UFC 205 Fallout

There are good nights in any sport, there are great nights in any sport, there are legendary nights in any sports. UFC 205 might just wind up being the single greatest night in Mixed Martial Arts history. There was so much hype for the event. The history of being in New York after the near two decade ban. McGregor the biggest star in the sport trying to hold two titles at once, and face a veteran fighter trying to show he should be getting all the press. Two other title fights along with a loaded card. UFC 200 could have been this but for a number of reasons it fell short. Instead UFC 205 took this level of amazing it was a special night.

The In Ring Action- Liz Carmouche was in the first Women’s fight in UFC history back at UFC 157. The Girlrilla now made history again facing off and beating Katlyn Chookagian. Carmouche was thought to have the grappling advantage while Chookagian had the striking advantage. Carmouche seemed to close the gap in the striking enough to take the first two rounds. In the third Chookagain landed a head kick that nearly stole the fight. It was a good opener for the night. In the second fight Jim Miller had an interesting weekend. His opponent Thiago Alves a long time welterweight failed in his efforts to make lightweight. As a result Miller was forced to gain weight so the fight could go on under New York state rules. Alves had his moments landing some good kicks but Miller managed to out wrestle him and took the win. Miller now his the mark of having fought and won at UFC 100, 200, and 205. Kicking off the FS1 prelims was young prospects Vicente Luque and Belal Muhammad. During an early exchange Luque hit a hook that dropped Muhamad to end his night.

Tim Boetsch is one of those fighters blessed and cursed with one shot KO power. On this night it was a blessing. Early on he hurt Rafael Natal. From than on the Brazilian fighter was reluctant to engage Able to pick his shots Boetsch easily landed his big right hand again ending the fight in the first round. Khabib Nurmagomedov entered the night with a perfect record and a chip on his shoulder. Michael Jonson entered with a rep for pulling off the upset in fights he was supposed to lose. Early on Johnson rocked The Eagle with a strong left. But once Nurmagomedov got the fight to the ground was over. There is ground and pound and than there are the type of concrete breaking shots that Nurmagomedov land. Johnson was badly beat up over the course of the first two rounds. In the third he switched going for a submission it might have more an act of mercy than to win. Johnson finally tapped. Post fight Nurmagomedov took aim at McGregor. It was a typical fight for Frankie Edgar he got rocked badly and had to recover and it was a typical fight for Jeremy Stephens fight he landed big powerful shots. Edgar managed to use his footwork and feints to control most of the fight. Still Stephens had his moments. It was the kind of gritty brawl both fans and match makers wanted.

Miesha Tate hit the highest high in March finally wining the UFC Bantamweight title. Than she experienced lowest low an embarrassing one sided loss of the title at UFC 200. Meanwhile Raquel Penington had been looking good in her last three fights but lacked a big name win. Pennington beat Tate in every area. She used her jab to control the stand up. Tate has been known for her great wrestling but Pennington controlled that area as well. At one point it appeared she would submit the former champion with a standing choke. Post fight Tate announced her retirement after a ten year career. Its possible Tate will fight again but she defnetly looked like someone in need of a break. Chris Weidman finally got to live his dream of fighting in MSG and his dream became a nightmare. Early on Weidman controlled the striking and even the ground game. And once again controversy follows a Yoel Romero fight. During the first round break Romero douched himself in excessive water stopping the resumption of the fight until he was dried off. In the second Weidman was again in control when Romero claimed he was poked in the eyes. While replays showed he in fact was giving his history its easy to understand why referee Mario Yamosaki didn’t believe him. After the break Romero began to take over. It was all over the third round. Weidman went for a double leg and wound up running right into a jump knee by Romero. Weidman was down and didn’t get up for several minutes. Post fight Romero demanded a shot at champion Michael Bisping.

