Imagine this: Things we wish would have happened in the UFC
They say hindsight is always 20/20, that upon reflection we can look back and determine that a better course of action could have been taken in any given situation. This goes for fighting as well but not the actual action that takes place in the cage. There are plenty of situations that happen before and after the fights that make me look back and say 'imagine if this had happened instead' so why not contemplate those mystical 'what ifs'.
Imagine this: Jon Jones didn't get injured in training
UFC 178 will go down as not only one of the best cards of 2014 but will also notoriously be one of the most disappointing. Not because of the action on the show, mind you, but because what it could have been if the main event stayed in tact.
It's hard to forget that just two months out from the show in September, the headline fight was going to be UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones against heated rival Daniel Cormier. The two fighters disliked each other so much they got into a stage crashing, UFC public relations rep tossing battle in Las Vegas when they were just hyping the fight.
As excited as everyone got about the matchup, the wind in our collective sails quickly deflated when Jones suffered a knee and ankle injury in training that forced him off the card.
Imagine this: Rick Story called out Georges St-Pierre
Rick Story managed to pull off one of the most unexpected upsets of the year when he beat top prospect Gunnar Nelson in Sweden last weekend. Considering the level of competition Story has faced and defeated during his UFC career, maybe we shouldn't have been all that surprised but then again hype certainly does skew our vision from time to time.
With the win, Story vaulted back into the top 15 of the welterweight division and picked up a signature victory to really take a run at the best of the best in the weight class. And then when UFC commentator Dan Hardy threw him the microphone hoping for a Eminem style callout, but instead got the standard 'I'll fight anyone the UFC wants' line.
But imagine if Story opted to go another route for his post fight speech? Imagine if he took aim at former UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre instead?
Dan Hardy: "So this really puts you back in a serious situation as a contender at the welterweight division, I know you've moved gyms, you're looking fantastic since you've made that move, there's got to be some people in the top 10 of the division that is going to be appealing to you as a fight?"
Rick Story: "You know I've been hearing rumors that Georges St-Pierre might be coming back from his extended vacation and considering I'm the only guy in the UFC who actually has a win over Johny Hendricks, I'd like to welcome GSP back to the Octagon when he returns!"
Story's call out could have precipitated a huge fight for St-Pierre's return and a win for the Canadian would certainly answer any questions about his relevancy in the division. Not to mention, Story pokes the bear just a little bit by prodding at St-Pierre's controversial win over Hendricks in 2013.
Imagine this: Rory MacDonald embraces his dark passenger
Everybody in the world seems to think Rory MacDonald embodies the look of a stone cold killer except for Rory MacDonald. He's never really embraced the idea that when he puts on a suit and slicks over his hair that he looks anything like 'American Psycho' character Patrick Batemen or stares at his opponents the same steely gaze that Dexter Morgan used to give his prey on the Showtime series 'Dexter'.
But imagine if MacDonald finally decided to embrace his 'dark passenger' and just went all out on the 'Canadian Psycho' gimmick or even opted for a 'Dexter' motif for his walkouts, stare downs and weigh-ins?
Think about the reaction if MacDonald walked to the cage for his next fight with 'Hip to Be Square' by Huey Lewis and the News playing (the same song that invokes murderous rage from Bateman in 'American Psycho'). He could even walkout to the weigh-ins wearing a raincoat (okay, maybe that's going TOO far).
Sure, fighting is all that really matters with MacDonald and he has every right to accept or shun a moniker that's bestowed upon him, but something tells me becoming MMA's dark passenger would only get him a bigger fan base and maybe even a bit of a cult hero of sorts.
Imagine this: The judges were consistent in scoring
Rick Story got the win over Gunnar Nelson, which is ultimately what's most important, but the fact that the judges watching the fight had scores that were completely all over the map is still concerning. One judge saw the fight 50-44 for Rick Story, which means he won every round and also scored an elusive 10-8 round in the fourth when he knocked Nelson down. Meanwhile another judge had it 48-47 for Nelson, which means he somehow saw three rounds going for the other guy and scored Story losing all together.
Judging has to get more consistent and not just in the fights where we critique them for a complete inaccuracy like scoring Diego Sanchez as the winner over Ross Pearson. Story got the win, that's good. The fact that the scores were still not even in the same neighborhood as consistent is still bad.
Imagine if judges got it right....okay, I've finally gone too far with these fantasy ideas.
