UFC 214: Cormier vs Jones 2

[lambyUK]

You seem to be talking like this rivalry was no different to any other heated feud from the past. It wasn't. 

It's the most bitter and personal there's been in mma and Cormier's career and legacy was riding on it.

On top of that, when you're KO'd and concussed it's a fact you aren't with your senses.

 

[Noah Southworth]

Josh Burkman (155.5lbs, 28-15, 1 NC) vs. Drew Dober (155lbs, 17-8 1 NC) didn’t have much time to develop before Dober hit an overhand left that knocked Burkman out in 3:04. It’s Burkman’s fourth loss in a row so he is likely out the door.
Five Word Review: Dober showcases his power punching.

Eric Shelton (126lbs, 10-3) vs. Jarred Brooks (126lbs, 12-0) was a fight where long periods of the mundane were punctuated with brief moments of excitement. Neither fighter really impressed or otherwise stood out.
Five Word Review: Brooks edges a mundane fight.

Kailin Curran (115lbs, 4-4) vs. Alexandra Albu (115lbs, 2-0) was a really entertaining fight, with lots of action and constant movement, and no real downtime in a fight that never slow down or otherwise got boring. Albu was the stronger and made that count in the first two round, as she’d regularly go for and get a headlock takeover. Curran was the more polished striker, and she was landing a fair bit overall, but she could only really make it count in the third, which was reflected in the scores of 29-28 across the board for Albu.
Five Word Review: A very entertaining strawweight scrap.

Andre Fili (145lbs, 16-4) vs. Calvin Kattar (145.5lbs, 16-2) was a decent fight with some moments of excitement, but the real story was newcomer Kattar, making his debut as a late replacement, looking right at home and, not quite dominating Fili, but edging past him in all three rounds. It was a competitive fight to be sure, but Kattar was a little better than Fili in just about all areas.
Five Word Review: Calvin clinches big debut victory.

Brian Ortega (146lbs, 11-0, 1 NC) vs. Renato Moicano (146lbs, 11-0-1) saw Ortega put in a really good performance with Moicano doing well to hang in there. Ortega was mixing things up nicely and he’s quietly making a name for himself in the featherweight division.
Five Word Review: Ortega outshines Moicano and finishes.

Aljamain Sterling (139.5lbs, 13-2) vs. Renan Barão (140lbs, 33-4, 1 NC) was an OK fight but it lacked any moment of serious excitement. It was mostly grappling and wrestling on the ground, and Sterling looked the bigger and better fighter as Barão continues to look a lot more normal, in every sense of the word, since falling from the heights of being bantamweight champion.
Five Word Review: Aljamain puts in sterling performance.

Ricardo Lamas (145.5lbs, 17-5) vs. Jason Knight (145.5lbs, 20-2) was a good competitive fight, Knight hanging in there nicely, until Lamas tagged him with a strong right hand; Knight was rocked and Lamas kept going, with Knight showing tons of heart in refusing to go down, but it was a losing battle and eventually Knight was down and Lamas threw a few more punches for the first round TKO win.
Five Word Review: Lamas remains relevant at featherweight.

Jimi Manuwa (204.5lbs, 17-2) vs. Volkan Oezdemir (205.5lbs, 14-1)    opened up the PPV with a short, sub-minute fight; Oezdemir landed hard punches in the clinch that had Manuwa shakily backing up and another punch dropped him, and one more finished the job. It’s another quick knockout win for Oezdemir and we have a new contender to talk about in the light heavyweight division.
Five Word Review: Oezdemir makes mincemeat of Manuwa.

Robbie Lawler (170lbs, 27-11, 1 NC) vs. Donald Cerrone (170lbs, 32-8, 1 NC) was a very entertaining scrap, a real high-octane battle, and Lawler was able to take the kind of shots that I didn’t think he could anymore, so full credit to the guy. Lawler opened up fast and furious as it seemed like he was going for the early win, but Cerrone weathered the storm. The pace slowed down a little, as it obviously would have had to, and when the pace was a slower is when the fight favoured Cerrone. Lawler took the first round with the fast pace, but he slowed in the second which allowed Cerrone to take control, but Lawler came back in the third and it became a real scrap, although Lawler probably did enough to win the round and the fight. That’s how the judges saw it too, all three giving it to Lawler 29-28, but the result got a lot of boos from the fans as Cowboy was the more popular of the two here tonight.
Five Word Review: ‘Ruthless’ Robby returns to form.

