10 Things I Like at UFC Columbus
From a handful of significant divisional matchups to some purely fun contests, this weekend's return to the Ohio capital has plenty to offer
There are a few cards each year that are outstanding collections that still manage to fly under the radar a little for various reasons, and this is one of them.
No event was going to be able to follow UFC London — not when it was the first trip across the pond in three years, not when the lineup was laced with the majority of the best talents representing the United Kingdom, and certainly not after the way that show built to its crescendo. Stepping out after UFC London is like stepping out after The Beatles at the height of their popularity — you might be great, but you’re not The Beatles, so far less people care.
And it’s unfortunate because Saturday’s long-awaited return to Columbus features a strong card including some very important matchups across a number of divisions, including three vital flyweight matchups — two for the men, and one for the women — plus a couple other fun little tussles.
This is the stuff that really excites me about this weekend’s fight card.
* * *
Curtis Blaydes is Fighting
We honestly don’t give Curtis Blaydes enough respect, attention, consideration given the slate he’s fought during the course of his UFC career.
The Chicagoland heavyweight, who headlines opposite Chris Daukaus on Saturday, is mostly remembered (in my opinion) for losing to reigning champ Francis Ngannou twice and his knockout loss to Derrick Lewis last February where he ate an uppercut that stopped him dead in his tracks and sent him toppling to the canvas in a heap.
Do you know those are his only three professional losses? He’s won 10 fights and collected one No Contest result in his other 11 bouts, beating legitimate heavyweight talents Mark Hunt, Alistair Overeem, Shamil Abdurakhimov, Junior Dos Santos, Alexander Volkov, and Jairzinho Rozenstruik, and a few others. Because he’s been around for a while (nearly seven years now) and has been in contention for the last three or four years, he’s not included amongst the “young talents” climbing the ranks, but he’s only 31, has a dominant wrestling game, and keeps getting better on the feet.
For all the wiggle room we give some fighters that struggle to clear that final hurdle that makes them a bonafide title threat, a lot of people seem to be dismissing Blaydes’ chances of ever getting there, even though he’s got several years left to hang around the top end of the division. And even if he doesn’t get there, it’s difficult to go 10-3 with one No Contest in the UFC, especially, I would argue, in the heavyweight division, where one errant shot can end your night.
Give this man his flowers.
Prove It Time for Alexa Grasso
Thus far, Alexa Grasso hasn’t quite lived up to expectations.
It’s fine because the expectations were too high to begin with and buoyed by the fact that folks wanted to see the cute girl from Invicta thrive, but after racing out to a 9-0 start to her career, the now 28-year-old Mexican fighter hit an extended rough patch that produced a 3-3 record over her next six fights, a weight miss, a couple fight cancellations because of weight issues, and a general sense of “I guess she’s just not going to get there.”
Since debuting at flyweight in the summer of 2020, Grasso has started showing signs that she might be poised to make a run. She earned unanimous decision wins over Ji Yeon Kim and Maycee Barber in her first two outings, and gets a chance on Saturday to topple a divisional stalwart when she squares off with Joanne Wood.
Because she’s still only 28, this isn’t a “do or die, last chance to take that next step” type of deal, but the fight with Wood is certainly a “Prove You’re a Contender” fight for the Lobo Gym representative. We know where Wood stacks up in terms of the division and what it takes to beat her, as she’s only lost to title challengers over the last three years, and if Grasso wants to join that exclusive group some time soon, this is the fight she needs to win.
Crucial Flyweight Contest, Part I
Askar Askarov and Kai Kara-France meet in the last of three crucial flyweight contest in the middle of the main card on Saturday night, and even though the stakes aren’t specifically defined, everyone understands this is a matchup between two of the top contenders in the division and the winner could very well get a title shot towards the end of the year.
As I said yesterday, I wish there was more clarity about what’s on the line between these two because I think for casual-to-moderate fans, being able to say, “This is a flyweight title eliminator and the winner’s got next” is an easy hook that tells them instantly how meaningful this one is, and that should happen more often. But even without a clearly stated next step, this one is a gem and a potential banger between two dynamite talents.
Askarov is unbeaten in 15 pro fights, boasting a 14-0-1 record, and even if you want to object to the draw with Brandon Moreno, he’d be 14-1 with a loss to a former champion that is going to be in his fourth straight title fight later this spring, so chill. As for Kara-France, he’s coming in on a tidy two-fight winning streak where he exhibited fight-ending power, having blasted Rogerio Bontorin and Cody Garbrandt in back-to-back outings.
