time to recover. Fighters tend to have very peculiar schedules, necessitating extensive time to ensure their weight cut goes smoothly and they peak come fight week.

What type of contest might be slid into there on short notice? It would require a high degree of reward for fighters to agree to a fight on such short notice. No one realistically believes a second title fight will appear on the card underneath Dricus Du Plessis and Khamzat Chimaev, so we can count out something on the usual level of UFC PPV’s. A title eliminator might be worthwhile. For instance, at welterweight, Islam Makhachev has been promised the next crack at Jack Della Maddalena despite there being several solid contenders who at 170 who have been toiling in the division. So rather than have Shavkat Rakhmonov and Sean Brady sit on their hands, it would make more sense to square off to see who has next after Della Maddalena and Makhachev finish their business. If promised a title shot, I could see them taking the fight on three weeks’ notice... but only if that promise is made.

Maybe Arman Tsarukyan can convince Justin Gaethje or Paddy Pimblett to fight under similar circumstances at lightweight. However, I’d say Tsarukyan would have a better chance of convincing Dan Hooker to take a fight on short notice. Hooker might not get a title even if he were to beat Tsarukyan, but the Kiwi has proven he’s willing to take such risks. Following the debacle in which he pulled out of his scheduled title fight with Makhachev earlier this year, Tsarukyan would be wise to do the UFC a favor to get back into their good graces if he wants another title opportunity.

Regardless, it appears the UFC has forgotten its own history. In the past, the UFC frequently constructed PPV cards around a single fight, kind of like UFC 318 and UFC 319 have been constructed. The folly of that type of card building is it only takes a single injury to collapse the house of cards that has been built. We all know what happened with UFC 151. With Jake Ellenberger vs. Jay Hieron sitting in the co-main event slot, Dan Henderson pulled out of his scheduled main event with Jon Jones and Jones refused to accept a new opponent on that short notice. Hence, the UFC was forced to cancel the event in its entirety.

In the months leading up to the cancelled event, the UFC continuously flirted with disaster. UFC 145 was headlined by Jones vs. Rashad Evans, a highly anticipated grudge match. The co-main event for that contest? Rory MacDonald vs. Che Mills. MacDonald would eventually develop into a title challenger, but he wasn’t there yet. As for Mills, there’s a good chance this is the first time your reading his name, only securing two UFC wins in his career. UFC 147 may have been cancelled too as Vitor Belfort pulled out of his contest with Wanderlei Silva, only to have Rich Franklin step in on short notice to “salvage” the card as the co-main event was a TUF Brazil Finale. Given the way the UFC was operating, it was inevitable.

The hope here is these PPVs are aberrations and that the UFC will get back to its old ways. UFC 320 has a pair of title fights already booked, so it’s likely the case they’re aware their recent cards won’t cut it on the regular. Regardless, if there’s anything we’ve learned from the UFC, you can’t put anything past them. After all, they did trust Jones to headline UFC 200 after several legal and personal foibles, and we all know how that turned out.