UFC 232: Jones vs Gustafsson 2

[Zebra Kid Mark]

Amazing performance by Nunes, I had Cyborg winning it going in and I could not see how Nunes would be able to knock her out or last the 5 rounds, I was pleasantly wrong and I won't bet against Nunes ever again.

It was sad to see Condit as a shell of the fighter he once was. I'm not sure if he has lost it or if everyone else has just caught up with him meaning prime Condit would not cut it in today's WW division. 

Jon Jones was Jon Jones. Let's see if he passes his post fight drug test. If Jones wants the DC rematch then he needs to step up in weight and fight him.

[WeeAl]

A fantastic performance from Amanda Nunes. Fought fire with fire with Cyborg, and obliterated her. Cyborg didn't follow a smart gameplan once the fight started, but Nunes was more technical, threw with just as much heat and was able to outlast Cyborg. She's the female GOAT now. 

Jones shut Gustafsson down completely. Gusty couldn't get anything going there and Jones showed that he's evolved more than Alex has since their first fight and addressed the issues that Gustafsson was able to exploit five years ago. I expect Jones pisses hot again very shortly, but it won't matter as he has been granted a golden ticket to have Turinabol in his system now for the rest of his career. He's better than everyone else out there, but he's always going to be Jon 'Asterisk' Jones for the rest of his career in my book. Despite that, an incredible performance to give Gusty absolutely nothing. I don't know who he faces now, unless it's DC at HW. There's nobody in that current LHW division that could give him a round of trouble. Is Rumble Johnson likely to be tempted back with the offer of a fight with Jones at 205 possibly? 

I was very impressed with Peter Yan, Alexander Volkanovski and Michael Chiesa. Yan and Volkanovski are going to be trouble very shortly for the top dogs of the divisions. Chiesa certainly looked better here at WW, but it's so deep at 170 that it's very early days for him up there. Corey Anderson has put together a nice little streak also, with a good decision win over the bricklayer. 

Urijah Hall plucked the win out of his arse against Bevon Lewis. He was getting handled and looked dejected, then flattened Lewis in the third with a lovely flush shot to the chin and then came across as one of the nicest guys in the world post fight. Well done Urijah. 

Curtis Millender continued to look like a handful, as did Nathaniel Wood, two exciting prospects in their weight classes. BJ Penn though continued to make me feel sad. A beautiful submission from Hall, but definitely not the way that too many of us will have wanted it to end. 

[ColinBollocks]

Dana said after the show he wants BJ to retire. It's too sad now, even Dana is done with trying to squeeze some money out of his name.

[wandshogun09]

Saving the best til last. That was probably my favourite show of the year. Shame it had to come after all that bollocks in the build up, which meant the card itself didn’t really get the love it deserved from the media or fans. Fantastic show though, top to bottom. I made a point of making sure I caught every fight on this one, Fight Pass and all, which I very rarely do these days. Glad I did now. 

Jones looked really good. Completely nullified Gus at every turn then once he got it on the ground, the difference is levels there showed and it wasn’t long before he stopped Gus. This was pretty much exactly how I expected the first fight to go in 2013. I don’t think he managed to take Gus down at all that time. 

I don’t have much interest at all in Jones vs Cormier 3. Especially at 205. We’ve seen that movie twice now and I don’t see a different ending if they go again. A fight at heavyweight would be a new spin on an old story but same outcome for me. I’m just done with JJ vs DC. 

For me, Jones at heavyweight is what I want to see now though. A permanent move up probably won’t happen yet but I don’t really care to see Jones squash the likes of Anthony Smith or Corey Anderson or whoever. Just zero investment in that. Jones at heavyweight opens up the possibility of fights with Cormier (if we must), Stipe, Cain, maybe Brock. I know it’s a long shot but the Cain fight in particular would be amazing if Cain can stay healthy and build some kind of momentum now. I realise that’s a humongous ‘if’ though. The fight itself is fascinating and it’s got the built in backstory of Cain trying to avenge DC’s honour against Big Bad Jon. It’s like Batman coming in to defend Spider-Man against Venom or whoever. 

