The ordering process for Ultimate Fighting Championship pay-per-views has changed: UFC 248 is only available on ESPN+ in the U.S.
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It was hard not to feel for Joseph Benavidez at the conclusion of UFC Fight Night 169 on Saturday in Norfolk, Virginia. Long one of the sport’s best and most underappreciated fighters, Benavidez’s face after losing to Deiveson Figueiredo told a tale of despondency and despair like we rarely see, even in a sport with the highest of highs and lowest of lows. Benavidez could not mask the disappointment with his second-round TKO defeat.
There was good reason for this fight in particular to affect Benavidez deeply. For over a decade, he has chased championship gold. This was his fourth opportunity to fight for an Ultimate Fighting Championship or World Extreme Cagefighting title, and he is now 0-4 in those appearances. At 35 years old and competing in a lighter weight class where older fighters tend not to thrive, this might have been the end of his long quest. That’s certainly no guarantee, as Michael Bisping proved after similarly being counted out. However, this felt more final than any of Benavidez’s previous title defeats.
Sports fans often place more meaning than is warranted into small sample sizes. The team or coach that loses in the playoffs on a number of occasions is classified as being forever unable to win the big one, even if things could easily have broken the other way. Likewise, a fortuitous series of wins at the right time can overcome a much broader track record of success. That attitude is what gives championships their prestige, but it also cuts deeply against those who fall just short.
There’s nothing about Benavidez that dictated he would fall short each time when fighting for the title. His first two title defeats came against all-time greats in Dominick Cruz and Demetrious Johnson; they were also razor-close split decisions. The fight against Johnson was so close that when they rematched Benavidez was nearly an even-odds underdog. Benavidez certainly was not robbed by either decision, but they were close enough that he clearly could have won if things had broken differently.
The timing was also slightly off for Benavidez at other points. Miguel Torres dominated at 135 pounds for years before Benavidez submitted him. The problem for Benavidez was that Brian Bowles got to Torres one fight before him, so there was no title on the line. Benavidez was slightly late against Torres, but he was a little early against Henry Cejudo, as he picked up a split decision win over Cejudo right before the onetime Olympic gold medalist’s recent run. That Benavidez had the skills to be champion, put in the work to be champion and came so close to achieving that goal is what has to make defeat all the more demoralizing. That’s why the stakes are so high at the top level of MMA. Fans tend not to remember all those details, but they do remember who held the titles.
Those stakes come into play again at UFC 248 this Saturday in Las Vegas. Benavidez is reaching a late age for a combat sports athlete, but he’s positively youthful compared to the ageless wonder: 42-year-old Yoel Romero. The year Benavidez learned to wrestle, Romero won an Olympic silver medal in Sydney. Romero continues to fight at a high level, but with three decision losses in his last four fights, his path back to another title shot will be exceedingly difficult if he falls short against Israel Adesanya.
Like Benavidez, Romero has left little doubt that he’s championship caliber. His last four wins were against three former UFC champions and two former Strikeforce champions. His decision losses to UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker were as close as they come. Romero also has every intangible imaginable, and his freakish athletic ability makes him one of the sport’s most distinctive and memorable competitors.
All that is nice, but Romero has spent his adult life in pursuit of being the best. He fell short twice at the Olympics and twice in the UFC, plus an additional interim title opportunity for which he didn’t make weight. There’s a strong likelihood that this is his last chance in what has been long pursuit, and it will go a long way in determining how he is remembered and likely how he will view his own career.
There was some criticism of the Adesanya-Romero title fight when it was announced, particularly given it was agreed upon in such close proximity to the upcoming Henry Cejudo-Jose Aldo championship bout. Unlike in the case of Cejudo-Aldo, however, there was no obvious alternative to Romero. Paulo Henrique Costa was unavailable due to injury, so the only other realistic option was Jared Cannonier, who was a viable but not overwhelming option with a 4-3 record in his last seven fights. Romero got lucky in timing, and now it’s on him to capitalize on that break.
The heartbreak we saw from Benavidez is a reminder of the stakes that exist for Romero. These athletes work so hard and sacrifice so much in pursuit of excellence, but reaching the top is difficult even for the very best fighters. Adesanya will be confident and prepared. Meanwhile, this is arguably the toughest challenge of Romero’s career. The difference between victory and defeat, particularly for such an experienced veteran, is what infuses such drama into the fight.
Todd Martin has written about mixed martial arts since 2002 for a variety of outlets, including CBSSports.com, SI.com, ESPN.com, the Los Angeles Times, MMApayout.com, Fight Magazine and Fighting Spirit Magazine. He has appeared on a number of radio stations, including ESPN affiliates in New York and Washington, D.C., and HDNet’s “Inside MMA” television show. In addition to his work at Sherdog.com, he does a weekly podcast with Wade Keller at PWTorch.com and blogs regularly at LaTimes.com. Todd received his BA from Vassar College in 2003 and JD from UCLA School of Law in 2007 and is a licensed attorney. He has covered UFC, Pride, Bellator, Affliction, IFL, WFA, Strikeforce, WEC and K-1 live events. He believes deeply in the power of MMA to heal the world and bring happiness to all of its people.