It’s been a big week. UFC 277 happened, with several very important outcomes taking place, and then the UFC announces Dustin Poirier vs. Michael Chandler. So let’s talk about all that, plus a brief mention of UFC Vegas 59 tonight.
After Kai Kara-France’s recent loss, how do you deal with him?
— Rose Skye (@ThatTransMMAFan) August 5, 2022
At UFC 277, Kara-France lost to Brandon Moreno for a second time, getting stopped in the third round by a brutal body kick. To make matters worse, KKF had been winning the round up to that point and looked to be in good position to avenge his 2019 loss to Moreno, until instead he was curled up in a ball on the ground. KKF is now in a tough spot due to MMA.
Kara-France, while still young and in peak form, doesn’t seem to be far from his goal of regaining the title. However, Moreno has only two victories over KKF so a New Zealander who wants to reclaim his undisputed title would have to win a lot more. Ultimately, that means there are two very clear next steps for Kara-France: 1) Pray like hell that Deiveson Figueiredo stays flyweight champion, and go fight Alexandre Pantoja.
Pantoja also fought at UFC 277 and had the best performance of the weekend, blowing the doors off poor Alex Perez. Pantoja now has three wins in a row, all over ranked opposition, and in truth, “Xander Pants” deserves a title fight. He will not get it due to the title situation, but KKF should make every effort to ensure that he gets one. If a few things go his way, he could be back in title contention sooner than most would think.
How many more fights must Magomed win in order to be awarded the title?
Should he wait for the Jiri/Glover/Jan thing is over or should he fight the winner of Hill/Santos (who he’s beat already)?
— Preston Kesselring (@Preston_K41) August 4, 2022
While Pantoja is getting a raw deal in the title shot conversation, no one is getting it worse than Ankalaev. Ankalaev has won nine consecutive fights, more than any other light heavyweight UFC fighter except Jon Jones. Think about that for a second. In a marquee division like 205 pounds, Ankalaev has done something only Jon Jones has done before. Ankalaev also stopped Anthony Smith in round two (albeit with an assist due to injury). By most reasonable measures, Ankalaev deserves the next light heavyweight title, but he’s most likely third in line behind Glover Teixeira and Jan Blachowicz simply due to the fact that they were previously champions.
Given just how exciting Jiri Prochazka vs. Glover was — it’s a lock for Fight of the Year, and legitimately in the conversation for greatest fight of all-time — I’m willing to accept the UFC running that one back. There is only one choice: Ankalaev vs. Blachowicz for a title eliminator fight. This is a terrible fight for Ankalaev but it’s how it works.
What’s your opinion on the women’s featherweight division of the BM? Can Amanda still claim the belt for a division that has no contender and no rankings? Is Kayla being pushed aside by them?
— Drifty Mo (@DriftyMo_MMA) August 4, 2022
Amanda Nunes reclaimed her bantamweight title at UFC 277, also reclaiming double-champ status in the process, since she remains the queen of a division that doesn’t exist, at least not in the UFC. It’s exceedingly dumb that the UFC is continuing this charade, but it’s not hurting anyone so I suppose it’s fine at the end of the day.
The truth is that the UFC doesn’t own Kayla Harrison. To paraphrase Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg: “If they were in the Harrison business, they’d be in the Harrison business.” The UFC had the chance to sign Kayla Harrison in free agency, and they passed, presumably because they did not want to offer more than their competitors. They won’t change that inclination. Their bottom line is their priority, and Harrison doesn’t fit that description. The UFC doesn’t care about her fight. She is a draw but not a huge draw. Nunes may not be around when Harrison is a free agent once more.
The UFC keeping a featherweight division truly does seem to be a case of it costing them nothing to do so, it giving them another belt to put on posters and promote, and it keeping one of their most accomplished fighters — one who has been a company woman her entire career — happy. And that’s a shame, because women’s 145 is certainly not a deep division, but there are enough bodies to make a legitimate one if the UFC wanted to spend the resources, and if they invested in it, it would grow over time. The UFC doesn’t believe that. The UFC doesn’t make good stuff, but they do buy good things. They won’t be abandoning this business model anytime soon. It is a profitable one.
Considering that Poirier/Chandler is near finalized, does the winner of that fight earn a titleshot? Does Volk have priority? How would you change your mind depending on Oliveira/Islam’s results? And what to do with the winners of Dariush/Gamrot and Gaethje/Fiziev?
— Anderson Gold (@frontkicked) August 5, 2022
With chandler 2-2 and Dustin losing his last fight what’s at stake for the winner? Can’t just give either guy a title shot off a win can you?
