10 Things I Like: UFC Vegas 17 Edition
Looking at the stuff that gets me excited about the final UFC fight card of the year
The Rise of Geoff Neal
Geoff Neal’s journey to a main event opportunity this weekend is the kind of story I’m always going to be invested in, because as far as I’m concerned, he’s a guy that has gone about things the right way, handled his business, and earned a chance to headline an event like this.
Without much fanfare, the Fortis MMA product has put together a 5-0 record inside the Octagon, including victories over underrated tough out Belal Muhammad and certified wild man Niko Price, and a 90-second thrashing of Mike Perry last year that made it clear he was someone to keep close tabs on in the welterweight division.
A mid-summer pairing with Neil Magny felt like a solid matchup with the potential to carry Neal into the Top 10, but he was forced out of the contest after becoming septic and nearly dying, as my friend Shaheen Al-Shatti detailed this week on The Athletic.
Fully healthy, the 30-year-old is slated to face Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson on Saturday night in a bout that will carry the winner to the fringes of title contention. Regardless of the outcome, this should be the moment where everyone else realizes how talented and fun to watch the Fortis MMA product is inside the Octagon.
It real easy to get swept up in moments and caught up in hype while watching and covering this sport, and it often leads to fighters like Neal getting brushed aside and passed up in favor of people generating more buzz or dropping juicier sound bites and more boastful claims on social media, but make no mistake about it: “Handz of Steel” is the real deal and earned his way into a fight of this magnitude and a main event assignment.
As an aside, I understand all the people that have been lamenting the influx of talent from the Contender Series and how that coincides with various veteran competitors being let go or not having their contracts renewed, but Neal is graduate of the annual 10-week talent search (Class of ‘17) and there are many others that have come off the program and cemented themselves as viable long-term additions to their respective weight classes.
It’s never as simple as “this group isn’t as good as that group” like some people are making it out to be, and the emergence of fighters like Neal, Alex Perez, Edmen Shahbazyan, Sean O’Malley, and others illustrates that the Contender Series has brought more than just inexpensive talent into the UFC over the past four years.
Stephen Thompson
I was going to come up with some other subhead here, but then I thought to myself, “The series is called ‘10 Things I Like’ and well, I just really like Stephen Thompson for myriad reasons,” so that’s what I’m going with.
In addition to being a genuinely wonderful human being that I have been fortunate enough to speak with since prior to his arrival in the UFC, he’s another one of those fighters that has been so damn good for so damn long that people kind of forget how damn good he is.
And he’s really damn good.
Outside of losing to Matt Brown in his second UFC appearance (in a bonkers fight that was a colossal step up in competition), the South Carolina native has lost to Tyron Woodley in a championship rematch after battling him to a draw the first time, Darren Till in a suspect hometown decision (yeah, I said it), and Anthony Pettis, when he got caught with a perfect shot in a fight he was dominating.
That’s it. That’s the list.
I know Thompson doesn’t want to be a gatekeeper and I understand it 100-percent — he beat Jorge Masvidal handily three years ago — but I have to say, having “Wonderboy” as the complex riddle emerging contenders have to solve in order to enter the title conversation in the welterweight division is delicious to me and I’m really curious to see how this fight (and possibly this phase of his career) plays out.
Additionally, I completely agree with his recent comments about the man who was initially scheduled to headline this weekend’s show, Khamzat Chimaev, and the accelerated push he’s received.
Like most, I understand why it’s happening, but that doesn’t mean that everything Thompson said about himself, Leon Edwards, and countless others that had to work their way through a collection of tough fights before getting a headlining opportunity and a date against a Top 5 talent aren’t completely on-point.
Like I said, I just really like everything about Stephen Thompson, and I’m looking forward to watching him compete again this weekend.
The Continued Growth of Marlon Vera
This kind of stuff is high on the list of “Things I’m Here For” in MMA.
Marlon Vera made his UFC debut a little over six years ago at UFC 180, losing to Marco Beltran. He was a couple weeks shy of his 22nd birthday and walked out of the Octagon in Mexico City with a 6-2-1 record. He split his next two appearances and at the time, he felt like someone who would pull off the odd upset against a ranked opponent and build a steady career for himself residing in the 11-20 range in the bantamweight division.
That’s not a bad way to make a living and as my good friend Danny Austin and I often discuss, you could do a lot worse than being the 14th best fighter in a given division for four, five, six, seven years.
But since connecting with Team Oyama, Vera has developed into a fighter with a much different long-term forecast.
“Chito” heads into this weekend’s bout against Jose Aldo positioned at No. 15 in the UFC rankings. He’s won six of his last seven, with his only setback being a sour split decision loss to Song Yadong earlier this year, and he’s become a much more polished, much more fully-formed fighter. The fierceness and fieriness that was apparent early is still there, but so too is a great amount of patience, and a superior understanding of tactics and how to deploy his ample skills best inside the Octagon.
Because he’s been around for six years and 15 fights, it’s easy to forget that Vera just turned 28 and is only now entering his athletic prime, so his best days are still very much ahead of him.
A win over Aldo could elevate him into the Top 10 and would, at the very least, position him for another marquee assignment in the first quarter of 2021.
It’s been really enjoyable to watch his growth and development thus far and the next few years should provide many more exciting fights.
