'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
#2 Best: Blachowicz becomes an unlikely UFC champion
Who is the most unlikely UFC champion of all time? Before last night, you would probably have had to say Michael Bisping. ‘The Count’ was always considered a great fighter, but for a long time it seemed like he wouldn’t come close to a title shot, let alone winning the UFC Middleweight title itself.
But Bisping – at the tail end of his career at the age of 37 – was able to knock out the heavily favoured Luke Rockhold to claim the gold. Well, after last night, the UFC may have a more unlikely champion than the Brit.
Jan Blachowicz debuted in the UFC with a win over Ilir Latifi, but midway through 2017, the Polish fighter was just 2-4 in the promotion. And at that point he was already 34 years old! The likelihood of him ever being in title contention at Light-Heavyweight – let alone holding UFC gold – was preposterous.
And yet after UFC 253, ‘The Prince of Cieszyn’ is the new UFC Light-Heavyweight champion. And not only that, but he won the title in style, too.
Blachowicz was an underdog against Dominick Reyes – who came as close as anyone to dethroning longtime UFC champ Jon Jones earlier this year. But he took the fight to ‘The Devastator’ from the off, breaking him down with shots to the body before finally landing a killer left hand in the second round.
Reyes was horribly stunned by the punch, his legs turned to rubber and he went down, and seconds later Blachowicz had his hand raised.
Quite how the Pole has been able to improve so much at such an advanced age – for a UFC fighter – is anyone’s guess, but he’s done it and he deserves his spot at the top of the 205lbs mountain. The only question now is how long he can hold onto his title.
#2 Worst: The event’s slow start leaves fans pining for Las Vegas
UFC 253 was the promotion’s first event on Abu Dhabi’s ‘Fight Island’ since July. And while it looked no different to any other UFC show outwardly, it quickly became obvious that this wasn’t taking place in the UFC APEX in Las Vegas.
Those APEX shows of course use the UFC’s smaller Octagon – with a diameter of 25 feet – whereas the shows on Fight Island use the larger, 30 foot Octagon. So was anyone really surprised when 6 of the first 8 fights last night went to a decision and weren’t exactly inspiring viewing?
Put simply, it should be obvious to any fan – and to the UFC themselves – that the smaller Octagon guarantees far more action than the larger one. So why not make the switch permanent? After all, we’ve seen some truly incredible fights and shows at the APEX over the past few weeks.
Now, with the next 4 UFC events on Fight Island, we’re probably going to be in for some slower shows. And that’s just sad by anyone’s standards.
#3 Best: Royval and Kara-France save the show
With three fights remaining on the card, UFC 253 was looking like a major letdown. The aforementioned 6 decisions in 8 fights meant for a much slower pace, and the two fights that opened the main card – Hakeem Dawodu vs. Zubaira Tukhugov and Ketlen Vieira vs. Sijara Eubanks – were skippable at best.
Thankfully though, Flyweights Brandon Royval and Ka Kara-France decided to change all that. The two men went to war from the off, with Kara-France dropping Royval literally in the opening seconds of the first round before ‘Raw Dawg’ returned the favour moments later.
From there, the two men exchanged huge strikes, takedowns and submission attempts until finally, Royval caught ‘Don’t Blink’ in a tight guillotine choke to coax out a tap in the second round.
Did the fight benefit from following a series of slower ones? Perhaps, but even so, Royval and Kara-France put on a show in every possible way last night. They were each awarded a $50k bonus from the UFC for their efforts following the event, and lord knows few fighters have deserved it more. This fight was awesome.
