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UFC 241 is in the books and what can you say? Simply put, the show was a brilliant night of MMA and a tremendous advert for the promotion. After some so-so cards recently, this one almost had to deliver and it most certainly did, despite a lot of the fights on offer going the distance.
So we have a new UFC Heavyweight champion in the form of Stipe Miocic, Nate Diaz is back and presumably won’t be vanishing again anytime soon, and we probably have a new top contender at 185lbs too. Whew.
Here are the best and worst moments from UFC 241: Cormier vs. Miocic 2.
#1 Best: Miocic is back on top
After the way Daniel Cormier turned his lights out in their first meeting last July, it was hard to see how Stipe Miocic could regain the title he lost back then in last night’s rematch. Cormier appeared to be just as strong and hard-hitting as him, but seemingly had a big advantage both in speed and in the clinch too.
The first three rounds appeared to tell the same story. Cormier was landing big shots on Miocic, who seemed one step behind throughout, and in the first round he even showed off his wrestling superiority by slamming the bigger man to the ground.
But something was different this time; for whatever reason, Miocic managed to absorb Cormier’s best shots, despite them seemingly landing just as cleanly as the knockout blows from their first fight.
And despite going into the 4th round likely three rounds behind, something curious began to happen. Miocic looked the fresher man despite taking more damage, and he began to dig shots to Cormier’s body, most notably some hard left hands.
Suddenly Cormier was the one who appeared to be in trouble. Soon after he got hurt by some big shots, Stipe sealed the deal.
This was a massive win for Miocic; not only did he become just the second man to KO Cormier – probably the first man to do it without the help of PEDs – but it was also his fifth win in a UFC Heavyweight title match, putting him behind only the legendary Randy Couture. Is he the best Heavyweight in MMA history? I’d still put Fedor Emelianenko at the top for now, but Stipe is definitely up there.
#1 Worst: Is this the end for DC?
On a show as good as this, it’s hard to find the ‘worst’ moments, so I’m actually going with a hypothetical here.
Daniel Cormier has always said that he would retire once he hit the age of 40, but he actually hit that milestone back in March and obviously still took last night’s fight with Stipe Miocic. Retiring on a second win over Miocic would’ve been nice for him, but will he actually hang it up after losing his title instead? I’m leaning towards yes.
For me, that’s only a bad thing for the UFC. Sure, Miocic winning is probably the result the promotion wanted here; for Cormier to retire with the title and Miocic likely regaining it later on would’ve been a bad look for the UFC, but ‘DC’ is also one of their most bankable stars. He’s never been the biggest box office draw, but he’s likeable, he’s a great ambassador for the sport and he knows how to build a fight.
Only Cormier and his family can really decide whether he’s definitely done, but I personally can’t see him entering the Octagon as an active fighter again, and that makes me a little sad.
Can you imagine what he could’ve achieved had he come into MMA a little earlier, rather than starting at the age of 30? As it is, he’ll go down as an all-time great regardless, and if this is the end, he’ll be missed – which makes his potential retirement the worst thing about this show.
#2 Best: The crazy war between Romero and Costa
On a show with so many amazing fights, the best thing on offer was definitely the Middleweight war between Yoel Romero and Paulo Costa. The two 185lbers – who resemble cartoon characters when it comes to their physiques – traded insane strikes for the full 15 minutes, and while it was Costa who came away with his hand raised, in a fight this good there’s no real loser.
‘The Eraser’ – who was making a huge step up from facing a fringe contender last time out in Uriah Hall to a proven elite-level Middleweight in Romero – showed that not only does he belong at the top of the division, but he can also thrive there, and with this win he should probably receive a shot at the winner of the upcoming Robert Whittaker/Israel Adesanya fight.
Can he win? He puts pressure on his opponents like few others, so there’s definitely a chance.
As for Romero, he fought an odd fight, allowing Costa to back him up and largely work him over in the first two rounds, but he did so much damage to the Brazilian in the third round that if the fight were being scored as a whole – as it was in PRIDE – then there’d have been a case for him winning.
Even with the current scoring system, there was an argument for the Cuban getting the nod due to his late second-round surge.
Basically then, this was exactly why MMA has become so popular; two super-athletes swinging huge punches at one another and somehow absorbing a ludicrous amount of punishment over 15 minutes. This was one of the best fights of 2019, point-blank.
#2 Worst: The fans booing Costa after his win
The lone major gripe I had with this show was the behavior of the fans in attendance at the Honda Center following the end of the Paulo Costa/Yoel Romero fight. After such an incredible fight, the Anaheim crowd should’ve been buzzing – but once Costa was announced as the winner, loud boos rained down on the Octagon and totally ruined what could’ve been a chance for ‘The Eraser’ to further establish himself as a star in his post-fight interview.
I’ve got nothing against fans booing; fighters who play a “heel” character such as Colby Covington or Chael Sonnen obviously revel in a negative reaction from the crowd, and in all honesty, I have no problem with fans who boo a dull fight or a period of inactivity during the action either. But the reaction to last night’s decision was ludicrous.
Sure, there was a case for Romero deserving the victory after he clearly took the third round – there was an argument for him winning the second due to his late work – but it was a close fight and personally I scored it 29-28 for Costa as did many others, so it was clearly not a robbery.
But more to the point, why boo Costa? It isn’t like he made the judging call, and the effort he’d just put into providing 15 minutes of wild action for the fans deserved far more respect.
In my opinion, the Anaheim fans should be ashamed of their reaction.
#3 Best: Diaz is back in business
At 34 years old and coming off three years of inactivity, there were plenty of questions around what exactly Nate Diaz would have left in the tank, even against a stylistically good opponent for him in Anthony Pettis.
Well, in the end, Diaz fans need not have worried. Stockton’s favourite son – apologies to his brother Nick – looked like he hadn’t lost a step as he clearly beat ‘Showtime’ to take a lopsided decision win, putting him back on the UFC map with a bang.
Pettis didn’t fight badly per se; he landed some huge shots on Diaz, but once again the TUF 5 winner showed off his phenomenal chin as he simply absorbed everything his opponent threw without a problem, and essentially forced ‘Showtime’ to wilt across the 3 rounds.
Diaz was too strong in the clinch, had the superior cardio and was able to put insane volume on the former Lightweight champion, hitting him with his trademark combinations from the pocket as Pettis simply couldn’t keep up.
There was even an argument for a stoppage in the third round as Diaz hit Pettis with a series of knees from the clinch that seemed to have him turning away from the fight, but the official allowed it to continue, not that it mattered really.
Diaz called out Jorge Masvidal post-fight and despite Masvidal having an argument for a title shot following his win over Ben Askren, a fight between him and Diaz sounds incredible. The best course of action for the UFC would be to put Diaz vs. Masvidal on the same card as a Kamaru Usman/Colby Covington title fight, but of course, that all leans on Diaz being firmly back in the fold. And as always with Diaz, the only thing that’s for sure...is nothing’s for sure.
