10 Things I Like: UFC Fight Island 8
Tackling the elements that excite me about the rare mid-week, early start event on Wednesday
Keep Things Moving Matchups Like Chiesa vs. Magny
Matchups like Wednesday’s main event pairing between Michael Chiesa and Neil Magny feel like a rare happening these days, so I’m all about seeing the No. 8 and No. 9 welterweights in the UFC lock horns in a bout designed to keep things moving in the 170-pound weight class.
Fights like this are the life blood of a division and how we determine contenders, but they have become increasingly uncommon as more and more competitors look to protect their ranking by pushing back against facing anyone below them in the divisional hierarchy. That’s not the case with every fighter, mind you, but we’ve seen it a lot more over the last several years, and while it makes sense in some instances, it also can bog things down in a division, especially one as active and competitive as welterweight.
This is the exact fight each guy needs at this stage — Chiesa because he slipped in the hierarchy a little after not fighting after his January win over Rafael Dos Anjos, and Magny because he’s due an opponent with a number beside their name after rattling off three wins in six months between March and August last year — and it’s precisely what the division needs as well.
Things are starting to back up at the top end, with Kamaru Usman’s title defense against Gilbert Burns getting pushed back a couple times, Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal flexing their thumbs more than their skills, and Leon Edwards and Khamzat Chimaev failing to make it to the Octagon. Much like the bout between Stephen Thompson and Geoff Neal at the end of last year, this one will help clarify where each man stands in the pecking order and present a clear path for each heading into their next assignment.
I get that fans want big, sexy, exciting main events with marquee names at all times, but that can’t happen and it’s actually more beneficial all around to churn out critical, competitive fights like this and give them the five-round main event attention needed to elevate both athletes as they battle to see who takes another step forward in the ultra-competitive welterweight division.
I love this fight in particular and these kinds of fights in general, and I hope we so a bunch more of them in 2021.
Welterweight Maverick
There are some instances where athletes switch divisions and you instantaneously know they’ve made the correct decision because things look and feel different.
Chiesa is one of those people.
From the second he showed up to face Carlos Condit at UFC 232, it was clear that “Maverick” had made the right move.
He was a very good fighter at lightweight, spending several years stationed inside the Top 15, but getting down to the 155-pound limit was gruelling and even though the results were largely positive, he knew that depleting his body was limiting his chances of succeeding. He was a fighter, but he wasn’t getting to be an athlete.
That changed with his move to welterweight.
All those skills and traits that made him a fixture in the rankings in the deepest, most competitive division in the UFC are still there, but he’s also stronger, sharper, and in better shape in every respect, which allows him to push a torrid pace without worrying about his gas tank. He can play to his strengths as a grappler because he knows he’s a takedown or two is all he needs to salt away a round and create opportunities to hunt for submissions.
Anyone that wanted to “yeah, but look who he beat” Chiesa’s success upon shifting to welterweight was silenced last January when he out-worked Rafael Dos Anjos, the former interim title challenger and lightweight champion who was considered the final exam hopefuls needed to pass in order to be considered contenders.
Now, he steps in against Magny, a durable veteran with arguably the deepest gas tank in the division, the grappling acumen to counter Chiesa’s wrestling and jiu jitsu, and a long, sharp jab that will be deployed early and often in an attempt to keep the former Ultimate Fighter winner from crashing forward and closing the distance.
This is the next stern test in Chiesa’s journey towards title contention in the welterweight division, and given how good he’s looked thus far, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him continue to thrive.
I Want to Know More About: Mounir Lazzez
Lazzez generated a great deal of buzz before, during, and after his UFC debut last summer on “Fight Island.”
Signed after Dana White was shown a highlight video of the Tunisian welterweight, “The Sniper” survived an early onslaught by Abdul Razak Alhassan before shifting the tides in his favor and out-working the tired, returning Dallas-area fighter over the final two-and-a-half rounds.
The broadcast team raved about his performance. MMA Twitter sung his praises.
I sat on my couch, unsure why everyone was so over the moon for a 33-year-old who looked good against a middle-of-the-pack welterweight coming off a two-year absence.
Wednesday night, Lazzez makes his return to the Octagon against Warlley Alves in the co-main event and I absolutely cannot wait because this feels like a bout that will be far more instructive about what he brings to the table and where he fits in the welterweight division.
It’s not that I’m actively against Lazzez being an intriguing new addition to the 170-pound weight class — I just want to see more.
The Persistence of Roxanne Modafferi
The best stretches of your athletic career are not supposed to come after your 35th birthday, but don’t tell that to Roxanne Modafferi.
Now 18 years and 43 fights into her professional career, the 38-year-old pioneer remains a fixture in the Top 10 and an improving fighter as she heads into his clash with Viviane Araujo on Wednesday.
One year ago, Modafferi authored one of the biggest upsets of the year by toppling highly-touted prospect Maycee Barber, outworking her on the feet well before “The Future” suffered the knee injury that has kept her sidelined since.
Though she’s alternated wins and losses since retuning to the UFC for a second time, each of those bouts have been competitive affairs and her loss to Lauren Murphy last June was the first time in her last three defeats that her opponent came in on weight.
There is no one in the sport that doesn’t respect Modafferi and she’s a definitely contender for Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson’s “Nicest MF’er” title, though she’d insist that the “MF” stands for mudder fudger, a phrase she actually used with me during one of our interviews last year.
You have to tip your cap to someone like Modafferi who has continued to improve, evolve, and challenge herself at a time when countless others with far less decorated careers would have walked away.
