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.