I’m not a fan of the UFC making David vs. Goliath fights. While I enjoy Bellator, they make far too many fights where there is a heavy favorite looking to squash an underdog. Think of how they built up Michael Page for years. No one ever doubted the talents of Page, but it always felt like an inevitability. While it’s fun when the underdog wins – think Zach Freeman beating Aaron Pico – it doesn’t happen very often.
However, when a scheduled fight morphs into a David vs. Goliath fight, that’s a different story. Islam Makhachev was scheduled to meet Beneil Dariush, only for Dariush to be forced out due to an ankle injury with just over a week before the event.