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The UFC’s matchmaking is usually praised for ensuring the best fighters face off with top-level opponents every time they compete. That is in stark contrast to boxing, for instance. However, sometimes the UFC does come under criticism.
The UFC’s penchant for booking instant rematches – particularly when it comes to big title fights – often frustrates fans, resulting in mixed reactions when they are announced.
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2021, for instance, has seen a total of 11 UFC title fights thus far, with a further seven already booked. And seven of these 18 title fights have been seen by UFC fans before.
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Of course, instant rematches aren’t always bad. UFC fans were salivating over Deiveson Figueiredo vs Brandon Moreno II, for instance, while the rematch between Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan was clearly needed.
However, more often than not, when the UFC books a title rematch, fans are left asking 'why?'.
On that note, here are five UFC rematch bookings that received a mixed reaction from fans.
#5 Rose Namajunas vs Weili Zhang – UFC 268
UFC 268, which goes down in November, is anchored by a pair of UFC title rematches. In the main event, Kamaru Usman will defend his UFC welterweight title against Colby Covington, while the co-main will see Rose Namajunas put her UFC strawweight title on the line against Weili Zhang.
Both these fights have been criticised by UFC fans, though, but it’s the strawweight title fight that’s come under more fire recently.
There seem to be multiple reasons for the criticism of this fight booking. Firstly, ‘Thug Rose’ only won the title from Zhang in April, knocking her out with a head kick in the first round.
The fight wasn’t especially competitive, as it ended so quickly, and it’s not like ‘Magnum’ had been a dominant champion beforehand. In fact, she has only made one successful title defense.
And secondly, the UFC strawweight division has a clear-cut top contender right now, as Carla Esparza has won five fights in a row, and has looked excellent. More to the point, ‘Cookie Monster’ is a former champion in her own right,t and beat Namajunas to win the title – meaning a fight between the two has an in-built storyline.
It’s not only UFC fans who have been criticising this booking. ESPN’s Marc Raimondi, for instance, has stated that Namajunas vs Zhang isn’t really the fight to be made right now, and the UFC’s justification may be their attempt to push into the Chinese market.
Either way, it’s not that fans don’t want to see this fight – in fact, it’s probably going to be exciting – it’s more that the UFC simply didn’t need to book it right now.
#4 Fabricio Werdum vs Cain Velasquez – UFC 196
Cain Velasquez is widely recognised as one of the best UFC heavyweight champions in the promotion’s history. However, that didn’t stop a mixed reaction from fans when he was granted an instant rematch with Fabricio Werdum at UFC 196.
Werdum had unseated Velasquez at UFC 188 to win the title in a pretty heavy upset, pushing a torrid pace and surprisingly forcing the champion to wilt en route to a submission loss. But despite Velasquez’s previous position as the UFC’s most dominant champion, it felt like UFC fans simply didn’t want to see a rematch so quickly.
The main reason for that seemed to be Velasquez’s chequered history when it came to injuries. His initial meeting with Werdum had already been delayed for the best part of a year, as he picked up a knee injury. And despite his title reign lasting two and a half years, he had made just two defenses.
Incredibly, Velasquez’s injury history meant that fans who were criticising the booking got what they wanted anyway. A back injury meant Velasquez was forced out of the event on two weeks’ notice, and when Werdum pulled out too, the whole show was changed from a pay-per-view to a Fight Night card.
Velasquez never got his rematch, fighting just once more in the UFC before retiring, while Werdum lost his title to Stipe Miocic at UFC 198 a few months later.
#3 Benson Henderson vs Frankie Edgar – UFC 150
If there’s one fighter who is more synonymous with UFC title rematches than any other, it’s former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar.
During his lengthy UFC career, which has lasted well over a decade, ‘The Answer’ has been involved in nine title fights. And incredibly, five of them have been rematches against opponents he has faced before. The majority of them came during his time challenging and holding the UFC lightweight title from 2010 to 2012.
Edgar won the UFC lightweight crown from BJ Penn at UFC 112. Due to Penn’s status as a previously dominant champion, it made sense for a rematch to take place. Edgar duly won, proving himself as the better fighter, and was then booked in a defense against the first man to defeat him in the UFC, Gray Maynard.
The fight went to a dramatic draw. So despite there being a number of other viable contenders, few fans grumbled when the UFC booked a third fight between the two. But when Edgar won via knockout, it finally felt like the division could move on.
‘The Answer’ was then booked against Benson Henderson at UFC 145, and in a close fight, ‘Smooth’ ended up winning the title. It felt like the lightweight division could finally move on from Edgar and his seemingly endless line of rematches. But that was only until the UFC announced an instant rematch between him and Henderson.
UFC fans were massively frustrated by the booking, feeling that while Edgar had been a solid champion, he had never been dominant, and there were more intriguing contenders out there.
While the fight – which took place at UFC 150 – was a really good one that saw ‘Smooth’ edge another tight decision, the lack of fan interest was echoed by the pay-per-view buy rate, as the show did a low 190K, which must’ve disappointed the UFC greatly.
#2 Stipe Miocic vs Daniel Cormier – UFC 252
When it came to the third fight between then-UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic and former champion Daniel Cormier – which took place in the summer of 2020 at UFC 252 – it wasn’t just UFC fans who didn’t seem too enamoured with the booking.
While the rivalry had produced two tremendous fights, it was difficult to deny that it had also held up the entire UFC heavyweight division since 2018, frustrating the division’s other top contenders.
Things seemed to be running smoothly prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Miocic had lost the title to Cormier in the summer of 2018, only to regain it in the summer of 2019. And from there, it seemed likely that if the UFC were to book a third meeting, it’d be imminent.
Instead, when the pandemic began, Miocic seemed to prioritise his other career as a first responder and fireman above his reign as UFC heavyweight champion. And suddenly, the title was largely held up. That angered contenders like Francis Ngannou – who demanded the creation of an interim title – and Curtis Blaydes, who took to Twitter to air his frustrations.
For his part, Miocic simply told his critics to 'stop crying', essentially stating that he’d fight when he was good and ready.
This meant that when the UFC did announce the third bout between Miocic and Cormier, many UFC fans were less than enamoured, giving the booking an extremely mixed reaction.
In the end, things turned out fine, as Miocic defeated Cormier for a second time, and then rematched Ngannou at UFC 260, losing his title via knockout.
#1 Kamaru Usman vs Jorge Masvidal – UFC 261
The UFC isn’t just in the business of booking the best fights possible; naturally, the promotion also prefers to book the ones that will draw the most money. MMA is otherwise known as prizefighting, after all.
However, this penchant doesn’t always sit well with hardcore fans. And an example of that was seen when the UFC booked a rematch between Kamaru Usman and Jorge Masvidal for the UFC welterweight title earlier this year at UFC 261.
The reason for the mixed reaction to this booking was obvious. The two rivals had fought less than a year prior – at UFC 251 – and the fight was largely lopsided in Usman’s favour.
Masvidal could claim he had taken the fight on late notice, but ‘Gamebred’ had also not fought since then, meaning the former simply did not earn another shot at the champion.
However, while fans took to social media sites such as Twitter to air their frustrations with the booking, according to Kamaru Usman’s manager Ali Abdelaziz, the rematch was a fight that ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ had requested. And that feeling was also echoed by ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, who described it as the right fight to make.
In the end, it was clear exactly why Kamaru Usman wanted the fight again. The champion had clearly worked hard to improve his stand-up game – and knocked Masvidal out in violent fashion - ending their rivalry for good.
