In its myriad, whimsical ways, the UFC has entered my domain and dominated it. Sports play a major role in my life – not playing them of course, but watching sports takes up a large chunk of my free time. Football has been my biggest hobby since I can remember and I have spent countless hours watching, reading articles, listening to podcasts, and playing games all football-based. Likewise I have an incredibly keen interest in cricket; even just this morning I spent a few hours in bed watching the thrilling climax of England’s first test away in India. I take a passing interest in other sports such as F1, Darts, and Boxing (now racking my mind to think of any others but I think that’s a fairly exhaustive list). I will dedicate future articles to both football and cricket, but what is currently dominating my mind, energy, and time is MMA, specifically UFC.
I know that I have already done an intro to me and UFC, so I won’t rehash too much, but I want this to be something like an article for beginners to the sport. So I will sub-head my way through a run-through. But first, a recap on UFC 297.
UFC 297 post-show conclusions
I’ve got to say this card did not live up to expectations sadly. The action was underwhelming throughout, perhaps except the main event between Strickland and Du Plessis. That fight demonstrated high-level fighting, Strickland’s long, probing jab looked to be in its best iteration, and Du Plessis’ pressure-game was moderated to fit the occasion of a world championship fight. The fight was insanely close, tons of different scorecards were suggested. I actually did have it 48-47 Du Plessis which was an opinion shared by two of the three judges and therefore leads to our first title change of 2024, the new UFC Middleweight Champion of the worldddddd, Dricus Du Plessis. Now he can hopefully match my prediction and keep the title all year. Next up looks like Israel Adesanya (“anime dude”) at UFC 300. Bring it on.
The co-main was a snoozer. Mayra Bueno Silva disappointed to the Nth degree and gassed in the second or third. Pennington continued to refuse to listen to her corner and grinded out a dull decision victory. Hopefully the signing of Kayla Harrison and potential return of Amanda Nunes might rejuvenate the division after Pennington’s first defence against Julianna Peña.
Mike Mallott got fraud-checked by the jarring gatekeeper Neil Magny. Mallott was TKOed in the final 20 or so seconds after dominating the fight. Fair dues to Magny, he stuck in there and showed his experience to see off the challenger.
Christ Curtis vs Marc-Andre Barriault was a relatively placid affair with a lack of output from either man. It went to decision and Curtis avoided my prediction of capitulation. And finally, the main-card opener of Allen vs Evloev was a very disappointing decision win by Evloev who demonstrated that he is a robot in climbing up the featherweight rankings. Dana White was especially unimpressed with this fight (perhaps unfairly) so I wonder what this means for the Featherweight title picture after Volk vs Topuria next month.
Overall, it was a disappointing card to open the year – following with what I had said about the first card of the year often being an underwhelming one. My predictions were horrific, I got 1/5 right lol. I would say that on the UFC Fight Night card three weeks ago now I actually got 5/6 right so I’m not useless, those fights just went a different way than I thought they would. Now, back to the scheduled running of a UFC beginners’ guide (to an extent).
The moments which spurred on my fandom
There were a few different moments that led to my becoming a UFC fan which stand out to me now. My memory isn’t the best and there is a bit of a haze over the order of events. So I might remember certain things further down the line, but I can start with these three. Two can be revisited by anyone, one is a bit different.
1. Jorge Masvidal’s flying knee knockout against Ben Askren.
I mean this is probably just the best knockout in UFC history. Masvidal and Askren’s rivalry was venomous. Askren had been chatting all sorts of shit about Masvidal in the build up, chasing him for the fight in the first place. Masvidal had to take the fight and had grown sick of the trash-talk coming his way from Askren. Fight night came, the two men stood at opposite sides of the octagon “flapping gums at each other” in the immortal words of Jon Anik. The bell went, and then five seconds later it was all over. Askren was not known for his stand-up game so was always looking for an opportunity to get the takedown. Masvidal predicted this, charged at him and hit the most devastating flying knee of all time. Askren ducked into the knee and his body went stiff. Masvidal’s celebrations were impassioned. When I saw this clip I was fascinated, and I would challenge anyone to watch it and not be impressed and intrigued. Go find it on YouTube or TikTok and see what I’m talking about.
2. Volk vs Ortega
I have seen this fight in full now, but initially it was just the fight highlights. This one was mental. Volkanovski was then and is still now the Featherweight champion. He is such a good fighter and easily one of my favourites. This passion started in this fight during which Volk put on a phenomenal show, but not without its razor-edge moments. Volk dominated on the feet, demonstrated by the state of Ortega’s face by the end of it. But Ortega had his moments too, putting Volk in 2 or 3 of the most strong submission attempts. In one, Ortega cinched in this savage guillotine choke – you can literally see Volk’s head going purple as he struggled to escape until, against all odds, he did. Volk proceeded to beat the shit out of Ortega who somehow never got KOed or TKOed throughout the rest of the fight. A bit of a banger and one I’d certainly recommend watching.
3. The rise of Khamzat Chimaev
I was starting to gain a consistent awareness of the UFC at this point and there was this enigma coming through. Chimaev was this terrifying beast of a fighter. He wasn’t just holding an unbeaten record (which he actually still has) but he was embarrassing every single one of them. He would pick up fighters and walk them around as he wished, pressure-wrestle the shit out of them, or just KO with a straight right. Chimaev was a force the likes of which had genuinely never been seen before. This spurred me on to watch my first live event on which he co-mained against Gilbert Burns. That was a great fight and started me on a journey I have never left. Khamzat is still unbeaten and a major problem (now up a division) but because of some other health issues might not last as a UFC fighter. We’ll see what his future holds, but his past is undeniable.
Other big moments
There are so many other moments to mention, but there are a special few I’d like to give a few words to.
- Leon Edward’s headshot-dead – Leon hit the most savage head kick knockout completely against the odds in the final minute of his title fight against Kamaru Usman in August 2022. He was doubted his whole UFC career and this fight was like the perfect example of it. Except, he then rewrote the script. In the dying embers of the fight Leon hit the perfect shot, wonderfully thought-out and brilliantly executed. Together with the context and the brilliant commentary, this is an unforgettable moment that is 100% worth a watch.
- Jiri Prochazka vs Glover Teixeira – this was the first championship fight I watched live and it was a bangerrrrr. These two had an unbelievable fight that concluded with the veteran, Glover, making a mistake in the last round and being submitted by Jiri by RNC. A great fight to watch again.
- Irene Aldana vs Karol Rosa – This is fresh in the mind but is definitely worthy of a mention somewhere. This fight is the perfect advertisement for women’s MMA. These girls had a brutal 3-rounder which had me on the edge of my seat. It was my favourite fight of 2023 and should be watched by any doubters of women’s MMA.
- UFC Fight Night Austin December 2023 – the best fight night ever? From back-to-front this card delivered in spades and completely justified my decision to stay up for a whole night on a cherished weekend.
I feel like these are quite random, but they’re all justified. There are certainly loads I’m forgetting about but give them all a go (maybe not the whole 7-hours of UFC FIght Night Austin). I have left room for another beginner’s UFC article down the line, but I wanted to get something out onto the blog for now.