Air Date: July 7th, 2019
Main Card: Jones v Santos – Nunes v Holm – Askren v Masvidal – Błachowicz v Rockhold –
Chiesa v Sanchez
Fight of the Night: Jones v Santos
Knockout of the Night: Jorge Masvidal
Performance of the Night: Thiago Santos
UFC 239 was a pretty chaotic experience. Euphoria and shock and sadness have never quite combined so seamlessly inside of a UFC event. The best thing that I can possibly say about the whole event was that the hype and excitement that had built to almost intolerable, insurmountable levels were certainly realised. Chiesa and Sanchez put on a war, Luke Rockhold’s fabled comeback ended spectacularly, Ben Askren fell victim to both his own instincts and a flying knee travelling at the speed of light, and neither of the championship fights had even happened by this point, though both of those were certainly spectacular for entirely opposite reasons.
Let’s start with Błachowicz v Rockhold, the first real shock of the evening (though that doesn’t reflect on the quality of Chiesa v Sanchez, which was a real fight, there’s just not much to say).
Luke Rockhold has experienced the highest of highs and the lowest of lows in his 12 year, 21 fight long career. Following his destructive defeat of Chris Weidman back at UFC 194 2015), Rockhold looked poised to become the Jon Jones of the middleweight division, a man who couldn’t just do it all, but really, truly excelled at every aspect of the fight game. Clean boxing, a world-class ground game, and the ability to end fights in an instance or take them the full five rounds. This would all fall apart in his very first title defence, against the polarising yet always battle-ready Michael Bisping. These two men really honestly hated each other, but Rockhold was confident that he was Bisping’s better, following a prior submission victory over him at UFC Fight Night: Rockhold v Bisping (2014)
Rockhold went into his bout with Bisping at UFC 199 (2016) with an insufferable level of arrogance. He was facing an opponent that had received a mere 17 days notice, and one that he had already beat in pretty decisive fashion. Rockhold paced forward with his hands down and his chin high and got knocked out in spectacular fashion with Bisping’s now-patented left hook in the first round. Since that fight, Rockhold had two fights, a win over David Branch and an even more devastating knockout loss to the Sydney 2000 Olympic Gold Medallist and all-around titan Yoel Romero.
Rockhold’s transition from middleweight to light heavyweight looked to alleviate a lot of these problems. The weight cut to make middleweight was clearly sapping a lot of his energy, and the dehydration required to lose the water weight naturally leads to shrinkage of the brain (yes, this practise is as mental as it sounds). A smaller, less defended brain takes a lot less trauma to induce unconsciousness, meaning that Rockhold’s susceptibility to fight-ending strikes would seemingly be lessened at light heavyweight. A far less strenuous weight cut generally makes for a far more durable fighter. This, coupled with the fact that Rockhold’s opponent would be UFC journeyman Jan Błachowicz, looked to be the start of a promising second act of his career.
Rockhold described Błachowicz in the leadup to the fight as slow and sluggish. He had lofty goals, culminating in a fight with Jon Jones, the seemingly omnipresent head of the division. Unfortunately for Rockhold, he looked downright awful against Błachowicz. His head remained firmly on the centre line, he looked like he’d never sparred in his life, keeping his hands in some pretty odd positions. He just about survived Round 1, and then Błachowicz starched him with (you guessed it) a left hook, followed by a barrage on the ground. Not only did it knock Rockhold out cold, but it broke his jaw. Ouch.
Rockhold, tragically, is a shadow of the man he was inside the Octagon. At his best, Rockhold was downright scary at middleweight. But it seems that Bisping really did take his soul in their second bout. Injuries, brutal knockouts and a total lack of actual confidence have diminished his ability to fight at an elite level.
The man’s the face of Ralph Lauren’s ‘Polo Blue’ fragrance, he’s a legitimate sensation in the modelling world. He’s signed with a top agency, and he’s at the very top of the industry. What’s even the point of competing anymore?
For all of his insulting misfires at press conferences over the years, his awkward nature and his sometimes unbelievable arrogance, I really hope that Rockhold makes the best decision for the rest of his life and that he does well wherever he goes. He’s 34 years old on the cusp of making a frightening amount of money with his modelling career, and I really don’t want to see him a stuttering, trauma-ridden mess at the end of his career.
