Some cards are all about what happens fight night. UFC 192 was one of those that in many ways was more about what happened before the event even had the Octagon set up. The specter of Jon Jones hangs over the Light Heavyweight Division. Jones the dominate former champion stripped of Ali. Daniel Cormier the current champion holding it but with people able to declare “You didn't beat the real champion.” In some ways Jones/DC is comparable to Ali and Frazier. Ali like Jones was a great champion who won the title very young. Like Ali, Jones had his fans but also rubbed many the wrong way and like Ali it was legal issues that led to Jones losing his title. Cormier like Frazier is a great fighter who win the title in the fall out. Now of course Ali legal fight was a key battle over the Draft, Religious Freedom and more. Jones went partying and got in a car wreck. But still not matter what DC does Jones is in the back round.
Than there was Johnny Hendricks and Tyrone Woodley. There fight was supposed to be the semi main event. It was a grudge match years in the making. The winner most and likely would get a title shot at the winner of Lawler vs. Condit. Than the news broke on Friday, Hendricks weight cut had gone so poorly it landed him in the hospital. He didn't just miss weight he never got close. Hendricks has struggled with weight at times in the past. The big fight was off neither men would compete. Dana White and the UFC have said Hendricks will now have to move up to middleweight. Woodley is next in line but White stopped short of committing to a title shot. It wouldn't be the first or last time a fighter “Next in line” saw someone get to cut the line.
The In Ring Action- The main card at UFC 192 was not bad. The main event belongs in the debate for fight of the year. But this was just one of those nights where the prelims gave us more action than the main card. The opening prelim saw Derrick Lewis in trouble for the first round and a half as Viktor Pesta kept taking down the powerful heavyweight. Round one went so bad Lewis only connected with one punch. But than Lewis started to come back. Pesta's takedown soon went form offense to desperately trying to not get knocked out. Lewis got the win with ground and pound in the third. At nineteen Sage Northcutt used amazing hand speed Francisco Travineo invoking images of Vitor Belfort another fighter who debuted in the UFC at nineteen.
On FS1 Ultimate Fighter Season 20 runner up Rose Namajunas reminded us why many thought she would be the breakout star of the Strawweights. Namajunas manged to survived the strong striking of Angelina Hill and got the fight to the ground and locked in a rear naked choke. Overkill Hill tried to power free by standing up on and instead gave Thug Rose a rare standing rear naked choke. In the second televised fight Adriano Martins knocked Islam Makhachev back to UFC 92. Not to be outdone Albert Tumenov showed impressive striking as he knocked out Alan Jouban. Yair Rodriguez over came a broken foot scoring a decision win over Dan Hooker in a very exciting fight.
Now again the main card was not bad. It just wasn't great until the main event. The opening saw Juliana Pena beat Jessica Eye. Eye had her moments but once again was unable to put a whole fight together. Sadly the referee became more of a story than he should have been. When Eye landed an illegal knee he took a point with no warning. But than botched the situation further. Eye hand landed the knee when both were down but Pena was on top. The referee though stood the fight up. Post fight Pena called out champion Ronda Rousey saying she can be the Holyfield to Rousye's Tyson. Of course Holyfield when he moved up to heavyweight he had been a dominated crusier weight champion and when he finally did fight Tyson he was multi time world champion. Pena just struggled to get past Eye who gave her a great deal of trouble on the ground. By all account Rousey is a better grappler and striker than Pena.
In a flyweight battle with Joseph Benavadez and Ali Bagauntinov saw Benavidez score a win. But he clearly looked off. Bagauntinov cut Benavadez with an upper cut. Through out the fight Benavadez was off on his kicks. He whiffed badly on a few and even those that did connected landed on the foot not the shin like you want. Both fighters seemed stiff wanting to score a knockout. I do think the fans booing was to far. It wasn't an awful fight. But Benavadez has defently had much better. In a heavyweight Shawn Jordan saw a three fight win streak halted. The much taller and more technical Ruslan Magomedov battered the Texas born heavyweight for three round. Jordan stayed tough but could never land that big power shot.
Rashad Evans claimed he had a special beatdown for Ryan Bader. He also claimed he would taunt Bader the whole fight. Unless Evans planned to ram his face into Bader's fist I would say he failed. Bader racked up his fifth win in a row and over the biggest name of his career. Time and again Bader used a sneaky right hand to hurt Evans. This wasn't the same Bader that was blown out vs. Jones, got caught against Ortiz, ran into a Machida fist and left himself open against Glover. On his feet Bader has become a thinker he isn't trying to chase the knockout. That said a few bright spots are there for Evans. For a man fighting for the first time in nearly two year he did well. When he was able to get Bader moving backward he took control. If Evans can stay healthy and get back in the cage he can quickly start climbing the ranks again
Once again Alexander Gustafsson can say he gave a highly respected champion a tough fight. Once again he can say he hurt the champion with strikes and once again he out wrestled a highly touted wrestler. Once again he was part of a great title fight. But once again he takes the loss. Early on Daniel Cormier got in and flap jacked Gustafsson on a takedown. When they two were in close Cormier punished the taller fighter with hard uppercuts. Gustafsson had his moments he cut DC with punches and knocked him down with a knee in the third. But Gustafsson couldn't finish the fight much like he did in May Cormier recovered and went onto win. You can't help but wonder about several actions Gustafsson did during the fight.
