So UFC 209 is in the books and it was a decidedly mixed bag. We got some good fights, some fun action, but also one of the worst main events in recent memory. The card undoubtedly would've been better had we still got Tony Ferguson vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov as our co-main event, but, well, we'll get into that in a second.
As with all of the UFC's big cards, there will be plenty of talking points coming away from it. Here's five to start us off.
#1 Where now for Khabib?
When it was announced late on Friday night that Khabib Nurmagomedov had been hospitalised due to a botched weight cut, forcing the cancellation of his fight with Tony Ferguson, the first obvious thought was disappointment.
This was the third time that Khabib/Ferguson has had to be cancelled and it was clearly the best fight on this card on paper at least.
The next thing on everyone's lips was that Conor McGregor had supposedly predicted this. He hadn't, of course, but he had said that one of the reasons he wasn't interested in fighting Khabib was that he was a "pull-out merchant".
It's hard to disagree with that now.
So where from here? Personally, if the UFC can get Conor back in sooner rather than later - a big if admittedly - I'd just look to make a fight between him and Ferguson for the full Lightweight title, forgetting about the Interim one that would’ve been on the line here.
At the end of the day, this cancellation wasn't a luck thing, it was on Khabib, and the UFC has punished fighters who missed weight before. Khabib could find himself in another contender’s fight if this ends up being the path the UFC takes. Perhaps the winner of the upcoming Edson Barboza/Beneil Dariush match could end up facing the Dagestani.
If they can't get a deal done with Conor though, then they may as well re-book the Khabib/Ferguson Interim title fight for UFC 211 or even 210, a card which right now only has four main card bouts confirmed. It’s relatively short notice, but if Khabib can get healthy again then I don’t see why not.
After all, with Ramadan approaching – which means Khabib won’t be fighting – the window of time is relatively small to finally get the fight done.
Fourth time’s the charm maybe?
#2 Was Darren Elkins's comeback the best in UFC history?
Darren Elkins came into last night’s fight with Mirsad Bektic as the biggest underdog on the card.
A tough veteran who's been around since 2010, Elkins has done and seen it all in the UFC. He's turned away prospects like Diego Brandao and Chas Skelly, but he's also been pretty firmly beaten before by top contenders like Chad Mendes and Charles Oliveira.
Last night he looked to be heading the same way. The feeling coming in was that Bektic was a possible future title contender, if not a title holder. With his ruthless brand of striking, takedowns and ground strikes, he was largely recognised as the best prospect in the division.
The first round especially was disastrous for Elkins. He was being lit up on the feet and when Bektic took him down, he put a horrendous beating on him with his trademark ground-and-pound.
By the end of the round, Elkins was a bloody mess.
The second and third rounds didn't get much better for him, but he was able to hang in there, gaining some good positions at times and slowly but surely, Bektic looked like he was getting tired.
As the clock ticked down in the third round, Elkins managed to take Bektic's back while the two jockeyed for position on the cage, and from there he landed a heavy right hand, another right and then a wild kick to the head that sent Bektic down face-first.
Unbelievably, the hot prospect was unconscious. Elkins gave a bloody, primal roar in celebration - an image that sums up his UFC career. To me, this was one of the best comebacks in UFC history - up there with the improbable wins from Tim Boetsch and Mike Russow over Yushin Okami and Todd Duffee.
Elkins won't ever contend for the title, but while he can pull out wins like this, he'll always be in or around the top of the division as the toughest gatekeeper around. This was one of the most memorable wins in some time.
#3 It’s time for Rashad to hang it up
So Dan Kelly might be becoming a bit of a cult favourite, affectionally known as 'Dadbod', and he's also on a four-fight win streak and is 6-1 in the UFC overall. No offence to Dan, however, he just isn't the sort of fighter that should be able to beat Rashad Evans.
That's why I think after last night, Rashad ought to hang it up.
It wasn't that he looked awful per say, but the Rashad Evans that destroyed the likes of Chuck Liddell and Forrest Griffin would've dismantled Kelly with no issues. Back then he was a monster – quick hands, thunderous power and a strong wrestling game to bring everything together.
This Rashad looks gunshy, can't seem to pull the trigger, and even with a speed advantage over Kelly, he still clearly lost two of the three rounds. It's not the first time either - he was the same against Ryan Bader and was knocked out quickly by Glover Teixeira before he even had the chance to really get out of first gear.
The last time he looked anything close to good was his 2013 win over Chael Sonnen.
That isn't even touching on his history with injuries and the health issue that kept him out of two fights last year. The drop to 185lbs hasn’t seemed to help him at all, judging on this fight and I can’t think for the life of me who the UFC could pair him with next.
He's a legend, has nothing left to prove, and should probably go into the UFC Hall of Fame. But he shouldn't be losing to the likes of Dan Kelly, no offence to Dan, and that's why it's time for him to hang it up.
#4 Who says the UFC doesn't push younger fighters?
One of the bigger criticisms of the UFC lately is that they don't push younger fighters as possible stars, which leads to the void at the top of the card that we've seen recently. Last night that wasn't the case.
When Khabib/Ferguson was called off the UFC could easily have elevated Alistair Overeem vs. Mark Hunt to the co-main event slot as they are big names who’ve topped cards before, or even Evans vs. Kelly, as Rashad is a former champ.
Instead, they moved Lando Vannata - a raw prospect with star potential - into the slot against former TUFer David Teymur.
While Vannata fought well, it was actually Teymur who made a name for himself, as he outstruck and eventually out grappled Vannata to take the win. He then showed quite a bit of charisma in the post-fight interview, too.
The key now is how they're treated going forward. There's no reason why the UFC can't keep pushing Vannata, but they should also look to showcase Teymur. We've seen too many times in the past - see Bryan Barbarena - where a fighter picks up a big upset win and is then ignored.
Hopefully, they don't do that with Teymur. He could be a solid star for the UFC's European cards and ought to be pushed as such after last night’s showcase.
#5 Where next for Welterweight?
When all was said and done, I scored Woodley/Thompson II a 47-47 draw. There, I said it.
The fight, though, was terrible. Massive periods of inactivity polluted the fight and while the first meeting felt like a tactical war, this was just boring. Rather than pulling the trigger more after the five rounds in November, both men seemed even more tentative.
This was perhaps the worst UFC main event since UFC 129’s putrid GSP/Shields affair, or even UFC 119’s disastrous mess between Frank Mir and Mirko Cro Cop. At least that one had a brutal knockout, though!
Thompson for me clearly took rounds 1, 2 and 4. Woodley's third round wasn't great either but in the fifth, he almost put Wonderboy away again, enough for a 10-8 in my eyes.
I don't see which of the other rounds he won, but as weird as this sounds, I don't care. I'm just glad we can move on from this now, even if Woodley didn't really warrant the win. Maybe an argument could be made for rounds 1 and 2 being 10-10, which would give Woodley the win at 49-47, but obviously, 10-10’s are very rare.
Where next, though?
With GSP confirmed for the Michael Bisping fight, the next top contender at WW should be the winner of Demian Maia vs. Jorge Masvidal at UFC 211. That is unless Woodley gets his way.
Woodley keeps calling for a "money fight" which probably - now GSP is out of the picture - means Nick Diaz. I'm with Dana White, though, for me, Woodley doesn't warrant that, and I'm a fan of his.
He needs to build his own popularity before he can call for a non-contender like Diaz, and a performance like last night's won't do that. A dominant win over Maia or Masvidal though? That might do the trick. As Dana keeps saying, make yourself the money fight, Tyron!
Anything else from UFC 209 you'd like to discuss? Tell us!
Until next time....
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