[ad_1]
There were big winners all over the main card at UFC 265. Jose Aldo proved he had something left in the tank and potential in the bantamweight division with his win over Pedro Munhoz. Tecia Torres beat Angela Hill for her third straight, a victory that will see her continue to climb into the top 10 in the strawweight division. And Vicente Luque has clearly established himself as one of the most dangerous fighters in a stacked welterweight division with his submission victory over Michael Chiesa.
But the biggest winner of all is new interim UFC heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane. He completely dominated Derrick Lewis for three rounds before securing the TKO victory, and the now 10-0 fighter is starting to generate some buzz as the MMA world reflects on what a fight against champion Francis Ngannou might look like.
While Ngannou vs. Jon Jones is clearly the biggest fight the UFC can do in terms of mainstream appeal right now, could a champion vs. interim champion fight be bigger and more important to Ngannou’s career than super fight against Jones?
As for Luque, his performances inside the Octagon certainly put him in the discussion as a future title contender. If his timing was different, his CV certainly deserves to be considered for the title. But with current title challengers Colby Covington, Leon Edwards and Gilbert Burns in his own way, could Luque benefit more from a high profile opponent like Nate Diaz than another high profile contender?
Looking ahead, the long-discussed and twice postponed fight between Rafael dos Anjos and Islam Makhachev was booked for UFC 267 in October. Could this high-level fight dictate a future lightweight title fight?
Finally, Cody Garbrandt’s loss to Rob Font shorted out his hopes of regaining the UFC bantamweight title and likely precipitated his move to flyweight. Can he afford anything other than a knockout in his debut at 125 pounds?
Our panel, made up of Brett Okamoto, Marc Raimondi, Phil Murphy and Carlos Contreras Legaspi, explore the biggest stories of the week to separate what’s real from what isn’t.
Ciryl Gane is a bigger fight for Francis Ngannou than Jon Jones
Okamoto: Not real. yet, it’s not as far as you might think, and when 2021 began, the mere suggestion that a Gane fight could in any way compare to a Jones fight would have been unthinkable. The idea of Ngannou, the scariest man on the planet, fighting Jones, arguably the greatest of all time, has always been an obvious super fight. This may be the biggest fight the UFC can fight right now that doesn’t involve Conor McGregor.
Gane was a great prospect for 2021, and probably could even have been named as a future contender for the title down the line. But it wasn’t a box office draw, and certainly not a draw that could compare to Ngannou vs. Jones. The truth is, it’s still not a draw by itself. But paired with Ngannou, it would be. All of a sudden, Ngannou vs. Gane is a successful fight.
Especially once the story is better known – these two were once training partners, and Ngannou left the team and won his title with another gym. And once the public gets to the fact that Gane is not only a real challenge for Ngannou, but actually favored by some to beat him, the interest will be there.
If the UFC finds a way to bring this fight to Paris, where they trained together, the scenes will be incredible. Due to Jones’ inactivity and the dominance Gane has shown, there are now several silver fights in the heavyweight division.
Vicente Luque’s best next move is a fight with Nate Diaz
Raimondi: Vicente Luque has never been hotter than he currently is with four straight wins – the last first round submission victory over Michael Chiesa on Saturday at UFC 265. The multidimensional Brazilian finished all four opponents during of that streak, and only one of his 14 UFC wins came by decision. Simply put, Luque is one of the most exciting fighters in the sport, and yet it seems a lot of casual fans still don’t know his name. He’s not one of the biggest stars in the UFC and, frankly, lags behind several fighters in his own division.
After stopping the extremely tough and talented Chiesa, Luque called on former Sanford MMA teammate Kamaru Usman, the UFC welterweight champion. Luque deserves the title. He’s won 10 of his last 11 fights in one of the toughest divisions on the planet. But Leon Edwards deserves his chance, too, and he won’t even get it afterwards.
Usman defends the welterweight title against Colby Covington in a rematch next November. What makes Covington more qualified than Edwards or Luque right now? This is mainly because he has a huge notoriety and he arouses the interest of fans, whether positive or negative. Yes, Usman and Covington had an instant classic of a fight in 2019 that could have gone either way until Usman finished it in the fifth and final round. But Covington’s ability to create buzz before a fight is what puts him on top.
