UFC Brooklyn: Cejudo vs Dillashaw - Jan 19 🇺🇸

[ColinBollocks]

His logic is all over the place with it. Admitting Cejudo absolutely battered TJ but because it's a big fight the ref should have let TJ get knocked out, knowing about the huge weight cut etc. It's bloody daft because you have the ref in there to protect your fighters in situations like this. I watched the fight again and, on 2nd viewing, I think the ref had little choice. TJ got knocked on his arse 3/4 times in a 15 second mauling, with the ref calling the fight off as TJ was folded over and with Cejudo over him in a very good position to unload some heavier punches. TJ claimed he had a single leg, but he was just desperately clinging on while he certainly would have eaten more punches against an expert grappler over him. It was telling after the fight that elite ex-fighters (DC to Bisping etc) all agreed with the stoppage, saying the ref could have let it go on but it wasn't the smart decision because clearly TJ was just going to get another few seconds of brain damage. It was such a ferocious beatdown in such a short window.

Obviously, Dana wanted TJ to win. The plan all along is this will smoothly kill off the division, but Cejudo could not have looked more impressive in there.

[AdamTH17]

Thought the stoppage was absolutely the right decision. There wasn't any chance that Dillashaw was bettering his position when Cejudo was unloading on him. Amazing performance too, back to back wins against the GOAT Flyweight and one of the best Bantamweights of his generation is quite the achievement. 

Seems like they are going to sack of Flyweight, though. Especially with Cejudo's interview at the end about going up to 135lbs eventually regardless of the Dillashaw rematch taking place. Hopefully Dillashaw makes a defence against the winner of Moraes/Assuncao before the rematch, because it's going to be tricky marketing an immediate rematch following such a convincing loss.

[WeeAl]

The stoppage was a very good one from what I was watching. Cejudo had Dillashaw on dream street. I don't think it was all that surprising a result though. Weight cuts like that, no matter if you can make the cut or not, are stupid. You just can't be at your best if you have to cut 20% of your Bodyweight. He got caught flush several times and he may not have survived the shots even at 135, but at 125 TJ was never going to have the same durability, and as well as that Cejudo was certainly going to be the stronger grappler of the two. Glad to see Henry get the win here. 

Cerrone absolutely turned the clock back again. He got wobbled early and I was worried at that point but he really started to take pieces of Hernandez' soul as the fight went on. Cowboy Vs McGregor is absolutely the fight to make for both men at this point. It'll be interesting to see how they would market that one though as UFC seem to have no interest in having any PPV without some kind of gold on the line, so I'm thinking there might suddenly be a 165lb championship if those two were to be signed to fight. 

 

[Shane O' Mac Version 2]

Another reason Dana White was probably pissed about the main event stoppage- and don't get me wrong, it's no secret he wanted TJ to kill off flyweight for good- is the fact that it was their first main event on ESPN. You could tell everyone on the broadcast team was super excited to be on the major platform, and they put about as big a fight as they could logically put on a Fight Night, all the hype... and it was over in 35 seconds.

Dana was equally livid with the outcome of Cain vs. JDS on the debut event on FOX. Same deal, a massive event, new broadcast partners, major championship fight... and it was over in about a minute. You couldn't argue against the stoppage in that one, but Uncle Dana was all over Cain for his "terrible strategy" in the post-fight.

[WeeAl]

Production wise, I didn't think there was anything really markedly different about this show compared to FS1 Fight Night's, but I must say, I really liked the addition of Trevor Wittman offering insight over the commentary at the beginning of rounds. It's a nice touch and it definitely was a plus to the broadcast. 

[wandshogun09]

Wasn’t expecting that. Something about Cejudo bugs me but fair’s fair, he’s putting together a hell of a resume now. Stoppage was fine. Can’t really add anything on that that hasn’t already been said. I think most refs would’ve stopped it when TJ hit the deck that last time. I get that the disappointment and the emotions would be raw but TJ did come off badly post-fight. I’m sure he’d rather have been fully put out but in the long run the ref did him a favour because he was on a fast track to unconsciousness. Cejudo was fresh, fast, had a full gas tank and was in the perfect position to keep raining down punches. It was most likely going to get bad for TJ. You can’t just let a fighter keep taking shots on the off-chance he makes a miraculous Edgar vs Maynard 2 style comeback. 

Crowder vs Hardy was an odd one all-round. It had drama and a clear babyface vs heel dynamic but on the flipside it was a pretty shit fight with both moving like they were in quicksand and Hardy gassing horribly within a round and having zero ground game. Lowest level co-main event in forever. I was loving Crowder starting to talk shit and building confidence in the second. Then the Wifebeater threw that dirty knee and it was done.

Can’t wait to see Hardy catch a beating. All this bollocks about ‘second chances’ is all well and good but he comes off as such a cunt. He doesn’t seem remorseful and even when Helwani was interviewing him a few days ago he just had this real disingenuous fake humble vibe to him. Just seems like a proper cretin. Even when you see his short MMA highlight reel, he’s supposed to be this changed man just trying to make a living but he’s standing over guys after knockouts and eyeballing them like a right prick. I’d root for Frank Mir over him. There, I said it. Seriously. I hope they feed him to Francis Ngannou next, he gets Overeemed and they cut all association with him. Go away. 

Gregor Gillespie rolls on. Excellent showing from him again. I like him. The fishing thing’s getting old now though. Anik always asks him about it and Gillespie’s there going ‘yeah me and my mate Clive are going out with the rods tomorrow’ etc etc. No-one gives a fuck. Telling the crowd when and what to boo and cheer isn’t likely to endear him either. They gave him a pass here because he was the hometown boy but I can see crowds turning on him if he keeps that up. 

