TOPIC: Regardless of the fight outcome on Saturday, should John Lineker be cut from UFC after missing weight for the fifth time? Should UFC have a rule such as “five strikes and you’re out”?
JOEL WIELENGA, MMATorch contributor
This one is hard. I mean, he needs to be punished, but he is so damn fun to watch fight. Based solely on the fact that I am a greedy MMA fan who wants to see him fighting the top guys in the UFC, I say let him stay and just keep fining him every time he misses weight. I do think that people who are constantly missing weight should be fined higher. Maybe that would force them to rethink the weight they are fighting at.
MATTHEW PETERSON, MMATorch contributor
John Lineker won’t get cut unless he misses weight and starts stringing some losses together. People watch him because his fights are entertaining brawls and viewers mean dollars. What the UFC needs to do with fighters who consistently miss weight is up the punishment. Maybe 20 percent isn’t enough and should upped to 50 percent. Losing half of their money, win or lose, would have quite an effect on the fighter’s weight cut. Like the saying goes, the contract has two stipulations – make weight and show up to fight. If you only satisfy half, you should only get half.
FRANK HYDEN, MMATorch contributor
Well, it’s certainly a possibility. I would try to avoid that if I’m the UFC, because you don’t want to give Bellator any ammunition. Lineker has fought and beaten some of their good fighters, and he’s a guy who would be deserving of a title shot if he could actually make weight consistently. I think you basically give him one more chance. As ridiculous as that sounds, he’s a guy who is capable of being a top guy in his division. You tell him that if he misses weight again, he’s gone. On the other hand, you keep him but tell him that he won’t get a title shot unless he makes weight four fights in a row. Considering some of the guys the UFC has kept, and their offenses, missing weight doesn’t seem quite as bad as that.
JARED DODDS, MMATorch contributor
This is a really tough one for me, as I am a huge John Lineker fan. If you came to me and just said, “A fighter has missed weight five times” without giving me a name, I would say cut him. But I think given where he is in the division rankings and who he has beaten, it’s really hard for the UFC to just cut him, especially considering he won the fight. There’s a chance that he simply cant make the weight or that he is going through the process the wrong way, but he needs to get it under control or move up another category, because if he misses one more time I don’t think it matters who he beats or how, he’ll be gone.
NOW CHECK OUT PART ONE OF THIS ROUNDTABLE TOPIC: Should UFC have a “five strikes and you’re out” rule when fighters miss weight over and over, such as John Lineker
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