Josh Emmett is on a five fight winning streak with his last win being a over Calvin Kattar who is ranked #5 in the featherweight division. Before that he beat Dan Ige who at the time was a top 10 featherweight and now is still in the top 15. Emmet is currently #3 in the rankings and is very deserving of a titled shot. However the UFC has other plans, supposedly the winner of Yair Rodriguez and Brian Ortega this Saturday July 16th will be in line next for a title shot. Will that make sense?
If Rodriguez gets his hand raise does he deserve a titled shot? Rodriguez has fought 5 times in five years and in his past 5 fights he has lost two and won two and also had a no contest. His last win was against ranked #7 Chan Sung Jung back in 2018. He is also coming off a loss against Max Holloway and he did look like the best version of himself but he still lost. So a win over Brian Ortega who is ranked #2 and coming off a loss deserves a title shot? I don’t think so. I believe Rodriguez needs to be more active and at least get two wins before he fights for a belt. If Ortega gets his hand raise this Saturday does he deserve a titled shot? Some might say yes because he was very close to finishing the champion Alexander Volkanovski with a very deep guillotine choke that was turning the champion’s face purple. However besides the guillotine, Volkanovski still showed pure dominance in the fight. I believe if Ortega wins this Saturday he should also get a couple of more wins before he gets another titled shot. There are a lot of hungry featherweights in the top 15 that deserve to get closer to a title shot. I think Ortega and Rodriguez should both get some more wins before they get a titled shot. I believe Emmett is more than deserving of a title shot with his five fight win streak but might not get one because he’s not an outspoken guy and lets his fights speak for him. The UFC wants someone that sells so they might put Emmet on the shelf and let the winner of the Rodriguez and Ortega be next in life for a title shot.
BIASMMA 