VanZant vs Ostovich was alright. Entertaining while it lasted. Paige looked good but I don’t know if that’s more because Ostovich isn’t any great shakes. I still can’t see Paige going much higher than she is. Hopefully this loss doesn’t effect Ostovich too badly after what she’s gone through. Still feel like her doing this fight might’ve been a bad choice given the circumstances. 

Glover winning is always good to see. I’d like to see them try to rebook that fight with Ion Cutelaba now. 

Cerrone vs Hernandez was brilliant. Easily FOTN and that’s saying something because it was a really good card. Hernandez poured it on but Cowboy just seems dialled in right now and was just that bit better and more experienced. Great fight. I hope the McGregor fight does happen. McGregor’s tweet is a good sign that it might. Not often you see McGregor actually praise a potential opponent. 

Was chuffed to see Joanne Calderwood get another win as well. One of her best performances to date as well, IMO. She’s definitely worked hard to improve her grappling and it’s paying off in some of these fights now. She’s never going to be Werdum on the ground but she’s so much better than she was. And that combined with her move to flyweight and the change in camp and moving to Vegas, it all seems to be clicking into place for her. Can’t see her having much luck against the likes of Shevchenko or Jedrzejczyk but I’d give her a shot against anyone below those two. 

I like Alonzo Menifield already. Seems a really good guy and he hits like a truck. What’s not to like? He does seem a bit stiff and awkward but he’s got time to improve and when he does connect it’s with serious heat. 

Cory Sandhagen looked great again. Really like his grappling, he’s constantly trying to finish from every position. Wouldn’t mind seeing that Lineker fight rescheduled. 

Dennis Bermudez retired after his win against Te Edwards on the early prelims. He won a clear decision, snapping a 4 fight losing streak, but he said he wanted to go out on a win in New York. Fair play. Enjoyed watching Bermudez over the years. His fight with Matt Grice is one of the best UFC fights nobody ever talks about anymore. 

Incredible card to kick off 2019. 

[ColinBollocks]

In some weird reality quirk, Luke Thomas retweeted someone last night pointing out that TJ's MMA record with a loss to Cejudo is WWWWL WWWWL WWWWL WWWWL.

[OzExile]

Don't we all love an early KO in MMA though? I fancied Cejudo for this one.  He just beat one of the top 3 contenders for the GOAT, who is still at the top of his game, and TJ looked a wreck at the weigh ins.  Granted he was moving around fine, but thought it would be a tough ask for him to be the best version of himself.  No harm done to him IMO. 

[Dead Mike]

Really enjoyed this event from top to bottom. Made even sweeter after I stuck a £10 double on Cerrone & Cejudo after seeing those pics of zombie Dillashaw.

[Guy Bifkin]

Maybe it was me but aside from the Cowboy fight and the Schadenfreude of Greg Hardy being disqualified and the whole crowd chanting asshole at him I found this one a bit underwhelming. Was it me or was there a whole lot more talking and less fighting on ESPN?

Although by no means a robbery, I thought it was a premature stoppage in the main event. 

[ColinBollocks]

Big Match Henry.

[David]

It's fitting I guess, lego belt for a dude with lego hair. 

In all seriousness, it was always going to be a tough ask for TJ to cut down by that much and still be as effective. The whole "champ/champ" shit annoys the fuck out of me, but it's probably harder to cut down a weight class and win a belt than it is to go up a weight class, and 10lbs is a lot of weight for a guy who's used to competing at 135lbs.

Isn't that like 13% of his bodyweight he shifted for this fight? That's a ridiculous drop. If anything he should be looking to defend at 135lbs and maybe make the shift to 145lbs in a few years as he gets older.

Cerrone looks like a man on a mission at the moment. I honestly thought he'd crumble in the first few minutes of that fight, as he's prone to doing just that, but he seems like a different guy now. Absolutely top class win, and if anyone has earned a money-spinning fight against McG it's surely Cowboy?

Greg Hardy. Man, what a fucking joke he was. He lost his cool because Crowder was taking his shots and chatting shit. I don't see him making much of an impact on the sport, he doesn't look like has more than a decent right hand, but any decent fighter sees it coming.

[ColinBollocks]

When Big Match Henry beats Khabib to become the champ champ champ champ I'd be well disappointed if David didn't spend his review talking about Khabib.

[David]

Henry is a walking, talking reason for Trump's "powerful wall." 

If we'd had that fucking wall in the early 80's I wouldn't be subjected to his lego hair and bobble-headed nonsense.

[wandshogun09]

Meant to mention this before but what did everyone make of Stephen A Smith’s involvement on the show? 

I’ll be honest, I surprised myself by actually not minding him. He’s always annoyed me in the past when talking...well shouting about Boxing but maybe a big part of that is because Skip Bayless was usually there being a screaming fucking irritant. Smith’s knowledge was clearly pretty limited about MMA here but he didn’t pretend otherwise and deferred to Cormier for the actual nuts and bolts fight analysis. He came across genuinely enthusiastic about the show though and I actually quite liked the goof by the end of it. Which I didn’t expect at all. When I saw him pop up early in the show I thought ‘for fuck’s sake’ and was ready to hate everything he did. He was alright though, for what he was, which was just a bit of added personality and with him being very much part of the ESPN furniture I guess it made sense. 

Chael talked about it here.

Whether it’s true or not (who knows with Chael?), apparently Smith was originally just coming to watch and support the show and wasn’t going to be part of the broadcast initially. But they decided to put him out there. 

So what did you make of Stephen A Smith? I was kind of pleasantly surprised.

Didn’t realise he was so tall either;