The best and worst from UFC 230

#3 Worst: Roberson vs. Marshman didn’t belong

Should the fans really have to pay for a fight like Roberson vs. Marshman?

I’ve often called into question the UFC’s card placement – as in, which fights they choose to go onto the pay-per-view portion of their shows – and last night gave us another example in the Jack Marshman vs. Karl Roberson fight. It wasn’t the worst fight of all time and I’m not knocking either man’s effort, but did this really belong on a show that fans were paying to watch? I’d argue no.

Roberson ended up winning a decision in what was a solid-but-forgettable outing, and while he’s clearly a decent prospect, it’s unlikely that he or Marshman will likely be in title contention any time soon. I know the UFC have a vested interest in him coming off Dana White’s Contender Series, and I know they were also looking to book a lot of Middleweight fights on the main card here, but the point still stands.

Before Cormier and Lewis stepped into the main event slot, UFC 230’s main event would’ve been a Women’s Flyweight title match between Valentina Shevchenko and Sijara Eubanks. That fight ended up being iced, but Eubanks remained on the card – but was placed on the prelims. Sure, her fight wasn’t great, but it was probably as good as Roberson/Marshman. Given the UFC had intended for her to main event a big show, why wasn’t she being showcased on the pay-per-view?

The placement of Roberson/Marshman wasn’t enough to ruin the show of course – it was a strong pay-per-view even with it – but the UFC really ought to be ensuring ranked contenders – or at least blue-chip prospects – fight on their pay-per-views, especially when they charge so much for fans to order them.