UFC 185: Pettis vs Dos Anjos

[Polish Dad]

Both title fights were incredible, never been that pumped for a fight as I was seeing Dos Anjos just destroy every part of Pettis' game. 

As a friend of mine put it on FB "Just just looks... tired and confused. "I keep hitting him, and he keeps hitting me back! WHAT IS THIS SORCERY?!""

Obviously, helps that the Dos Anjos win paid for the IKEA furniture I'm gonna buy today.

[Noah Southworth]

UFC 185

 

Germaine de Randamie (136lbs, 4-3) vs. Larissa Pacheco (136lbs, 10-1) was a good opener in that de Randamie battered Pacheco until getting the stoppage in the second round,  and it got the fans warmed up nicely for the nights’ action, which was what you want out of an opener.

 

Joseph Duffy (156lbs, 12-1) vs. Jake Lindsey (156lbs, 9-2) was totally one sided and Duffy hammered Lindsey in short order, finishing him with a high kick and some punches after Lindsey dropped.

 

Ryan Benoit (126lbs, 7-3) vs. Sergio Pettis (126lbs, 12-1) saw Pettis kick Benoit's ass for one round and change before getting caught with a left hook and dropped in the second and some ground and pound from Benoit ended it. For some reason, Benoit literally kicked Pettis's ass after the fight was over, though Benoit apologized for it during his interview.

 

Josh Copeland (264lbs, 9-1) vs. Jared Rosholt (245lbs, 11-2) opened up the FS1 prelims with a fight that wasn’t that good and it wasn’t really bad; it was just there. Rosholt won in the third with ground and pound. Nothing about this fight stood out and Rosholt continues his streak of uninspiring fights.

 

Daron Cruickshank (157.5lbs*, 16-5, 1 NC) vs. Beneil Dariush (156lbs, 9-1) saw Dariush look really good against a very good fighter in Daron Cruickshank. Dariush has a nasty left kick and he’s great on the ground as well. Dariush really stood out here tonight and you’d expect him to get a bigger ‘name’ opponent next.

 

Roger Narvaez (186lbs, 7-1) vs. Elias Theodorou (186lbs, 10-0) was a good fight with Narvaez starting out strong but fading due to a combination of tiring out and Theodorou landing some brutal kicks and Narvaez ended up with a broken arm. Theodorou has potential as both a fighter and a star.

 

Ross Pearson (156lbs, 16-8, 1 NC) vs. Sam Stout (156lbs, 20-10-1) was a decent scrap with Pearson dropping Stout with a left hook in the second round and couple more punches finished Stout off. Pearson comes back after his loss to Al Iaquinta; Stout had been out for almost year before this fight and I would not be shocked if he calls it a day.

 

Chris Cariaso (126lbs, 17-6) vs. Henry Cejudo (125lbs, 7-0) saw Cejudo dominate Cariaso for fifteen minutes and whilst he claimed in his post-fight interview that he was tired late on because of the weight cut, Cejudo showed no obvious signs of that. Cejudo said he wants a top five opponent and he seems gung-ho on eventually challenging Demetrious Johnson and that should be a heck of a fight.

 

The only thing dumber than the rule on 12-6 elbows is Joe Rogan for continuously pushing the line that it’s all because of karate guys breaking ice with elbows. Either Rogan’s being wilfully ignorant or UFC have dropped the ball on letting one of their lead announcers know he’s pushing a myth as fact. It should have been corrected a long time ago.

 

Roy Nelson (254lbs, 20-10) vs. Alistair Overeem (247lbs, 38-14, 1 NC) was expected to end with someone getting knocked out but we didn’t get it. We did get a hard hitting fifteen minute fight and both fighters were rocked at various points but either through good defence (Overeem) or poor follow up (Nelson), the knock out never came. Overeem dominated Nelson for most of this fight, chopping and kicking away and leaving Nelson’s body with numerous welts. Nelson had his moments and he did have Overeem in trouble at times, but he just could not or would not pull the trigger when he had the chance. Overeem looked tons lighter, and perhaps because of that, Overeem looked as good as he ever has in the UFC. Cleaner living will do that.

