UFC 211 Fallout

After a very slow start to 2017 the first big card of year arrived. In the shadow of the classic boxing heavyweight title fight Stipe Miocic rematched the last man to beat him looking to defend his heavyweight championship. Joanna Jedrejcyk returned to the city she won her championship in facing what some saw as her toughest test. Several of the UFC longest tenured vets faced off with title implication in the balance. So did card live up to its hype?

The In Ring Action- Yes it did! MMA can be a strange beast. Cards that should be thrilling start to finish can be flops and cards viewed as weak can give you the event of the year. Now a few years ago Miocic and Dos Santos took part in a classic fight. Some writers speculated if it could match the classic heavyweight boxing fight. I thought that was a little ridicules given the factors that went into fight with Joshua and Klitschko. In the UFC 211 main event Junior Dos Santos landed some strong leg kicks clearly hurting champion Miocic. It seemed like a good strategy as it would take away Miocic’s movement and athleticism and limit his power. However Dos Santos once again showed a long standing bad habit he kept is back against the cage. Miocic saw his chance and landed a right hand knocking JDS out. He might have been limping Miocic took a victory lap having tired the record for the most title defenses. In the co-main Joanna Jedrzejczyk put Jessica Andrade through a master class of striking. With her raw strength and aggressive style it was thought Andrade could be a threat to Joanna Champion. Instead we once again saw just how great the Polish champion is. Using her jab along with powerful front and leg kicks she kept Andrade off her for extended periods of time. She used great footwork and movement to avoid most of Andrade’s attacks. When Andrade was able drag her down Jedrzejczyk fought her back up and punished Andrade.

Demian Maia has looked nearly unstoppable lately. However for various reason’s he’s been unable to get a title shot. It’s no secret what Maia wants to its get the clinch drag the fight to the ground and submit you. Going into there fight Jorge Masvidal claimed his wrestling would able to stop Maia’s take downs. In the first Maia managed to take the back but Masvidal survived and when Maia slipped off late Gamebread punished him with hard shots. What they played out was a fascinating battle Maia trying to get the fight to the ground and Masviadl trying to keep it standing and getting him to strike. It was back and forth and frankly it was a case of to close to call. Maia scored the win but if the judges had give it to Masvidal it wouldn’t have been shocking. Yair Rodriguez attempted to make the most difficult leap in sports. From breakout star true contender. Faced with veteran former champion Frankie Edgar he learned just how hard that leap can be. Rodriguez has a flashy offensive style. Using strong boxing mixed with footwork, fakes and feints Edgar got Rodriguez on his back foot early on. Edgar than Rodriguez down and mauled him. After the second round the doctor’s stepped in and called the fight off with Rodriguez having a large swelling around his eye.

The opening fight of the PPV was the one bad fight on the show. Frankly it wasn’t that bad it was just wasn’t that great. Former WSOF two division champion David Branch returned to the UFC for the first time in years against top ten ranked Kryzsztof Jotko. Branch seemed like he was a big nervous and Jotko like he was afraid to lose. The undercard was a series of exciting fight I recommend seeking out the Courtney Casey vs Jessica Agular, Chase Sherman vs. Rashad Coulter, and Chase Skelly vs. Jason Knight. The featured prelim between Eddie Alvarez and Dustin Porier looked like it was a classic in the making. Until the mess that is new rules vs. old road and allowing states to control major fight took over again. Alvarez had been badly hurt but was fight back in when he hit Porier with a series of knee. I have no idea if they were legal or illegal under either rule set. The fight was just over. I know giving control to the UFC to make it’s own rules won’t fix everything. Human’s make mistakes. But Herb Dean just like Dan Merglotta is a good ref and having the same rules would help them make fewer ones.

Biggest Winners:

Stipie Miocic- The heavyweight championship of the world still belongs to Cleveland’s finest. Miocic came into the UFC with huge potential and heavy expectations and he’s lived up to and surpassed them. His first loss was his first main event in hindsight it wasn’t that bad a loss given it was to a very experienced UFC vet. His second loss was to JDS the first time he faced a true elite fighter. That was a close split decision loss. Since that day he’s been unstoppable. He hasn't been outside of the first round since 2015. Beating JDS in such convincing fashion makes it clear he’s the best heavyweight in MMA right now. Also any fighter will tell you it’s sweat to avenge a loss and with knockout it’s extra sweat. Plus the win bonus and performance of the night bonus should cover the cost of the new kitchen he’s remolding.

Demian Maia- Maia has had a single title shot in his UFC career back when he was a middleweight. Since dropping to welterweight he’s always seemed to be on the verge of a title shot but one thing or another kept him out it. An unexpected loss to Jake Shields, Thompson and Woodley’s first fight being a draw. Finally after beating Jorge Masvidal in a tough fight Dana White made it clear the next shot was his. At 39 time it short on Maia’s career. Another delay might mean he will never get a second shot. Hell even during the post fight Tyron Woodley pretty much confirmed he knew there was no way the UFC was going to book something else.

Smaller Fight Camps- I talked about this when Miocic won the title but it bears repeating now. Often a fighter starts off with a camp close to home. Eventually anyone real talent is expected to move onto a bigger team with elite coaches and high level training partners. Than there is Miocic who started with his strong style fight team. Outside of Jessica Eye he’s the only high level fighter that’s a part of it. By staying with his team it shows you don’t always have to leave home. Also Parana Vale Tudo the team that trains Jessica Andrade got there fighter into a world title shot. While some wondered if they would be embarrassed instead they did well corning her. Frankly it was just the fact Joanna champion is so good.

Biggest Losers:

Junior Dos Santos- Leading up to his title shot Junior was asked if he thought this could be his last chance to regain the title. He laughed it off reminding people he was only thirty three. Except thirty three can be old for an athlete. Often it’s not an issue of how old an athlete is but how hard there career has been. In his career Dos Santos has taken a lot of damage. His second and third fights with Velasquez saw him take awful beatings. His first fight with Miocic was a war that saw him hurt several times. Now he’s been knocked out by Overeem and Miocic in two of his last three fights. While his supports will point to his win over Ben Rothwell but there is no denying this was a major setback. You can only get it so many times. And right now there are emerging contenders in the division.

What comes next

The simple truth is there is not a clear cut next contender at heavyweight right now. Stylistically many have suggested Cain Velasquez. The issue as it often is is that Velasquez can’t stay healthy. He was denied a licness earlier this year after admitting he needed back surgery. Add into the fact he lost so badly against Werdum who has remained active. Werdum and Overeem have a fight with each other coming up. However both lost in the first round to Miocic in the first round. That said all three could be interesting fights. The one name that seems to keep keep coming up next for Jedrzejczyk is Rose Namajunas. Thug Rose has always been viewed as a fighter with a huge upside. She’s got a very flash style wit standing up and a strong ground game.