At GCC 8 many fans will be looking beyond the headline of the main event and towards a sleeper of a grudge match which will see rising heavyweight contender Aleksandr Baranov (2-0) go head to head with Ross Hanson (3-1). However, there is one man who many fans are overlooking in the process of all this newfound social media hype. Jay Aguero (3-1) recently has come off an impressive unanimous decision win over JaySon Francis who fell to a GCC record of 2-2. Aguero's rep Jen Rivera has notably stated on social media that she believes that her client Jay Aguero is the unspoken number one contender in the heavyweight division.
However, due to the recent hype surround the Aleksandr Baranov and Ross Hanson feud many fans are clamoring to see the winner go on to fight Alejandro Rivera for the heavyweight title. MMA fans have a track record of showing recency bias and it's possible that Aguero falls victim to it. Jay Aguero has fought Alejandro Rivera once before, a fight that saw Aguero on the losing end of a unanimous decision at the end of three rounds. While Jay had earned a lot of praise for his toughness, heart and ability to survive and onslaught of nasty leg kicks that tore his shins apart, the current GCC heavyweight champion Alejandro Rivera left no doubts as to who was the superior fighter on that night.
While the GCC President Fazan Khan is reserved in his approach on rematches (there has only been two in the promotions history), this one would certainly be deserved. Also interesting to note in the two previous rematches lightweights Rob Jones and Awut Somaskul both were victorious after losing their initial match ups to former lightweight champion, Cayden Redfield. History has shown that the second fight could look very different then the first.
I had contacted the GCC President's office and obtained the following statement from Mr. Fazan Khan.
''Jay Aguero? Yes, my friend. He's a great talent, very exciting to see what the future holds for that young man.'' He further added. ''We do consider Jay Aguero as the top contender at heavyweight but I think our next move depends on the end result of this Baranov and Hanson matchup this Friday Night. I am going to have to sit down with winner and talk about somethings with Jen Rivera, maybe Jay Aguero directly if we can reach him and really hash this thing out. At the end of the day, the most deserving will be rewarded with the next title shot. Only time will tell.''
While this isn't the most encouraging thing for Jay and his team to hear from Fazan Khan it does mean that he's still at the forefront of the discussion which is a great sign. On social media, here are the fans general consensus on where each man in the title discussions stands.
Ross Hanson - If he won, he would have the best record. However, his worth ethic has long been called into question and he hasn't had any stand out wins on his resume.
Aleksandr Baranov - The fans love the idea of two elite strikers going head to head at heavyweight and is the freshest face in the division. However, Aleksandr has yet to deliver on any knockouts or dominate performances as of yet.
Jay Aguero - He has the best resume in the heavyweight discussion with a recent win over JaySon Francis. The only knock against him is that he's been there before and lost against the current world champion. The fact that Jay Aguero has been there before and on the losing end personally makes this match up even more intriguing to me. All signs point to the New Perfection being a new and improved mixed martial artist.
At the end of the day, the man who has the most to gain and simultaneously the most to lose isn't going to be Aleksandr Baranov or Ross Hanson at GCC 8.
By: Jocelyn Edwards, GCC news.