ANALYSIS OF # OF WINS REQUIRED TO EARN EVERY UFC TITLE SHOT

Analysis of the number of wins (if any) required to earn every UFC title shot, with contenders' ages at the time of the fight.  Use the tabs at the bottom to switch between weight classes.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tZKBD9DeuK0_MAMzwbEV9_v5cHDyVdPhf1MoFPsJNFc/edit?usp=sharing

Very interesting.

It is interesting.

Wow, Barao screwed the bantamweight average.

Interesting stuff. Pretty surprised to see that the winning streak average is so high at heavyweight though it seems that's because of a few outliers.

Also interesting is that we currently have some potential contenders which would shake up some records:

Cerrone is the next lightweight title contender on an 8 fight streak, the 2cnd longest in history.
Jacare is a potential middleweight contender on an 8 fight(2cnd longest in history) winning streak and 5 fight(tied for longest) UFC streak.
Assuncao is a potential bantamweight contender on a 7 fight all UFC win streak which is the longest UFC streak by far at bantamweight.

McGregor is tied for highest ufc streak before a featherweight title, and everyone ranked above him has already lost to the champion. There is no way to justify the opinion that he doesn't deserve a title shot. 

I love how TJ Dillashaw is one of the most vocal Conor-hasn't-earned-his-shot-ists when he got his shot on a 1 fight win "streak" ... against Easton.

In fact his only high level win is Barao but "Conor hasn't faced a wrestler"

But Conor hasn't faced a wrestler.....He's on a 5 fight winstreak, beat two top 10 level guys and undeniably deserves a title shot....It's only once in a while a guy breaks onto the scene like McGregor, similar to how Jones did, Aldo did but very few others can say that.

With the top 10 being filled with wrestlers Lentz, Mendes, Lamas, Edgar, Bermudez and the many other wrestlers in the division for Conor to Have never faced one, may or MAY NOT be a coincidence and it's fair to believe that the UFC kept their lanky, flashy striker with all the promotional skills of a Ric Flair Chael Sonnen love child away from what is presumably his worst kind of matchup.    

I for one don't find it a coincidence they gave McGregor.......Denis Siver as his number 1 contenders bout and bumped Siver into the top 10 to make it look more legitimate.

That said, Aldo can wrestle better than Lamas or Lentz and do a hell of a lot more than Edgar or Mendes from top if he gets you there. He took down Florian, Korean Zombie, Mark Hominick, I'm pretty sure he will shoot some doubles on our Irishman given the chance. 

McGregor was babied to a title shot in my opinion, but he also earned it and earned it more spectacularly than I could have expected.

Chad Mendes' road to the show after getting blown out of the cage the first time:

Cody McKenzie - wat?
Yaotzin Meza - ***?? <-- how were these two fights even sanctioned, would have never flown with the Swedish commission
Darren Elkins
Clay Guida
Nik Lentz - who was also bumped up to the top 10 3 minutes after his fight with Mendes was announced

The last 3 fighters being the exact same thing as giving Conor a striker. All of them mediocre to bad strikers (if anything Siver's wrestling is better than their striking) who were forced to wrestle with a dude who's leaps and bounds better than them at their forte (and relatively only weapon).

So that's 2 under #40s (how the **** does the #1 contender fight 2 under 40s in a row???), two stylistically-tailored non-top 10s and one barely top 10 and also stylistically-tailored opponent.

Why? A mixture of circumstances, opportunity and the UFC feeling like the only opponent of Aldo's they could really market was Chad Mendes.

Did anyone complain about him getting the shot? No (neither did I by the way). That's how the business works, when you've got a champ with absolutely no competition in the division and millions of dollars are riding on that one guy who you can sell, can you blame the UFC for doing that?

Frankie Edgar's been in the 145 division for 2.5 years, how the **** have he and Mendes not fought yet, while each of them has faced very weird opposition during that time? Because the UFC needs them both as viable contenders for a champ who's cleaned out the division. 

Why isn't anyone crying buckets over that? Or over Mendes' path to contention? They rustle less feathers is why. There's absolutely no difference between how Conor got to fight for the belt and how Mendes did. You know what, there are a few differences; Conor hasn't already been beat by him via brutal first round KO and at least Conor single handedly created the situation where the UFC WANT to "protect" him until he gets the shot. Mendes was protected by default, because he was "the best they have in a ****** up situation" (from a marketing POV). At least Conor HAS fought someone who was deep into the top 10 before they were scheduled to fight. At least none of Conor's opponents have been Cody ******* McKenzie.

* Edited at 05.28.2015, 4:14 AM ET *

You make valid points of which I actually wholeheartedly agree with, but my jimmies are neither in a bunch or rustled and I still stand by my point that they intentionally made it to where he would not fight a wrestler. I'm not saying he doesn't deserve a title shot, or that he didn't fight high enough caliber fighters....I think he did/does on both accounts. I can still make the criticism and observation he was protected by the UFC in which matchups he was given and I am disappointed he never fought a wrestler in the top 10, I am also excited and thankful he's fighting Aldo.

To that I agree and I'm not worried either ... he'll have to face both Edgar and Mendes as soon as he finishes Aldo ;)

Dan Severn did have a win though when he fought Coleman at UFC 12.  He beat Shamrock at UFC 9.

I think he meant UFC streak before the fight. 

His UFC win streak was 4 when he faced Coleman but he "broke" that streak by fighting outside the UFC.

I guess you can have an endless debate as to if those fights "break" his UFC streak or not, but it wouldn't be an important one. Both ways are legit.