In light of this week’s UFC main event coming about because of one fighter’s willingness to step up to a bout on short notice and another fighter’s refusal to accept that, I thought I’d take a look at the pros and cons of short notice fights in MMA.
First of all, at a professional level fighters tend to like to have a full training camp for a bout, lasting anything from four weeks to three months. During these training camps they work on their fitness, technique and specific game plans for their scheduled opponents while cutting the bulk of the weight needed for the contracted fight.
Of course, most mixed martial artists are in the gym six days a week whether they’ve got a fight booked or not and tend to walk around in what is by any normal standard, lean and exceptional shape. As such, it’s reasonable to assume that any dedicated fighter can take a fight on short notice, barring injuries or punitive weight cuts.
So on the face if it, while it is ideal to have a defined, full training camp, allowing you to enter a fight at theoretically peak condition (this almost never happens, martial artists are always carrying some sort of injury) and prepare in depth for your specific opponent, it is not by definition necessary.
As Ilir Latifi said before his recent stepping up to face Gegard Mousasi, ‘the lifestyle makes you ready.’
Still, as ready as you can be, a training camp is always ideal so why would a professional mixed martial artist accept a fight on short notice, with less preparation than normal?
The first reason, is that the short notice fight (usually caused by an injury disrupting an already scheduled bout) is more high profile than you would usually be offered otherwise. It gives an opportunity for undercard fighters to move into the main card, to perhaps claim a scalp they were a few wins from even getting a shot at, or in some cases for a complete outsider to walk into a title shot.
In recents times, we’ve seen Ilir Latifi get into the UFC based on his willingness to fight on a week’s notice, we’ve seen Vitor Belfort receive a title shot in a division he hasn’t competed in for years, we’ve seen Bec Hyatt advance from undercard to main event at Invicta FC 4.
The second reason is that sometimes fighter’s just like to be busy and when they’re in a good run of form, they’d fight anyone tomorrow rather than risk overtraining and lose momentum, or conversely after a loss they’d rather get back in there as soon as possible.
This can work out very well – look at Chris Leben’s victory over Yoshihiro Akiyama – or very badly, as in DaMarquez Johnson’s loss to Gunnar Nelson which saw him cut from the UFC.
The disruption of a promotion’s plans by injury or whatever opens up opportunities for fighters ready and well placed to step into the breach, to save the event. That kind of storyline is tempting for fighters, easy to promote and almost always resonates with the fans.
Even if you lose, the chances are that you’ve earned some brownie points with your employer and a valiant losing effort in a high profile match tends to gain a relatively unknown fighter more fans.
However, as we’ve touched on, it’s not a no-lose decision and there is a real risk-reward decision to be made.
If you are already on a losing streak, and you lose your step-up match, the promotional goodwill might well not extend to you keeping your job (just as DaMarquez) and it’s worth considering whether stepping up might not be a worthwhile career move.
Think about it, taking on a higher ranked fighter that you haven’t been training for is a gutsy, perhaps foolhardy move. If you’ve been in a camp anyway for the same date anyway, then it’s not as if you’re out of condition but the closer to the top of the tree you get, the more difference a specifically tailored preparation and game plan can make.
Is it worth compromising years of slow build for one less than perfect crack at jumping the ladder? Should you miss a rung, you may find yourself further down than where you started… Recent examples of when fighters have chosen to err on the side of caution include Lyoto Machida refusing a second shot at Jon Jones and Joanne Calderwood preferring to wait her earned turn for a crack at the Invicta 115b title.
It’s also worth noting that when a weight cut is necessary, rushing such things can be very dangerous to your health and can result in a tepid performance as a few days frantic loss of way weight has a negative effect on your cardio and sharpness. As a rule, if you usually cut significantly to your normal division and get offered a short notice fight when you aren’t in camp… it had better be a hell of an opportunity.
There is another side to the step-up scenario and that is the highly ranked fighter or perhaps even champion, who suddenly finds that the opponent they have been training for has pulled out and the promoter is enthusiastically asking them to accept a replacement on short notice.
Recently, Gegard Mousasi happily accepted to Ilir Latifi with a few days notice, stating that he ‘just wants to fight’ mindful that its his UFC debut and while he is being offered a very different opponent, that opponent was previously not on the UFC’s radar as a roster addition.
Look good to new employers & get a notionally easier opponent versus the risk of losing to such a relatively obscure fighter.
On the other hand, you have the likes of Jon Jones who refused to fight Chael Sonnen on a week’s notice, despite Sonnen notionally being a lighter fighter and coming off a stoppage loss.
Jones justified this by saying Sonnen was a very different opponent to Dan Henderson and he didn’t have proper time to prepare. Given Jones is a Jackson’s fighter, a camp famed for their in depth game plans and use of visualisation this makes perfect sense.
Still, for tomorrow night Sonnen is an 11/2 outsider to beat Jones, surely a champion should be happy to stand tall in the face of such odds? If nothing else, a champion has a responsibility to his promotion to front up and represent. The age old fighting mentality of ‘anyone, anytime’ almost counts double for someone on a championship pedestal.
Of course, champs don’t always feel that way. They’ve got a lot to lose after all, and not just their belt. Champions with a few defences always start looking at their legacy (or in lesser companies, continuing to impress until the UFC come calling) and the risk of a loss to an on-paper undeserving or outmatched opponent is simply too much. It’s just not smart to put your title and reputation on the line.
All in all, regarding whether you should always step up when you can, or always accept a change of opponents/challengers there is no definite rule.
Some fans will always harp on the idea that you should always be ready to fight, but this isn’t the parking lot behind the pub and professional fighters have a lot riding on the result – and the manner of that result –
It’s a tenuous cost-benefit assessment. Stepping up endears you to fans and management while refusing does the opposite, accepting short notice fights can offer a shortcut up the rankings for some fighters but also risks the backlash of dropping you father down should it go wrong.
It’s a different equation every time, and it’s not as simple as we fans might think. Refusing a fight doesn’t necessarily mean a fighter is scared, it just means they are being more professional than game.
KUMITE 