 

Matt Brown (171lbs, 19-12) vs. Johny Hendricks (170lbs, 16-3) had expectations of being a war but it didn’t live up to them, mainly because Hendricks was just so much better than Brown and Hendricks was dominant for virtually the entire fifteen minutes .  Brown put up a fight but he was never really competitive, and there is a difference. Hendricks looked very good, perhaps because he was more disciplined going into his weight cut, and he probably beats Lawler if they fight again. I’d be more interested in seeing him face Rory MacDonald because I think that would be a more interesting and more competitive fight.

 

How many times do you have to grab the fence before you get a point taken off? Then again, this is Kerry Hadley, who is a terrible referee and is taking up the mantle of Steve Mazaghatti.

 

Carla Esparza (115lbs, 10-2) vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk (115lbs, 8-0) was a total domination from Jedrzejczyk who battered Esparza from beginning to end, with the end coming in the second round with a TKO win for Jedrzejczyk . Esparza just could not take Jedrzejczyk down and when she finally did, Jedrzejczyk popped right back up. Esparza had nothing for Jedrzejczyk in the stand-up. Strange that Dana didn’t strap the title belt around Jedrzejczyk, because he almost always does that. Jedrzejczyk is so incredibly nice and comes off as such a likeable human being. It’s worth noting that the referee timed his stoppage perfectly because the second he jumped in, Esparza collapsed and would only have taken even more punishment.

 

“I didn’t feel myself but I’m not making excuses.” Shut the fuck up.

 

Anthony Pettis (155lbs, 18-2) vs. Rafael dos Anjos (155lbs, 23-7) was a great fight and a tremendous showing from Dos Anjos who pretty well kicked Pettis’s ass for all five rounds, doing far better in the stand up than most would have expected to where, at points, he was outstriking Pettis, with Dos Anjos also having Pettis in trouble on the ground, almost having him in a kimura at one point. You hesitate to say this was a one sided fight but Pettis never had Dos Anjos in any kind of real trouble. Pettis landed some great leg kicks in the early rounds but until a kimura attempt late in the fifth round, those kicks were about as good as Pettis’s offence got; this fight was all Dos Anjos and Pettis had to work his ass off just stay in this because Dos Anjos was like a man possessed. This was his night and he wasn’t about to let anything get in his way.

 

This was a great show; solid prelims and a supremely entertaining main card with some great moments. Two thumbs up.

[ColinBollocks]

 

His last fight showed why it's going to take a special performance to beat him. One single lapse in concentration or a glimmer of an opening and you're done. People keep saying the Melendez game plan is the correct way to beat Pettis, but I'm not sure there is a man alive that can keep up that sort of pace/concentration for 5 rounds against a 100% Pettis.

 

It's incredible how many weapons the man has and how quickly he can utilize them on World class opponents.

 

I guess last night we got that special performance. I don't think anybody saw it coming from Dos Anjos, but fair play to him. It was a GSP-level of game plan where Pettis looked helpless the entire fight and didn't really get an opening to execute anything. Never did I expect to see Pettis look so meek and 2nd rate in a fight, but Dos Anjos worked his arse off to make it happen. Even as a Pettis fan, you'd have to be a right knob not to feel good for Dos Anjos and the way he's worked his way to where he is now. It's going to take something spectacular to beat this as performance of the year.

 

The Jedzyajdldk fight was terrifying; just throwing bombs in bunches and almost always seeming to land with them. Before the winning combination I was worried this fight was going to be 5 rounds of Esperza playing punchbag, but thankfully the referee was on the ball. Jedzykskrj is a monster.

 

Hendricks performed as one expected, given his newly found abs. The wrestling was as dominant as you will see. I fear for Lawler.

 

Overeem/Nelson was great fun. This Overeem has a shot against most people in the division, not sure many other heavyweights could take some of the shots he was landing on Nelson.

 

Very much lived up to the hype, this.

 

EDIT: Apparently Dos Anjos blew his MCL 3 weeks before the fight too. Yes, he dominated Pettis with one good knee!

