10 Thing We Learned: UFC 259 Main Card
Dissecting the takeaways and talking points from a massive main card at UFC 259 on Saturday night
And Still!
Jan Blachowicz is still the UFC light heavyweight champion, turning close fight with Israel Adesanya early into a runaway win with two dominant frames in the championship rounds, earning scores of 49-46, 49-45, and 49-45 from the judges.
The first three rounds were tight, with each man having some success on the feet. Adesanya moved well and had Blachowicz biting on all of his fights, while the Polish champion found a home for some clean, heavy shots in return. Neither man was really ever in danger on the feet, but there were multiple exchanges where each man was close to landing something heavy that could have altered the course of the contest.
In the championship rounds, Blachowicz showed his savvy, driving through a level change in open space midway through both the fourth and fifth round, pinning Adesanya to the canvas and logging extended stretches of control time while shutting down the middleweight standout’s offence. It was a sound strategy from the unheralded champion, who entered as an underdog and continues defying the odds time and again.
Along with successfully defending his title for the first time, Blachowicz also became the first man to defeat Adesanya inside the Octagon, bouncing “The Last Stylebender” from the ranks of the unbeaten. He’s now won five straight and nine of his last 10, continuing his improbably, but highly entertaining storybook run from being 2-4 in the UFC to standing atop the light heavyweight division.
We didn’t see the “legendary Polish power,” but we saw that Blachowicz is a deserving champion and he’s now solidified his place on the throne by defeating one of the best fighters in the sport.
Respect the “Double Champs”
If there is one big takeaway from the UFC 259 main event, it’s how difficult it is to move up in weight and claim a second title, especially when you’re venturing up more than 10 pounds.
Adesanya is a world-class talent and while he had his moments, he couldn’t get by Blachowicz. Max Holloway ran into the same fate when he ventured to lightweight to face Dustin Poirier two years ago.
There were four instances where athletes earned two titles in two weight classes in relatively quick succession, and it incorrectly changed our understanding of how difficult what Conor McGregor, Daniel Cormier, Amanda Nunes, and Henry Cejudo accomplished really is. We saw those brilliant athletes make history and expected others would continue to follow suit, but thus far, that hasn’t been the case.
That’s not a knock on Adesanya or Holloway either — they’re superstars, and standout champions in their respective divisions — but they were unable to join the “Champ-Champ” class because the athletes they faced are standouts as well, and moving up the competitive ladder is daunting.
Each of the four champions that have accomplished the feat did something a little different:
McGregor did it in two of the most competitive and talent-rich divisions in the sport; Cormier went from fighting at 205 pounds to knocking out heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic while weighing in north of 240 pounds; Nunes blew through Cris Cyborg, halting her decade-long unbeaten streak, and Cejudo defended each of his two titles, though not simultaneously, which only Nunes has done thus far.
Adesanya seemed poised to accomplish the feat on Saturday night, but Blachowicz had other ideas, illustrating once again just how challenging it is to earn championship gold in two weight class.
Amanda Nunes Blows Through Megan Anderson
The first right hand that Amanda Nunes landed straightened Megan Anderson up, signalling that “The Lioness” was likely to have a quick night at the office. Soon after, the featherweight champion forced the challenger to the canvas, landed in mount, and transitioned to an armbar and triangle choke combo, forcing Anderson to tap just two minutes into the opening round.
Nunes was a massive favorite and showed why instantly, charging in to close the distance and connect with force, leaving Anderson wide eyed and prompting the champion to go hunting for the finish.
Given that Anderson was the last potential option for Nunes in the featherweight ranks, the question now is what will become of the division? There are fighters out there that compete at ‘45, but the UFC hasn’t invested in building the ranks and there doesn’t seem to be a long-term plan to do so, leaving the future of the division in question.
