Answer: Who cares?

via cdn2.sbnation.com

After UFC 144 many people were shocked that Anthony Pettis seems to have skipped over the Diaz/Miller winner as the #1 contender. Going into the fight I assumed that if they both won that Pettis would get the next shot. What surprises me is the animosity that has seemed to come with this decision. Many people are questioning the logic behind giving a guy who is 2-1 in the UFC with wins over Stephens and Lauzon. My response to that is simply, "who cares?"

Lets say you end up running into your celebrity crush somewhere(for me its Keri Hilson) and by some act of God(or Flying Spaghetti Monster) she is flirting with you. Do you question how your 7/10 ass could deserve someone that is a 10/10? Of course not, you just hope you don't screw anything up. Unlike my probable failings with Keri, the UFC isn't screwing this up and is making a smart decision to give Anthony Pettis the title shot

If my "who cares" isn't good enough here are some legitimate reasons why giving him the title shot is the smart move:


• Ranking - Anthony Pettis is a top 5-7 LW in the UFC and as we have seen over the past 15 months they can all beat each other on any given night.
• Marketability - Henderson vs. Pettis I was one of the best fights I have ever seen. The mental image of this fight getting put on a summer UFC on Fox card makes me tingle in my Sexyama zones. It has two guys, with exciting styles, and the Ben is the defending champion against the guy that took his title before. All we need now is for it to be leaked that they're brothers.
  
• Timing - UFC on Fox 3 is in May. Even if no one gets hurt(and Nate Diaz is the only possible challenger of those two) the earliest that fight would happen is in August. Do you really want to wait until mid to late summer to see Ben Henderson fight again? I sure don't.
  
• Other Fights - It is BY FAR(/Rogan voice) the most interesting fight out of the top LWs for Ben Henderson. Edgar is a no, Maynard just got two shots, Miller and Guida already got beat by Benson. The only guy is Nate, but he's tied up like we've already said

So when it's broken down Anthony Pettis it is clear he is deserving of a title shot. Now all Zuffa has to do is not screw it up.