Cristiane Justino (145lbs, 17-1, 1 NC) vs. Tonya Evinger (145lbs, 19-5, 1 NC) – for the vacant UFC Women’s Featherweight Championship went a lot slower than most probably expected it to, with Cyborg showing a lot of patience. Cyborg methodically picked Evinger apart, hitting when she could but not really pushing things, not taking unnecessary chances before finally pulling the trigger and putting Evinger away in the third.
Five Word Review: Slower version of expected fight.

Tyron Woodley © (170lbs, 17-3-1) vs. Demian Maia (170lbs, 25-6) – for the UFC Welterweight Championship was a very boring fight as Woodley mainly let Maia go for takedowns and shuck them off. Although Woodley actually caught Maia with a punch off the first takedown attempt that had the left eye of Maia swelling shut, he wasn’t very aggressive overall and seemed happy to pick Maia off at distance so as to avoid Maia being able to get a hold of him. It was a very effective strategy for winning but it made for a very boring fight.
Five Word Review: Woodley wins in weary fashion

Daniel Cormier © (205lbs, 19-1) vs. Jon Jones (204.5lbs, 22-1) – for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship was the long awaited grudge rematch and it was a fight that didn’t really explode until the end. Cormier was walking Jones down and being the more aggressive, but Jones was still able to land as well and when it came to scoring the first two rounds, it all depended on whether you favourite aggression over output. That ended up not mattering as Jones landed a big head kick in the third that rocked Cormier, had him reeling, and Jones pounced, knocking Cormier back down and finishing him with strikes and it was a little late on the stoppage and Cormier took a while to get back up.

Jones was tearful in his post-fight interview and seemed genuinely remorseful when reflecting over his past actions, and praised Cormier heavily, like super strong, but the guy has screwed up so often, and responded with so many lies and constant obfuscation that it’ll take more than one interview to prove he’s a changed person. I’d like to see Jones change for the better, though.

Cormier was interviewed as well, which was a really bad idea and made Joe Rogan look like a major hypocrite after he previously complained about interviewing fighters after being knocked out, which he’s called a very bad idea, and then made that exact same point again before ignoring his own argument and interviewing Cormier anyway. Cormier was obviously very emotional; he seemed, quite honestly, to be a broken man, and I don’t know that he’ll return from this. I think this loss may very well have taken all the fight out of Cormier, like he knows he can’t ever beat the champion, who’ll be champion for a very long time, so why stick around.

Of course, Jones then stole the spotlight and headlines by calling out Brock Lesnar, which is the fight the UFC wants, Jones clearly wants, and Lesnar seems to want as well. It’s the biggest fight the UFC can make right now, so unless it really is just Lesnar looking to leverage a better deal with WWE, it’s a fight that will very likely get made for early 2018.

Five Word Review: Jones reclaims his championship crown.

UFC 214 was looking like a really good show before it stumbled badly with the terrible Woodley/Maia fight, but things picked up with the main event, which was a fairly good and interesting fight, even if I personally hated the outcome. Overall, UFC 214 gets a moderate thumbs up.

 

[seanz25]

This was a really fun show, pacing was great, everything was hitting it's stride, then Maia and Woodley ruined that. 

Unfortunately for Woodley it was a very tactical, smart performence. Have to give him credit for that, Woodley really does have a great fight IQ but that doesn't read for great entertainment and this dragged.

Jones Cormier was all sorts of fun, I actually had DC winning both the opening rounds, whilst he wasn't outputting as many strikes as Jones, I felt he was bringing the fight to Jones and landing with more significant impact. Still that headkickwas brutal and Jones had started to find his rhythm in the 3rd. Gutted for DC and I thought the stoppage was a tad late.

Jones vs Lesner is going to be wild.

[textonly]

It's interesting to hear people had Cormier winning both rounds. I had it all Jones up until the knockout. I thought DC did well and came into each round towards the end, but by that time I thought Jones had landed enough and done enough to win them. I'm happy though. I actually like DC a lot and I'm sad for him, but I've always held up Jones as the GOAT and essentially it was just really nice to see that version of him back out there. Whatever you think of Jon Jones the man, Jon Jones the fighter is really something.

I'm sad for Maia as he's long been one of my faves and it's hard to know what he does now. He works his ass off for years to get another title shot, beats a bunch of top names, then gets saddled with the worst possible style match-up for his big moment. I think if Maia was fighting Wonderboy he'd be the champ right now, but Woodley's takedown defence is just too good. And I was too invested in the outcome to feel bored by the fight. Woodley did what he needed and fair play for that. I think the crowd, Dana or whoever else wants to criticise Woodley for being a smart fighter is being extremely unfair.