This could be precision versus power, and should be a back-and-forth affair, and whomever emerges victorious will be the clubhouse leader when it comes to being next in line to challenge for the flyweight title later this year.
Hometown Beatdown
Now I’m not saying that Matt Brown is going to beat the tar out of Bryan Barberena or anything; all I’m saying is that Brown is from Columbus, and these two welterweights are going to do their best to beat the bejesus out of one another on Saturday night… and we get to watch.
Wow — that doesn’t make me sound like a creepy voyeur at all…
I don’t expect Brown to get the same kind of raucous ovation Paddy Pimblett got in London last weekend when he walks out on Saturday because he’s facing a fellow American and North American fans aren’t supportive like that, but he’ll get a bit of a cheer and be fired up to compete on his home turf again, plus “Bam Bam” is the kind of dance partner that will give the hometown favourite a helluva fight this weekend.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Brown call it a day after this one, as I said yesterday, and I’m curious to see how he does against a mean, tough cuss like Barberena, who won’t go away easily and is going to get after it from the jump. But regardless of whether it’s his last fight or not, I expect it to be a typically exciting, violent Matt Brown affair and I can’t wait for it to pop off this weekend.
“Slava Claus” is Coming to Town
Viacheslav Borshchev intrigues the hell out of me.
In each of his two most recent outings, the 30-year-old lightweight has gotten into action-packed battles with Chris Duncan and Dakota Bush, taking his fair share of shots before finding one blow that brings things to an abrupt, decisive halt. With Duncan, it was a counter left hook to the jaw that sent the Scotsman crashing to the canvas. Against Bush, it was a digging hook to the body that instantly cause him to crumple into himself and seek cover.
Both were clean, technical shots and guys that can weather punishment and still fire off clean, technical, finishing blows are always going to have my attention, especially as they take big steps forward in the division.
Saturday’s pairing with Marc Diakiese isn’t Borshchev diving into the deep end of the lightweight talent pool, but it’s a solid move from the wall in the shallow end to the edge of the ramp that gradually takes you deeper and deeper into the water. It doesn’t sound all that bad, but the first time you take a step and realize it’s deeper than you think is scary.
This weekend, we’re going to find out if the water is too deep for Borshchev or if he can confidently take another step forward, out further towards the deep end next time out.
Big Moment for Max Griffin
Max Griffin is proof that everyone develops and reaches their peak at a different time.
The 36-year-old veteran enters Saturday’s contest with Neil Magny in the best form of his professional career, having earned three straight victories, capped by a unanimous decision win over Carlos Condit. He’s on the cusp of breaking into the Top 15 for the first time in his career, and has genuinely never looked better.
I’ve talked to Griffin a few times over the years, and he’s one of the most open and candid folks I’ve spoken with in this sport. We’ve discussed his shift to working with a mental coach, which has coincided with this little run of success, and before that, he was honest about needing several fights to adjust to the speed and overall level of skill that comes with fighting on the biggest stage in the sport.
And before his fight with Condit, we spoke about how he feels like everything is coming together properly — like this is how things were meant to play out and everything is coalescing as it should, at the right moment, in order for him to reach some of those goals that have eluded him in the past, when he was younger, hungry, but not yet capable of making it all happen.
Now he feels capable, ready, primed to do so, and he gets the chance to prove it all on Saturday.
I’m excited to seeing him step out there and give it his all, win or lose, because the journey has been incredible no matter what.
Karol Rosa’s Litmus Test
Beating Joselyne Edwards and Bethe Correia is one thing, but can Karol Rosa take that next step? That’s what we’re going to find out on Saturday when the surging Brazilian bantamweight steps in with Sara McMann.
Even as someone that admittedly has always been a McMann believer and apologist, even I can acknowledge that it’s a little weird labeling the inconsistent Olympic silver medalist as the litmus test for Rosa as she looks to continue her climb up the divisional ranks, but such is the state of affairs in the bantamweight division at the moment.
The Top 10 is pretty wide open and includes a former champ with a fight booked at flyweight (Miesha Tate), a stalwart who is soon to start maternity leave (Yana Kunitskaya), and another veteran that hasn’t fought since losing to McMann in January 2020 (Lina Lansberg) because she’s just finishing up her own maternity leave. And so beating McMann could potentially vault Rosa into the thick of the chase, but suffering a setback would also tell us a great deal about her prospects going forward.
