Woodley said it best, "it was like a bad dream." From the moment he sat back on that half-assed guillotine in the first round, to him virtually doing nothing to scramble from bottom, it was a wrap. He looked distant, like he'd rather be rapping in a studio or driving a nice car, basically anything other than fighting the pressure forward style of Usman. Woodley had literally no spirit in the fight, and as someone who's fought before, I might be a critic, but I rarely desire nor wish to vocalize questioning a fighter's heart, especially at that level. But the lack of response to almost anything Usman did by Woodley was tough to watch. He threw few punches (which comes as no surprise). He backed up, put his back on the cage willingly, almost never circled off the cage, and paid for habits he's formed in his last 3 of 4 title fights against Thompson, and Maia. Made little effort to scramble from bottom once taken down. Made small effort to escape when mounted minus locking his hands from bottom and a few single bridges. For all the wrestling work he claimed to do with Askren, he countered no clinching from Usman with his own takedowns, couldn't stop Usman's takedowns....it was like Askren coming to join him left him less prepared to grapple than in any of his previous fights I've seen.
Perhaps it was Rocky 3 come to life: champ begins to enjoy what fighting allows him to do elsewhere and loses his taste for the preparation necessary to stop every hungry challenger coveting what you have. Usman came in as he said he would and Woodley looked to fade as soon as that first round guillotine attempt failed. Woodley took little damage but seemed to honestly wilt under the top game of Usman who wasn't exactly devastating from top nor did he land much face/head punishment in terms of strikes/punches/elbows. It was a hard performance to understand nor anticipate happening frankly. I feel bummed that my brain seems obsessed with determining why Woodley did so little rathern than what all Usman did, but that's where I'm at.
Munhoz gave me my wish and KO'd Garbrandt who now should take quite awhile off from fighting. 3 violent stoppage losses in a row is no good for anyone's brain, regardless of dumb @$$ traits like "grit" "heart" et cetera that people who don't fight don't understand are terrible for a fighter's long term health and career. Garbrandt came across as the same one-dimensional fighter who predictably goes into kill mode when hurt but now lost to an even less vaunted power puncher in Munhoz. Munhoz had to really land quite a few punches to put the hurt Garbrandt down. The ever increasing evidence of a fading chin that once gone will not and does not return.
Diego Sanchez trashed Mickey Gall who has squandered a gimme situation of a UFC career start by fighting CM Punk and beating Sage Northcutt but this fight looked incapable of dealing with even the most basic MMA situation like cross body/side mount with your feet walked up the cage but unable to even escape from there. He did virtually nothing while Sanchez circled to his back, cleared the whizzer and mat returned him. Sanchez is by no means a real 170 lber, and it's time for Gall to switch camps, pick up wins on the regional circuit and decide if this is really what he wants to do for a living after that "performance." IF he wasn't smart enough to take Sanchez serious as a veteran he should go to the smaller shows and hone his craft. If he's really that incapable in those basic mma situations with obvious go to responses and escapes then he should also go to the smaller shows and hone his craft.
Zhang fought to another lackluster decision. Torres is a much much much more competent opponent than the opponent faced in her debut, but still barely pulled out a win relying on that trash Women's MMA head-arm takedown that almost twice got her back taken and cost her top position. Zhang looked hittable on the feet and barely able to advance position on the ground despite Torres doing little more than figure-four'ing the leg in lockdown and keeping an underhook. Zhang's inability to deal with this low grade resistance is not inspiring much confidence in her alleged BJJ brown belt they touted in the commentary.
Askren....well....what to say? For all his talk about Kron's debut being unimpressive, Askren got head to toe ceiling end over end slammed by Lawler and very nearly finished. The unfortunate stoppage by Dean was that...unfortunate. It's interesting how they'll let you take insane punishment from all manner of attacks to the skull but will stop a choke a few seconds in....out of fear? Protection? It doesn't seem consistent to be honest. They'll let you get slammed literally vertical spike tombstone piledriver style then repeatedly hit in the skull and face but oh no! You're maybe being choked, better stop is early to be safe....I don't get it.
