Opinion: Bullpen Bullsh*t

Championship weight made! @TWooodley @DarrenTill2 is OFFICIAL for Saturday night! #UFC228 pic.twitter.com/ZjvKCfcLzR

— UFC (@ufc) September 7, 2018

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Read the fine print on the advertisement for pay-per-view card. Read the fine print on the ticket if a big fight happens to grace your respective city. “Card subject to change.” Those words have haunted many events in the recent past. If you’ve found yourself excited for a particular matchup, chances are you found yourself disappointed, playing the “what if” game, and pretending to be Sean Shelby at the last minute. Let’s not forget the roller coaster of emotions that surrounded featherweight champion Max Holloway with his pair of scrapped outings against Brian Ortega, and his short-lived attempt at the lightweight belt. We probably still have the taste of cheap whiskey and tears lingering from the intertwined Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov bout that has seen multiple bookings and cancellations.

That fine print becomes exceptionally important if you bought tickets as soon as they were available or pre-ordered a pay-per-view card and did a trip to Costco to stock up for the fight party. Of course, the world of prizefighting has its share of hazards that can lead to someone not being able to compete. The stress on the body that is common among athletes is only multiplied by the nature of mixed martial arts. Combine that with the fast-moving calendar and the Ultimate Fighting Championship has a uniquely challenging issue that seems to have no end in sight. Out of the 26 events that we’ve seen so far in 2018, only seven have not been affected my last-minute changes. These changes have come from a wide variety of reasons. Everything from knee injuries, staph infections, poor weight cuts and family emergencies have kept fighters off scheduled showdowns and left the promotion and fans scrambling for a solution. In effort to keep the masses from rioting at the venue and Shelby and his fellow matchmaker Mick Maynard from pulling their hair out every weekend, the UFC has come up with a seemingly reasonable and easy solution: have a waiting substitute for the biggest fights on the card.

This experiment will be put to the test this Saturday as welterweight champion Tyron Woodley prepares to defend his strap against Darren Till, No. 6-ranked contender Kamaru Usman will be in the bullpen just in case something were to go wrong with either UFC 228 headliner. Aside from the aforementioned streak of misfortune that commonly befalls the average fight card, the need for a substitute is especially significant this time considering the challenger’s trouble hitting the 170-pound mark -- the typical one pound allowance not being given in championship fights. Of course, as well-intentioned as that plan is, there is a well-publicized wrinkle: Woodley stated he will not be willing to take on Usman. Instead, he’d opt to fight Till regardless of the number on the scale Friday morning. The best-case scenario for the UFC is a welterweight title fight taking place between any of the three men involved. Till and Woodley hit their marks Friday morning at the official weigh-in, thank goodness.

For obvious reasons, the promotion would love to avoid the potential mess brought on my Yoel Romero’s dual failures to make 185 pounds ahead of both of his opportunities for gold. For one, a sitting champion losing in a non-title affair to a worthy contender in the weight class would be catastrophic to the legitimacy of the belt and marketability of the inevitable rematch. Just ask Christian M’Pumbu. Also, if there is an established history of misfires at weigh-ins, how can any parties involved be assured that they won’t happen again and further complicate the division?

Also, Woodley has been inactive for over year following shoulder surgery to repair an injury he suffered in his last bout at UFC 214. After the sudden introduction of an interim championship and its even more sudden dissolution, a straight fight between the rightful belt holder and a deserving contender is much needed.

As my colleague Jordan Breen summarized recently, it’s well within Woodley’s rights as the defending champion -- who structures game plans very carefully-- to reject a sudden switch to the lineup. However many want to crucify Woodley for this statement and lump it into the other reasons why he’s such a polarizing figure in the sport, the truth is a professional approach involving a structured game plan with corresponding sparring partners and appropriate fitness adjustments is the complete antithesis of an eleventh-hour change of opponents. It’s simply a risk that doesn’t make sense to take on a whim after so carefully crafting every other aspect of the fight.

