It’s good to be back!

There has been quite a bit going on in the last few weeks. We’ve got a lot to discuss from UFC 276, plus tonight’s main event, so let’s get cracking.

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Alex Pereira, title contender

It is clearly unfair for the UFC’s middleweights, who are trying to scale the mountain. But to paraphrase William Money, “fair’s got nothing to do with it.”

While some may argue that MMA doesn’t qualify as a sport (really they are just being too smart), it’s a sport where the outside-the-arena influences have a significant impact on in-cage work. Now, this is true for many sports, usually in small ways. Stars in basketball get fouls called more often, that sort of thing. In MMA, it’s simply much more overt. The power of your narrative will allow the other stuff to flow about you as water, to help you get where you want to go. Although it’s not fair, this is true for everyone. Pereira is fortunate to have the best luck. But the truth is, you also make your own luck, and no one else at 185 is doing so.

When such questions arise, I think about Leon Edwards. While some may feel it is long overdue for Old Leon to get his chance at the title of welterweight, I disagree. He’s getting it exactly when he deserved it, because he has proven incapable of making people care, and while being a great fighter is all well and good, get you a man that can do both. Leon couldn’t, and so he gets the title shot when there aren’t other options. That’s how it works. And because that is frankly true for anyone, it also is kind of fair, even if it’s a tough pill to swallow.

All that being said, if Pereira clobbers Adesanya when they fight (an extremely real possibility), it’s going to be hilarious that there are probably eight other middleweights in the world who can beat him. Then again, this is a division Michael Bisping once reigned over, so it’s not exactly a new phenomenon for 185.

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Israel Adesanya‘s snoozer

The Crypto Bonus is not going to any of the top fighters on every card. It’s going the best fighters and, coincidentally, many of them have laid eggs recently. Like Adesanya.

First of all, I’m not here to say Adesanya is bad. He quite obviously is the best middleweight on the planet and one of the best fighters, full stop. He is also boring. We don’t have to pretend he’s not to earn internet points or anything. If you’re one of the people who has been getting irate at the backlash toward Adesanya for UFC 276, I would humbly suggest to you that it is OK to want more from your favorite fighters than simply winning. Adesanya’s UFC fights are not the only reason fandom exists. That’s not picking on him, it’s stating a fact.

Adesanya is a dull fighter due to his nature of relying on his opponents for entertainment. Adesanya believes that winning is the most important thing. He avoids engagements and pick shots and points fights unless an opponent runs headlong towards him. His ability to blow up opponents means people don’t run headlong at Adesanya anymore. That leaves Adesanya the choice to either win comfortable, uninteresting snoozers, or to accept a little more risk to deliver something more to the fans. It’s clear that he chose the latter, which is fine. But again, it’s also OK for fans to not like it.

Now, the Izzy Stans will be screaming at Jared Cannonier. Sure, Jared has his parts to play, but the reason Izzy gets heat is because his name is in the marquee. Fans pay hundreds to see something. Adesanya is not giving the spectacle they expected. He looks as though he was just coasting through. If fans shelled out for a Formula 1 race only to watch Max Verstappen win while never getting out of third gear because no one else could get out of second, well, there would be complaints. This is the constant tension between fans and athletes. It’s not new, but it’s also completely reasonable.

I’ll finish this rant with a few odds and ends.

1. This is one of those problems that exists now, but as time passes will lessen in importance. In 20 years, people will just look back at the resume, and think less about the disengaged performances.
2. While Adesanya’s style is minimizing risk, there is also a good argument that it increases overall risk because it allows dangerous fighters to hang around for 25 minutes and try to land one big shot. This is the same thing that Pereira killed Adesanya in their second fight. It could be the reason he loses his title.
3. There’s a real cost to being boring. Adesanya, one of the most prominent stars of the sport, isn’t doing enough to deliver the highlights. Wins are the currency of the realm for MMA, but popularity is a close second, and Adesanya is sacrificing the latter to keep up the former.

So in summation, it would be a lot cooler if Izzy did more dope stuff, but he’s probably not going to so get used to it, and if you’re Stanning Izzy, dare to dream bigger.