Nunes vs Cyborg...Jesus fucking Christ!! I suspected Nunes would have the power to hurt Cyborg but never thought it would look like that. Absolutely made up for Nunes. I hope now she starts getting a little bit more love. She’s been brilliant to watch forever and she seems nice enough outside the cage too. She’s completely solidified herself now as the best female fighter ever. When Rogan was saying ‘perhaps the greatest female fighter’ this and that, there’s no ‘perhaps’ for me. She’s finished Cyborg, Rousey and Tate, all inside a round, and holds 2 decisions over Shevchenko. Not bad considering the UFC brass thought her to be ‘cannon fodder’ for Ronda not long ago, eh? She’s fucking awesome. I kind of felt sorry for Cyborg, which is mad really, it’s like feeling sorry for the shark in Jaws. But I’ve grown to quite like her over the last few years. Nunes stole the night though. 

Another Champ Champ in the books.

This woman destroyed Cris Cyborg and Ronda Rousey in a combined 99 seconds!! 

Chiesa vs Condit was a good ground war. Really disappointed Condit lost again though. And that finish was grim as fuck. I was wincing thinking Chiesa was actually going to pull Condit’s arm off. 

Anderson vs Latifi was OK but it suffered from being surrounded by better fights and exciting finishes all over the place. 

Loved Volkanovski vs Mendes. What a fight. Huge win for Volkanovski and he had to come through some rough moments in there. Showed some real character to grit his teeth and fire back. I always enjoy a good body shot finish too. Cracking fight. 

Harris vs Arlovski wasn’t much cop. Started well with a decent first round but fizzled out into a bit of a staring contest. Biggest win of Harris’ career by far though. Don’t see him going too far but he seems a good guy. I’ve liked him since I saw an unexpected interview with IFL a few months back. 

Anderson vs Zingano was so disappointing. Cat Zingano just can’t catch a break. The woman’s had no luck. Showed so much promise early in her UFC run with stoppage wins over Miesha Tate and Amanda Fucking Nunes but since then it’s been injury after injury and loss after loss. She finally snapped the losing streak last time and then in her next fight this happens...

Megan Anderson toe-pokes her in the eye. 

Like I said going in, I had a feeling Cat was getting battered anyway but it’s a shame it ended like this. They never even got to fight. Maybe they can re-book it. Not Anderson’s fault, it was clearly unintentional, but a crappy ending for all involved. 

Thought my man Petr Yan looked class again. Really sharp on the feet as always but he showed more of his game here. I really liked his ground work. Dare I say some of it looked almost mini Cain-esque. He just drowned De Andrade. Credit to his corner for recognising he needed pulling out and not Raquel Penningtoning him back out for more abuse.

Yan calling for a fight with John Lineker in his interview had me practically doing YES cartwheels around my living room. 

Ryan Hall vs BJ Penn...man. There’s always that risk with Hall. Best leglock man in the history of the game for me. Yes, better than Palhares. And like Rogan said, at least Hall actually lets go when they tap. Actually thought BJ looked a bit more lively early on than we’ve seen in a while. That’s not saying much I know, but he actually looked like he had a pulse and was awake this time. And was actually attacking! But Hall can pull a leglock out of fucking thin air. Couldn’t believe how fast he got it, synched it up and readjusted it. And say what you want about Penn, he’s a high level BJJ black belt. This was no Artem Lobov. Penn is legit on the ground and has been forever. For Hall to pull this off against him was impressive. Really love Hall’s whole attitude and demeanour as well. Very nonchalant about everything but was also mega respectful to BJ post-fight. 

Fight Pass bit was good as well. 

Nathaniel Wood continues to impress. Real strong all-round performance ahainst Andre Ewell. Got tagged a few times but definitely got the better of the striking overall, completely dominated the grappling and topped it off with the submission in the third. He wants on the London card next in March. That’s a no-brainer. Hopefully he gets a main card spot against a decent name. 

Uriah Hall one punch KO’d Bevon Lewis in the third round of a fight he was almost certainly going to lose if it went to the judges. 

Curtis Millender once again looked really good outclassing Siyar Bahadurzada to a comfy decision. Can’t say enough good things about Millender. He didn’t do anything here that would knock anyone’s socks off but in general I really have a good feeling about him. As long as they don’t have him run before he’s finished mastering walking, I think the sky is the limit with him. 