Walker landed his first strike attempt of the night and lights out'd Cirkunov who now has lost to the 3 dangerous strikers he's faced (Oezdemir and Teixeira, and LHW is a dangerous division even with the "non" dangerous strikers, am I right? They all hit hard at that weight class).
Stamann picked up a super boring win after being unwilling to shoot or chain wrestle for much of the fight.
Zabit could've had a coming out party over upper tier opposition but chose to Babe Ruth the win in the closing seconds by raising his hand/finger, and looked decidedly human in this fight. I don't think he ever really wobbled Stephens, seemed winded at the start of the third round despite it not being an overly taxing fight, but he's kept a busy schedule so perhaps repeated weight cuts in short turn arounds are to blame? I wanted a better showing as a real leap frog up the food chain for him, but this fight also made him look more human so perhaps he won't have as much trouble getting another top 10 opponent booked.
Shabazyan made use of the Travis Browne downward elbows that seem borderline illegal as they're supposed to be defined but clubbed in the area near the ear/temple of his opponent for a stoppage off the first shot as he turned his opponent's takedown attempt into a single leg.
Chiasson put a nice 3 piece combo with some accurate punching to put down Mazany who was bereft after the stoppage in the cage. For having only 3 pro fights, looked good at her new home at bantamweight. She should ignore the dumb@$$ women at 145 telling her to stay at 145 because they need contenders. That's not her problem. Now that she's coming into her pro career, she's probably found her professional weight class. It's not her problem 145 basically has almost no actual real 145 lb fighters and instead has been puffed up 135'ers and the like imported into the UFC as cannon fodder for Cyborg...and surprise, Cyborg lost as soon as she faced a woman remotely her size and level of tenacity.
At any rate, what an odd event overall. From the inexplicable performance to Woodley whereby it was hard to tell if Usman is that dominating or if Woodley just didn't do anything to stop him, to the most obviously fixed outcome fight I've seen in a very long time in what was Jones vs Smith where Smith spent portion of the fight (EXTENDED PORTIONS) in complete control of an opponent refusing to do almost anything, but Jones REFUSED to land any strikes to his head of even lock up a submission.
It looked fake. It seemed fake. It looked almost nothing like any Jones fight I've ever seen.
Anyway, somehow this double title fight night felt anything but, but that's the fight game: mercurial, unpredictable, often ugly, sometimes majestic, and at times wildly unpredictable for just those reasons.
Who's next for Usman? No one wants to see Woodley get an immediate rematch and after all the rigamarole with Woodley over various perceived slights, I don't think he will, nor is it compelling by any way shape or form. Not to mention despite Woodley mentioning how dominant he was at champ (was he? he had a draw, barely beat Thompson, had an atrocious fight against Mai, and stopped Till who no one gave much shot at due to a complete lack of a ground game and barely being able to make weight in his own weight class).
Jones - who does he fight? There's really no one. Other than Santos. The good thing is...Santos will absolutely not fight whatever the &*^% that was that Smith did. Santos will literally hit every video game combo button mashing nonsensical move that comes to him on the fly and perhaps after so many static, xyz paced fights Jones has been used to fighting on his terms, that is the most dangerous style for Jones to face now - a fighter who will simply not allow him to fight at the pace and timing and range that he wishes to.
Garbrandt should take quite awhile off from fighting. He's had 3 violent stoppage losses in a row.
Walker now needs a top 10 opponent to see where he fits with the other mainstays of the division. Zhang continues to uninspire but do to the lack of depth of the divisions will get a title shot by year's end if she continues to win.
