Man, this streak of UFC events keeps getting better. Thales Leites and Michael Bisping have to make a gentlemen’s agreement to engage in a firefight because otherwise they will be wasting a week’s worth of fight fan euphoria.
Here are 3 takeaways from UFC Fight Night 71.
3) Enough of the Fence Grabs
I am so proud of Herb Dean.
In the middle delivering an absolute shellacking to Josh Thomson the referee forced Tony Ferguson to stand up because he was grabbing the cage to keep Thomson from rolling away. I’d like to point out that it was actually the third time Ferguson had done it in a ten second stretch but still, it sets a precedent. Dean didn’t take the point, but allowed Thomson to stand up.
Good.
I cannot stress how stupid letting a fighter get away with a cage grab is; it completely changes fights. Danny Castillo was very close to beating Edson Barboza which would have been a real feather in his cap. Instead Barboza rolled out of Castillo’s grip by grabbing the cage and Castillo ended up losing a decision.
If you want to see the game changing foul on a championship level look no further than Jose Aldo and Chad Mendes’s first meeting. The Brazilian superstar grabbed the fence to stop what would have been a successful Chad Mendes takedown. By the time Mendes shot again Aldo timed it with a knee and that was that.
Along with punishing inactive ground fighters and taking points away for illegal knees right away, MMA judging and refereeing is (slowly) improving.
2) Holly Holm is the real title challenger
I said that Holly Holm is the only real challenger to Ronda Rousey even before she stepped into the Octagon. I said that she was the real challenger after beating Raquel Pennington, and I’m saying it again.
Every single time people laughed. Who’s laughing now?
The fact is that unlike every other female bantamweight fighter that isn’t Ronda, Holm actually moves like a fighter. She looks like she understands spacing, movement and at 5’ 8” she actually looks like she cuts weight to make the fight. I predicted her fight with Marion Reneau would be an absolute wash and I was right.
She looked way more comfortable than against Pennington, showing off more combinations and willing to walk forward more. There’s still some jitters as you could tell in the latter two rounds when Holm seemed to not even try to connect with her punches before connecting with her kicks.
As soon as she commits to her thunderous fists along with her debilitating liver kick, that’s it. Even casual, ignorant fans will have to admit she’s the only threat to Rousey.
1) Really Frank? Really?
Yes this fight proves Frank Mir can stand and bang with a “young stud” if it comes down to it. But no one is about to do that with him so why bother? The fight was a barn burner but it was a far cry from the minimum level of technique usually displayed in a UFC fight.
Instead, it displayed that Frank Mir still has fight left in him. That behind an ever increasing amount of adipose tissue on his torso beats the heart that desires to win.
You can’t measure that can you? Enjoy.