And Montel Jackson had a great debut submitting Brian Kelleher in a round. Considering Kelleher has gone into the third round against Lineker and gone 3 rounds with Barão and won, this was an impressive showing. 

 

Brilliant show. I actually went 8-1 in my predictions for the first 9 fights (well got the winners right anyway). Went 1-3 in the last 4 though. Only got Jones right. Still, 9-4 isn’t bad. Much better than I usually do. 

[jimufctna24]

2 hours ago, wandshogun09 said:

Really disappointed Condit lost again though.

And that's the second fight in a row where he's come close to submitting his opponent before being subbed himself. 

 

[wandshogun09]

It’s just not happening for him is it? 

Elsewhere, you know how we all felt bad for Brian Ortega when Holloway beat his face in a few weeks back? Don’t. He’s over it. 

And Ivan Drago was there. Don’t know why he was sitting next to a heavybag though? 

And who let this sex pest in? Quick, get the Febreze.

[wandshogun09]

Sorry to double post but this from Cyborg at the press conference;

 

Even though I was a big Rousey fan at one time, I can’t lie I got a kick out of this. 

Cyborg was class at the presser. Really great attitude about the loss and didn’t make excuses or sit there all woe is me. Only thing she said that was negative at all was that she was disappointed she never got an interview in the cage after the fight. I didn’t even notice that at the time, I was too distracted by Nunes joyously running around with her belts. But when Cyborg said that, I guess it was weird. They usually interview the loser in a big PPV fight, especially if it’s an exciting shootout like this was. Dana looked over the fucking moon when Nunes went up to him outside the cage after the KO as well. Shades of a jubilant Joe Silva hugging Johny Hendricks after the Fitch KO years ago. 

Wouldn’t be surprised if that’s it for Cyborg in the UFC now. And maybe curtains for the 145 division as well.  For what it’s worth, Featherweight appears to be gone from the Rankings section on the UFC website. This is how the women’s divisions are listed on there as of right now;

That’s it. No Featherweight. Maybe they’re just updating it with Nunes as champ, or maybe it’s a sign that the division is done. It never seemed like they were all that interested in building the 145 division anyway. This could be another Dillashaw-Cejudo situation, Nunes taking the 145 belt certainly makes it easier for them to just dissolve 145, retire the belt with Nunes and carry on with Nunes at 135. Just like TJ beating Lego Henry would make it easier for them to just close down Flyweight. 

It’d be a shame tough because, as shallow as 145 is, shutting it down would mean 1) no more Cyborg in the UFC, she’s not making 135, we’ve been over that one plenty. 2) Megan Anderson will be gone as there’s surely no way she makes 135. She looks huge at 145. Again, a shame as I think there is a lot of potential there. Just get her to cut her fucking toenails. 3) Nunes herself said she felt great at 145, the cut to 135 is clearly something she can do but for how long? And she looked great here. It’d be a shame to close off that option for her of sacking off the weight cut and moving up full time. Same to a lesser extent with the likes of Cat Zingano, Holly Holm, Ketlen Vieira etc. And finally 4) it would mean no Nunes vs Cyborg rematch, which after the way this fight played out is by far the biggest women’s fight they possibly can make. 

But I’ve got a feeling they’re about to scrap the division and maybe they want out of the Cyborg business for whatever reason. She’s apparently got one fight left on her contract, it’s clear Dana and the company have never truly been behind her and stuff like not giving her a post-fight interview just feeds into that. They did just have a 145 tournament on TUF but I haven’t seen any of the women off there booked since, there are no women’s 145 fights pencilled in for any of the upcoming cards and I could swear that I heard the other week that the TUF women’s 145 winner Macy Chiasson was already being linked to a fight at 135. Doesn’t bode well for the division’s future. 

[weevil]

I don't understand why they would shut down featherweight and/or mens 125. Including the PPVs, the ESPN deal requires them to do 42 cards a year. They'll need more fighters than ever. Surely more champions and ranked contenders are better for filling those cards than the 120th ranked welterweight or whatever.