Askren - I guess you give him Darren Till? He won't fight Woodley. He beat Lawler. I hope they give him Maia, because for us hardcore fans it's a dream wrestling vs JiuJitsu match-up, and after the near death experience Lawler gave him, Askren would prefer a punch averse opponent I'm sure. I'd really like to see Askren fight Rory MacDonald to be honest, but that's a no go. Askren's bend at the waist lock hands for double leg nearly cost him the fight, as Lawler stunned him with that knee to the point that he Daniel Cormier style tossed Askren like no one ever has before. Askren vs Usman down the road is an interesting fight. Perhaps you give him Covington. It's interesting because this is a grappling centric time for the welterweight division and Askren arrives having to face either very dangerous one-dimensional strikers like Lawler or Till or pressure forward grinding grapplers like Usman and Covington. I pray to God they don't pair him with Thompson because that would literally be the most boring fight of all time in any era of MMA. Fun fact, I won my first MMA fight by bulldog choke, so I have something in common with the Troll King Askren.
Perhaps it was Rocky 3 come to life: champ begins to enjoy what fighting allows him to do elsewhere and loses his taste for the preparation necessary to stop every hungry challenger coveting what you have. Usman came in as he said he would and Woodley looked to fade as soon as that first round guillotine attempt failed. Woodley took little damage but seemed to honestly wilt under the top game of Usman who wasn't exactly devastating from top nor did he land much face/head punishment in terms of strikes/punches/elbows. It was a hard performance to understand nor anticipate happening frankly. I feel bummed that my brain seems obsessed with determining why Woodley did so little rathern than what all Usman did, but that's where I'm at.
Munhoz gave me my wish and KO'd Garbrandt who now should take quite awhile off from fighting. 3 violent stoppage losses in a row is no good for anyone's brain, regardless of dumb @$$ traits like "grit" "heart" et cetera that people who don't fight don't understand are terrible for a fighter's long term health and career. Garbrandt came across as the same one-dimensional fighter who predictably goes into kill mode when hurt but now lost to an even less vaunted power puncher in Munhoz. Munhoz had to really land quite a few punches to put the hurt Garbrandt down. The ever increasing evidence of a fading chin that once gone will not and does not return.
Diego Sanchez trashed Mickey Gall who has squandered a gimme situation of a UFC career start by fighting CM Punk and beating Sage Northcutt but this fight looked incapable of dealing with even the most basic MMA situation like cross body/side mount with your feet walked up the cage but unable to even escape from there. He did virtually nothing while Sanchez circled to his back, cleared the whizzer and mat returned him. Sanchez is by no means a real 170 lber, and it's time for Gall to switch camps, pick up wins on the regional circuit and decide if this is really what he wants to do for a living after that "performance." IF he wasn't smart enough to take Sanchez serious as a veteran he should go to the smaller shows and hone his craft. If he's really that incapable in those basic mma situations with obvious go to responses and escapes then he should also go to the smaller shows and hone his craft.
Zhang fought to another lackluster decision. Torres is a much much much more competent opponent than the opponent faced in her debut, but still barely pulled out a win relying on that trash Women's MMA head-arm takedown that almost twice got her back taken and cost her top position. Zhang looked hittable on the feet and barely able to advance position on the ground despite Torres doing little more than figure-four'ing the leg in lockdown and keeping an underhook. Zhang's inability to deal with this low grade resistance is not inspiring much confidence in her alleged BJJ brown belt they touted in the commentary.
Askren....well....what to say? For all his talk about Kron's debut being unimpressive, Askren got head to toe ceiling end over end slammed by Lawler and very nearly finished. The unfortunate stoppage by Dean was that...unfortunate. It's interesting how they'll let you take insane punishment from all manner of attacks to the skull but will stop a choke a few seconds in....out of fear? Protection? It doesn't seem consistent to be honest. They'll let you get slammed literally vertical spike tombstone piledriver style then repeatedly hit in the skull and face but oh no! You're maybe being choked, better stop is early to be safe....I don't get it.
Walker landed his first strike attempt of the night and lights out'd Cirkunov who now has lost to the 3 dangerous strikers he's faced (Oezdemir and Teixeira, and LHW is a dangerous division even with the "non" dangerous strikers, am I right? They all hit hard at that weight class).
Stamann picked up a super boring win after being unwilling to shoot or chain wrestle for much of the fight.
