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Josh Hedges / Zuffa LLC / Getty Images
Twenty-five years ago, the Octagon was erected for the first time and fighters like Royce Gracie and Ken Shamrock redefined what a fight looks like. UFC Fight Night 139 was sort of supposed to be a birthday party for the promotion but instead just ended up being a spectacular night of fights.
It was not all home tours, as the festivities began with a pair of decisions divided indiscriminately, and the main map had a pair of snoozers sandwiched between dramatic stops. Overall, though? Most people ended up looking like Yair Rodriguez (above) when the night was over.
While the evening will be remembered for the main event, the biggest winner was probably the fan favorite, Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone. Although he is beloved, the veteran has recently had a difficult time, losing three of his last four bouts and sliding to the bottom of the rankings. On Saturday, however, he managed to straighten the boat categorically by placing his former training partner, Mike Perry, in front of a crowd of people from his hometown.
But who else has won the night? And who, unfortunately, lost? Keep reading to find out.
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Eric Shelton may have saved his job with Saturday's win.Josh Hedges / Zuffa LLC / Getty Images
The UFC is closing its middleweight division. While there are debates about why and why the promotion makes the right decision, there is no doubt that it stinks for all the 125-pound fighters on the list.
While some will be offered the opportunity to switch to the UFC's lean weight division, many are doomed to embark on a bearish market of free agents. This gave the first two bouts of Saturday's card, Eric Shelton versus Joseph Morales and Mark de la Rosa against Joby Sanchez *, a relatively important feeling because all four knew that they would probably fight for their jobs.
Unfortunately, this has resulted in a pair of fairly monotonous fights.
Both competitions were defined by a slow and low risk action. While members of the previous group had shown that a bitter defeat might be enough to save the fighter position, they both engaged in a safer direction, seeking to avoid their opponents on the road to the judges.
This gambit worked for Shelton and De la Rosa. Sanchez and Morales, however, have not been so lucky. Jose Torres and Jarred Brooks are already positioned in the same way and already receiving their log, it is likely that Sanchez and Morales will follow them through the door.
* Sanchez is a flyweight who took a short-notice fight in bantamweight.
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The controversy surrounding this strangulation has led to one of the first uses of instant reading in the history of the UFC.Chris Unger / Zuffa LLC / Getty Images
Instant replay in MMA has been in place for some time, but has rarely been used. One of the first tastes came Saturday after the fight between Bobby Moffett and Chas Skelly. And damn it, it does not taste good.
Midway through the second round, Moffett went down on the floor with Skelly and attempted to lock in an Arce stranglehold. Skelly defended himself for a while, essentially circling the floor to prevent Moffett from blocking his legs (a significant part of the choke tightening).
He eventually stopped and the referee, Tim Mills, came to watch him, shaking his arm. When he did, Skelly was limp, which caused Mills to break the choking and quit the fight. Immediately after, Skelly stood up to protest the stop.
This controversy has prompted the use of instant replay. And the weaknesses of the system quickly became obvious.
Rather than leaving a commissioner or an impartial third party to determine whether the stop was justified, the burden fell on Mills, placing him in a delicate position. Either he was holding on to his weapons, which led to accusations of trying to save face, or he had to eat raven in front of a belligerent crowd and deny the two men the chance to win an extra bonus.
It's an inherently flawed system, and Mills worsened the situation when he was filmed during the television broadcast, sitting at the newsstand and immediately shouting how right he was right. Moffett's victory would be maintained, and the hilarious cherry at the top came when his victory was recorded as a coup de grace rather than a bid.
Updating the unified MMA rules, two years old, was a disaster. The fact that they vary from one state to another remains shameful, and it is curious to see that sport still finds new ways to be ridiculous.
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Matthew Stockman / Getty Images
The placement of Maycee Barber in the UFC Fight Night 139 was rather strange. On a main card filled with fans' favorites and established suitors, a 20-year-old UFC-born girl held up on her degree of environmental protection compared to her counterparts.
His presence was strange on paper, but in practice? She looked at the house.
From the beginning, it was obvious that Barber was a cut above his enemy, Hannah Cifers. Her punches were faster, her shots were more explosive and she always had the upper hand. That adds to the haste and the second round, she had total control.
After reversing an attempted withdrawal, Barber found himself at the top of the Cifers and found himself on heavy loads. Multiple cuts opened on the faces of the Cifres and turned the fight into a bloodbath. The punishment did not stop and Cifers simply collapsed under the pressure.
The end came at 2:01 with Cifers lying in a pool of blood and Barber celebrating with his coaches, clean as a whistle. It was a memorable match side by side between the fighters and a perfect start for Barber.
Although she's still incredibly young, both in life and in her career (this victory makes her 6-0), Barber is officially a fighter to watch in the weights-of-straw division.
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Josh Hedges / Zuffa LLC / Getty Images
Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone is in the twilight of his career, but damn it, he's not finished yet. In a surprisingly heated grudge match against former "Platinum" teammate Mike Perry, Cowboy made a fresh start in his career with an emphatic victory.
