A Few Other Things

I'm adding a second blog post today because I wanted to talk about a few other things but didn't want the "How Heavyweight Should Play Out" post to go on too long, especially with unrelated subject matter.
Firstly let's talk about Stephen A. Smith. He made comments implying that Cowboy Cerrone effectively gave up in his fight with Conor McGregor and that we didn't learn anything about Conor from this fight. When people in the know called him out on his lack of knowledge he just kept digging a hole for himself. If he said "I" instead of "we learned nothing" that comment may not have been so bad. But he undermined Conor's skill, game plan and fight IQ with the other comment, not to mention disrespecting Cowboy. Cowboy has an enviable record in MMA, most wins with Zuffa, most headkick knockouts in the UFC. Cowboy loves to fight. Luke Thomas, in pointing out why we should all respect him for showing up, reminded me of the fact that Cowboy Cerrone fought five times in 364 days and three of those are above him in the UFC lightweight rankings. He beat the young prospect Alex Hernandez in January of last year. Then he went on to beat Al Iaquinta, who went five rounds with Khabib on a day's notice after training for a three round fight. After that he lost to Tony Ferguson but it was due to a doctor's stoppage because he blew his nose between rounds causing fluid to build up in his injured face, closing his eye. He wasn't knocked out. Then he got knocked out by Justin Gaethje. Then he fought Conor Mcgregor. For Smith to imply that man just gave up comes across as ignorant and disrespectful to both Conor and Cowboy. Matt Sera suggested Smith was talking like a guy who never got punched in the face and it clicked with me as to why Smith couldn't understand how Cowboy was beaten so quickly by Conor. Anyway, ESPN need to have someone more knowledgeable on MMA than him on their presenting team in my humble opinion.
I didn't see the Rafael Dos Anjos v Michael Chiesa fight at the weekend. I was surprised when I saw the result. I was thinking about how clear Chiesa's height and reach advantge was to see when they faced off after weighing in. But I was still confident RDA could win. Afterall, he beat the likes of Nate Diaz and Robbie Lawlor. But Chiesa got the decision and called out Colby Covington. RDA is seen as the gatekeeper in the division, a label he said he's happy with, so this result adds another name into the title mix. Usman and Masvidal should get it on for the title. You have Leon Edwards v Tyron Woodley in March. So Covington was a smart call out from Chiesa. Covington is recovering from injury giving Chiesa time to prepare for one of the top contenders, assuming he gets that match. Plus, a Masvidal v McGregor fight could happen too, further stalling Chiesa's title ambitions along with Colby, Edwards, and Woodley being ahead of him in the queue.
Chris Cyborg is the women's featherweight champion in Bellator after beating Julia Budd. I wonder are there any prospects that could prevent her from holding the title for a long time? Sergio Pettis won on his Bellator debut too. Do these results show a gap in class between fighters who have fought in the UFC and the best Bellator has to offer outside of that I wonder? Apart from Douglas Lima, perhaps.
On the issue of Pettis, he's fighting at 135lbs in Bellator. Brian "Pikeman" Moore is fighting in that division. I was thinking if he fought Pettis and won it'd be a sure fire way to get him noticed in the title conversation. I'm considering commenting on his Instagram or tweeting him about it to see what he says.

How Heavyweight Should Play Out

Curtis Blaydes beat Junior Dos Santos at UFC Raleigh at the weekend. Curtis Blaydes has been calling for a title shot as a result of beating a former champion. In fairness, when he couldn't take JDS down and wrestle him, he out boxed one of the best boxers in the heavyweight division. JDS was frustrated by Blaydes movement and distance management and seemed to be resorting to swinging wild uppercuts and haymakers that were missing their target trying to get a ko. Blaydes is a top prospect and has youth on his side but he was beaten convincingly twice by Francis Ngannou. Francis is next in line to fight for the title when the Stipe v Cormier thing sorts itself out. But Francis has a fight with Rosenstruik coming up. Rozenstruik has knockout power that could put a spanner in the works. But, assuming Francis does get past Rozenstruik, it would be very disrespectful of the UFC not to give Francis the next shot ahead of Blaydes since the only reasons he's been inactive was because he couldn't get a fight lined up and a Stipe v Cormier rubber match seems to be what the UFC wants before anything else in terms of a heavyweight title fight.
I'm not fully tuned in to whats going on regarding Stipe and DC but here's what I make of it: DC is due to retire soon. He wasn't supposed to fight beyond forty as per his own wishes. He beat Stipe for the title and wanted a big money fight against Brock Lesnar before retiring. Eventually Brock Lesnar decided he didn't want to fight in the UFC anymore and DC agreed to a rematch with Stipe. Stipe won the rematch, obviously, and DC is one of those guys who wants to avenge every loss so wants to get that belt back from Stipe before retiring. Stipe felt disrespected that he only got a rematch because Brock Lesnar wasn't available, because the DC win was controversial in terms of eye pokes. Now that Stipe is champion again he's making DC wait, partly because DC made him wait for a rematch and partly because he's getting treatment for niggling injuries. All the while you have Curtis Blaydes and Francis Ngannou ready to take on both of them and Rozenstruik could be in the queue as well after fighting Ngannou. That's how I see it. I think they need to have a definite time line for Stipe v DC or that DC should retire (with plenty to be proud of in his career) and let the UFC get on with sorting out who should fight for the title against Stipe next.

