10 Takeaways: UFC Vegas 15 Edition
Looking at some of the key talking points and crucial conversation pieces from Saturday night's event at the UFC Apex
Anthony Smith: There Are Still Levels to This
Saturday’s impromptu light heavyweight main event between Anthony Smith and Devin Clark became another reminder of the sage words of fighter-philosopher Frank Edgar, who famously declared, “There are levels to this.”
Clark came out of the corner like he was shot out of a cannon, prompting Smith to clinch and secure a surprising takedown. Though Clark was able to work his way into top position after fending off a back-take and twister attempt, “Lionheart” quickly got to work from bottom, shifting his hips and looking for openings. Halfway through the opening round, he took advantage of Clark repositioning himself on top, lacing up a triangle choke and securing the tap.
The reason this fight was so intriguing to me heading into the weekend was we needed to know whether Smith’s recent struggles were a sign of decline or a couple hiccups against quality competition, and his effort against Clark showed that it was the latter. After dropping a pair of fights to Top 10 competition, he out-classed Clark on Saturday night, showcasing an element of his arsenal that rarely gets talked about while once more illustrating that the experience you bring to the cage can often be the deciding factor in contests like this.
A Little More Clarity at Light Heavyweight
In addition to showing that Smith is still a legitimate Top 10 talent in the light heavyweight division, Saturday’s main event outcome also helped delineate things a little more in the 205-pound weight class.
Glover Teixeira’s standing as the top contender was further solidified. His spring mauling of Smith and finish of Thiago Santos earlier this month had already elevated him to No. 1 in the rankings, but seeing Smith bounce back against Clark underscored how impressive the Brazilian’s performance really was.
On top of that, we now know (or further understand) that two through seven in the rankings — from Santos to Smith as of right now — are pretty tightly packed, and then there is another tier below them spanning the next five or six athletes, including a couple who have clear upside and undefined ceilings, like Magomed Ankalaev and Jimmy Crute.
Not only did Smith’s victory solidify his place in the division, but it also helped clarify things throughout the Top 15 as well.
Miguel Baeza Keeps Rolling
Saturday night, Baeza secured his third straight UFC victory, submitting Takashi Sato to push his record to 10-0. All three of his wins have been second-round finishes, and eight of his 10 victories have come inside the distance, establishing the MMA Masters product as someone to keep close tabs on going forward.
But is Baeza the top prospect in the UFC welterweight division right now?
Obviously, plenty of people will argue for Khamzat Chimaev, the streaking “Fight Island” standout who is slated to face Leon Edwards in the main event of the final fight card of the year. Sean Brady is also 3-0 in the UFC and unbeaten in his career, so he’s a candidate as well, while guys like Khaos Williams and Shavkat Rahkmanov round out the Top 5.
Chimaev has to be considered the clubhouse leader, given what he’s accomplished thus far, but he’s also only made one appearance in the division, so his standing is a little shaky until after his bout with Edwards.
Beyond that, however, it’s hard to argue against Baeza, who has now beaten a pair of solid veterans in consecutive outings and continued to a well-rounded arsenal and keen finishing instincts. He has outstanding size for the division, works with a quality team, and has shown nothing but promise through his first three Octagon appearances.
There are opportunities to move up in the welterweight ranks at the moment, and after another quality performance this weekend, Baeza has put himself in a great position to take advantage of that in 2021.
Parker Porter and Additional Information
Let me start by saying that MMA Math doesn’t work and you’ll never hear me argue otherwise. What I will argue, however, is that subsequent performances are a good way to expand your understanding and appreciation of different athletes.
In this case, Porter’s victory over Josh Parisian on Saturday night gives me a little more insight into where Chris Daukaus stands in the heavyweight division. Allow me to explain:
Porter got the job done this weekend, weathering the early rush Parisian is known for before using his superior conditioning to outwork the two-time Contender Series victor over the course of 15 minutes of action. It was a solid, but unspectacular performance, and my biggest takeaway after watching it was, “Huh — I might have to rethink how good Chris Daukaus is.”
