The best and worst from UFC 223

UFC 223 was always going to be a somewhat odd event – losing the big main event of Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson was gutting but the strange replacement of Khabib vs. Max Holloway only gave it a more bizarre tone and obviously that continued with the McGregor-related shenanigans late last week that decimated the card overall.

In the end – with Holloway declared medically unfit and Paul Felder and Anthony Pettis both ruled out too - the outright crazy main event of Khabib vs. Al Iaquinta seemed somehow to fit the whole debacle. It wasn’t the deepest card of the year but UFC 223 still delivered some good – and some bad – points. Here are six of them.

#1 Best: Khabib is a star and he might be unstoppable

Khabib's fight with Al Iaquinta was largely one-sided

Sure, he didn’t win it in the way he might’ve hoped, but Khabib Nurmagomedov is finally the undisputed UFC Lightweight champion despite not actually beating either of the last two men to hold the title. But realistically, is anyone going to argue that the Dagestani isn’t the best 155lbs fighter in the world right now? It’s probably doubtful.

Nurmagomedov has run through everyone he’s been faced with in the UFC since his debut in 2012 – from Rafael Dos Anjos and Michael Johnson to Edson Barboza and now Al Iaquinta, none of them seemed capable of handling the insane grappling game and improved striking of ‘The Eagle’. The best part for the UFC is that the fans seem to be catching on, too. Despite last night’s event taking place in Iaquinta’s New York stomping ground, the more popular fighter appeared to be Khabib.

So after Iaquinta had nothing for him, who’s next for the new champion? Logic would suggest – particularly with Conor McGregor likely sidelined for a while – that the Tony Ferguson fight would have to be made again, with everyone keeping their fingers crossed that the fifth booking of the match would actually go ahead. Nurmagomedov himself called out Georges St-Pierre last night but I just don’t see that happening, so to me, Ferguson clearly makes the most sense.

Either way, it doesn’t matter – everyone now views Nurmagomedov as the world’s best at 155lbs and after last night – even if it was against a late replacement – it seems that there’s light at the end of the post-McGregor tunnel at Lightweight.

#1 Worst: McGregor’s rampage ruined the card

Sure, UFC 223 suffered a lot on paper when it lost its Nurmagomedov/Ferguson main event, but a card of Nurmagomedov/Holloway, Rose Namajunas/Joanna Jedrzejczyk, Calvin Kattar/Renato Moicano, Anthony Pettis/Michael Chiesa and Paul Felder/Al Iaquinta still sounded like probably the strongest UFC PPV of 2018 on paper at least. In the end though what we got was largely middling.

Sure, Zabit Magomedsharipov vs. Kyle Bochniak turned out to be fantastic, but the other addition to the main card – Joe Lauzon vs. Chris Gruetzemacher – didn’t offer a lot and the prelim card was pretty weak too. And there’s only one man to blame for that, of course – Conor McGregor.

McGregor’s ludicrous rampage not only cost us three fights on this card (Chiesa/Pettis, Brandon Moreno/Ray Borg and Artem Lobov/Alex Caceres) but more to the point, the former two of those fights were going to be contested by top ten ranked fighters, meaning the card had far more gravitas for everyone watching.

Even if you ignore the other implications that McGregor’s behaviour may have had on his own career, the future of the UFC in New York, and obviously the careers of Chiesa and Borg, the fact that this card was downgraded massively by his assault on the UFC’s bus was very frustrating, and made it a memorable event largely for the wrong reasons.

#2 Best: Namajunas keeps it fresh in the Strawweight division

Rose Namajunas defended her Strawweight title after a tough rematch with Joanna Jedrzejczyk

It was a close fight in the end – I had it 48-47 – but when all was said and done, Rose Namajunas picked up a unanimous decision win over former champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk to retain her UFC Women’s Strawweight title.

The story of the fight was that for the first two rounds, Namajunas’ movement prevented Jedrzejczyk from using her favourite weapons – her jab and her left hook – to set up her trademark combinations and allowed the champion to land cleaner counters, but as the fight went on, Joanna’s leg kicks slowed Rose down enough to make her somewhat of an easier target. But when it came down to it, Namajunas edged the fifth round to win the fight.

Not only was the fight entertaining, but the result means much fresher fights in the future for the Strawweight division as a whole. Prior to losing her title, Jedrzejczyk had made five successful defences, and those fights were largely one-sided, meaning if she’d beaten Namajunas, the only future fights for her would’ve been tricky-to-sell rematches.

