Say a fighter, any fighter, had posted an 11-1 UFC record at a certain weight class. Say that fighter also held a win over the current champion, and after banking 30 minutes of fight time with said champion, the series between the two was split 1-to-1 down the middle.
In most cases, there’s a good chance a title shot heading that fighter’s way would be a foregone conclusion. But in the mercurial world of the UFC, no shot at gold is ever a foregone conclusion, and that uncomfortable limbo is exactly where Raphael Assuncao finds himself in following T.