Howdy, y’all!

Wow. It’s a strange thing. A weekend without major MMA happening (sorry, ONE Championship) doesn’t come around all that often. But coming on the heels of UFC 278, there is still a ton to talk about, so this week I’m trying to answer as many questions as possible. Buckle up.

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Leon Edwards‘ KO of Kamaru Usman and what’s next

I’m pairing these two together since the topics are obviously closely related.

For the first part, Edwards’ incredible comeback KO of Usman was certainly not the “best” way for Usman to lose, but it was far from the worst. Many believe Edwards’ win was due to luck. The former champion will be a strong favorite in the rematch so that I can understand your point. But we also shouldn’t write off getting sent to the shadow realm so nonchalantly. Although Usman may be coping well with the loss, it is bad news for your overall health. It can also cause you to have some difficulties moving on. We’re talking about a guy who had been nigh invincible for his entire career. Now he lost, in brutal fashion. What will his future look like? It’s anyone’s guess.

If you’re going to lose, coming up on the wrong end of a robbery split decision still seems to be the best way to do it. Or like, a DQ loss for an eye poke or something.

As for the second part, I’m fascinated by what Usman’s future looks like. Many people assume that he will win the rematch, then pursue his GOAT status. But I am less certain (more later). In the event that Usman does lose a second time to Edwards, things get really interesting, because Usman has already talked about retirement and maybe that’s the catalyst that causes him to hang up the gloves? Or maybe he says screw it and just goes ahead and moves up to light heavyweight? Or if Alex Pereira has beaten Israel Adesanya to take the middleweight title, perhaps Usman decides he needs to go get revenge for his friend? It’s possible that Usman will lose to Edwards twice, which would be much more entertaining.

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Leon Edwards vs. Kamaru Usman 3

Well, that’s just generally the dynamic in any rematch or trilogy: The fighter who most recently won has the least to change. However, at the top of the sport, fighters make a number of adjustments every time out, because that’s how you stay at the top.

Despite that, I do not think any man can make significant changes.

In my pre-fight assessment of Edwards vs. Usman 2, I argued that Leon needed to stay off the fence, work his jab, and rely on his kicks — I also said he couldn’t finish Usman so I’m not taking full credit here — and when he did those things, those are the moments he was winning the fight. Afterward, even Edwards acknowledged that he wasn’t fighting particularly well, and a lot of that seems to boil down to him accepting Usman’s pressure and retreating to the fence. For their trilogy, now knowing he can turn the lights off and that backing Usman up is his best path to victory, I expect Edwards not to make huge changes, but simply to focus on winning that battle.

For Usman, he needs to make sure he’s winning the pressure battle at all times. Edwards lost every moment he moved forward in the fight. Edwards was not content to keep at range, or Edwards was able to get him back up. “Rocky” was successful (well, except for the takedown in round one). He can keep his eyes on Edwards while preserving any defense crutches (like the parry dip out that earned him the KO) and feel confident about his chances of reclaiming the title.

It’s early, but I’m leaning towards Edwards to win the trilogy bout, when it happens. Usman fought perhaps his best performance and still lost, even against a pretty bad effort from Edwards. When they meet again, Usman will be almost a year younger and fresh off his first loss by KO. That’s a lot of question marks for the former champion. Maybe I am wrong but it will be interesting to see if we find out.

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Paulo Costa vs. Luke Rockhold

I think right now it has a spot in the top 5, because for as sloppy as it was, it was still a really fun fight, and the narrative at play heading into it and during it was exceptional. That counts for a lot.

Just off the top of my head, here’s my top 5 at the moment:

1. Jiri Prochazka vs. Glover Teixeira is going to win that award (going to win)
2. Mateusz Gamrot vs. Arman Tsarukyan
3. Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Brandon Moreno III
4. Paulo Costa vs. Luke Rockhold
5. Bryan Barberena vs. Matt Brown

If you don’t have Costa-Rockhold in there, I don’t begrudge you that, especially because I doubt it will remain in mine by the end of the year. But for now, I’m comfortable having it in the conversation.

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Elevation

The UFC still travels to other places, despite the fact that it has a negative impact on their products. It’s almost as if they’re going to a place like Salt Lake City not because they want to bring the good people of Utah fights, but because there are some other incentives at play.

It’s unfortunate that they had to go to SLC. A lot of their outcomes may have been affected by the elevation. The wind was blowing all night, even Leon Edwards who arrived early and slept in an elevation tent during his training camp, admitted that he could feel the effects. The Merab Dvalishvili fight against Jose Aldo and Marcin Tybura fight against Alexandr Romanov are my two choices.

