Gary A. Vasquez USA TODAY Sports
First things first, I think an Anthony Pettis -Jose Aldo matchup would be an awesome bout. However, in my opinion, T.J. Grant deserves the first title shot against the UFC’s new 155-pound champion.
Any proposed superfight tends to get discussed when two champions have been so dominant that they’ve basically wiped out all contenders within a division. That’s the case when all the hypothetical discussion began about a potential Anderson Silva-Georges St.Pierre fight, or Silva versus Jon Jones.
These were fighters who had become so dominant within their respective weight classes that it had grown almost tiresome to see challenger after challenger turned aside in relatively easy fashion.
Obviously, Chris Weidman had something to say about all of that talk when he finally wrested the middleweight title from Silva in a stunning upset at UFC 162. St.Pierre and Jones will both face hungry challengers looking to unseat them in the coming months.
When Pettis ended Benson Henderson’s lightweight reign on Saturday night in Milwaukee, he ended his post-fight interview by calling out the 145 pound champion. They had been scheduled to meet in Brazil at UFC 163, but a Pettis injury derailed that featherweight title shot.
While Aldo has clearly been a dominant figure in his weight class, there’s one problem with Pettis’s challenge.
Pettis got his title shot at UFC 164 after being the beneficiary of an injury that Grant suffered in training. Grant was the one who was supposed to go up against Henderson on the card this past Saturday night, and it would simply be unfair to make him wait any longer for the title shot he’s deserving of.
You can only imagine Grant’s reaction to hear his name briefly mentioned by Pettis before he requested the fight with Aldo.
All Grant has done is reel off a five-fight win streak in the talent-rich lightweight division, and he’s been dominant in the process. While he’s not the biggest name nor the flashiest interview, he is an exciting fighter and a brutal finisher.
Those last two traits should stand for something. Grant earned his title shot with a devastating first-round knockout of Gray Maynard at UFC 160. He won that elimination fight in spectacular Knockout of the Night fashion, and has done everything asked of him by the organization in working his way up the ranks to that rightful no. 1 contender slot.
What’s wrong with having Pettis defend his newly-won belt at least once before making any fight with Aldo become a reality?
Obviously, health could be a factor in all of this. Aldo suffered a broken foot in his title-winning effort against the “Korean Zombie “ at UFC 164 and is out for the rest of the year, while there are concerns Pettis may have suffered a knee injury in the title-winning performance against Henderson.
Grant, who would like to fight again in the next few months, would obviously need to turn his attention elsewhere if the champ were sidelined for any considerable amount of time.
We’ve seen prime examples where fighters have been slotted into title opportunities that they probably didn’t deserve because of their name recognition and their ability to sell a fight.
In Grant’s case, it’s just about fairness. Pettis-Aldo would clearly be a fight that would sell itself given the explosiveness of both fighters and their championship belts, but if you want divisional fighter rankings to have integrity, Pettis-Grant would be a terrific fight in its own right at 155 pounds.
Rick LaFitte is an MMA Writer for Rant Sports