The wonderful thing about fighting is one punch can change an entire fight. During the first three rounds of the strawweight title fight Joanna Jedrejczyk dominated coutnry woman Karolina Kowalkiewicz with superior combinations and footwork. It seemed it would be just another one sided mauling for the champion. In the fourth round Karolina Kowalkiewicz managed to land a punch that hurt Jedrejczyk. Suddenly the fast and aggressive champion was slowed and unable to land. Kowalkiewicz never seems to get overly emotional and she stayed calm even with the best chance to win in front of her. Unlike a fighter going over the top head hunting a missing Kowalkiewicz kept landing and the champions noise begun to swell and her eye started to shut. The champion though manged to survive. Still hurt in the fifth she again survived. Kowalkiewicz never was able to land another big shot that could have finished things off. Still though man fans are left wondering what a rematch would be like.

At this point there had been several very good fights. The Welterweight title fight between Tyron Woodley and Stephen Thompson was the first true classic for MMA in MSG. In the first round both men were reluctant to engage. Finally Thompson through a kick that Woodley caught leading to a takedown. Woodley landed good ground and pound. Now one judge and some online ruled this a 10-8 for Woodley. I really don’t how they could. Yes the take down plus the ground and pound was easily enough to score. But I don’t felt Woodley ever came close enough to finish the fight to earn a 10-8 hell the takedown had ore to do with Thompson being lazy with the kick than an attack by Woodley. Most of the fight Thompson kept Woodly backing up near the cage. In the second and third rounds Wonderboy landed more and won those rounds. The fourth finally saw Woodley attack again. The Chosen one rocked Thompson several times. It looked like Thompson was about to be knocked out. Than Woodley locked in a gulliton choke.

This may have been the biggest mistake Woodley made. At the time of the fight though it appeared he was about choke the challenger out. Amazingly Thompson manged to last. It seemed in hindsight this actually gave Thompson a chance to recover. Woodley is known to gas out the longer a fight goes and appeared he was out of gas going into the final round. After some confusion the fight was ruled a draw. It makes sense. Thompson should have won three rounds but the fourth was so one sided Woodley should have gotten a 10-8.

Eddie Alvarez was supposed to be a tough test for McGregor. Like Nate Diaz Alvarez has good boxing, he’s known to have a good chin on top of that he’s a much better offensive wrestler. It wasn’t even close. Alvarez landed some low kicks early and body shots through out. How ever at no point did Alvarez truly have control He was dropped three times in the first round by McGregor’s vaunted left hand. McGregor stuffed every takedown attempt. At one point McGregor in the ultimate disrespect put his hands behind his back and stood still. A shot Alvarez couldn’t even bring himself to attack. In the second it was more the same. Finally McGregor landed four hard punches right to Alvarez’s head and it was over. Fans can dislike McGregor for his antics, his favored treatment by UFC management, and matches up that favor him. End of the day McGregor is the first man to hold two world championships at once in the UFC. He easily beat Aldo and Alvarez to win those titles.

Biggest Winners-

The UFC- After years and years and years the UFC finally made it to New York City. (UFC VII was held in New York State not the City) And by all accounts it will be another big profit day. The live gate alone already has made MSG and UFC history. Add into the fact McGregor brings massive PPV’s and the general hype of the event all indicators say the PPV should break a million buys. Add into the fact the card was exciting it’s the kind of event that should keep casual fans coming back.

Conor McGregor- Once again McGregor talked the talk and walked the walk. Even after the win in the rematch with Diaz some of the luster seemed to be off McGregor. Alvarez should have been a tougher test. After the fight McGregor looked like someone getting done with a light sparing session. McGregor claimed he would beat Aldo he did, he claimed he would hold two titles at once he has, he said he would break records and he has over and over and over again. He said Eddie was to easy hit and he sure was. With each passing fighter McGregor further silences his critics. At this point McGregor calls his own shots. Will he defend his 145 title? Will he defend his 155 title? Will he go after Woodley? Only he knows for sure.