— michael (@michael13709091) August 4, 2022
In case you missed it, a lightweight banger between Poirier and Chandler is all but confirmed for a PPV event at the end of the year. It’s a fight that is going to grab all the headlines (as it should) and be massively important for the 155-pound division, and yes, sadly, it may well be a title eliminator.
I’ve had a lot of talk about this for a while, but what’s happening in lightweight right now or over the last year and half is unacceptable. All the top names in UFC rankings failed to win a title and now they are just fighting one another. We love the fights, and we are okay with that. However, the bottom line is that UFC’s best division is now being stagnated because of a handful of guys who are based on their rankings. Conor McGregor remains ranked, for the love of God! He hasn’t won at lightweight since 2016!!!!! There are a number of insanely talented lightweights, putting on great performances and slowly climbing the ranks, but who are still years away from a title shot because Poirier and Chandler are going take them on the back of Poirier beating Conor McGregor and Chandler beating Tony Ferguson! I genuinely cannot imagine how guys like Mateusz Gamrot and Rafael Fiziev feel, knowing they would likely trounce Poirier at this point in time, but that they won’t get a shot unless they string together 12 wins.
Volkanovski is now to be considered. This, more than any other reason, is why I am so adamantly against Volkanovski getting a lightweight title shot, because the division needs to sort itself out fight. Volkanovski has his own division that he lords over, and for as great as he’s been, the truth is he has in no way cleaned out featherweight. He’s beaten Max Holloway three times and then Brian Ortega. That’s two guys in the Top-5. Volkanovski needs to spend the year trying to get rid of his overweight class. This will give him some structure and allow him to be considered for champ-champ.
Can Makhachev neutralize Charles on the ground
— (@SamueIDavid8) August 5, 2022
Yes. Absolutely. He’ll win the lightweight belt very easily because of that.
*Charles Oliveira, a formidable fighter and a skilled grappler is a tremendous opponent. But sometimes I feel like MMA fans are losing their heads about the danger he poses on the ground. Many fighters who have been down with Chucky Olives survived. And those fighters are not as good as Islam Makhachev.
I feel about this fight the same way I always felt about Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson: It’s one-way traffic. Oliveira is the more dangerous striker, but A LOT of his efficacy on the feet comes from simply being willing to fall to his back. When Gaethje or Poirier hurt him, Oliveira fell over and got time to recover because they were afraid to play in his guard. Makhachev will either punch Oliveira in the face with a super-hard punch and follow it up by ground-and-pound or just go for it and tackle him. If Paul Felder can sit in the guard and elbow Oliveira’s face into hamburger, I think Makhachev can do the same.
Is Bo Nickal gonna be the next big thing in MMA
— London init geezer (@Miketyson2007) August 4, 2022
It’s way too early to tell, but there’s a good chance he will be. Nickal was an elite collegiate wrestler, and the only reason he didn’t have an Olympic run in him is because he wrestles at the same weight as David Taylor, the guy who won the 2020 gold medal. If Nickal wanted to devote the next 10 years to wrestling, he would make at least one U.S. National Team, and likely medal somewhere. But instead he wants to fight, and we are going to be much better for it.
What’s the best way to change the judging?
— Lucas Shaffer (@LucasSh99090474) August 4, 2022
Add accountability. Gross incompetence is not a sign of competence. Judgement will continue to get worse until that happens. This is the bottom line. I’d love to see an overhaul of the scoring system because I think it doesn’t do what we want, but 99 times out of 100, people’s issues with judging aren’t because of open scoring or the scoring criteria or whatever. It’s just judges not doing well and nothing happening as a result of it.
Why does the UFC continue to main event fighters like Santos and Holm where they know the fight is likely going to be absolutely terrible when the co-mains are likely always the better fights. Perceived popularity (which I assume is the answer)? What are my contractual obligations? I’m lost.
— Cale Chips (@HighFiberTakes) August 5, 2022
*Because fighting is fun doesn’t have any bearing on ratings. You and I are going to watch regardless. Casual fans are the ones who draw ratings. They don’t even research Fight Night cards beforehand to ensure it is something that interests them. They just change the channels, see Thiago Santos is fighting, and then remember the time he detonated Jimi Manuwa or whatever, and say, ‘Sure, that could be fun.’ If the UFC was better at promoting, then they could sell people on some of their incredible fights as main events, but that’s not what they do anymore. The brand is doing all the work. They are just putting out content. Which is why Thiago Santos, who has not been fun in three years, is getting another 25 minutes of non-action tonight. Let’s all pray that Jamahal Hill can somehow bring the fun “Marreta” back.
Thanks for reading and thank you for everyone who sent in Tweets! Do you have any burning questions about things at least somewhat related to combat sports? 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.
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