Tag Archives: UFC 251

Fight Island Fallout

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UFC 251 is in the books, and with such a stacked card, it was bound to have a profound impact on the UFC landscape. The question now is, where do we go from here? Here, we will look at the winners and losers of six UFC 251 bouts, and where they should go from here.

Jiri Prochazka’s highlight reel Round 2 KO of Volkan Oezdemir:

2-4 in his last six appearances, Oezdemir is unfortunately falling into a gatekeeper role in the Light Heavyweight division. However, he is an exciting fighter to watch which will allow him to stay near the top of cards with the right opponents. Likely going to have to fight beneath himself in the rankings again, the best match up for “No Time” is former prodigy Johnny Walker. Both fighters are knockout artists coming off of losses, who would likely need a win to stay in the rankings. This would be a great fight for the fans, and would give Volkan an opportunity to claw back to the top of the Light Heavyweight rankings.

Former Rizin Light Heavyweight champion, Jiri Prochazka proved he belongs in the big leagues with his brutal KO of Volkan Oezdemir. There are plenty of big fights he could get coming off of this win but the best would be 6th ranked Anthony “Lionheart” Smith. After beating one former title challenger in Oezdemir, if Jiri could beat another one in Smith, he would immediately catapult himself into the title picture in the 205-pound division.

Amanda Ribas 1st Round Submission victory over Paige VanZant:

This was the perfect fight for Amanda Ribas. Undefeated in the UFC, Ribas was unlikely to lose that title in a bout where she completely outmatched her opponent. On top of that, she was able to get on the main card of one of the biggest PPVs in UFC History by attaching her name to VanZant’s, a UFC fan favorite and big draw for the company. Ribas has gone from relatively unknown prospect to rising star overnight, and should capitalize on that. The best fight for her would be staying in the 125-pound division and taking on Antonina Shevchenko. Flyweight is running out of title challengers and if Ribas can knock off the champ’s sister, she puts herself in prime position to earn a title shot in the future.

VanZant is unlikely to return to the UFC. With plenty of opportunities outside of competition, her best move likely doesn’t involve stepping back into the octagon. However, if she does it will likely be in Bellator, where she will receive hefty compensation for her services, as she will always be a big draw in the MMA world.

Rose Namajunas Split Decision victory over Jessica Andrade:

“Thug” Rose’s next move is simple, title fight. The former champion claims she wasn’t focused going into her first bout with Andrade where she suffered her first KO loss of her career, and outside of that fight, her championship bout performances have been just about perfect. With both fighters having wins over Joanna Jedrzejczyk, a Strawweight title fight between Namajunas and current 115-pound queen Weili Zheng, would arguably determine the best Strawweight of all time, and would be a great fight to watch.

Coming off of 2 straight defeats, Andrade is going to have to work her way back into championship contention. The fastest way for her to do that, and the biggest fight she could realistically get, is a bout with former champion Joanna Jedr,zejczyk. Beating Joanna would prove to the world that Andrade still have what it takes to be a UFC champion, and would put her right back in position to earn a title shot.

Petr Yan’s Round 5 KO of Jose Aldo to win the Vacant Bantamweight Championship:

Many people are already booking Petr Yan vs. Aljamain Sterling for the Bantamweight Championship. While I would argue that this is the most likely outcome, it is not the best opponent for Yan. Though he is technically “retired” Henry Cejudo remains the biggest name in the 135-pound division, and though it is unlikely that Yan lures him out of retirement to fight for the belt that he recently gave up, it remains the best case scenario for the new champion.

It is extremely unlikely that Jose Aldo will ever fight for a UFC title again. If he wants to continue fighting, his best move is to take the Anderson Silva approach, fighting big names and up and coming stars. Aldo, like Silva, will always be a big draw in the UFC and can continue making tons of money as long as he has the right opponents. The best opponent for Jose Aldo is “Sugar” Sean O’Malley. Already one of the biggest stars in the UFC, rising superstar Sean O’Malley vs. Jose Aldo could easily Main Event a fight night or Co-Main Event a PPV card.

