It may have been a week predominated by the Conor McGregor ‘retirement’ fiasco, but the UFC 197 card that featured two of the world’s top pound for pound table toppers managed to engender sufficient interest amidst fight fans to hold its own. And by the time the week was done, the debate pervading the MMA world had entirely morphed.
From all the buzz surrounding the fate of the UFC 200 card, headless though it may be as of now, the question plaguing everybody’s mind had assumed a different hue altogether once UFC 197 had played out; “was Jon Jones still the pound for pound #1 fighter in the world, or had Demetrious Johnson finally overtaken him in that discussion?”
Ranging from the arrival of fresh contenders to the much heralded, albeit anti-climatic, return of the prodigal son, UFC 197 was replete with talking points that emerged throughout the entirety of the card.
On that note, here are the 5 most salient talking points that were unearthed as UFC 197 adds itself to the burgeoning list of solid cards that have been put out by the company in the last year.
#1 The Next Mexican Superstar?
Bilingual, talented and representing a rags to riches success story that would tug at anyone’s heart, Yair Rodriguez’s outrageous jumping roundhouse head kick knockout of fellow Featherweight prospect Andre Fili could well end up charting his course to stardom in the UFC.
Although Cain Velasquex has previously been used to target the Mexican fan demographic, the fact that he is half American, his frequent injuries and the irony that sprang forth from Fabricio Werdum acclimatizing better to Mexican conditions than him at UFC 188, has somewhat derailed the Velasquez train for now.
With his all action, and rather wild style and entertaining style of fighting, Yair Rodriguez could yet be the perfect plan B for the UFC.
Indeed, a fit and firing Cain Velasquez would indeed be a gold mine for the company in terms of appealing to a Mexican population taken predominantly with boxing due to Canelo Alvarez, but having Yair Rodriguex to fall back on would certainly not hurt the UFC’s cause.
Coupled with his thus far unblemished 4-0 record in the company, Yair Rodriguez is also well and truly on his way to establishing himself as a top prospect in one of the most talked about divisions in the UFC today, the Featherweights.
#2 Flying High from Down Under
Right from the advent of the UFC, the two nations that have predominated the landscape of MMA have been the USA and Brazil, with both countries producing the bulk of the fighters populating the roster of the company.
Off late though, perhaps as a result of the burgeoning popularity of the sport, fighters from other countries that have thus far not been widely represented in the company have begun to come forth and make a name for themselves.
UFC Middleweight and Australian Robert Whittaker is one such fighter.
Steadily working himself up the rankings with a 5 fight win streak, the latest one coming through his unanimous decision victory over Brazilian Rafael Natal at UFC 197, the 25 year old Whittaker has both the required talent and the luxury of time on his side to make a lasting impression.
Now ranked #6 in the Middleweight division, and with a number of aging stars arguably in the twilight of their careers ahead of him in the hierarchy, it would seem that Whittaker is on track to break into the top 5 and hoist up Australian MMA’s flag in the UFC while he’s at it.
#3 A Spectacular Fall from Grace
While the return of Jon Jones to the Octagon after 16 months may have hogged the media limelight leading up to the event, it was widely speculated that Anthony Pettis vs Edson Barboza would be the fight that would steal the show.
Naturally, given both men’s extensive taek wan do background, everyone was expecting a stand-up war between the two men that are recognized as perhaps the finest exponents of the kicking game in the UFC today.
While the fight itself played out completely on the feet, the audience were left somewhat disappointed that only half an end of the bargain was lived up to; while Edson Barboza put on a clinic in technical striking, Anthony Pettis failed to show up for the third fight in a row.
Ever since the beating that Rafael Dos Anjos put on him, Anthony Pettis has looked a pale shadow of the man that beat Gilbert Melendez or Benson Henderson twice. And despite all the ‘edge’ that he reflected in the build-up to the fight, his eventual performance was a far cry from justifying it.
So while it is onward and upward for Edson Barboza in hope of edging closer to a title shot, a dejected walk back to the drawing room for the the third consecutive time is what awaits former Lightweight Champion Anthony Pettis.
#4 The Pound for Pound Debate
In a card that was billed as featuring the consensus top two pound for pound fighters in the co-main and main events, the feeling entering UFC 197 was that this was a day for both Demetrious Johnson and Jon Jones to confirm that notion yet again.
But as always, in the fight game, a caveat is rather more common than in other sports.
While Demetrious Johnson and Jon Jones both arrived at Las Vegas the number 2 and number 1 pound for pound fighters respectively, Johnson’s dominant win and Jones’ less than impressive showing has given fresh voice to a notion only held in the most hardcore of MMA circles till now – that the rankings should in fact be reversed.
The emphatic manner in which Johnson dispatched Henry Cejudo, the last remaining challenging stylistic match-up for him in his division, stood out in stark contrast with with how Jones was dragged through the travails of all 5 rounds against Ovince St.Preux.
In a time where Conor McGregor’s attempts to engage in cavalier superfights in heavier weight divisions have been frowned upon by the discerning audience, it was indeed telling that the verdict at the end of the day as to what next for Demetrious Johnson, was almost unanimously a rematch with Bantamweight Champion Dominick Cruz.
#5 Jones Jones v2.0 – Better or Bust?
With it looking highly likely that the company’s stance on pulling Conor McGregor from the UFC 200 card is set in stone, the rematch between Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier could well end up being a very viable alternative for the headliner of the card.
Pending Daniel Cormier’s medical clearance for his leg injury, and the UFC signing off on the fight, the second installment of one of MMA’s most heated and bitter rivalries could be re-ignited this July. Only this time, the script could well be flipped on its head.
While the pre-suspension Jon Jones looked nigh unbeatable, much has been made out of how all the power lifting training during his hiatus might end up affecting his performance in the cage. Jones himself may have been rather bullish about the whole issue in the lead up to UFC 197, but his eventual performance against Ovince St.Preux offered little in allaying those concerns.
Against a fighter who was written off as not even in Jones’ league, the number 1 pound for pound fighter in the world looked a shadow of his imperious former self.
Yes, perhaps ring rust does affect even the greatest of fighters, excepting the UFC Bantamweight Champion Dominick Cruz of course, but could Jones’ somewhat insipid performance be solely attributed to ring rust? Or was there indeed more than meets the eye to the situation as Daniel Cormier on commentary duty thought so?
Often times athletes and especially MMA fighters are extremely wary of their training regimes so as to maintain the exact formula that enables them to function at the optimum level. Did Jon Jones rock a smooth sailing boat by unnecessarily including power lifting into his training repertoire?
Or was his trigger-shy UFC 197 performance perfectly normal for a fighter that had not competed for almost a year and a half inside the Octagon?
Would Jon Jones end up reclaiming the Light Heavyweight Title that he, and most of the MMA world views as rightfully his, or will Daniel Cormier’s brave assertion that Jon Jones v2.0 is not as deadly as the original ultimately prove to be true?
It would seem time, and not too long mind you, will only tell.