Daukaus faced Porter in August and put him away before the close of the first round. He’s since gone on to collect another first-round finish in his sophomore effort, icing Rodrigo Nascimento in 45 seconds last month, handing the Brazilian the first loss of his career.
Initially, I thought Daukaus was just another guy — a solid addition to the heavyweight ranks, but someone who wasn’t likely to make a push towards the Top 15 — but after seeing Porter successfully navigate his second foray into the Octagon, I might have to adjust my estimation of the Philadelphia area police officer and older brother of promising middleweight Kyle Daukaus.
This is another one of the reasons why I tend to care about every fight and every event: Porter’s fight might not carry a great deal of significance and his upside may be capped, but his win prompted further consideration of where Daukaus fits in the division, and refining ideas and expectations about athletes is crucial to being able to assess their skills, forecast their futures, and understand what you’re watching from week-to-week.
Importance of Quality Regional Experience
It took Bill Algeo eight years and 17 fights to make it to the UFC, but all that experience has paid immediate dividends for “Señor Perfecto” through his first two appearances inside the Octagon.
After battling former title challenger Ricardo Lamas in a short-notice loss that earned him a Fight of the Night bonus, Algeo secured his first UFC win on Saturday night, outworking Spike Carlyle over 15 minutes in a fight that really showed the difference between an explosive athlete and a polished, experienced fighter.
Carlyle is, as Michael Chiesa said on the broadcast, “a big movements guy” — someone who throws everything hard and relies on his strength and athleticism in grappling exchanges — but those big movements cause you to expend a toon of energy and tire rapidly. Algeo, on the other hand, is happy to chip away, chip away, chip away, and took advantage of Carlyle’s diminishing gas tank the longer the fight went on.
If you look at Algeo’s resume, you’ll see that the only guys to beat him since his second fight are all quality competitors who either currently fight in the UFC or, in the case of Brendan Loughnane, should be on the UFC roster. He’s logged a ton of time in the cage against quality competition and had to navigate more than a couple difficult fights on his road to reaching the biggest stage in the sport.
With more and more fighters graduating to the UFC with limited regional experience, those men and women that have honed their craft in established organizations against accomplished foes stand a better chance to having lasting success inside the Octagon than their less-experienced contemporaries that night have resumes that look shinier at first blush.
Now I Know More About Norma Dumont
Earlier in the week in 10 Things I Like, I said I wanted to know more Norma Dumont, the Brazilian UFC sophomore who fought Megan Anderson in her debut and was moving down to bantamweight to face Ashlee Evans-Smith.
Sitting here on Sunday morning, I know more about her and I’m excited about her future in the 135-pound weight class. Now, I’m not pumped about her missing weight because you gotta make weight, but in terms of her performance and potential, Saturday’s showing has me keen to see her compete again.
From the outset, she was one step ahead of Evans-Smith, a solid, but middling veteran who is now 6-5 overall and 3-5 in the UFC, beating her to the punch, landing with considerably more power, and dominating her on the ground as well. Dumont swept the scorecards with 30-26s from all three judges in the kind of effort that makes a guy like me believe that with more experience and an improved training camp situation (say American Top Team?), she could be a tough out in the middle of the division.
She comes from a Sanda background and showed good pop in her punches, which isn’t something many bantamweights (other than champion Amanda Nunes) bring to the table, which makes her an intriguing addition to the 135-pound mix.
This is exactly why I like watching as many fights and as many fight cards as possible.
JSP Worth Watching at Featherweight
Jonathan Pearce looked very impressive in his featherweight debut on Saturday night, patiently finding his range and timing before taking the fight to Kai Kamaka III and securing a second-round submission finish for his first UFC victory.
Much like with Dumont, this was one of those “glad I saw that” efforts because Pearce now has my attention and a spot on my ever-expanding “fighters to keep watching” list, which means I will make a point to tune in for his next outing, especially considering he’s likely to get a small step up in competition.
The Contender Series grad was tossed into a terrible matchup out of the gate in his UFC debut, facing Joe Lauzon in Boston and landing on the wrong side of a 93-second defeat. But after a year away and a drop down to the 145-pound ranks, he showed up in Las Vegas last night and looked solid, weathering Kamaka’s early offence before becoming the aggressor and dominating the final seven or eight minutes of the fight.
