I'd argue that if any of them deserved it more than those who actually received the shots, it's extremely marginal.
I disagree with Rampage deserving a shot over Rashad, Rampage was only one fight removed from his loss against Forrest, he had a win over Wanderlei but Wand was 1-4 over the past two years of his career including the loss to Rampage.
Rampage's shot vs Shoguns - wins over Jardine and Wanderlei vs wins over Coleman and Chuck, yeah, Rampage probably deserved it a little more but it's not that horrible an injustice. Had he not gone off to do A-team he might have got it.
Okami didn't have a huge claim to a title shot. I agree he should have got one, but his past two fights prior to that were Dean Lister and Evan Tanner. Okami would have got a shot on the back of beating Lister - was that a title eliminator?
Koscheck had wins over Trigg and Johnson - I don't really see that as overwhelmingly more impressive than Hardy's wins. I'd have rather Fitch got another shot than either of them personally, but again, the difference between Hardy and Koscheck is pretty marginal imo.
Edgar had wins over Griffin, Miller, Bocek and Fisher, and only one loss to Maynard, who is now a deserved challenger himself. Sanchez had Stephenson and a split over Guida. again, it's marginal.
The UFC isn't boxing and you're never going to see fighters just built up with perfect records to fight for the title, it just isn't going to happen. You generally get fighters getting title shots off atleast 2-3 quality wins, which with the varied nature of MMA, is about as good as you can expect right now, and that's realistically what tournaments would result in anyway. If anyone really really obviously deserves a shot, they get it.
I disagree with Rampage deserving a shot over Rashad, Rampage was only one fight removed from his loss against Forrest, he had a win over Wanderlei but Wand was 1-4 over the past two years of his career including the loss to Rampage.
Rampage's shot vs Shoguns - wins over Jardine and Wanderlei vs wins over Coleman and Chuck, yeah, Rampage probably deserved it a little more but it's not that horrible an injustice. Had he not gone off to do A-team he might have got it.
Okami didn't have a huge claim to a title shot. I agree he should have got one, but his past two fights prior to that were Dean Lister and Evan Tanner. Okami would have got a shot on the back of beating Lister - was that a title eliminator?
Koscheck had wins over Trigg and Johnson - I don't really see that as overwhelmingly more impressive than Hardy's wins. I'd have rather Fitch got another shot than either of them personally, but again, the difference between Hardy and Koscheck is pretty marginal imo.
Edgar had wins over Griffin, Miller, Bocek and Fisher, and only one loss to Maynard, who is now a deserved challenger himself. Sanchez had Stephenson and a split over Guida. again, it's marginal.
The UFC isn't boxing and you're never going to see fighters just built up with perfect records to fight for the title, it just isn't going to happen. You generally get fighters getting title shots off atleast 2-3 quality wins, which with the varied nature of MMA, is about as good as you can expect right now, and that's realistically what tournaments would result in anyway. If anyone really really obviously deserves a shot, they get it.