Fight Of The Year? & How Welterweight Should Play Out

Wow! What a fight the main event of UFC 245 was! I got to see it after all. They went for each other and neither backed down. Was that the fight of the year? It's a contender for me anyway. It was Colby's volume, heart, determination and toughness against Kamaru's power and technique. In the end power and technique won out. I'm so glad Kamaru was victorious because I don't like Colby. But Colby did at least earn a bit of respect for fighting through a broken jaw and making such a great fight of it. The first two rounds were too close to call for me. I couldn't see either fighter gain a distinct advantage so I thought 19-19 would be a fair score after two rounds. I now know never to keep your mouth open if you're in an exchange where you're getting punched on the chin. They reckon that's the main reason Colby's jaw broke, but fair dues again to him for fighting on. Kamaru got the upper hand in round three and was dominant for me. 29-28 Kamaru for me after round 3. Many people gave Colby round 4 but I thought it was very close and could have gone either way. Kamaru started to get dominant again as the round went on but he was stopped in his tracks a couple of times by Colby so you can give Colby the benefit of the doubt for that one. So, 38-38 going into 5. I saw it as a good round for Colby until he got caught by Kamaru. For me, two knock downs was enough to give the round to Kamaru if it went the distance. I can see how some thought it was an early stoppage. But perhaps the referee had known about Colby having an issue with his jaw at this stage and thought he didn't need anymore damage. Maybe Colby could've fought on but maybe he could just as easily been knocked down again because Kamaru had the measure of him by then. Great fight though. Two wrestlers knew they were evenly matched in that department so just tried to knock each other out. No take down attempts the whole fight. Kamaru said he saw a couple of opportunities to take Colby down but was determined to punch him in the face. He also said he was waiting to see if Colby would wrestle before engaging in it with him. The eye poke looked nasty and it was a good call to give Kamaru time and call in the doctor. The nut shot didn't look like a nut shot to be honest. It hit the belt area of the shorts so I think Kamaru got away with that one. There was a third time out where the ref called the two fighters together to tell them fight fair and no more time outs but I wasn't paying attention briefly so I don't know why that time out was called.
It looks like Masvidal will get the next shot at Kamaru for the title. That's a money fight because Masvidal is the BMF and breakout star of 2019. I was interested in seeing Leon Edwards getting a go but I found out Kamaru beat him by unanimous decision about five years ago. Edwards has been on a good win streak since then so it's no wonder Kamaru mentioned Leon as a potential next opponent. Geoff Neal needs to be considered in there too because of how he knocked Mike Perry out in round one. Perry hadn't been knocked out in the UFC before and gave Santiago Ponzinibbio some trouble. So that ko was impressive by Neal. Colby and Ponzinibbio are out for the moment so I think the UFC should try and make the Edwards v Woodley fight to see who faces the winner of Usman v Masvidal. You could do a Masvidal v Edwards fight anyway at some stage because of what happened backstage in London. Could Geoff Neal fight Robbie Lawlor, I wonder? That'd be a good test to see where Neal stands in the mix. Rafael Dos Anjos is fighting Michael Chiesa next and if Chiesa wins that it could throw another name into the title mix because RDA is seen as the gatekeeper of the division. But Chiesa, despite his excellent grappling, doesn't look like a major contender to me. I was thinking Vicente Luque is up there as well but Leon Edwards already beat him. The division is so stacked right now. When Ponzinibbio and Covington come back no one will be safe in the division. I think Colby can use Kamaru's pressure wrestling game plan as a blueprint for beating Tyron Woodley. Ponzinibbio has some serious punching power and to me he looks big in that division. On the strength of where things stand at the moment I see Usman, Edwards, Woodley, Neal, Masvidal, (and when they come back) Covington and Ponzinibbio as the main contenders. But you have Wonderboy, Luque and Lawlor in the mix as well. Conor v Cowboy is essentially a lightweight bout without the weight cut. That's why I don't see them needing to be mentioned.
A brief mention for some the other fights that went on at 245. I'm disappointed that Holloway lost his title but I did think it was possible. Volkanovski executed an intelligent game plan and basically stifled Max's momentum and used those powerful leg kicks as a potent weapon. Amanda Nunes said Germaine de Randamie's takedown defence got worse since they first fought. No surprise with the result of that fight. Jose Aldo lost on his bantamweight debut. Split decision. I didn't see the fight but many thought he won. Although the Weasle said Marlon Moraes deserved the win on the criteria that the judges are supposed to be looking for. I thought Jose would be too depleted for the division but he made weight and his chin held up to Moraes' best punches. I'm glad Jose did well.
Note: next Wednesday is Christmas Day so I won't be blogging.