Newcomer Danyelle Wolf is scheduled to face former title challenger Felicia Spencer towards the end of May in what will be her second professional mixed martial arts appearance. While it would be wild to see a 2-0 fighter challenge for championship gold, a blistering performance from the former boxer could make that a possibility, but given how swiftly Nunes dispatched a more accomplished, more dangerous Anderson on Saturday night, it’s genuinely terrifying to think what she might do to someone as inexperienced as Wolf if that came to pass.
It’ll be interesting to see how the UFC elects to move forward, but for now, let’s just celebrate another dominant effort from the incomparable champion.
One of the Best Ever, Full Stop
Save the gender qualifiers: Amanda Nunes is one of the greatest fighters of all time, full stop.
Saturday night, Nunes ran her winning streak to a dozen, which makes her tied with Tony Ferguson for the fourth longest winning streak in UFC history. She also earned her seventh consecutive successful title defence across two divisions, and pushed her record in championship contest to 9-0, and she did it without breaking a sweat.
You can’t knock her strength of schedule because she’s beaten every fighter to hold UFC gold in both the bantamweight and featherweight divisions, as well as holding a 2-0 record against the reigning flyweight champion. Additionally, you can only beat the people that are put in front of you, and over her last 12 fights, Nunes hasn’t stumbled once. More often than naught, she’s showed out, and it’s time we start speaking about her alongside the other pantheon-level talents to grace the Octagon.
She’s on some Georges St-Pierre, Anderson Silva, Demetrious Johnson, Jon Jones-type shit right now and deserves to be mentioned alongside those highly regarded, highly praised men.
DQ Ends Bantamweight Title Fight, Petr Yan’s Reign
Aljamain Sterling is the UFC bantamweight champion following a disqualification victory over Petr Yan.
Late in the fourth round, with Sterling on a knee in the center of the Octagon, Yan connected with a clearly illegal knee, hammering the contender in the head and rendering Sterling unable to continue. Referee Mark Smith had instructed Yan that Sterling was down, and it even sounded like one of his coaches shouted “Punches only” before the blow connected.
Yan seemed confused with the pause in the action and immediate reports during the broadcast indicated that the Russian received instruction from his corner to throw a strike before he unloaded the telling blow on the downed challenger.
This isn’t the way anyone wanted the fight to end, nor is it how Sterling wanted to achieve his dream of winning UFC gold. This was the first time a title has changed hands as a result of a disqualification and these two will undoubtedly run it back at some point this summer, with the intensity and heat between the two set to get cranked up to 15.
After a close first round, Yan got the better of things in the second and third and was beginning to pull away in the fourth before hitting Sterling with the knee, which only makes the way things ended all the more unsatisfying. This should have been the moment where he cemented himself as a dominant force atop the bantamweight division, but instead, it will be a stain on his resume and a moment that will hang over him for some time.
Trickle Down Impact in the Bantamweight Division
Sterling and Yan aren’t the only two fighters in the bantamweight division whose summer plans changed on Saturday night, as the need for a rematch all but guarantees that Cory Sandhagen will have to fight again before challenging for championship gold.
The 28-year-old Sandhagen has earned back-to-back victories since his quick submission loss to Sterling last summer, finishing Marlon Moraes early in the second in October before knocking out Frankie Edgar with a flying knee just 28 seconds into their clash at the start of February. That second victory cemented his standing as the top contender in the division and made opting to wait on a title shot a real possibility, but with Saturday night’s chaos, the Elevation Fight Team member will likely have to return to the Octagon once more before he gets his chance to fight for the title.
Thankfully, there is an obvious matchup waiting to be made.
Former champ TJ Dillashaw is poised to return following a two-year suspension after testing positive for EPO and Sandhagen has spoken in the past about being eager to share the cage with his former training partner. The UFC broached the idea of welcoming Dillashaw back to the cage with Sandhagen recently and given how things played between Sterling and Yan, he’ll likely agree to the fight if it’s presented to him again.
While not what he was hoping for, it’s to a terrible Plan B and a way to keep things moving in the bantamweight division.
