Daniel Cormier, Israel Adesanya the flight show

Whereas the UFC did not close the show for its third event at Madison Square Garden until about three weeks ago, the UFC 230 was a complete success.

There were few trashy speeches, no gadgets nor shows, the fights themselves delivered, and nothing after the fight eclipsed what had happened inside the company. 39; Octagon. It's pretty common this year for the events to leave mixed martial arts fans unhappy, but the UFC 230 was simply a showcase of talent.

Daniel Cormier's greatness was in full swing, as was the superimposed middle weight division of the UFC. There were knock-outs, submissions, tough decisions, and surprising and thrilling victories.

Here are some takeaways from UFC 230.

Cormier will really miss us when he's done

DC easily defended its heavyweight title against virtuoso artist Derrick Lewis – the toughest puncher in the UFC since Shane Carwin regularly separated his enemies from his senses – and it was a bit bitter-sweet because he was one of the last times we would see the current two-time champion competing.

The former Olympic wrestler will be 40 years old in March and he only plans one or two or may be three more fights before he finally hangs up his gloves. He hopes a blockbuster match in 2019 with Brock Lesnar will succeed. That's what Cormier was waiting for before the UFC offered him the fight on short notice with Lewis. It's still a big problem when Lesnar is fighting and it will probably be Cormier's biggest pay day so far, which he deserves for the way he has behaved and performed over the years.

Brock Lesnar should he be the next @DC_MMA? # UFC230 pic.twitter.com/gLRYsTxzDy

– UFC (@ufc) November 4, 2018

If Lesnar can not continue to pbad the USADA screening tests, or if the match collapses for another reason, a return match with former champion Stipe Miocic is possible. More interesting would be a trilogy bout with Jon Jones, something firmly envisioned. If Jones-Cormier III is manufactured, let's hope that, for the interest of Cormier, the third meeting will take place at the heavyweights, where Cormier is the undisputed champion.

Jones is the only man to have solved Cormier in MMA. Alexander Gustafsson nearly did the same, but these fights took place in the light heavyweight division where Cormier had to strain his body seriously to reach the 205-pound weight limit in the championship.

In the heavyweights, nobody really beat Cormier. You get the best version of it at the heavyweight. You do not necessarily do when he's fighting at 205. He weighed 251 pounds for UFC 230. It's more or less his natural weight. To drain to make 205 is unnatural and unhealthy.

So, it's hard to call it book to book G.O.A.T. because of the end of his fights with Jones. However, D.C. has a valid badertion that he is the biggest heavyweight in the history of MMA. Jones claims the first, not the last.

On Saturday, we saw how far Cormier was in the heavyweights. Four months after eliminating Miocic in the first round – which holds the record for the number of UFC heavyweight defenses – Cormier organized a clinic against Lewis.

Granted, Lewis does not have complete skills and his fight is weak compared to most other clbadified heavyweights. His ability to win fights has never been questioned. His self-deprecating humor might have made you think that he was unworthy to be in the cage with someone of Cormier's stature, but before the UFC 230, Lewis had won nine of the ten goals , including victories over Gabriel Gonzaga, Roy Nelson, Travis Browne and Francis. Ngannou and more recently Alexander Volkov.

Lewis reduces his weight to reach the limit of 265 pounds. The night of combat, he has more or less 280 kilos and yet Cormier throws him like a Dan Henderson of 199 pounds when they fought in 2014. Cormier has collected a multitude of withdrawal techniques and controlled each of the positions in which they were. .

"A lot of people have to understand that I've been doing this for nine years and that I've fought in the championship for eight of them," Cormier said after the fight. "If you have a chance to pierce, that's not enough."

Cormier had little problem taking the fight against Lewis in a short time, despite his injured hand, but did not take revenge against Miocic in a short time, out of respect for the skills of the former champion. In a sense, it was disrespectful to Lewis, but Cormier simply proved that his trust was justified.

He became the first fighter to successfully defend a UFC title in two different weight clbades.

"It's been a very long time since I told you guys that I wanted to be remembered when I left this sport and I think when you start doing things that have not happened never been done before, you are sure to always think of yourself when you think of the greatest fighters of all time, "he added at the post-fight press conference. "It's really, really amazing. And then do it at Madison Square Garden, it's just crazy. "

The way his peers talk about him and appreciate what he does says a lot about his place in the history of the sport.