Straight up. I believe Aldo is better than Merab at sea-level. He’s a dude who has never had the best cardio and that’s a strength for Merab, and the first round made it pretty clear who was the technically superior fighter. Merab could not do much but keep going even in the second round. Aldo seems more comfortable at sea and is more offensive, so Merab lost a three round fight.

Same for Romanov, who dominated Tybura before doing nothing over the final 10 minutes. Romanov has had a poor cardio record, while Tybura’s is good. However, for Romanov to feel so bad after spending five minutes sitting on Tybura it seems like altitude.

Also, for the record, Romanov was robbed. Fight 100-percent should have been a draw. MMA is stupid.

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Comedy

I can’t deny that Edwards knocking out Usman was incredibly entertaining. Not as funny as Mike Perry beating Michael “Venom” Page at BKFC, but still amusing. Top 3 funniest moments though? This is my list.

1. “It takes a lot of energy being a rockstar.” Mike Golberg saying this with complete earnestness while Holly Holm is slapping Ronda Rousey around the cage, remains the funniest thing in MMA history. Joe Rogan responded by saying, “She is getting punched in her face, it doesn’t have to do with rockstar” was the most hilarious thing that he has ever done.
2. Jon Jones‘ infamous “Hey p****, are you still there?” hot mic feud with Daniel Cormier. We talked about this moment extensively on DAMN! They Were Good and I highly recommend you give it a listen.
3. Seth Petruzelli knocking out Kimbo Slice and killing EliteXC. These yokels stumbled into promoting the gold mine that was Kimbo and then destroyed their entire promotion in what remains the single most incompetent thing that an MMA promotion has ever done. The forums were all aware that Ken Shamrock was replaced by Petruzelli and that he would clobber Kimbo. It is funny that they said, “Let’s have this pink-haired guy no one has heard of” rather than ANY OTHER OPTION.

Also, special shout out to the honorable mentions of Kimbo Slice vs. Dada 5000, and anything Charles “Krazy Horse” Bennett has ever done.

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Nate Diaz vs. Khamzat Chimaev

Speaking of the funniest things in MMA, if Nate Diaz pulls off a miracle win over Chimaev (and I do mean miracle — if he wins that should get him halfway to sainthood), it would immediately jump to No. 2 on the list of funniest things in MMA history. However, if he manages to pull it off there is zero chance that he will fight for the title of welterweight. He’s going to run from the scene like a bank robber.

Diaz already stated that he does not like being controlled by the UFC and wants to do what he pleases. Subtly, he is saying that he would like to box Jake Paul, and possibly his brother, and that ‘big bag’ of money will be what awaits him. Although a loss will not affect a possible boxing match against Jake Paul, it won’t diminish the potential one. But if he wins… Hoooooo boy. Jake Paul will have an absolute blast promoting this one. He would never return to the UFC. They can’t match Jake’s cost and Nate isn’t concerned about the title.

I suspect that there will be more boxing matches. Logan Paul would make sense. Perhaps Tyron Woodley, too. But the ultimate goal is Nate sits out and bides his time, because in the not-too-distant future, Conor McGregor’s UFC contract will end, and when that happens, then the long game both men have been waiting for can finally play out — Conor vs. Nate 3: This Time We Keep All The Money.

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Khamzat

I seriously doubt Colby Covington accepts a fight with Khamzat Chimaev, unless it’s a No. 1 contenders bout, and I don’t know why the UFC would want that when they’ve already got Chimaev lined up for a title shot. I could see Chimaev taking a random middleweight bout just to stay busy while he waits for the winner of Edwards vs. Usman 3, but most likely he just sits and waits to win the title.

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UFC 279

Theoretically, Li Jingliang is an easier fight for Tony Ferguson than Kevin Holland is? Honestly, no clue. I’m pretty sure the idea of putting Ferguson on UFC 279 is so he can serve as de-facto backup for the main event (and to try and juice interest in what looks to be the worst PPV event in living memory), but if his services aren’t needed in that regard, he’s probably going to get clattered by a dude who no one really cares about, in a fight no one ever asked for. This is terrible matchmaking but that’s UFC.

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Shavkat Rakhmonov

Not at all. I love Shavkat and I’m counting down the days until we get the inevitable Khamzat vs. Shavkat welterweight title fight that is going to kick all the ass, but I would certainly not call Shavkat “Khamzat 2.0.” Both men are similar, but I think Khamzat is a much better athlete than Shavkat, and in MMA, being a better athlete is basically a cheat code. To me, Shavkat is Harvey Dent to Khamzat’s Two-Face, and while Dent might be the better man, Two-Face is the one who wins more fights.

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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.