So what does the UFC do in this scenario? Risk the dollars and goodwill of the fans by promoting a fight that may not happen or put its top talent, especially champions, in a catch-22 situation? We saw this play out in the vanishing act that was UFC 151 when “sport killer” Greg Jackson talked his prized pupil Jon Jones into sitting out of what was originally a light heavyweight title defense against Dan Henderson and morphed into middleweight contender Chael Sonnen coming up a division on a week’s notice. The relationship between the UFC and one of its marquee names was needlessly damaged when a lack of a contingency plan morphed into finger pointing and name calling.

The Usman experiment is just part of the solutions that are being test driven right now by the UFC. Shortly before Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov do battle for the supremacy at 155 pounds, former champions Anthony Pettis and Tony Ferguson will meet up in the co main event. As exciting and worthwhile to the divisional hierarchy as that fight is, it’s pretty obvious the intent is to have the recently-dethroned Ferguson ready and available in case the main event is in jeopardy. Considering Nurmagomedov’s checkered past with making it to the Octagon, it makes total sense to have another option on deck.

While it would be departure from McGregor’s willingness to welcome late changes in the opposing corner that he established as he rose to prominence, it still would be his prerogative to accept or decline the fight. Similarly, Nurmagomedov didn’t allow Ferguson’s unexpected absence to keep him from answering the bell at UFC on Fox 19 or UFC 223. But once again, there’s no guarantee that he’d volunteer for the risk.

In all likelihood, Woodley, Nurmagomedov and/or McGregor will use the situation to their advantage if original plans go astray. The UFC, desperate to keep pay-per-view cards intact, might be willing to open its wallet a little more to grease the wheels of negotiations. While Pettis failed to reach terms with the promotion in the post cord tripping/botched massive weight cut debacle of UFC 223, the other three fighters are sitting champions -- although McGregor’s belt is lineal -- who are already slated to main event. Their names are already responsible for ticket sales and can’t be replaced as easily without significant backlash.

Without having access to the contracts most fighters sign as members of the UFC roster, the only example we have to draw from is the original contract offered to Eddie Alvarez during his legal battle involving his status between the promotion and his former home at Bellator. There is next to nothing written about the late changes to a bout. While there is some language that a lawyer may be able to interpret as relevant to the problem, it is clear that the lack of consistent policy does nobody any favors.

Ironically, the UFC’s insistence that its roster is made up of independent contractors and not employees makes this a much more difficult issue for the company. It would be much easier to mandate employees to do as they’re told.

Instead of staring down these situations on a case-by-case basis and rolling the dice, there should be some language specific to these increasingly common occurrences. Event cancellations, champions in non-title fights, etc. just don’t make any sense when the chaos can be planned for if not prevented.

Any questions regarding what happens if an opponent drops out? Refer to the bout agreement that names a specific fighter that was agreed upon as an alternate ahead of time. Concerned that the expenses of training camp will be wasted after preparing for a different opponent? Look at the contract that states there will be at least a partial reimbursement for the costs of fight preparation. Will the change in opponent be an issue that could cause an event to lose some of the potential buy rate which directly hurts the pockets of champions? Perhaps a late change will trigger a difference in the incentives that title holders enjoy. The inadequate time to train for a potential style mismatch against a substitute opponent can undoubtedly be a great disadvantage. How about including an airtight automatic rematch clause that guarantees a chance for redemption under more ideal conditions?

If mixed martial arts is to be looked upon as a real sport, it must operate as such. The Super Bowl isn’t contested between the best NFC and AFC teams with a waiting alternate in case something happens. Therefore, it would be ideal that MMA and the UFC as the world leader in the sport attempt to operate under similar principles. However, that isn’t the nature of the beast in fighting. But that doesn’t mean that all considerations of professionalism be thrown out of the window either. While the entertainment aspect is forever woven in the fabric of MMA, we are far removed from the NHB days. Instead of men responding to an ad in a martial arts newsletter and hailing themselves as streetfighters, we are dealing with world-class athletes who draw in exponentially more money than the generations that preceded them. This is where high-caliber competitors in a true sport meet the flighty nature of entertainment. Rising to the occasion is neither a simple, easy, or cheap task, but it is a necessary one. Instead of succumbing to the often times lowbrow nature of prizefighting, it would be wise to handle these distinct issues with as much professionalism as possible.