Namajunas, on the other hand, has yet to face Jessica Andrade and Claudia Gadelha, and while she has fought Karolina Kowalkiewicz and Tecia Torres previously, they were both very close fights. Basically, Namajunas retaining the title ensures fresh matches at 115lbs down the line, and that’s only a good thing.

#2 Worst: Joe Rogan has a bad night

Joe Rogan had a questionable night on commentary

UFC colour commentator Joe Rogan has been a staple of UFC broadcasts now for well over a decade – he made his debut with the company at UFC 17! – but while he has provided plenty of entertainment over the years, his tendency to try to sell a certain narrative for a fight – regardless of the action taking place in the cage – is sometimes jarring to the point of distraction.

Last night was one of those nights. It started during the Magomedsharipov/Bochniak fight, when it felt like Rogan was simply overselling the skills of the Dagestani even if it was a tremendous showing from him. In the Namajunas/Jedrzejczyk fight it seemed like he was over-valuing the work of Rose early in the fight and Joanna later in the fight, and in the main event, he bafflingly decided to play down the striking of Khabib Nurmagomedov despite ‘The Eagle’ clearly using his jab to dominate a supposedly better striker in Al Iaquinta.

With the fantastic Jimmy Smith now aboard the UFC and the likes of Paul Felder and Dan Hardy improving all the time as colour commentators, after last night I can’t be the only one thinking that the end of the road for Rogan can’t be far off. It was jarring when the UFC canned Mike Goldberg at the end of 2016 but now he’s barely missed and I could see the same thing for Rogan at some point in the future too.

#3 Best: Magomedsharipov and Bochniak put on a classic

Zabit Magomedsharipov and Kyle Bochniak put on a classic

Elevated to the main card when the show lost Michael Chiesa vs. Anthony Pettis, the fight between Zabit Magomedsharipov and Kyle Bochniak didn’t seem to promise a lot outside of a likely squash for the Dagestani fighter. Magomedsharipov was coming in with two UFC finishes to his name and was on a 10-fight win streak, while Bochniak was just 2-2 in his UFC career and had never looked like a possible contender.

The announcers seemed to be expecting the same and there was a clear gap in skill between the two, with Magomedsharipov using his length, speed and kicks to largely outstrike Bochniak, but what Bochniak lacked in skill, he made up for with sheer heart. Lesser fighters would’ve crumpled under Magomedsharipov’s assault but Bochniak kept on pushing forward and swinging heavy punches, even taunting him at points despite being badly hurt.

In the end, it was Magomedsharipov who appeared to be tiring towards the end of the fight while Bochniak simply would not stop. The fight ended in a unanimous decision for Magomedsharipov but thanks to Bochniak’s heart it was an instant classic, earning a standing ovation from the Brooklyn fans and a $50k bonus for both men from the UFC. On a night largely full of dull fights, this was by far the most outstanding match and both men deserve a ton of kudos.

#3 Worst: Joe Lauzon’s time is up

It's probably time for Joe Lauzon to retire

Father Time catches up with every fighter eventually and this year alone we’ve seen the likes of Thiago Alves and Cat Zingano downed by younger, rising stars, but in those two examples, the fighters that beat them (Curtis Millender and Ketlen Vieira) seem to have bright futures ahead of them. In the case of Joe Lauzon last night, he was destroyed by Chris Gruetzemacher – a fighter who had lost his previous two fights and is a million miles away from title contention.

This was Lauzon’s third loss in a row, and his second by TKO. His heart kept him in the fight to an extent as Gruetzemacher was unable to put him down – his corner smartly stopped the fight after a horrific second round – but it’s hard to see any fighter take that kind of damage. Lauzon also didn’t look like he was in the same physical shape that he once was, and it’s hardly surprising really.

‘J-Lau’ is a fighter who’s been competing in the UFC for 12 years now, and he’s had some absolute wars during his 26-fight tenure. Prior to his UFC run, he’d already had 16 professional fights and this bout with Gruetzemacher was his 42nd.

To be quite frank, it’s time for Lauzon to hang it up. He’s put on some tremendously entertaining fights over the years but it’s hard to see a fighter with such intelligence away from the cage put himself through such punishment when he’s clearly got nothing left in the tank. Who really wants to see another fight like last night’s from him?

Edited by Arvind Sriram