Very happy for you @dc_mma
Every fight HISTORY
You deserve everything you have.
We are proud to have a captain like you.#weareAKA #and even #DanielCormier https://t.co/jE6YOxFUwS

– khabib nurmagomedov (@TeamKhabib) November 4, 2018

Cormier will always be connected to Jones, whether they meet or not, but his achievements at the HGVs remain independent and because of that, Cormier has carved out a place among the greatest of all time, regardless of his biggest rival.

Adesanya is the truth

Derek Brunson has some quality wins over quality opponents. If you do, you're legitimate, a world-clbad middleweight. If you beat him in the same way as Israel, Adesanya, to open the game of Saturday on the pay-per-view, you're a viable contender who risks wobbling at the edge of fame.

"Israel is a guy who's been up here for a minute, but I really felt that tonight was his first big test," said UFC President Dana White at the post-fight press conference. "Obviously, his opponent hits like a truck and wrestles very well, and Madison Square Garden, who opens the show, has made the delivery. Many people, including me, think this kid is the future, and he's out the mark tonight. "

Before crowning King Adesanya at 18kg, let's see how he will behave against a middleweight who knows how to intelligently implement the fight in a game plan. Adesanya, a former kickboxing champion, has pbaded all the tests he has faced so far, but let's be honest here, he was fortunate to have favorable stylistic battles during his tenure at the UFC.

He looked great against Brunson, the sixth-ranked contender in the division, but what would he do against someone like Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza, who would rank fifth, who launched Chris Weidman in the same event ? Once in the top five middleweight, it's a brand new match.

The average weight is strong right now. Really strong and very deep. The champion Robert Whittaker and his next challenger, Kelvin Gastelum, are at the top but a handful of 185 players who clashed on Saturday could step in and defend against one or the other. Adesanya seems to be one of them.

Neo-Nigerian, the New Zealander is 4-0 since his debut at the UFC in February and has become the first UFC fighter to win four victories in 2018. When you watch Adesanya fight and that you hear him speak, you get a hint of Jon Jones, a Conor McGregor dash, a piece of Michael "Venom" Page, and a pinch of something completely new.

"I'm sitting pretty. I have the buffet in front of me and I'm about to eat, "Adesanya told Megan Olivi of the UFC.

Attention, average weights. The Last Stylebender comes for you.

Eubanks still has some work to do before the title

Sijara Eubanks took the win unanimously against Roxanne Modafferi in a preliminary match on a card she had to make briefly against Valentina Shevchenko for the vacant middleweight title. It's a good thing for Eubanks that the UFC took a different direction as it did not seem ready to compete for gold.

The Eubanks allowed Modafferi to log on 73 strikes in total, many of which were strikes to the head. Imagine if the Eubanks who showed up at UFC 230 were present against Shevchenko? It would not have gone well. Modafferi is a respected veteran in the female MMA, even a pioneer, but she does not possess a remotely threatening skill set for those currently at the highest level of modern MMA.

Shevchenko will meet long-time straw champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk next month at UFC 231 in Toronto with the vacant 125-pound title to be won. Eubanks, a 33-year-old Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt with strength in her hands, could have made sure she had been more impressive against Modafferi. Eubanks also lacked weight. We saw that it did not necessarily affect how the UFC attributes the shots to the title (just ask Darren Till), but that certainly did not help the case of Eubank.

The Kantlyn Chookagian and Jessica Eye, bantamorphosed weights like thieves on the fly, are also ready to fight at UFC 231 and the winner of this fight could now potentially get the next shot.

Here are the full results of UFC 230:

MAIN CARD
– Daniel Cormier def. Derrick Lewis by submission
– Ronaldo Souza def. Chris Weidman by TKO
– Jared Cannonier def. David Branch by TKO
– Karl Roberson def. Jack Marshman by unanimous decision
– Israel Adesanya def. Derek Brunson by TKO

PRELIMINARY MAP
– Jordan Rinaldi def. Jason Knight by unanimous decision
– Sijara Eubanks def. Roxanne Modafferi by unanimous decision
– Sheymon Moraes def. Julio Arce by shared decision
– Lyman Well def. Ben Saunders by KO
– Matt Frevola vs. Lando Vannata finishes in the draw
– Shane Burgos def. Kurt Holobaugh by submission
– Marcos Rogério from Lima def. Adam Wieczorek by unanimous decision