And it is for all these reasons that I will say “real” to this statement. Luque needs a little something to get him more “done” with the fans, to borrow a line from professional wrestling. A fight with Nate Diaz will do that job. I know what the rebuttal will be here. Edwards just beat Diaz three months ago and it hasn’t done much for Edwards. Well that’s because Diaz managed to almost finish Edwards in the fifth round and Edwards wasn’t aggressive enough to go kill earlier in the fight when he had Diaz on the ropes. It’s just not Luque’s game – his entire brand is about killing. He is the most consistent finisher in the division. Are you telling me that Luque vs. Diaz wouldn’t be an absolute bang?
Diaz remains one of the biggest names in the UFC. And there is interest in this fight on both sides. Luque called Diaz respectfully after beating Tyron Woodley in March. Diaz is the kind of guy who enjoys this kind of challenge. Additionally, sources told ESPN that Luque was part of the conversation between the UFC and Diaz’s team before Diaz took on Edwards.
Luque doesn’t get the next title and he might not even get the next one, especially if Edwards decides to sit down and wait for the winner Usman against Covington. Luque will have to fight again and there aren’t many enemies who can raise him the way his team surely want. Jorge Masvidal could potentially be someone like that. But Diaz works even better. Luque will be the favorite, the fight will be exciting and there is no doubt that Luque will emerge a bigger star than he is now.
Cody Garbrandt’s flyweight reset builds on spectacular start
Murphy: Cody Garbrandt’s bantamweight resurrection lasted quite a knockout. While his knockout of Raphael Assuncao will turn each promo until Garbrandt’s retirement, a fairly one-sided defeat against Rob Font on recall puts him at a crossroads. Trading wins and losses usually causes more harm than good in any weight class, and it’s especially expensive in the second tier of 135 pounds.
A long envisioned flyweight flirt suddenly makes more sense than ever. Except unlike his first reserved engagement – a title challenge against then-champion Deiveson Figueiredo in November that never came to fruition following a bicep injury and a diagnosis of COVID – these Division debuts won’t have a belt on the line. He needs something big against the famous durable (and natural) flyweight Kai Kara-France, so I’ll say that point is “real”.
The best scenario for “No Love” is that his power crumbles and he scores a KO of Kara-France tied with the one he did against Assuncao, Thomas Almeida or Takeya Mizugaki. However, between Garbrandt and this first taste of flyweight glory is a weight reduction that many before him have struggled to deal with: TJ Dillashaw, John Lineker, Tyson Nam and Scott Jorgensen among them.
Another question is what value does the seventh ranked fighter present. Being a former bantamweight champion could reduce the line-up, but only if Garbrandt’s performance inspires demand. A toss-up decision, like the one former arch nemesis Dillashaw recorded against Corey Sandhagen, will likely keep Garbrandt behind the divisional elite, despite his resume. This reservation against Kara-France is a high risk and moderate reward situation, and it was perhaps his only option.
Islam winner Makhachev over Rafael dos Anjos is an instant title contender
Legaspi: Not real, at least not yet. This fight has become an obsession for both camps after collapsing twice in late 2020, and Makhachev believes beating a former champion like RDA can give him enough credit to make him a challenger.
Coach Javier Mendez and his “assistant” coach Khabib Nurmagomedov believe Makhachev can be as dominant as he was during his outings against Drew Dober and Thiago Moises against GDR, and they know they have to show something spectacular for Makhachev to get a title. drawn in a division that has a stacked top 5.
For dos Anjos, who has been waiting to fight Makhachev for over a year, he is well aware that if he is able to defeat a wrestler of Makhachev’s level, he can embark on the fast lane to return to challenger status. of the title.
No matter how the fight goes, they still have a lot of competition to overcome to reach the top. Fans are excited for the guaranteed slugfest between recent title challengers Justin Gaethje and Michael Chandler in November, and Dustin Poirier is by far the most likely fighter to challenge champion Charles Oliveira next.
The Makhachev-RDA winner will rise through the ranks, but he will have to wait until mid-2022 and earn at least one more victory before fighting for the UFC lightweight championship.
[ad_2]
Source link