In a week otherwise predominated by the disappointing news of Daniel Cormier and Tony Ferguson pulling out of their respective fights, the UFC’s first ever event in Croatia presented yet another quiet reminder of the boundaries that are being traversed by the ever-growing sport.
And although it wasn’t exactly a talent stacked card in comparison with some of the events put out by the company of late, the event did bear it’s fair share of implications, especially for the Heavyweight division.
Featuring as many as 4 heavyweight bouts in the main card, it presents little surprise that the fallout from the event leaves us with a host of storylines that serve to spice up a division that could dearly do with some enlivening.
Ranging from the influx of fresh talent to the resurgence of former champions that were dismissively written-off, here are 5 talking points that were thrown up by the UFC Fight Night Card from the medieval haven of architecture that is the Croatian capital of Zagreb.
A French Revolution in the offing?
29 year-old French Cameroonian Francis ‘The Predator’ Ngannou – standing at an imposing 6 feet 4 inches of tall, lithe and athletic – has thus far distinguished himself in the UFC with two stoppages in two fights, without even having tasted the travails of the third round in either bout.
And unlike the somewhat agricultural scrap between Timothy Johnson and Marcin Tybura that preceded their bout, the fight between Ngannou and American Curtis Blaydes was surprisingly technical, with the intimidating Frenchman particularly impressing with his clinical striking, footwork and grappling skills.
Though make no mistake, Ngannou’s bread and butter seems to be his stand-up game as his crisp and well-chosen strikes had Bladyes on the defensive throughout the two rounds, before the doctor stepped in mercifully to end the fight on account of the American’s nastily swollen eye.
Although no where near the top of the Heavyweight Division as yet, the Predator could well be hunting down top 15 opponents and look to work his way up the Heavyweight Ladder in the future, should the promise evinced by his first 2 UFC fights indeed be a sign of things to come.
A Beastly Proposition
After adding a hapless Gabriel Gonzaga to his increasing list of victims on Sunday, Derrick Lewis has eclipsed UFC Superstar Conor McGregor as the fighter with the most number of knockouts to his name since the year 2014.
But unlike the Irishman, who did go to a judges decision once against Max Holloway in 2013, the Black Beast has never gone past the second round in any of his 8 fights in the UFC, be it in 6 of his victories or either of his defeats.
Derrick Lewis may never evolve into a highly technical fighter like Cain Velasquez or Frank Mir, but as far as providing the unpredictable kind of knockout entertainment that only heavyweights can, the Black Beast is certainly cast out of the same mould as a fighter like Roy Nelson.
Clearly a fighter that comes with the intention of knocking his opponent’s block off or willing to go out on his shield trying to do so, the impressive Performance of the Night bonus eliciting knockout of Gabriel Gonzaga should earn Derrick Lewis the shot at ‘Big Country’ that he has been angling for.
With UFC 200 rumoured to play host to the bout if it does get sanctioned, the audience can surely look forward to a rock’em sock’em encounter between two heavyweights with dynamite in their hands.
Back to the Drawing Board
He certainly has the cult of personality, the “mic skills” if you will, a mystery submission that no one can make heads or tails out of, fight changing power in both his hands and boatloads of confidence that he was indeed going to be the next UFC Heavyweight Champion of the world.
And up against Junior Dos Santos – who it was speculated was at his lowest ebb in the UFC and probably one punishing fight away from losing relevance in the title picture – Ben Rothwell’s camp was certainly making all the right noises leading up to their fight.
However, as the fight game proves time and again, unpredictability is interwoven with the very fabric that tailors the sport; perhaps not as much with the result in this case, but certainly through the manner of it.
While Junior Dos Santos resurrected his title aspirations with a dominant unanimous decision victory, it is back to the drawing board once again for Big Ben Rothwell.
Riding on a 4 fight win streak coming into this fight, it was expected that a victory here over a former champion in Junior Dos Santos would have quite possibly concretized the rising clamour for a title shot for Rothwell in the near future.
Now however, it remains to be seen if the burly, self-styled ‘King of Kenosha’ can recalibrate his compass and build yet another head of steam to make a run at the title; only this time, also ensuring that he doesn’t agonizingly fall at the final hurdle again.
An Impressive ‘Body’ of Work
Originally a fighter who is renowned for his all-guns blazing, stand-and-trade style of fighting that inducted him into the hearts of fans around the world, the overly cautious version of Junior dos Santos that was put away without much fuss by Alaistair Overeem in his previous fight sparked off furious speculation in the MMA world.
Did those wars against Cain Velasquez and Stipe Miocic take too much out of him? Can his chin still hold up against the incredible power that a heavyweight’s punch packs? Would a loss against Ben Rothwell, especially an uncompetitive one, possibly spell the end of his career?
It must however be mentioned that it has evolved into quite a trend with the heavyweights – as Mark Hunt, Andrei Arlovski and even Fabricio Werdum would attest – that a once- written off fighter often catches his second wind and makes a comeback, stronger than ever.
And if ever there was a performance to suggest likewise for Junior dos Santos, it could very well be the boxing masterclass that he put on against Ben Rothwell in the main event on Sunday.
Maintaining distance immaculately by using his footwork throughout the five rounds to steer clear of the clinch, dos Santos picked apart Ben Rothwell with a multitude of body shots mixed in with the occasional blow to the head.
Clearly taken out of his element in being denied the clinch, Rothwell kept absorbing punishment by repeatedly wading forward in hope of closing the distance, playing right into dos Santos’ gameplan of sticking and moving.
Although Rothwell wasn’t knocked out, it was as emphatic a performance as anybody could have hoped for by dos Santos, with all three judges scoring the bout as a 5 rounds to nothing wash-out in favour of the Brazilian.
A visibly elated dos Santos then brought the curtain down on the nights proceedings by claiming that he feels ready for one more title run. On account of that performance, even the naysayers that were predicting his imminent retirement, would be hard-pressed to disagree.
The Beneficiary
Such is the nature of the loss that Rothwell suffered that it is surely bound to set him back at least a step or two in his quest for UFC gold. And despite a masterful performance, Junior dos Santos isn’t quite ready for the title shot either as he just seems to have turned the corner with his victory.
Furthermore, with perennial contender and former champion Cain Velasquez slated to fight Travis Browne at UFC 200, Sunday night’s results could well end up unwittingly favouring the cause of Dutch superstar, Alaistair Overeem.
Pending the result of the UFC 198 headliner between Stipe Miocic and Fabricio Werdum, Alaistair Overeem seems to have outlasted the the other potential suitors to the Heavyweight Title should he manage to successfully navigate the upcoming challenge of fellow Jackson-Wink Teammate Andrei Arlovski.
However given the unpredictability in heavyweight bouts, succinctly encapsulated by the none other than a resurgent Junior dos Santos, it would take a brave man to bet either way.
Nevertheless, few in the MMA world would disagree with the premise that it could only bode well for the sport that the UFC Heavyweight division seems wide open yet again.