[wandshogun09]

What makes the Dos Anjos performance even madder is that, according to his manager, Dos Anjos came in with a partially torn MCL and was unable to wrestle for the last three weeks of camp. You'd never have guessed that looking at the fight last night.

 

I'm not for one second accusing Dos Anjos of anything, but he looked so good last night I'm just praying (and I'm not even religious) that his drug test comes back clean. With how things have gone recently regarding PEDs, I'm never sure what's what anymore. Like I say, I'm not accusing him, I've got no real reason to doubt him. I guess I've just been conditioned to expect the worst. That's how good RDA looked though.

 

What happens with Pettis next, do you reckon? It can't be an immediate rematch, can it? Although it actually wouldn't shock me given the fact they booked a Dillashaw vs Barao 2 immediate rematch after how the first fight went. Ideally though, I'd say give Pettis a rebound fight. Feed Diego Sanchez to him or something. And do Dos Anjos vs Nurmagomedov 2 maybe.

[ColinBollocks]

Yeah, in this era of MMA, you're a mug if you're not a bit suspicious of superman performances. A shitter if he cheated though.

 

I agree with you on Pettis, wand. Maybe best giving him another opponent before doing a rematch. Not sure there is a huge demand for an immediate rematch, seeing the way the fight went.

[wandshogun09]

OK, coming off last night's event, who would you have this lot fight next?

 

Rafael Dos Anjos

Anthony Pettis

Joanna Jedrzejczyk

Carla Esparza

Johny Hendricks

Matt Brown

Alistair Overeem

Roy Nelson

Henry Cejudo

Ross Pearson

 

Here's my two penneth;

 

Rafael Dos Anjos

Yeah, I like him vs the winner of Cerrone vs Nurmagomedov. It'll be a rematch either way but I think enough time has passed and there's enough variables that have changed to make either fight compelling. Dos Anjos has upped his game since losing to Khabib last time, Cerrone has gone on a career-best tear since losing to RDA, Khabib's layoff could also play a part in how a rematch with RDA plays out as well.

 

It looks like this is what they're going with as well, judging by Dana's comments at the press conference.

 

Anthony Pettis

I originally suggested Diego Sanchez as Pettis' next fight. But looking at twitter today...

 

Nate Diaz @NateDiaz209

#Destroyed #rookie

Nate tweeted that just after the main event.

 

I completely forgot about the Pettis vs Diaz beef. It seemed pointless even thinking about them fighting because, as long as Pettis was champion, it never seemed like Nate would get in title contention. That's the one silver lining to Pettis losing last night, I guess. They can just go ahead and book this fight now. It's a fight Pettis should win and it's a fight with some bad blood and backstory that makes it a no-brainer to book and easy as fuck to promote.

 

It'll be a real misfire if Joe Silva doesn't get this booked, IMO.

 

Joanna Jedrzejczyk

This is reliant on Joanne Calderwood winning her next fight (conveniently in Poland), but again it's a no-brainer that's fallen right into their lap and the timing is perfect. Jedrzejczyk vs Calderwood on the Scotland card is the way to go.

 

If Calderwood loses in Poland though, fuck knows, maybe JJ vs Jessica Penne.

 

Carla Esparza

Let's get that Randa Markos grudge match booked. There's no better option than that for either of them. It makes all the sense in the world.

 

Johny Hendricks

He's on about sitting out for the title shot. Someone at the presser told him the UFC are doing a PPV in Houston in October and his eyes lit up. So maybe that. Hendricks vs the winner of Lawler vs McDonald 2.

 

I'd like to see that Hendricks vs Woodley fight though, Woodley's pushing for that apparently.

 

Matt Brown

If I had my way, there's one fight I'd love to see more than almost any other right now - Matt Brown vs Nick Diaz.

 

Tell me that wouldn't be absolutely fucking epic. It's a long shot because Diaz just got a fat cheque for the Anderson fight so he's probably in no rush to fight again anytime soon, but I'd kill to see Brown vs Diaz.

 

Failing that, re-booking that Brown vs Tarec Saffiedine fight wouldn't upset me at all.