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Alexander Volkanovski

Let’s start here: Alexander Volkanovski is probably the best fighter in the world and very possibly the best fighter that has ever competed in MMA. Although he still has a lot of work ahead, he is well on his path to becoming the featherweight champion (like defeating Max Holloway), That being said, I used to like the man and now the more he talks, the less I enjoy him. Volkanovski’s problem is more about personalities. He would probably be open to a beer, but a long conversation wouldn’t go down well. I believe that this is something that has become more prominent with Volkanovski as he settles into his role.

This might seem strange, but Volkanovski looks very similar to Michael Jordan. However, he lacks the charisma and cool. People love Jordan but if you watched The Last Dance, the only thing I could think was, “Man, this dude is legitimately crazy and an ass and would be awful to be around if you cared about things other than winning.” Volkanovski has a little of that going. His whole post-fight speech this past weekend about people doubting him and all that was so off-putting. You mean, like who doubted your abilities? Some people on the internet? You were a -200 favorite! This means that people didn’t have any doubts about you. That’s the sort of thing hyper-competitive people do, and while that is great for success, it’s means I probably don’t really want to have a beer with you.

I feel similarly about the move to 155. I understand it completely, and some of this isn’t his fault, but this is a dude who spent years telling everyone that he didn’t want to keep fighting Max over and over again, he wanted to defend his belt and be an active champion. Well, keep that same energy. He’s beaten exactly three people in the UFC’s rankings. This is not enough to clean out a division. Do that, then we can talk about lightweight. He could do it in one year if he just wanted to go all out.

This is my opinion. If you like Volkanovski, have at it. It is a joy to watch the man fight. His fighting skills are amazing. He is a master of the microphone. I enjoy his performances more if he stops being a chilled dude that doesn’t care what others think. Same with Adesanya, as a matter of fact. Both of them seem to have changed from being unbothered in their early days to having chips on their shoulders now that they are the world champions. That’s not something I like.

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Charles Oliveira vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov

Charles Oliveira, another champion has been less than stellar lately on the mic. But this is still A+ stuff. This is the low-hanging fruit. However, it just means Khabib is delicious and ripe. Khabib has been MMA’s Michael Jordan for many years. If the circumstances are right, he would return to fight in one last bout. And if Chucky Olives defeats Islam, then that would be the perfect circumstance. Oliveira is disappointed to learn that Makhachev will bring him back, should they ever be able to fight. The man is right where he belongs.

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Ian Garry

It did, actually. I’m never been super high on Garry, primarily because he’s a defensive liability, but Gabriel Green is a tough dude and Garry looked exceptional. Although his defense remains a concern, Garry will have to face someone with the same length and weight as him. However, the kid’s boxing skills are impressive and undoubtedly improving every day. If he keeps this up, I think he can crack the top-10 of the division, though I still have doubts about his title aspirations.

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Israel Adesanya’s walkout

Fortunately, this article answers all your questions.

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Rankings

The MMA Fighting Global Rankings is the only set that matters. Conor has been eliminated and Hooker barely holds on. (And will be when the rankings update next Wednesday). My personal rankings haven’t had any of those men in them for months now, and I’ve tried to convince my compatriots to shelve them, to no avail. Rest assured that I am still fighting for the cause.

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The Battle of the Rafaels

I’d say the particulars of this bout favor Rafael dos Anjos pretty heavily. Rafael Fiziev will fight for the first time in this bout. He has been through five rounds numerous times. That’s especially helpful since RDA’s pressuring style is even more effective over 25 minutes. The former champion will be the true Rafael if they are in the APEX small cage. If he were a younger man I would pick him easily, but Father Time’s presence is a real threat. Fiziev only Deebos the former champion.

Fiziev has two options. He can either clobber RDA early with a big shot, as Eddie Alvarez did, or he can stay on his bike to pick off RDA while cutting the cage. While avoiding too many body kicks, RDA will be able to bring Fiziev to the fence if he is successful. I have no idea if he can do it, but I’m stoked to see him give it a shot.

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Thanks for reading and thank you for everyone who sent in Tweets! Are you looking for answers to questions that are at least partially related to combat sport? Then you’re in luck, because you can send your Hot Tweets to me, @JedKMeshew, and I will answer them! Doesn’t matter if they’re topical or insane. Send them to me and I’ll answer the ones I like the most. Let’s laugh.