Frankie Edgar- Before Chris Weidman it was Edgar that was the east coast based fighter working to bring MMA to MSG. Edgar was coming off one the worse performances of his career back at UFC 200. Here he rebounded strong. With McGregor taking time off and maybe never back to featherweight and Aldo saying he won’t fight again Edgar might have just secured yet another title shot.

Raquel Pennington- Rocky has long been viewed as an also ran in the Bantamweight division. She was a journey woman. Even with a career best three fight wining streak she as viewed as not being good enough to beat Tate. No she was the set up fight where Tate would get a win before getting back to the elite level. Instead she was easily won this huge fight. He jab stopped Tate’s striking and she surpassed Tate on the ground. Now she’s won four in a row and beat a former champion. Going into 2017 Rocky might just be heading into a potential title shot.

Biggest Losers

Boxing- 2016 has been an awful year for boxing. To many bad fights, to many top fighter inactive, to few new fans checking it out. Saturday there was an HBO card and a PBC on Spike card. Both main events were awful mismatches. Even the most hardcore boxing fan had problems watching them. On top of the law the allowed MMA also created an insurance rule that has forced boxing promoters out of NYC has led to a bad weekend for sweet science.

Eddie Alvarez- Santa Clause is real and he kicked Eddie’s ass. Its once thing to lose but this was an utter blow out. Everything Conor said he was going to do he did to Eddie. Everything Alvarez claimed wouldn’t happen happened. He was out struck his wrestling was ineffective. The moment where Conor put his hands behind his back the normally aggressive Alvarez just stood there. Post fight Alvarez admitted he didn’t follow his game plan. He might as well just said “Conor broke me mentally all his talk was to much.”

Demian Maia- Maia has a six fight winning streak he’s finished three of his last four and barely even touched during that time. Maia was no doubt the front runner to face the winner of Woodley vs. Thompson. The fight was a draw and not just a draw it was a fight of the year contender. Dana White has already come out and said a rematch is likely. Maia might either have to wait or risk fighting again.

What Comes Next-

McGregor made it clear he is about to become a father and won’t be fighting until after the baby is born. I actually think this opens up a perfect fight. I am going to assume McGregor will be forced to vacate the 145 lbs title. At 155 the debate is who should get a title shot Tony Ferguson or Khabib Nurmagomedov should get the next shot. Also people have suggested Nate Diaz fighting McGregor for the third time. Me personally I would say Conor vs. Nate 3 doesn’t have to be done any time soon. With McGregor taking a break I say book Ferguson vs. Khabib. Khabib strong wrestling makes him a threat to anyone but Ferguson is so unusual he’s tough for anyone to face. The two were booked to face each other a few times in the past but injures kept them from fighting. It would set up a clear number 1 contender and could make a great main event for a TV card or strong co-main for a PPV. Raquel Pennington comes off the biggest win of her career over a former champion. The perfect fight for her IMO is Valentina Shevchenko. Earlier this year Shevechenko beat former champion Holly Holm. She has great Muay Thai and could make for an interesting fight with the strong boxing of Pennington.

Tyrone Woodley and Stephen Thompson should fight in a rematch. The fight was a draw both men showed they could be perfect foils for each other. Plus it’s hard to say Woodley should move on McGregor or Maia when he didn’t beat Thompson. Karolina Kowalkiewicz hurt Joanna Jedrejczyk with a great punch. But it’s hard say she could automatic rematch when you look at how one sided the fight was until that point. To a point Jedrzejczyk has already cleared out a good part of the division. She beat Gadelha twice, Esparza to win the title and now Kowalkiewicz. Rose Namajunas lost to Kowalkiewicz. That leaves the best option as Jessica Andrade. A former Bantamweight she dropped to straweight earlier this year going 2-0 battering former title challenger, Jessica Penne and taking less than a round to submit to ranked Joanne Calderwood. Andrade is a very aggressive striker while not as technical as the champion she does have a good ground game that could make it interesting. For Kowalkiewicz a few options Claudia Gadelha is viewed as the biggest threat to Joanna Champion but already has lost twice. Also former champion Carla Esparza would also be a good option.