 

Alistair Overeem

JDS. JDS. JDS. That is all.

 

Dana has come out and said he "likes that fight". We know Dana. You've booked/tried to book it three times now. The only thing that worries me is Reem was asked at the presser about fighting JDS next and he started on about time off again.

 

It's never going to happen, is it?

 

Roy Nelson

Erm...throw him at Bigfoot. They're both on their last legs but I think it could be fun.

 

Henry Cejudo

Time to give Cejudo a top five flyweight and for me John Moraga fits the bill. He's ranked #4, exciting fighter coming off two wins and has challenged for the title. It's a logical next step after a win over Cariaso and if he wins it lines him up nicely for a crack at the title.

 

Ross Pearson

I'd fucking love to see him fight Michael Johnson next. Explains itself really that one, it'd be a corker.

 

So yeah;

 

Dos Anjos vs Cerrone/Nurmagomedov

Pettis vs Nate Diaz

Jedrzejczyk vs Calderwood

Esparza vs Markos

Hendricks vs Woodley

Brown vs Nick Diaz

Overeem vs JDS

Nelson vs Bigfoot

Cejudo vs Moraga

Pearson vs Johnson

 

I'd genuinely love to see all of them. Well, I could take or leave Nelson vs Bigfoot but the rest are all fights that I'd be well up for.

[Guy Bifkin]

Man that was a great show, easily the best of the year. Never in a million years did I expect the two title fights to turn out like that.

 

I can't see anyone from TUF getting near Joanna Jedrzejczyk, she absolutely pasted Esparza and she looked head and shoulders above everyone in there. It was a beautiful thing. Without being too premature I wonder if she could go up to face Ronda in the future? She might have the tools to at least make a fight of it. In the meantime, a fight in Scotland with Calderwood should be fun but I can only see one winner there.

 

RDA was even better. You could see he fucked up Pettis' eye with his first punch and just laid it on him for five rounds, out-striking him and dominating him on the mat. A brilliant performance. Pettis will be back but you have to wonder how he'd fare against Kabib's wrestling. 

 

Overeem looked really good!

 

What a show.

[wandshogun09]

Yeah, I was always of the opinion that Khabib would be the one to really test Pettis but that Pettis would still come through with the win in the end. After last night though, obviously I'm not so sure. When you look at how dominant Dos Anjos was against Pettis last night, then you realise that Khabib completely smothered Dos Anjos not that long ago...it's hard to picture Khabib not being able to just stifle and overwhelm Pettis.

 

But then again, while Khabib is a superior wrestler to Dos Anjos, he's more one dimensional. That dimension is brilliant and absolutely suffocating but he'd be more predictable for Pettis. He doesn't offer the same threat on the feet that RDA does, so he might have a rougher time setting up his grappling. Whereas Dos Anjos was hurting him standing, which was no doubt making his takedowns easier to come by and easier to set up.

[Noah Southworth]

OK, coming off last night's event, who would you have this lot fight next?

 

Joanna Jedrzejczyk

Joanna Jedrzejczyk

This is reliant on Joanne Calderwood winning her next fight (conveniently in Poland), but again it's a no-brainer that's fallen right into their lap and the timing is perfect. Jedrzejczyk vs Calderwood on the Scotland card is the way to go.

 

If Calderwood loses in Poland though, fuck knows, maybe JJ vs Jessica Penne.

 

Cláudia Gadelha. After their first fight, it’s a rematch waiting to happen.

[lambyUK]

I've have to be honest, I personally thought Pettis took RDA far too lightly in the build up to this fight. His pre fight interviews actually came across quite smug unfortunately and it just reeked of someone looking past his opponent.

 

It certainly didn't help Duke Roufus labelling Pettis the Mayweather of MMA before the fight.

 

Pettis really did show some major holes in his game though last night too.

 

One thing I'm not so sure about is all this talk of Khabib salivating right now. Whilst he will from a title perspective, he loses out on what was the biggest fight out there for him, and one with a bit of bad blood.

 

Regarding RDA and PEDs, I have to admit, when watching him last night it was running through my mind.