Featherweight is flush with talent and a single effort doesn’t propel Pearce into the rankings or anything crazy like that, but these are the kind of building-block performances that teach you a little more about an athlete as they look to work their way up the divisional ladder and generate some momentum and buzz.
Gina Mazany Makes Good
Heading into Mazany’s bout with Rachael Ostovich on Saturday, I was curious to see how a change in divisions and training camps would impact the veteran’s performance. After a bunch of tough, short-notice assignments, this felt like a more reasonable matchup for the magenta-haired Alaskan and she made the most of her sixth trip into the Octagon.
Mazany was the aggressor from the outset, utilizing her edges in experience, size, and polish to take the fight to Ostovich. While she slowed over the course of the contest and ate a few more counters than necessary, her ability to push the pace and out-work Ostovich in every phase ultimately created the opportunity she needed to secure the finish late in the third.
Now coming off a strong performance, Mazany heads into 2021 as an intriguing addition to the flyweight division. She’s continue to get the weight cut and her conditioning dialled in, strengthen her bond with her new coach James Krause, and find herself in a few more favorable matchups where she’s not undersized and out-muscled as she often was at bantamweight.
Again, it’s not a major development, but these are the kind of little things you see on fight cards like this that have the potential to grow into something bigger, and that, at least for me, is part of what I’m looking for when I sit down to watch fights.
Sumudaerji Shines
The fact that very few people were intrigued by Sumudaerji moving down to flyweight after scoring a dominant win over Andre Soukhamthath last time out highlighted how inconsistent fans and media are when it comes to whose performances garner attention and whose don’t.
When Sean O’Malley beat Soukhamthath, who is a solid regional talent that struggled to find success at the UFC level, it was a big deal. Less than 18 months later, after “The Asian Sensation” went 1-1 in his next two fights, few batted an eye. Maybe it was because the fight took place in the early morning hours from Shenzhen, China and not on a pay-per-view main card, but maybe — just maybe — it was because O’Malley had been hyped to the gills and Sumudaerji is a quiet, emerging talent from Tibet.
Saturday night in Las Vegas, the 24-year-old delivered the kind of performance that should force everyone to pay attention, venturing down to the flyweight division for the first time to collect a 44-second knockout win over Malcolm Gordon.
Laser-sharp left hands hurt and felled Gordon, and established “The Tibetan Eagle” as an instant “You’ve Got My Attention” guy for me going forward. As I said heading into this contest, Sumudaerji was one of those guys I wanted to see more from and keep and eye on “because he’s already logged 16 appearances in his career and his potential for growth and improvement is tremendous,” and we saw those improvements and his abundant potential on full display on Saturday night.
At 5’8” with clear power and a background in traditional martial arts, he’s a potential matchup problem for a lot of the smaller athletes in the flyweight division, and someone who could make a real run here in the next two years.
Nate Maness, Luke Sanders & Fight IQ
The evening’s opening bout was a study in the importance of Fight IQ and patience inside the cage.
From the outset, Sanders was the aggressor, pressing forward and finding a home for heavy left hands. But as he came in, Maness would occasionally clip him with sharp counters, intercepting Sanders between big swings and halting his momentum with good shots that landed flush.
Early in the second, it was more of the same, with Sanders having even more success, crashing home heavy, heavy shots that had Maness in a bad way. But once again, “Cool Hand” got a little ahead of himself and Maness made him pay, clipping Sanders with a counter shot as he pressed forward wildly that put him on the deck and created the opening he needed to secure the finish.
If you follow me on Twitter during events (and why wouldn’t you?), then you know I harp on Fight IQ all the time because while natural talent and athleticism are important, there might not be anything more important inside the cage than understanding situations and making the correct assessments in the moment. It’s a difficult thing to cultivate and improve, but that’s why it’s such a major factor — if it were simple to acquire, everyone would have top-notch IQ and make the right decisions more often than naught.
Sanders’ poor decision-making and inability to keep himself in check when he had Maness hurt — and he was clearly hurt — resulted in his downfall. This was one of those “winning right up until he lost” moments and it was a lack of Fight IQ that let him down.