Alexander Volkanovski’s split decision victory over Max Holloway to retain the Featherweight Championship:

A controversial decision, Volkanovski squeaked out a second victory over Holloway by the skin of his teeth. Many fans, and potentially UFC President Dana White want to see a third fight between the two, as they feel it should be 1-1. However, that is not at all in Alexander “The Great’s” best interest. Acknowledging sounding like a broken record, the biggest fight for him is against Henry “Triple C” Cejudo, who would be looking to add a unheard of 4th C to his trophy case. A more likely comeback fight for Cejudo, Volkanovski should fight tooth and nail for this matchup, as it is by far the biggest fight the UFC can make at 145 pounds.

On the other hand, the current narrative of judges robbing Holloway is absolutely in his best interest, as Max would love nothing more than another shot at reclaiming that championship he believes is rightfully his. Also, if Max is given another championship fight and comes out victorious, we better strap ourselves in, because we could be seeing an unprecedented number of Volkanovski vs Holloway championship fights.

Kamaru Usman’s Unanimous Decision victory over Jorge Masvidal to retain the Welterweight Championship:

Usman did what he had to do to retain his championship, though many fans were not happy with it, the MMA world has to respect the dominance that Usman is able to showcase against world class opponents. Kamaru Usman’s next opponent is without a doubt Gilbert Burns, barring outside circumstances. However, if Usman could pick his next opponent, his best case scenario would be a rematch with Colby Covington. By far Usman’s most exciting fight to date, as well as his biggest rival in the UFC, this is the only fight Usman could take that would really drum up excitement from the fans, however, he can always take that fight at a later date, after he handily dismantles Gilbert Burns.

Jorge “Gamebred” Masvidal may have lost this fight, but it was truly a win-win scenario for him. By taking the fight on such short notice, Masvidal made himself and even bigger star, and created a reason for fans to want to see a rematch even though the bout was not very competitive. There are plenty of fights that Masvidal could take that would be huge, but the best one is extremely clear. Jorge Masvidal vs. Conor McGregor for the BMF championship would be the biggest fight in the history of the UFC. Currently the two biggest stars in the company, “Gamebred” vs. “The Notorious” could easily sell out any venue that the UFC could find. If all goes well it could be the first fight back with fans, possibly in the Las Vegas Raiders brand new football stadium, it could not get any bigger.

FIGHT ISLAND IS REAL…..sorta

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On July 9th 2020 UFC President Dana White announced that Fight Island is officially happening, along with one of the most stacked cards in the history of the UFC. UFC 251 will feature THREE championship fights for the Undisputed Welterweight, Featherweight, and Bantamweight straps respectively. The card also includes SIX current or former champions of the world in Kamaru Usman, Alexander Volkanovski, Max Hollaway, Jose Aldo, Jessica Andrade, and Rose Namajunas. On paper, this is some of the best news that has come out in sports this year, much less the UFC. However, for hardcore fans and those who have been anticipating the announcement of Fight Island for months, the reveal is….underwhelming.

Shortly after restrictions from COVID-19 were laid down halting many UFC events, Dana White announced that he was “in the process of securing a private island” for UFC events to be held on during the pandemic. The name Fight Island, and rumors of how it would look began swirling around the world of MMA. The image of a beachside octagon, surrounded by tiki torches and the sound of crashing waves blended with the pop of a crisp inside leg kick were burned into fight fans minds. Dream fights like Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz III were being rumored as possible candidates for competing in this theatrical environment. Although many fans and analysts were unsure if Fight Island was fantasy or reality, the prospect of its possible unveiling had everyone on the edge of their seats. And now its here! Unfortunately, its not exactly as we’ve imagined it.

Fight Island is a 10 square mile portion of Yas Island in Abu Dhabi. Yaz Island may sound familiar, and that’s because it was the host of Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Dustin Poirier at UFC 242 in September of 2019, less than a year ago today. The arena which will presumably host all of the “Fight Island” events, was best known for having an air conditioning malfunction during UFC 242, and having arena temperatures above 100° Fahrenheit. When imagining what Fight Island would look like, that wasn’t the first thing that came to my mind.

That being said, as UFC fans we don’t have too much to complain about. No matter what 2020 has thrown our way, we continue to get more UFC action than we could have ever asked for. And for most of us fight fans, all we really need is a cage and some cage fighters, and that’s what we’re gonna get.