UFC 246 - A Casual's View

I'll get to Conor McGregor v Cowboy but I want to talk about some of the other fights on the card first. Carlos Diego Ferriera looks to be a good prospect at lightweight. He submitted Anthony Pettis. Pettis has excellent grappling and is not easily submitted, as demonstrated in the Nate Diaz fight, but Ferriera got it done early in Round 2 - impressive! The Weasle was saying he and Cowboy should fight next as they're both coming off losses. It could be fought at 170 too. I was disappointed for Maycee Barber but I had an inkling that Roxanne Modafferi's experience would cause problems for Barber. She did the right thing by being ruthless and capitalising on Barber's torn ACL. Still though, Barber hung on for a decision which shows her toughness. But, as I see it, Modafferi was dominant before the injury. Barber will learn from this and come back stronger. Conor McGregor came back from a cruciate injury and look where he is now. She needs to allow it to heal. She's young and early in her career so she has time on her hands. I was wondering why Holly Holm got co-main in last week's post and it seems my doubts about it deserving to be there were justified, judging by the poor fight.
It was classic misdirection by Conor McGregor. All the focus was on him going back to Crumlin boxing club and bringing his former coach into the camp to see what punches could and could not work in MMA. There were photos and video clips online of him grappling and Dillon Danis saying how skilled Conor is at Jiu Jitsu. There was the talk that Cowboy wanted to stand and bang to give the fans a show. The talk of if it ends inside the first 2 that it'd be Conor winning and Cowboy would have the opportunity after that. Conor, confident as ever, hoping Cowboy would be able to challenge him for a few rounds so that he could get a competitive start to his season and get rounds in before his next fight. So we all had our ideas of what to expect from the fight. But I'm sure nobody outside of Conor's training camp saw those shoulders coming! He launched at Cerrone immediately with a huge left, which Cerrone ducked under and went to change levels. Conor probably going for Masvidal's fastest ko record. Cerrone tried to grab Conor's midsection and Conor's momentum meant he effectively struck Cerrone with his hip causing him to get back up and clinch. Then Conor stunned him with shoulder strikes, breaking his nose. Cerrone was coming off two bad knockouts by Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje, thus tenderising his face and it seemed Conor knew the shoulders would take advantage of this. I think other fighters will be drilling this from now on. Cerrone missed with a high kick and Conor landed with one of his own, knocking cowboy to the ground. Conor said he was going in, in a rush but he heard a shout from his corner to pick his shots. Conor duly did once he had control of cowboy's hips on the ground. Referee Herb Dean gave cowboy every chance to fight back but there was nothing cowboy could do. All this in 40 seconds!
Conor said that was him not at his best and that he needs to make a few adjustments. Well, with a bit more activity in the octagon, those adjustments made and the right game plan, I believe he can beat Jorge Masvidal. But I want to see Masvidal v Usman next. That's a story for a different day. I think that the UFC 246 main event showed the gap between the top level fighters and the elite in the UFC.
Just one more thing I want to mention briefly. There's an event coming up in Raleigh North Carolina featuring Curtis Blaydes v Junior Dos Santos. I'm more looking forward to the fight below the Main Event - Rafael Dos Anjos v Michael Chiesa - to be honest, although I like the main. Two excellent grapplers, RDA and Chiesa. I hope it is a good battle on the ground. I expect RDA to win though because of his striking and muay thai style kicking.

UFC 246 and Cowboy's Limp

So the notorious returns to the octagon against Cerrone on Saturday. Plenty are saying Conor is sure to be victorious but I don't think the result is that certain. What happens if Conor is looking to assess Cowboy's rhythm and timing and gets caught with a head kick while adjusting to a 1-2 from Cowboy? Cowboy has great wrestling and jiu jitsu but, in fairness, Conor has been drilling wrestling since the camp for the Khabib fight, always drilling jiu jitsu and proved what a good clinch game he has in the Diaz rematch. I think Cowboy can upset the odds but hope Conor wins. Anyone who watched Embedded yesterday saw Cowboy's limp. He reckons he kicked the bag wrong or something and that it's nothing serious. But my expectation of the chances of a victory for Conor went up after seeing it. I tweeted asking what would happen if, hypothetically, Cowboy pulled out and another fighter got bumped up to save the main event but I didn't get a reply. I was thinking Anthony Pettis is there but he's scheduled at 155. But maybe he'd just not cut any weight in the last couple of days.
I wonder why Holly Holm is the co-main? She doesn't have the greatest record lately. But she seems to always be a draw since beating Rhonda Rousey. Pettis is facing Carlos Diego Ferreira. I don't know much about Ferreira to be honest but The Weasle is predicting a Ferreira victory, so he must be good. Further down the card the sexy Maycee Barber is facing the veteran Roxanne Modafferi. That should be an interesting fight. It's probably Barber's toughest test to date on her quest to become the youngest ever UFC champion.
On a slightly different note, my phone is breaking down and I can't afford a new one. I don't want to but I'm considering selling my Bellator Dublin ticket to finance a new phone. I'll put it off as long as I can. Hopefully it won't come to that. I don't want to miss the event.