Well done to Błachowicz, he had a gameplan and he executed it perfectly. It’ll be exciting to see where he goes next, but as for Rockhold, I’d like to see him hang it up. UFC Middleweight champion is nothing to be ashamed of, and I very much don’t want to see him with serious brain damage later in life, which if he continues down this road, is a harrowingly likely prospect.
Next on the card is Masvidal v Askren and, Jesus Christ, what an ending. In all the polling that various MMA outlets did to determine the popularity of individual fights, this one was far-and-away the most anticipated bout. So, a little background on the two, because this matchup was REALLY interesting.
Let’s start with arguably the draw of this matchup, Ben ‘Funky’ Askren. Askren was a legendary folkstyle wrestler, with an impressive college wrestling record, who also served on the American Olympic Wrestling team in Beijing 2008. He made a move to MMA in 2009, and wracked up an impressive 19-0 record, claiming the Welterweight championships in both ONE FC and Bellator MMA. While his boxing and general stand-up game is, and I cannot stress this enough, atrocious, his wrestling skills are beyond phenomenal.
He covers ground in highly awkward ways, making it hard for his opponents to land shots, throws them to the ground, and positively mauls them. Until this fight, no one had managed to overcome this highly predictable style, which is a testament to Askren’s effectiveness as a wrestler. Seemingly, once Askren assumed top control, nobody was able to get out from under him, drawing comparisons to the undefeated and terrifying Khabib Nurmagomedov, the current UFC Lightweight champion. Askren was widely considered the greatest fighter to have never fought in the UFC, and after a controversial win over Robbie Lawler via submission, the matchup with Masvidal looked set to remove all doubt from the minds of those who said Askren couldn’t hang with the UFC elite.
Jorge Masvidal couldn’t come from a more different background. He came into MMA with no professional experience in any fighting practice, but he did have some valuable experience in a less professional capacity. Masvidal was a huge draw in the backyard fighting scene, a scene that birthed iconic names like Kimbo Slice. In fact, he defeated Slice’s protegee “Ray” in a viral video, and in violent fashion. He wrestled briefly in high school, but slipping grades prevented him from pursuing this, and so he was forced to abandon it. Despite this, he has an extensive and highly successful MMA career, amassing a record of 33-13 before his bout with Askren. With 46 professional fights, his experience is more than double Askren’s, and his skill set makes for a very interesting fight.
Masvidal is an excellent boxer, using simple combos and devastating power to overwhelm on the feet. He couples this with excellent defensive jiu-jitsu, preferring to push for the finish on the feet and limit his time on the ground. He has good submission skills, winning via D’Arce choke over Michael Chiesa in 2013, but his fights either end in KO/TKO or decision. He’s tough as nails and a real brawler, the exact opposite of Askren. Askren can take some unbelievable punishment, as shown by his survival of the hell Lawler put him through in their fight, but you’ll never catch Askren trading blows in the pocket, especially not with someone of Masvidal’s skills.
The intense dislike between these two made this fight a real seller. Who would prevail, when both men claimed the other was a stepping stone for a much more deserving opponent? The wrestler or the brawler?
The brawler. In five seconds. By flying knee.
Jorge Masvidal stared into Askren’s soul, and no sooner had the referee gestured for the bought to begin, Masvidal sprinted straight at Askren. He flew with a right-left flying knee, which Askren instinctively responded by shooting at his left leg, hoping to land a takedown. Instead, Masvidal brought his right knee straight into Askren’s face, knocking him unconscious, following this up with two unnecessary strikes; unnecessary purely in a factual manner, as Askren was already knocked out and the bout would’ve been called off after the knee had the referee not been halfway across the cage when it landed.
I have never had such mixed emotions after an MMA bout in my life. For full disclosure, I really like Askren and was rooting for him going into the fight. This favour for him doesn’t come from his trash-talking or his charismatic persona, but rather for his outsider perspective in the larger than life, herculean competitors he faces. Askren famously has a pretty disparate physical body type, self-described as a dad bod. He doesn’t have masses of muscles and towering stature. He’s 5”10 with wild curly hair and love handles.