Like Grasso later in the fight card, this isn’t a “do or die” situation for the Parana Vale Tudo representative because she’s only 27 and there is plenty of time for her to make adjustments and make another push forward, but this might be the best time for her to quickly snake her way into the Top 5 if she can string together the right wins.
She’s looked good during her current unbeaten run in the UFC, and if she can maintain that through this weekend, Rosa could make a real push towards title contention over the final three quarters of the 2022 calendar.
Bantamweight Banger Alert
Listen, I get that Chris Gutierrez and Danaa Batgerel (above) aren’t big names or fighters most people are checking for heading into this weekend, but trust me when I tell you that this is going to be a banger, whether it ends inside the first five minutes like each of Batgerel’s last three fights or it goes the full 15 minutes.
Why should you listen to me?
First and foremost, I did tell you in advance that the Douglas Silva-Sergey Morozov fight and the Julian Erosa-Steven Peterson fight were guaranteed fireworks and they both delivered, so my recent track record is strong. Secondly, Gutierrez is unbeaten in six and Batgerel has earned three straight first-round finishes, as I already said, which means both these guys are running hot, want to stay running hot, and will be coming out to do their damnedest to ensure that they keep running hot.
And lastly, it’s a bantamweight fight, and bantamweights have been putting on outstanding fights all year, finishing at a .538 clip through the first nine events of 2022. (Are you really surprised that I keep my own stats on this stuff?)
Mea culpa on The Next Day Takeaways this week if this one somehow doesn’t deliver.
Critical Flyweight Contest, Part II
The second critical flyweight contest on Saturday’s fight card and the first in a two-piece example of Tuesday’s argument that card placement doesn’t change the quality of a fight features former title challenger Jennifer Maia taking on streaking French karate stylist Manon Fiorot.
To be clear: this fight should be on the main card and I understand why it being placed where it is sucks for Maia and Fiorot, casual fans that still judge quality by placement, and all the other arguments about why fight card placement matters… but I also know it’s an outstanding pairing and an important matchup and that doesn’t change because they’re stationed this early in the lineup on Saturday.
I’m probably dating myself here, but Maia is like when you had to beat Mr. Sandman in Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out — she’s not the final boss or even the last fight before the final boss, but she’s a tough, tough fight nonetheless and the one a lot of people can’t clear.
In this analogy, I suppose Fiorot would be Little Mac working up through the ranks, except instead of progressing through the list of characters in order, she’s found some kind of portal that skips her through the middle swath of solid opponents and is jumping right in with Maia, which I actually like. “The Beast” was originally scheduled to face Jessica Eye earlier this year, which would have been a fine fight, but this one feels like it’s a little more meaningful to me, and will tell me a little more about Fiorot than a win over Eye would have… though I guess a loss to Eye would have told me more as well.
Either way, this is a wonderful pairing with genuine divisional ramifications and you better pay close attention to what happens, even though the fight isn’t on the main card.
Critical Flyweight Contest, Part III
The first of three flyweight bouts on Saturday and the other piece of the “Quality Trumps Placement” tandem features Matheus Nicolau taking on David Dvorak in a pairing of Top 10 fighters who aren’t all that far away from challenging for championship gold in the 125-pound weight class.
Nicolau has earned back-to-back decision wins since returning to the UFC and is 5-1 inside the Octagon, while Dvorak has won 16 straight, including all three of his trips into the UFC cage. They’re both well-rounded, technical talents, and while I’m a little higher on Dvorak as a potential contender, I also believe Nicolau is better than he gets credit for most of the time.
This is the kind of “two steps away” fight that more people need to focus on from week-to-week, and the fact that they don’t drives me mental.
Yes, there are a lot of fights, a lot of events, a lot to wade through, but you know where these two stand in the division (or you should if you’re covering this sport) and you know what a victory does for either man, so despite neither being even medium names and the fight being early in the rundown, this is one people with prominent voices need to be talking about ahead of this weekend because if they don’t, we’re going to have another “Where did Matheus Nicolau / David Dvorak come from?” situation and my head might explode.
They’ve been here. They’re quite good. They’re close to title contention.
Pay attention and enjoy their battle this weekend.
See you tomorrow for the Punch Drunk Predictions.