Manchester’s Murphy One to Watch
I made the mistake of sleeping on Lerone Murphy heading into his UFC debut in September 2019, where he battled Zubaira Tukhugov to a draw, and I told him as much when I spoke to him last week ahead of his return to action on Wednesday against Douglas Silva de Andrade:
I was paying closer attention when he stepped into the Octagon for his sophomore appearance last summer on “Fight Island,” where he fended off the striking attacks and takedown attempts of Ricardo Ramos for several minutes before blasting the Brazilian with thunderous ground-and-pound that ended the bout before the first round expired.
Now, as he readies to make the walk for the third time, I find myself serving as one of the lead advocates for the 29-year-old from Manchester.
Yes, comparing him to Leon Edwards feels too easy because they’re both British, but the comparison is apt, as both came up through struggles, have solid all-around skill sets, and arrived in the UFC with little-to-no buzz before they started making waves.
Edwards has parlayed that into an eight-fight winning streak and a place in the Top 5 at welterweight, and while Murphy isn’t quite there yet, he’s definitely one of the top emerging talents in the featherweight division.
Fight I Can’t Quit: Tom Breese
All you have to do is watch his fight with KB Bhullar back in October and it should become clear to you why I cannot and will not quit on Tom Breese.
The strapping Birmingham native dropped the undefeated Canadian with a stiff jab after having blasted him with clean boxing throughout the opening 90 seconds of the bout, and his boxing isn’t even necessarily the strongest part of his game, as Breese is a legitimate Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt who earned six of his first seven pro wins by submission.
Injuries and illnesses have stifled his career over the last several years, as Breese has been limited to two appearances since May 2018 and three fights since suffering the first loss of his career to Sean Strickland at UFC 199, but he’s still only 29 and continues to feel like the kind of skilled competitor that could make a run in the middleweight division.
He faces Omari Akhmedov on Wednesday in a bout that doesn't sound all that sexy, but it’s worth remembering that Akhmedov was on a six-fight unbeaten streak before losing to Chris Weidman last summer in a bout some used as a signal that the former middleweight champion still had plenty left in the tank.
If he can score a second straight impressive victory and become the fist to finish Akmedov at middleweight, the Breese bandwagon I’ve been driving for the last six-plus years will be ready to pick up some new passengers.
Ricky Simon: Bantamweight Stalwart
Kicking off his fourth year on the UFC roster, Simon is at a cool inflection point in his career.
With five wins in seven starts, his place on the roster is secured and he’s entrenched in the Top 25 in the constantly improving bantamweight division. Each of his fights have been entertaining, competitive affairs, save for his loss to Urijah Faber, which feels like it will become more of an outlier as time passes, and they’ve provided a baseline for where Simon fits within the division.
But Simon, who takes on Gaetano Pirrello on Wednesday, is still only 28 and shifted his camp to Irvine, California and Team Oyama this time around, and I’m really interested to see what improvements and adjustments come with having made that change.
Simon fits in that group of fighters that are crucial to a division’s ecosystem and never get enough love and attention; the men and women who spend multiple years battling just inside or just outside the rankings and grind out the kind of quality resumes people never spend a lot of time discussing, but are still tremendously impressive.
I’m always going to be down to watch fighters like that make the walk, and in Simon’s case, I even think there could be a little push towards the Top 15 in his future too.
The Return of Sumudaerji
Here’s what I wrote following Sumudaerji’s November bout against Malcolm Gordon:
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.
Now he’s back, just a handful of weeks later, set to take on Zarrukh Adashev in a bout that feels like another opportunity for the emerging southpaw to shine, so you know I’m fired up.
He looked so good against Gordon and profiles as someone capable of growing by leaps and bounds between fights over the next several years, because he’s still really young, he’s wisely been spending time at various elite gyms, and physically, he as the potential to be a real problem for a lot of the smaller, less powerful fighters in the flyweight division.
Don’t not be shocked if he’s taken up residency in the Top 10 by the end of the year.
Introducing Mason Jones
When you’re only the second person to ever accomplish a particular feat and Conor McGregor was the first, I’m going to give you my time and attention.
Jones was the second fighter to hold titles in two weight classes simultaneously under the Cage Warriors banner, turning the trick with a pair of first-round stoppage wins in 2020 to claim the lightweight and welterweight titles.
Now, “The Dragon” brings his 10-0 record to the UFC and a debut showdown against Mike “Beast Boy” Davis, a crafty boxer coming off his first UFC victory and who has only lost to quality competition.
Obviously, no one should expect Jones to replicate what McGregor did following his transition to the UFC, but he is an outstanding prospect and someone worth paying close attention to Wednesday.
Two Early Morning Cards in a Row?
I know this one doesn’t work as well for most people, but back-to-back early AM start times? Sign. Me. Up.
Selfishly, I adore morning fight cards because it means I can have a cup of coffee while watching people punch each other in the face and still have the late afternoon and evening to take my dog for a walk, get dinner ready, and settle in for some Netflix with the missus.
But I also appreciate that the UFC is running these first two fight cards out at a time that is more conducive to the athletes stationed on Fight Island, as it is a 12-hour difference between here (West Coast Canada) and there (Abu Dhabi), which means they’re essentially fighting at the same time they’re used to competing when they’re competing in North America.
That won’t be the case on Saturday at UFC 257, but that’s how it was last week and that show turned out to be pretty damn entertaining, and my guess is this one will too.
Enjoy the fisticuffs, friends.