UFC 230 is now available on Amazon Prime.
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It’s Chicken Time
Ultimate Fighting Championship two-division champ Daniel Cormier weighed in at 251 pounds for his heavyweight title defense against Derrick Lewis at UFC 230 -- over five pounds heavier than he was for his own title shot at UFC 226 in July. That sound you just heard? That was the UFC simultaneously encasing Alexander Gustafsson in bubble wrap, taking Jon Jones’ car keys and dashing off a pleading text to Anthony Johnson, because no matter what “DC” may be saying, he ain’t coming back to 205, and the division is low on assets.The other half of this weekend’s heavyweight tilt, Lewis, made news by netting a “sponsorship” with a local Popeye’s store, through which "The Black Beast" will eat free for life if he pulls off the upset this weekend. My feelings on this are divided. On the one hand, it shows a shocking lack of state solidarity that a franchise of the proudly Louisianan chicken chain would back the Texan. On the other hand, this sponsorship arrangement includes a second clause, in which everyone would eat free at that location from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. the day after UFC 230. As it happens, the restaurant in question is a mere 22 miles from the Hall of F@#$%&g Awesome, so you'd better believe that if Lewis wins, I'll be there for my spicy two-piece-and-biscuit (dirty rice, please). In fact, maybe I should call now to see if they're issuing press credentials. Wouldn't want to get caught in the rush.
What I Believe
I believe in Israel Adesanya. Unlike his obvious analogue, Michael Page -- whom I also enjoy -- I think Adesanya is undefeated because he's really good at fighting, not just because he's been matched carefully. Even coming up in the regional scene, Adesanya was fighting wrestlers as well as strikers, and good fighters, including one in Kenan Song who is now 2-0 in the UFC himself.I believe Adesanya is better than his current ranking. (I mean his ranking on this site. I don't care how the UFC has him ranked.) Ultimately, though, rankings should be about what a fighter has done, not how we think he would fare against the fighters above him. Case in point: Derek Brunson, Adesanya's scheduled opponent for this weekend, is ranked above "The Last Stylebender" with good reason; win or lose, he has been fighting better opposition, and Brunson's best wins over the last two years are better than Adesanya's. However, it would be hard to imagine a fighter more tailor-made to make Adesanya look superhuman. If we see the Brunson who ran straight at Robert Whittaker swinging wildly or the Brunson who couldn't pull the trigger against a shot-looking Anderson Silva and struggled to take him down, either of those guys goes down in flames.
Super-Size Me (Again)
Sijara Eubanks blew weight once again. In the past year, she has vaulted herself from general obscurity into being one of the most notable weight offenders in the sport. Not the thing a fighter wants to get famous for. Meanwhile, there’s a division right above her where she’s perfectly well suited to fight; she is a very strong woman who has fought at 135 for much of her career. Right on the heels of an event where Anthony Smith completed his transition from journeyman middleweight to light heavyweight title contender, it’s more stupid and pointless than ever.I’ve spent multiple columns decrying weight-cutting culture in MMA, as have many smarter people than myself. We’re not going to solve it today. For now I’ll just continue to admire and root for the Smiths, the Whittakers, the fighters who simply took an honest look at themselves and chose to compete in a weight class where they feel stronger and more energetic, with winning results and less risk to their health.
On The Rebound
In this space last week, I weighed in on the stunning Demetrious Johnson - Ben Askren "trade," and how it wasn't exactly an unadulterated boon for all of the parties involved. This is underscored by the moves each promotion is making in the wake of the exchange. While the news is not 100-percent confirmed, and it's not really fair of me to compare -- though I won't let that stop me -- the optics are pitifully humorous. With the departure of "Mighty Mouse," the UFC appears set to shut down his entire division, with a swan song featuring the Olympic gold medalist who dethroned him, Henry Cejudo, against a Top-10 pound-for-pound fighter in T.J. Dillashaw. If that fight takes place at 125 pounds, as Dillashaw has expressed interest in doing, it would determine the last UFC flyweight champion -- for now -- and could make Dillashaw, for one fleeting moment, only the third man to hold two UFC titles simultaneously. If it takes place at 135, Cejudo has a chance to jump out of the sinking flyweight ship and straight into another belt. Though he would likely be an underdog in that fight, my heart's with Cejudo. We're talking about a man who lost his Olympic medal -- the actual physical object -- in a hotel fire, won UFC gold, lost that too, then recovered it, only to have the division pulled out from under him. What is it with Cejudo and hardware? He has to be cursing his luck.Meanwhile, One Championship has already announced a welterweight title bout to fill Askren's abandoned throne. It takes place in two weeks, it features one fighter Askren crushed last fall and one you've likely never heard of unless you follow Pacific Northwest regional MMA; and you do not care. One Championship is a major MMA organization, but that is not a major-organization move. If that's the best One can come up with to fill Askren's considerable shoes, I'd argue the wrong division is getting the plug pulled.
Enjoy the fights this weekend, friends.
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