The first was he backed up through out the entire fight. If I can paraphrase my muay thai coach “The only man that ever won fight back up was named Ali.” Yes Gustafsson needed to keep the fight at his range but by backing away he gave away the scoring criteria of Octagon control all night and allowed DC to trap him at times. The second was the Mauler turning and running away at times. For a man known for his footwork it just shocking he wasn't trying to cut an angle to escape. And finally the fact he turn away to look at his corner. Its not uncommon for a fighter to turn but Gustafsson would point blank turn around to do which is strange.
Biggest Winners
Daniel Cormier- It can't be said he hasn't earned the right to call himself champion. Twice he's been hurt badly and twice he's rallied to win the fight. He is the only man that can claim he has beat Rumble Johnson in years and had more success with Gustafsson than Jones did. Leading up the fight Cormier said there was no way Gustafsson could keep him off him and he was right. People can claim all they want that Jones is the real champion. But Cormier made his responded to that “I'm the one in these fight... I didn't leave this company high and dry.”
Sage Northcutt- Youth and hype can be a double edged sword. Northcutt is getting a chance at the highest level of the sport. The fact he was talented enough to get this chance shows he might be better than many fighters in there prime. He's upside could be huge. Of course the other side is Northcutt might not be ready yet. He might be blown out when he faces higher competition than Francisco Travineo. But for now Northcutt is1-0 in the UFC coming off a strong finish for now he's lived up to the hype.
Rose Namajunas- Thug Rose hadn't been in the Octagon since her submission in the TUF 20 finale. Going into that fight many saw her as the potential breakout star of the division. She was supposed to fight in May until her opponent got sick and pulled out at the last second. Namajunas as she had during TUF showed good striking and a great ground game. The fight with Angelina Hill could have been a trap fight. A fighter without much activity that was heavily favored facing someone she had trained with. But Namajuans didn't fall into the trap she took Hill down got the submission. Now she's back active and you would have to think a fight with a top contender is next for her.
Biggest Losers
Johnny Hendricks- Well he missed weight, blew a chance to get another title shot, might be forced to move up a weight class, and gave what appears to be a growing group of fans that dislike him more ammunition. When talking about what happened one of Hendricks' coaches pretty much admitted “He came into camp to heavy and ate to much during camp.” Right now Hendricks future is very much in doubt.
Alexander Gustafsson- We can talk all we want about how he's given two champions there toughest fights but the fact remains he is now 0-2 in UFC title fights. And as I discussed earlier it seemed Gustafsson gave that fight away at times. By giving away one judging criteria he handicapped himself and backing played a big role in him tiring out in the later rounds. To be honest it seemed Gustafsson was haunted by the memory of his knockout loss to Johnson and as a result did all he could to not be knocked out. I hope I'm wrong about that because if I am Gustafsson might have real problems going forward in his career.
What Comes Next
Lets get some things straight. Jones has a plea bargain but there are things he must do as part of it. The UFC has yet to reinstate Jones. So lets not just assume Jones is back and is only a matter of time before DC faces him again. That all said in pretty much every way you can think of the rematch between Cormier and Jones makes sense. The long standing rivalry, the situation over the title, the fact Jones is the is 1 in DC's loss column. And DC has looked great in the two fights since. We have never seen Jones in a rematch where someone has a chance to figure out his range. So if Jones is reinstated than book the fight. If Jones isn't cleared for various reasons the best option is Ryan Bader. Darth Bader is now on a five fight winning streak. Like DC, Bader began as wrestler but has improved his striking. Why Bader hasn't had a finish in a while he does have that potential and watching him lately you think it's only a matter of time before the finishes start to come again with his smarter fighting style.
Bader has said if he doesn’t get a title shot he wants a rematch with Glover Trexiera. The two had a thrilling fight that Bader lost. The problem with that is Glover is already booked to fight Patrick Cummings. Truth be told there are other options for Bader. If for some reason Jon Jones isn't granted a title shot a rematch with Bader would be a good option. Yes Jones easily beat Bader in the first fight years ago but that was a long time ago. But my pick would be for Bader to race Anthony Johnson. Rumble is a former number 1 contender. His fight with DC is the one loss he's had since returning to the UFC. Bader like Johnson has knockout power. But we have seen Johnson struggle as the fight goes on. Bader is a much smarter fighter than he used to be. He might be the perfect test to see if Rumble can survive a longer fight.
Alexander Gustafsson remains one of the better fights in the light heavyweight division. The selfish part of me that has wanted a rematch since UFC 165 would love it the UFC booked a rematch with Jones. Another good option would be Rashad Evans. Both men are coming off bad losses at this event. Both men are known to use movement in there striking. And both right now are on the fringes of title contention past more on there past and not recent results.
