In pursuit of Sehudo: how can Ian get the right to fight for the UFC bantamweight title

Peter Jan was ignored as the next first contender for the bantamweight title. This became known after the matchmakers approved a duel between the reigning champion Henry Sehudo and Jose Aldo, who will lead the UFC 250 tournament in Sao Paulo. Thus, the Russian will have to conduct at least one more battle in order to earn the right to argue for the honorary title.

The UFC decision can hardly be called otherwise than unfair and based solely on past merits and popularity, but it is easily explainable. Despite a series of two defeats and not very impressive performances in recent fights, Aldo remains not only one of the most famous fighters on the planet, but also a financially profitable opponent. A victory over him can bring not only fame, but also solid money - at least significantly more than for a duel with Ian. Apparently, that was what guided in the Absolute Fighting Championship, giving preference to the Brazilian.

Another important factor was the holding of the anniversary UFC tournament in Brazil. According to tradition, in the main event of the show outside the United States, an athlete from this country should certainly perform, which instantly raised Aldo's quotes. At the moment, Jose is one of the few compatriots who really claim the title of champion. In addition to him, you can mark Daywezon Figueiredo, but he will fight for the flyweight title on March 1. Of course, these include middleweight Paulo Costa and light heavyweight Thiago Santos, but the first was injured and withdrew from the battle with Israel Adesanya, and the second most recently fought with John Jones.

Nevertheless, it is not easier for Jan himself. Now he will have to conduct at least one more fight before arguing for the champion title. At the same time, in order to guarantee himself the status of the first applicant, he must either defeat one of the leaders in the rating of the division, or defeat one of the representatives of the top 10. Otherwise, the UFC management can again bet on another athlete.

Undoubtedly, Jan himself understands this very well, which is why he names Marlon Moraes and Aljamain Sterling in the list of most desirable opponents. At the moment, the Brazilian is in first place in the ranking, and the American is in second place. Moreover, it is the second of them that can be considered a more obvious candidate for the title fight. “Magic” Moraes only in June 2019 fought for the belt and is unlikely to get another chance over the next year.

Thus, it would be preferable for Jan to fight with Sterling. If successful, he will not only win the seventh consecutive victory in the UFC, but also cross out the successful series of the opponent. Algemein alternately prevailed over the four counterparts and has a little more reason for a title fight than Marlon. And this is even taking into account the fact that the level of opposition in the Brazilian was much higher.

In favor of the battle between Jan and Sterling, the fact that earlier athletes had already expressed a desire to measure their strength in the octagon speaks. In the summer of last year, a possible duel of fighters was seriously discussed in the MMA community, but in the end the plans confused injuries. The Russian suffered damage to the elbow, the American - the wrists. But if Peter had already managed to return to the cage and easily deal with the veteran Juraia Feiber, then Alzhemein was not able to resume performances.

In the event that Sterling is healthy and agrees to a meeting, Jan needs to seek a battle after May 9th. It is on this day in Brazil that a duel for the bantamweight title between Sehudo and Aldo will take place. Thus, the Russian citizen immediately indicates his intentions as a trophy seeker, and also gets the opportunity to replace him in case of injury to one of the participants in the champion bout. At this moment, he will be in shape and actively prepare for his own duel, as a result of which he can make the necessary weight without any problems.

As a confirmation of this theory, we can cite the current UFC light heavyweight situation as an example. After an extremely competitive fight between John Jones and Dominic Reyes, many fans decided that a rematch between the athletes was a settled matter, but Jan Blahovic intervened in the argument. The Pole knocked out Corey Anderson and made fans and experts forget about how close the first challenger was to success.

It is worth noting that a duel with a Brazilian is also able to bring the Russians the right to fight for the belt, but this fight risks becoming much more difficult for him. In terms of skill, Moraes is superior to Stirling, which he proved in their full-time confrontation. It took him only 67 seconds to send the vis-a-vis a deep knockout using hi-kick.

Marlon has an excellent strike technique and has black belts in Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Against his background, Alzhemein looks like an extremely one-sided athlete, relying either on the control of the course of the fight, or on an unexpected painful technique. True, for this he needed to drag Jan into the stalls, and even the recognized master of wrestling in the person of Faber could not do this.

However, there is a possibility that neither Sterling nor Moraes will be available between May and June, which Jan himself designated as a possible date for the fight. In this case, the Russian may need to fight with one of the fighters who are inferior to him in the ranking of the division. In this context, one of the few options that suit him will be a duel with Corey Sandhagen. He takes fourth place and has a series of seven victories. Initially, he was supposed to fight Frankie Edgar on January 25, but the ex-lightweight champion decided to perform in the featherweight category again and was beaten hard by Chen Song Jung. Thus, the battle was canceled, and the American continued to wait in the wings.

Sandhagen is very high for this category. With a weight of 61 kilograms, his height is 180 centimeters, which, combined with the ability to control the distance, makes him an extremely uncomfortable opponent. For comparison, Jan is 11 centimeters lower, which can become a serious problem for a Russian. If only because in his career he has never fought with an opponent of such dimensions.

However, it cannot be called invulnerable either. Despite the absence of defeats, Sandhagen was already experiencing serious problems in the octagon. Closer to all, John Lineker came up to defeat him, yielding only by a separate decision of the judges. The 160-centimeter Brazilian repeatedly forced the vis-a-vis to fail and instantly caught on counterattacks. In addition, Corey nearly fell into pain twice, but miraculously left neck-crank (neck fracture), and a gong saved him from strangulation by means of a guillotine.

As for other representatives of the bantamweight, a duel with them is unlikely to contribute to the promotion of Jan in the ranking. He runs the risk of being in the same situation as his compatriot Zabit Magomedsharipov. At the tournament in Moscow, he prevailed over the 12th number of the ranking table, but this success did not allow him to get the title fight. Yes, the defeat of Max Holloway played an important role in this, but according to the behavior of the UFC leadership, it was noticeable that they strongly doubt the advisability of giving the Russians such a chance.

In the event of a battle with any of the second half of the top 10, Jan must not only win ahead of schedule, but also make it brighter than Sterling and Moraes. Otherwise, matchmakers are able to give an advantage to the Brazilian or American.