[wandshogun09]

Exactly, it’s stupid really. But it’s kind of what I expect out of them these days. If the division doesn’t have a big star who talks shit, or they have to put any real effort into building the division or promoting the contenders within it, it just seems like they think it’s too much work. Maybe I’m wrong but that’s impression I get. Like, Flyweight is full or really good fighters. And I actually think Cejudo could end up catching on as a bit of an overbearing ‘I won Olympic gold’ champ (like early Kurt Angle in the WWF in 2000) if they just ride it out a bit. But it seems like they’re determined to kill 125 off. Same kind of thing with women’s 145. If they give it a chance they’ve actually got something there now with a Nunes vs Cyborg rematch. After that maybe Megan Anderson or maybe Holly Holm works her way back or whatever. Just seems hasty to fuck those divisions off now. Especially at a time when, as you say, they’re going to need all the champions and main eventers they can get with all the PPVs and ESPN shows they’ve got next year. 

[Tamura]

1 hour ago, wandshogun09 said:

Only thing she said that was negative at all was that she was disappointed she never got an interview in the cage after the fight. I didn’t even notice that at the time, I was too distracted by Nunes joyously running around with her belts. But when Cyborg said that, I guess it was weird. They usually interview the loser in a big PPV fight, especially if it’s an exciting shootout like this was.

I don't usually watch the post-fight interviews but do they generally interview people who've just been KO'd? Joe Rogan made a public apology for the DC interview.

https://www.mmamania.com/2017/7/30/16065412/ufc-214-joe-rogan-apologizes-daniel-cormier-interview-crying-knockout-concussion-mma

[wandshogun09]

Yeah, Rogan apologised and said he didn’t think they should do it but they’ve still continued to do it a whole bunch of times since then. The one that sticks out for me is when they interviewed Bisping after Gastelum nearly sent his head into the nosebleeds with a massive left hook. 

They interviewed Bisping after THAT! And this was months after the DC cry-promo. It’s happened a few times since as well. Cyborg says she wanted to speak but a UFC employee ushered her out of the cage. 

[the_mole]

Bisping was retiring though, he probably wanted to say something, it was after the Stipe-Overeem fight when Alistair thought he wasn't knocked out is when Joe mentioned stop doing it, that Bisping one was in China with I think Dan Hardy interviewed him.  Rogan can have different ideas about what works post figh than Hardy, who knows.

[wandshogun09]

Bisping didn’t retire until months later though. They were still trying to set up him vs Rashad for the London show earlier this year before Bisping announced he was done on his podcast. 

You’re right it was Hardy in that case. But I’m sure Rogan’s interviewed fighters since the Overeem and DC examples. Did he interview Cody Garbrandt after Dillashaw knocked him out, I can’t remember? Might’ve even interviewed Raquel Pennington after Nunes decimated her. 

Regardless, it’s not about Rogan or Hardy. They’re probably just taking direction from the production truck most of the time anyway. Cyborg is saying a UFC employee rushed her out of the cage and they didn’t want to interview her. My point is that’s not the UFC’s usual practice. Usually if a fighter wants to speak after a KO in a big title fight, the UFC are more than happy to have Rogan do it. I’d understand if they were short on time but they can’t have been considering 2 of the first 3 fights on the PPV ended inside the distance and then the Nunes vs Cyborg fight itself was over in 51 seconds. They had time to kill. 

Oh well. Doesn’t really matter in the big picture. Cyborg still got her say at the press conference. But it certainly wasn’t what they usually do. 

[David]

At this stage you have to think that the money for Cyborg is in Japan? I mean, there's not really much for her in the US beyond a rematch with Nunes, is there? And if the division is going away, then what's the point? She's made it clear she can't get down to 135lbs.

I'd still like to see the rematch though. Cyborg came in all wrong in that fight at the weekend. What the fuck was she thinking? That she could just walk through Nunes' punches? She hasn't fought like that in years, using a more measured approach lately.

You go in swinging like that there's a 50/50 chance you're going down, especially with those gloves.

[WeeAl]

Could PFL try and land her for a fight with Kayla Harrison? It feels early for Harrison to get that fight, but it's a fight that would have something to it. I'm not sure if PFL would have the pull to land it though. Maybe as a co-promotional deal if Cyborg was to sign elsewhere.