But he’s really, really, really good at wrestling. He chains together takedowns and transitions beautifully, constantly searches for the finish and doesn’t attempt to be something he isn’t. He’s not a world-class boxer or a top-level Karate practitioner, he’s someone who has spent his entire life trying to be the best wrestler he can possibly be. He’s strong, fast on the ground and entirely self-confident without ever crossing into the realm of arrogance. His offhanded dismissal of Masivdal’s sizeable skill set never really came across as hubris or misguided, but rather a genuine belief that he could outperform him at will.
Masvidal, on the other hand, is still the street fighter he was two decades ago. He’s brash, confident and held Askren in deep contempt for the entire build-up of this bout. When Joe Rogan asked Masvidal on The Joe Rogan Experience “what about when he wrestles you?”, Masvidal responds in a way very much typical of the kind of fighter and man that he is.
“He can wrestle these nuts.”
And unfortunately, Askren never got the chance to.
Seeing someone like Askren decimated so quickly made me really quite sad. For me, Askren is something of an inspirational figure to me. Watching something like the UFC can make you feel both awestruck by their athleticism and feel somewhat alien. Contrary to popular belief, I don’t have a six-pack and I can’t break a bolder with my fists. Neither does Ben Askren. He’s someone who has strong self belief that allows him to, equipped with precisely one skill set, look across the cage to a man with more abs than brain cells who could be an undefeated kickboxer or Muay Thai black belt, full of piss and vinegar, and say “I can beat you, and I will”.
Twenty times out of twenty-one, he’s been correct (and yes, I count both the controversial Lawler fight and the shambolic Santos fight in Askren’s win column). And the explosive and unpredictable nature of Masvidal’s opening assault was what caused the loss. Don’t get me wrong, I am in no way saying that Askren didn’t really lose: Masvidal should be beyond proud of this accomplishment and I give him all the credit in the world for his masterful game plan.
In a post-fight interview with acclaimed MMA journalist Ariel Helwani just two days after the brutal finish, Askren seemed in high spirits: He took the loss as a legitimate one, talked about the danger of conforming to confirmation bias, and how he’s looking to move forward. Helwani asks “Are you going to fight again?” and Askren responds with the affirmative without skipping a beat. Which to me at least, is the essence of the championship spirit and mentality.
A stunning performance and knockout for Masvidal, and I hope to see Askren bounce back better than ever before, which is no small order. It will be exceedingly interesting to see who the UFC pair both men with for their next fights, as the eventual rematch doesn’t seem likely to happen immediately, which is of course entirely understandable.
With the majority of the main card covered now, we’ve finally arrived at the first of two world championship bouts. What an unbelievable pair of fights this was. First up, for the undisputed women’s bantamweight championship of the world is Nunes v Holm. An interesting and, most importantly, record-breaking match to kickstart the championship fights.
Amanda Nunes is and was before this fight, the greatest female mixed martial artist of all time. Many people (honestly? Closet misogynists) don’t believe that we should be giving any woman the title of the G.O.A.T because, quite rightly, the female divisions of the UFC are an incredibly recent addition to the company. Ronda Rousey, the most recognisable name in women’s MMA, signed with the company in 2012 but didn’t first compete for the organisation until 2013. So, given that the first female division formed only 6 years ago, why bother naming one woman as the best female fighter ever? Which makes sense, until you realise that in 1997 when Royce Gracie beat multiple men double his weight and professional experience in one night, everyone was quick to claim that he was the best on the planet.
So, for the men, it took one night to decide who was the best, but for the women, 6 years simply isn’t a large enough sample size. Makes perfect sense.
But back to Amanda Nunes. Since claiming the bantamweight belt from Miesha Tate back at UFC 200 (2016), Nunes has been on an absolute tear. Beating one of the best female fighters in Tate is a hell of a way to kick off a championship reign, but since then, Nunes has defeated the likes of Ronda Rousey, Valentina Shevchenko, Cris Cyborg, and now Holly Holm. Not a single bantamweight or featherweight champion has fought Nunes and won. That, in and of itself, is a terrifying feat. Currently, Nunes has 6 consecutive wins in title fights, having defended the bantamweight title 4 titles, and yet to find an opponent to challenge for the featherweight crown.
Joe Porter 