Dana White refuses elite heavyweight title shot for a pretty annoying reason

Apparently the huge heavyweight clash at UFC Dublin won't have title implications after all.

Stipe Miocic is one of the best MMA heavyweights on planet Earth. On October 24, the number three ranked fighter will take on in-form knockout artist Ben Rothwell in Dublin's 3Arena, but a win is unlikely to earn Miocic a shot at the belt. Miocic (13-2, 7-2 UFC) proved he belongs at the upper echelon of the division in his last two performances by taking former champion Junior dos Santos the distance and knocking out the granite-chinned Mark Hunt. However, his stellar performances inside the cage aren't enough for the UFC big wigs, as he explained to Submission Radio.

"I’m just not popular enough. That’s what it is. [The UFC brass] go off popularity and what the fans want. Apparently the fans didn’t want to see me fight… I need to get more popular.” "Yeah, I need to get more popular. I wasn't popular enough and so it's pretty much, I gotta get popular." "I don't know. I mean it must be like a High School thing, you know? I mean that's pretty much what it was. So I mean, I gotta go out there and keep beating ass."

A good win over a top-ranked fighter like Ben Rothwell on the main card of an event that will garner a lot of interest should go along way to improve his popularity. We're pulling for you, Stipe.