Donald Cerrone impressed me a lot. Sometimes when he gets hurt he withers, but he came back a storm here and I thought it was a razor-close decision with a guy I thought was gonna dust him. I might have even edged the decision to him, but it was one of those where it went to the scorecards and I thought, "whatever name is called, fair play".

Elsewhere...

Props to Evinger's toughness; I thought she offered nothing in terms of offence, but it was almost like Cyborg was fighting a rubber practice dummy for a few rounds, she absorbed everything so well. I like Brian Ortega a lot but I actually thought he was losing that fight and was lucky Moicano decided to put on a Velasquez-Werdum "dive into the guillitone!" tribute at the death. Volkan Oezdemir's skeleton must be adamantium, because he looks such a skinny and lean light-heavy that the power is just shocking. Barao looks a shadow of his old self, which is a great shame.

[ColinBollocks]

Did Jones just turn babyface? Probably not, he probably punched a pregnant woman right after. Nevertheless, he was very gracious. Folk having a go at DC need to mind he just got kicked in the head, then took too many punches on the ground; I doubt DC was in his right mind. Shame about the kick, because DC was looking super composed, even if the reach was clearly a big issue. Like Gust, clearly it will take someone with comparable size to best Jones - as it's a massive advantage. Fair play to Jones, though, great fighters win the big fights.

Noah called Maia/Woodley. Once Maia couldn't get the takedown after the first, you knew it was all Woodley's for the taking, but he just did enough to win, fighting very defensively, which is fair enough, he got the win, but that's two fight in a row he's looked like the most unproductive champion in history. I like Woodley, but I'm pleased to read he may have did his best to ruin the GSP fight.

Cyborg did Cyborg. Brutal.

Lawler v Cerrone was as advertised. Think I shouted out my throat at the pace Lawler put on Cerrone early doors. I was worried Cerrone figured him out in the 2nd, but Lawler did enough in the 3rd for the win. Love having Lawler back and winning.

Oezdemir is a bit tasty, eh? I fancied an upset here, but never did I see this happening. A complete doing.

For me, the highlight of the show was Mike Beltran. Fella is like something from a comic book.

[herbie747]

I didn't think Jones' post fight promo come across sincere at all. He's just trying to rebuild his image by trying to act respectful & mature - but deep down he's an immature arsehole.

[ColinBollocks]

Going by his previous, probably, but it was most graceful thing to say.

[Noah Southworth]

21 minutes ago, textonly said:

I think the crowd, Dana or whoever else wants to criticise Woodley for being a smart fighter is being extremely unfair.

Ostensibly, you’re right. You fight to win and you do so in the smartest manner possible. The problem is that Woodley has campaigned for big money fights, and fighting in what could charitably be described as a conservative manner isn’t going to get Woodley the big money fights he wants. If Woodley wasn’t so vocal about wanting big money fights, it wouldn’t matter. But he can’t keep complaining about not getting big money fights if he fights like he did against Maia. It’s not an either/or situation; you can fight smart and exciting. But it’s on Woodley to find that balance, which he’ll need to do if he wants the big money fights and the big paycheques that come with them, which is what he’s angling for to begin with.

[lambyUK]

As far as the fight goes I had Cormier winning the first round with a toss up in the 2nd, leaning towards Jones more.

I think Cormier got too complacent when he was landing the more significant shots.

I have to say I really want to see the Gus fight next far more than Lesnar. 

[ColinBollocks]

Apparently, Dana said this is trending to do over 1M. Didn't expect that.

[Noah Southworth]

I will be stunned if this gets even close to a million buys. I think anything above 500,000 should be considered a major success.

[ColinBollocks]

I thought 500k was a great number, but they're expecting much bigger now. 

Also, Dana said it was completely Rogan''s call to interview a battered DC after the fight. Dana said the production people specifically told Rogan not to interview DC. Awful call from Rogan.

[Noah Southworth]

It wasn't a good night for Rogan because he repeated the myth about 6-to-12 elbows being banned because the commission saw them being used to break bricks and whatnot by karate fighters and thought they were too dangerous to allow in MMA.

[Adam Turner]

Man, completely gutted for DC. I thought he was looking great until that head kick. Really sad to watch unfold.

[D@mm]

Everyone needs to watch Dana talk on the post show press conference, he rips in Woodley and rightly so.