Welcome to MMA Limbo

2

October 22, 2013 by JJ Saddington

With the completion of the trilogy with Cain Velasquez, Junior dos Santos finds himself occupying an unenviable space – MMA limbo. Anything other than a 2nd lopsided defeat would likely have fuelled interest in the two men going at it for an unprecedented (for the UFC) 4th time. Unfortunately for ‘Cigano’ it was not to be, suffering an even worse drubbing than in their last encounter has all but killed off any hopes of taking this series beyond the rubber match, and left Junior quite some way off a title shot. At least until anyone other than Cain is wearing the belt.

The purgatory-like existence of the division’s clear 2nd best is not unheard of in MMA, or the UFC in particular. Perhaps the most iconic example of a divisional ‘bridesmaid’ within the UFC is that of Jon Fitch, a perennial contender seemingly forever in the shadow of Georges St. Pierre. Fitch bounced back from the loss to GSP with 5 straight wins, but appeared to be no closer to a rematch than immediately after the defeat. The fate of Fitch is well documented and should serve as warning to any of the sports nearly-men.

It could be argued that the advent of the UFC’s 125lb flyweight division resurrected the title hopes of Joseph Benavidez. Falling twice to bantamweight champion, Dominick Cruz, Benavidez continued to knock off the competition with little prospect of another title shot on the horizon. The creation of a new division afforded Benavidez renewed title hopes and, despite falling short at the first attempt, is set to fight for the 125lb strap again this November.

The UFC has boasted a plethora of highly talented nearly-men who, were they in any of other organisation, would almost certainly be holding a belt. Some have taken a similar path to Benavidez and moved down a weight class (Edgar, Florian) and some have fallen by the way (Fitch). With the notable exception of Gray Maynard, no other fighter has come up just short of greatness by way of a trilogy – a position that only cements title obscurity.

MMA limbo is an inbetween place where the occupant’s duration of stay can vary depending on how costly they become to their paymasters. The main problem with having a well defined top 2 is the barrier it inevitably creates to fresh challengers. There comes a time when having a fighter capable of dispatching would-be title contenders, but unable to mount a serious threat themselves, is detrimental to an organisation. A title picture can quickly become stale without new challenges or possibilities, and having a high level gatekeeper can accentuate/fast track this. Despite being relatively young in his UFC tenure, JDS may already be that guy. Maybe if Cain loses his belt or JDS goes on an irresistible tear, he can reignite interest in a 4th go around. Until then he is cast asunder to a place between greatness and the rest of the pack. Looking at the positives, MMA limbo is a significantly better place to reside than the MMA wilderness, and it pays better.