“If you lose a big fight, it will worry you all of your life. It will plague you – until you get your revenge.”
Muhammad Ali knew a thing or two about rematches and it could be argued that his ability to avenge losses was the biggest contributing factor to his status as a legend of the ring.
The first three defeats in the heavyweight legend’s career were all reversed against Joe Frazier, Ken Norton and Leon Spinks the second time around against the late, great Ali.
There is something curiously special about a rematch because the concept so perfectly represents a fighter’s mentality. The never-say-die attitude, the inexorable desire to right a wrong and the pulsing confidence in one’s ability to atone for an error are all brought to the fore when a fighter signs a bout agreement to meet a man or woman against whom they’ve already come unstuck.
While the vanquished fighter signs on the dotted line to seek revenge, the previous victor does so to finally put all doubts to bed. They already hold a victory over the opponent in question so two wins will end any arguments, remove any asterisks and put an end to any “dodgy judging” excuses.
And as the competitors are only too happy to see to their unfinished business, fight promoters are licking their lips at the potential saleability of the rematch because, in truth, there is no greater hand to deal in prize fighting.
It was no surprise that, initially, Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz II was made the main event of UFC 200, the promotion’s biggest event in seven years.
The second meeting of the bitter rivals, at welterweight, was given precedence over the title fights on the card because, in basic terms, people give more shits about vengeance, hostility and retribution than they do about a piece of gold.
But alas, that fight fell apart, and it was replaced by another rematch – again no surprise.
And while Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier II was technically for one of those silly little pieces of gold, that’s not where the focus lay.
The narrative was revenge. The storyline was whether or not Cormier had licked his wounds and figured out how to slay his nemesis now that he had stood toe-to-toe with ‘Bones’ for 25 minutes and lived to tell the tale.
Jones vs. Cormier II, scheduled for Saturday night before being scrapped when it emerged that Jones had been flagged by USADA for a potential doping violation, was just one of four fascinating rematches that was set to play out before Sunday morning and it was the most rancorous of the bunch.
Its place as the most hate-filled fight this week has since been taken by the grudge match between Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Claudia Gadelha.
Some eyebrows were raised when Jedrzejczyk’s hand was lifted in 2014 and as respectful as the eventual strawweight champion was after the final buzzer, Jedrzejczyk has been anything but ever since.
The language barrier has done absolutely nothing to limit the war of words between these two 115 lbers and Jedrzejczyk’s shit-talking ways have breathed much-needed life into a weight class in danger of passing many people by.
These women genuinely hate each other and at our basest level as a species, combat is what we resort to in order to settle disputes. This battle just so happens to have a championship belt on the line for the winner.
Jose Aldo and Frankie Edgar also clash for a belt, the interim iteration of the featherweight title, but it would be safe to assume that that prize pales in significance for both men.
Aldo, ridiculed and mocked after being knocked out by Conor McGregor at UFC 194, wants to prove that he is not willing to down his sceptre across the featherweight throne quite yet. With a second victory over Edgar, Aldo sets up an even bigger rematch because while ‘The Answer’ is chasing vengeance against Aldo, the Brazilian wants to avenge his first defeat in 10 years at the hands of a brash Irishman.
Edgar claims that he’s not putting too much stock in idea of avenging his razor-close 2013 defeat to Aldo, his only loss at featherweight, but it must be playing on his mind as a prouder fighter simply doesn’t exist.
In fact Edgar is something of a rematch aficionado, having twice met Benson Henderson and thrice met both Gray Maynard and BJ Penn, so he’s clearly not the type of man who thinks “what’s done is done”.
Last on the list is the one sequel which won’t end with a championship belt hoisted in the air as TJ Dillashaw looks to get back his second career defeat against Raphael Assuncao.
“The best revenge is massive success,” said the fantastic Frank Sinatra and Dillashaw went on to attain just that since dropping the tightest of decisions against the Brazilian … in Brazil.
Dillashaw rebounded from the Assuncao loss to claim the bantamweight title and was pegged as the great white hope at 135 lbs but, against all odds, Dominick Cruz got through a full fight camp without injury and upended the TUF 14 winner who now, more than he did in 2013, needs that victory over Assuncao to get his legacy back on track.
Great fighters require a foil. They need a standard against which to be judged.
All time greats of any combat sport are not considered such until they come through adversity and so often a feud with one particular character acts as the catalyst for that.
Joanna Jedrzejczyk needs Claudia Gadelha the same way Muhammad Ali needed Joe Frazier. The value of one stems from the interactions with, and bettering of, a rival.
The first meetings of the four pairs of UFC rivals mentioned above were all relatively close when it came to the scorecards. There were no blowouts, no finishes and arguments can be made that three of the four could have been awarded to the losing fighter.
Justice can be done this week when a familiar face stands across the Octagon for four men and two women.
Going 2-0 against the same rival can cement a fighter’s legacy as the greatest in the world but, by that same token, going 0-2 against an adversary can completely cripple a fighter’s career and derail any hope of an upcoming run at the title.
And when the record stands at 1-1, we get the potential for a clash doused with even more intrigue. We get the realisation of a trilogy.
Now we’re talking.
*This story has been updated since Jon Jones was removed from the UFC 200 card*