Islam Makhachev Is A Real Problem
Islam Makhachev pushed his winning streak to seven on Saturday night with a smothering, suffocating, grappling-fuelled unanimous decision win over Drew Dober.
What was expected to be a competitive affair turned into a lopsided contest, as Makhachev put Dober on the canvas early in both the first and second round, keeping him there for the duration while alternating between advancing positions, hunting submissions, and happily mauling the Elevation Fight Team member from half guard. While Dober defended well, surviving a late submission attempt in the first and avoiding too much visible damage (read: he wasn’t busted up), he was stuck playing defence, as Makhachev gave him no room to work.
After putting Dober on the canvas early in the third, Makhachev defended a kimura from Dober and clamped onto an arm-triangle choke and collected the tap without having to float through to the other side.
A finish like that takes an incredible squeeze, and highlights just how dangerous and skilled Makhachev is inside the Octagon. The 29-year-old hadn’t fought since September 2019 and made it look easy against Dober, utilizing his tremendous grappling acumen to control the fight throughout and extend his winning streak.
For years we’ve been hearing that Makhachev has the potential to follow in the footsteps of his friend, training partner, and lead corner Khabib Nurmagomedov, and his performance at UFC 259 showed all that lofty praise might be more than just hyperbole from his friends and teammates.
The Options at Lightweight Are Limitless (and Amazing)
Makhachev dominating the way he did thrusts him into the growing collection of elite talent competing in the 155-pound weight class at the moment, a notch below the championship tier, but with his sights clearly set on joining those ranks very soon.
Being sidelined for all of last year due to injuries and the coronavirus pandemic slowed the momentum Makhachev built with a pair of quality wins the year before, but he regained a good deal of that on Saturday, and it should finally elevate him into the kind of marquee matchup he’s been calling for over the last several years, and the options are plentiful.
Makhachev and Beneil Dariush? Yes please.
Makhachev and Paul Felder? Where do I sign up to watch that one?
Re-book Makhachev and Rafael Dos Anjos? You won’t hear a complaint from me.
A win in any of those contests and the 29-year-old will find himself sharing the cage with the cream of the crop in the lightweight division, and if he gets there, we’l really find out if Makhachev is “The Next Khabib” and see once more just how skilled everyone is at the top of the 155-pound weight class.
Aleksandar Rakic Keeps Winning, But…
Aleksandar Rakic kicked off the main card with a unanimous decision victory over Thiago Santos, giving him a second straight victory in the wide open light heavyweight division, but if he was hoping a win at UFC 259 was going to elevate him into a championship fight next time out, he’s got another thing coming.
This was a tense and tentative affair throughout, as each man was respectful and wary of the other’s power, opting to offer sporadic attacks from range instead of wading into the fire and risking catching heat in return.
Rakic has been steadily making progress up the rankings since arriving in the UFC and has now beaten a pair of former title challengers in his last two outings — and he got hosed on the cards against a third, Volkan Oezdemir, to end 2019 — but neither of those outings stood out. Both his victory over Anthony Smith last year and his win over Santos on Saturday night were workmanlike efforts that keep him moving forward and reducing the number of fighters standing between he and the top of the division.
Glover Teixeira Still Has Next
A dominant victory for Rakic could have potentially thrust the streaking Austrian into a championship opportunity, or maybe even showdown with top contender Glover Teixeira, but given the way things played out on Saturday night, Teixeira’s place at the top of the list of potential title challengers remains secure.
The 41-year-old rallied and finished Santos back in November and many believed he should have been the first to challenge Blachowicz for the light heavyweight title, not Adesanya, but he was passed over. Coming out of this weekend’s festivities in Las Vegas, he should have next.
Winning is crucial and Rakic is now 6-1 in the UFC — and should be 7-0, truthfully — but his last two outings have lacked the kind of pizzaz and flare that could have potentially catapulted him to the top of the list of contenders. With Teixeira’s come-from-behind finish last time out and the massive amount of fan sentiment behind him, we should see the popular 40-something fight for championship gold again later this year.