After a four-minute come and go, Perry made the wrong decision to turn the fight with Cerrone into a fierce fight. While many of Cerrone's best moments have arrived, the veteran is terrific on the field and has turned his way to Perry's back. Perry survived and regained a dominant position, but Cerrone slammed into an armband and forced the tap.
On its own, Cerrone won a big win by setting the record for the greatest number of victories in the history of the UFC and the number of fights completed in the octagon. More importantly, this victory puts him in the hunt for financial battles against Khabib Nurmagomedov, Nate Diaz and Conor McGregor.
With some new frontiers to break through and seemingly restored hunger, Cerrone is again a major player in the UFC events scene. He could have great things in store for him in 2019.
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Holly Stein / Getty Images
In October, WWE celebrated the 1,000th episode of SmackDown.
This was a milestone and the company did everything to commemorate the occasion. The series was animated weeks in advance, special matches were reserved and appearances of legends like Ric Flair and The Undertaker guaranteed the intrigue of all those who listened.
At the beginning of the week of the fight, UFC Fight Night 139 seemed to give rise to terrible failures in this regard.
While the promotion's return to the city that staged its first show on its 25th anniversary should have been a slam dunk, UFC's busy schedule gave it little opportunity to brag its card. Worse yet, the UFC rarely recognizes its past, given its deplorable relationship with virtually every successful fighter in its past.
Frankly, the safest bet for UFC Fight Night 139 was a missed opportunity in the form of a standard and numbered Fox Sports 1 card. Although the promotion was not all-in to give the series the feeling of To be an extravagance in the manner of the WWE, she added several small tributes that made her special.
The first and most remarkable was the vintage logo in the center of the cage, accentuated by the classic introductory sequences. The broadcast contained brief clips of UFC fighters such as Daniel Cormier and Carlos Condit who reflected on the heroes of the past and discussed moments that had turned them into fans of the sport. Finally, the UFC had a lot of old favorites, including UFC 1 and UFC alumna. wonder to a glove Art Jimmerson.
Could the UFC have done more? Sure. Would it have been nice to have the OG UGs like Ken Shamrock and Royce Gracie? Absolutely.
But the UFC did just about everything that could reasonably be expected. Respect the promotion for that.
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Josh Hedges / Zuffa LLC / Getty Images
Being a fan of MMA is difficult. It's expensive, the schedule is exhausting and, worse yet, there is a constant disappointment.
For some reason, the "Fight of the Year" guaranteed candidates are rarely effective. Sometimes, as with Nate Diaz against Dustin Poirier, the fights are abandoned because of an injury. On other occasions, as with Francis Ngannou against Derrick Lewis, this happens but lets the fans hang their heads in sadness.
Chan Sung Jung against Yair Rodriguez was wearing this label and, refreshing, managed to meet all expectations.
The first three rounds saw both men hit all their signing moves. Rodriguez sprinkled the Korean zombie with a wide variety of strikes, ranging from hard shots to revolving shots. Jung fought back with constant pressure and voluminous punches.
Jung, known for being a cardio-training, did honor to his reputation at the championship rounds, enjoying a slightly windy Rodriguez with his deadly uppercut and a new center-right. However, as he seemed ready to escape, Rodriguez took a second breath and began to open. Seeking to seal the 10-9 in the last inning (and by extension, to fight), Jung bombarded the front but ended up being knocked out cold with an elbow on his back.
It was an incredible fight, an incredible end, an incredible moment and a surprising comeback on Octagon for Rodriguez. This is the kind of fight that makes all those late nights worth it and a reminder that the fights can be up to the hype.
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Josh Hedges / Zuffa LLC / Getty Images
Main Card (Fox Sports 1)
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Yair Rodriguez def. Chan Sung Jung by KO via elbow at 4:59 of the fifth inning
- Donald Cerrone def. Mike Perry by submission via the armbar at 4:46 of the 1st round
- Germaine de Randamie def. Raquel Pennington by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
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Beneil Dariush def. Thiago Moises by unanimous decision (30-25, 30-25, 30-26)
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Maycee Barber def. Hannah Cifers of TKO via punches at 2:01 of round 2
- Mike Trizano def. Luis Pena by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 30-27)
Preliminary map (Fox Sports 1)
- Ashley Yoder def. Amanda Cooper by split decision (29-28, 27-30, 29-28)
- Bobby Moffett def. Chas Skelly by technical submission via Brabo Choke at 2:43 of round 2
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Davi Ramos def. John Gunther by submission via strangulation naked at the back at 1:57 of the 1st round
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Devonte Smith def. Julian Erosa by KO via punches at 0:46 of round 1
Preliminary map (UFC combat pass)
- Eric Shelton def. Joseph Morales by split decision (29-28, 27-30, 30-27)
- Mark de la Rosa def. Joby Sanchez by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
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