[wandshogun09]

I've have to be honest, I personally thought Pettis took RDA far too lightly in the build up to this fight. His pre fight interviews actually came across quite smug unfortunately and it just reeked of someone looking past his opponent.

I was actually going to mention after the show last night but I thought I might've imagined it or something, but the thought did cross my mind last night that Pettis seemed to be showing signs of believing his own hype. Just a tad. I'd never heard him talking about being the 'best of all time' and all that before, and I'm sure he said something like 'my skills are on a different level to these guys' of something similar.

 

I just assumed he was saying that stuff for hype though. But maybe there was an element of complacency creeping in as well? Still, it's no excuse. Once the fight started he was trying to take Dos Anjos head off, I'm sure he was well trained and all that. But like Jones with Gustafsson, I could see him maybe looking past RDA a bit.

 

But the fight was so one-sided and so clear cut in Dos Anjos' favour that it was obviously more than that. RDA has been gradually improving from fight to fight for years now and this was him hitting his peak at the perfect time. I love Pettis but if he did take Dos Anjos lightly, well I pity the fool.

 

I think Dos Anjos landed more quality strikes on Pettis last night than all Pettis' previous opponents combined. If you watch Pettis closely he really doesn't get hit cleanly that often, but Dos Anjos was able to catch him repeatedly. Rafael Cordeiro deserves a ton of credit for the work he's put in with so many fighters over the years. The gains Dos Anjos and Werdum in particular have made in their striking is amazing. Cordeiro doesn't get enough praise when people are talking about the best MMA trainers.

[Kamaras-Tash]

Man watching Esparza taking a pasting like that is my moment of the year so far, wasn't sure if I should be so happy eeing a woman being slapped about like that but seeing that little cunt shut up made me happier than any fight so far this year

 

Good show overall

[Egg Shen]

OK, coming off last night's event, who would you have this lot fight next?

 

Rafael Dos Anjos

Anthony Pettis

Joanna Jedrzejczyk

Carla Esparza

Johny Hendricks

Matt Brown

Alistair Overeem

Roy Nelson

Henry Cejudo

Ross Pearson

 

 

what about Joseph Duffy? had as flawless a debut as you could likely want to see and Rogan was stiff as fuck all the way through, he's headed down to 145 next time out.

[David]

Regarding RDA and PEDs, I have to admit, when watching him last night it was running through my mind.

 

Nah, Pettis got handled by Guida as well. This was always going to be be a possible outcome to be honest.

 

I'll also go out on a limb and say that the Pettis/RDA fight would be the blueprint of what would happen if & when McGregor faces someone with above average wrestling and a ground game,such as Mendes.

 

I'll be waiting with my money for the time that finally happens as well 

[Egg Shen]

yeh i guess you could look at the Clay Guida fight as the blueprint to beat Pettis, but i never would have had Dos Anjos down as the guy to be able to apply that strategy, considering Pettis dealt with Gilbert Melendez in his last fight who you'd think would be the guy to do that to him, going in i wouldn't have said Dos Anjos was the guy to shut him down.

 

It was incredible performance, the guy was just on. He was in Pettis face, he traded with him, mixed in takedowns, great ground control, he avoided any danger on the ground and literally walked through anything Pettis threw at him on the feet. There's been some great performances this year already but i don't think Dos Anjos' will be topped.

 

As for Pettis. Someone brought up him overlooking Dos Anjos. I got the impression from all the build-up, the hype, the 'This is the Show' stuff, that Pettis confidence level was at a point where he didn't think Dos Anjos had any chance against him. It all seemed like everything was in-line for Pettis to make that step into superstardom, it felt like this fight was a chance for Pettis to add something to his highlight reel on a massive stage. What a reality check it must have been when he got popped early by that Dos Anjos left hand.

 

The female title fight was just painful to watch. I know the Straweight Division is in it's infancy and it'll take time to really establish who the best fighter is, but holy hell that was a mis-match. If Esparza had been able to score the takedown's it would have been a different fight, but to see a female fighter so hopelessly outclassed standing was just painful to sit through, it looked like some the Cyborg fights that used to happen in Strikeforce.