Zabit could've had a coming out party over upper tier opposition but chose to Babe Ruth the win in the closing seconds by raising his hand/finger, and looked decidedly human in this fight. I don't think he ever really wobbled Stephens, seemed winded at the start of the third round despite it not being an overly taxing fight, but he's kept a busy schedule so perhaps repeated weight cuts in short turn arounds are to blame? I wanted a better showing as a real leap frog up the food chain for him, but this fight also made him look more human so perhaps he won't have as much trouble getting another top 10 opponent booked.
Shabazyan made use of the Travis Browne downward elbows that seem borderline illegal as they're supposed to be defined but clubbed in the area near the ear/temple of his opponent for a stoppage off the first shot as he turned his opponent's takedown attempt into a single leg.
Chiasson put a nice 3 piece combo with some accurate punching to put down Mazany who was bereft after the stoppage in the cage. For having only 3 pro fights, looked good at her new home at bantamweight. She should ignore the dumb@$$ women at 145 telling her to stay at 145 because they need contenders. That's not her problem. Now that she's coming into her pro career, she's probably found her professional weight class. It's not her problem 145 basically has almost no actual real 145 lb fighters and instead has been puffed up 135'ers and the like imported into the UFC as cannon fodder for Cyborg...and surprise, Cyborg lost as soon as she faced a woman remotely her size and level of tenacity.
At any rate, what an odd event overall. From the inexplicable performance to Woodley whereby it was hard to tell if Usman is that dominating or if Woodley just didn't do anything to stop him, to the most obviously fixed outcome fight I've seen in a very long time in what was Jones vs Smith where Smith spent portion of the fight (EXTENDED PORTIONS) in complete control of an opponent refusing to do almost anything, but Jones REFUSED to land any strikes to his head of even lock up a submission.
It looked fake. It seemed fake. It looked almost nothing like any Jones fight I've ever seen.
Anyway, somehow this double title fight night felt anything but, but that's the fight game: mercurial, unpredictable, often ugly, sometimes majestic, and at times wildly unpredictable for just those reasons.
Who's next for Usman? No one wants to see Woodley get an immediate rematch and after all the rigamarole with Woodley over various perceived slights, I don't think he will, nor is it compelling by any way shape or form. Not to mention despite Woodley mentioning how dominant he was at champ (was he? he had a draw, barely beat Thompson, had an atrocious fight against Mai, and stopped Till who no one gave much shot at due to a complete lack of a ground game and barely being able to make weight in his own weight class).
Jones - who does he fight? There's really no one. Other than Santos. The good thing is...Santos will absolutely not fight whatever the &*^% that was that Smith did. Santos will literally hit every video game combo button mashing nonsensical move that comes to him on the fly and perhaps after so many static, xyz paced fights Jones has been used to fighting on his terms, that is the most dangerous style for Jones to face now - a fighter who will simply not allow him to fight at the pace and timing and range that he wishes to.
Garbrandt should take quite awhile off from fighting. He's had 3 violent stoppage losses in a row.
Walker now needs a top 10 opponent to see where he fits with the other mainstays of the division. Zhang continues to uninspire but do to the lack of depth of the divisions will get a title shot by year's end if she continues to win.
Askren - I guess you give him Darren Till? He won't fight Woodley. He beat Lawler. I hope they give him Maia, because for us hardcore fans it's a dream wrestling vs JiuJitsu match-up, and after the near death experience Lawler gave him, Askren would prefer a punch averse opponent I'm sure. I'd really like to see Askren fight Rory MacDonald to be honest, but that's a no go. Askren's bend at the waist lock hands for double leg nearly cost him the fight, as Lawler stunned him with that knee to the point that he Daniel Cormier style tossed Askren like no one ever has before. Askren vs Usman down the road is an interesting fight. Perhaps you give him Covington. It's interesting because this is a grappling centric time for the welterweight division and Askren arrives having to face either very dangerous one-dimensional strikers like Lawler or Till or pressure forward grinding grapplers like Usman and Covington. I pray to God they don't pair him with Thompson because that would literally be the most boring fight of all time in any era of MMA. Fun fact, I won my first MMA fight by bulldog choke, so I have something in common with the Troll King Askren.
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