Khaos Williams is Fighting
From the year-end edition of Fighters on the Rise over on the UFC website:
Here’s what I said about Khaos Williams when he appeared in this space ahead of his November 14 clash with Abdul Razak Alhassan:
Here’s a quick guide for how to make an instant impact in the UFC:
1. Have a memorable name or nickname
2. Look like an action figure
3. Register a 27-second knockout in your debut
Williams ticked all those boxes when he sauntered into the Octagon at UFC 247 and wiped out Alex Morono, a 22-fight veteran who had won three straight and was fighting in his home state of Texas. His handle — Khaos “The Oxfighter” Williams — and his chiseled physique had already garnered Williams some attention in the preamble to fight night, but when he laid out “The Great White” in sudden, striking fashion, it forced people to really sit up and take notice of the new welterweight in town.
As an encore, Williams rolled into the UFC Apex and put Alhassan to sleep in 30 seconds, knocking him stiff with a rapid counter right down the pipe.
Williams is at the top of my list of Breakout Fighters in 2020, ahead of the aforementioned Khamzat Chimaev, because the Michigan native has iced two established welterweights in a combined 57 seconds, while Chimaev’s opponents are a combined 7-13 in the UFC, with his first two foes sporting a combined 1-7 mark inside the Octagon.
Saturday night, Williams faces Brazilian lunatic (and I mean that in the best way possible) Michel Pereira in a can’t-miss clash that is guaranteed to entertain no matter how it plays out.
If Williams gets the win, he has to be one of the most intriguing fighters to watch heading into 2021 because he’ll be 3-0 in the UFC and in line for a step up in competition, while still brandishing the sledgehammers that left Morono and Alhassan in the Odinsleep on the canvas in his first two appearances.
Note: Kevin Holland was an established middleweight before this year, so he didn’t factor into the Breakout Fighter of 2020 conversation for me.
Crucial Bantamweight Clash Alert
I adore this weekend’s fight between Marlon Moraes and Rob Font for a number of reasons.
They’re both consistently entertaining and skilled technicians
Moraes is 1-2 in his last three, coming off a loss, and needs a victory to remain in the title conversation
Font is on a two-fight winning streak, but needs a win like this to elevate himself into the title conversation
Moraes has yet to lose to anyone outside of the Top 5 in the UFC
Font has yet to defeat a Top 10 opponent in the UFC
Moraes comes out of the gate quickly and tends to fade, while Font can run sprints or a marathon
I love watching each man fight independent of the other, so putting them together is (ChefsKiss.gif).
Bantamweight is one of the deepest, most competitive divisions in the UFC right now and this fight encapsulates that perfectly because while there are seven fighters between Moraes and Font in the rankings, this doesn’t feel like a matchup between No. 3 and No. 11 would in various other divisions.
Will the former title challenger rebound from his second-round loss to Cory Sandhagen with a big bounce-back effort or can Font secure the signature win he needs to climb into the championship chase heading into 2021?
I Want to Know More About: Gillian Robertson
Unlike previous entries in this subcategory on 10 Things I Like, Robertson isn’t a neophyte with limited UFC experience, as Saturday’s bout against Taila Santos will be her ninth trip into the Octagon.
Robertson is 6-2 so far in the UFC (and 9-4 overall) and for me, this weekend’s matchup is all about getting a better read on where the 25-year-old fits within the division heading into the new year.
There have been major flashes of potential from Robertson, who is excellent on the ground, and this year has already provided a pair of impressive victories over divisional stalwarts Cortney Casey and Poliana Botelho, so we could be witnessing the start of a run towards contention for “The Savage,” but I’m just not quite ready to commit to that being the case just yet.
This weekend’s matchup with Santos may not answer that question either, but another dominant performance would certainly continue to elevate her stock and send her into 2021 with the most momentum she’s had in her career. Given how wide open things are in the flyweight ranks at the moment, a three-fight winning streak could easily facilitate a date with a veteran contender in the first half of next year, and a win there would put Robertson in the title conversation.
What interesting (at least to me) is that a loss doesn’t change things all that much either — it would just signal that she’s not quite ready to make that jump yet, which, considering that she’s only 25, isn’t the end of the world.
Now do you see why I want to know more about Gillian Robertson and am looking forward to seeing her compete again this weekend?
Greg Hardy’s “Prove Yourself” Opportunity
I know Greg Hardy is someone that many fans don’t want to hear about, talk about, or see compete in the UFC, and I respect their positions.
As someone who writes about the sport, I tend to focus on “what is” and not “what I would like” and Hardy is in the UFC, he is someone that has earned a couple wins this year, and he remains an intriguing figure in the division, so for me, his bout this weekend against Marcin Tybura is a major draw for me.
Hardy is 4-1 with one No Contest since losing his UFC debut by disqualification. That loss came last year, at the tail end of his rookie campaign in the Octagon, against Alexander Volkov, a Top 10 fixture, on short notice, in Moscow.
While his victory over Yorgan de Castro in May wasn’t particularly exciting, Hardy did pick up a quality win over Maurice Greene on Halloween, once again showcasing the potential he carries as an elite athlete still in the early stages of his mixed martial arts journey.
In Tybura, he’s facing a 35-year-old veteran on a three-fight winning streak; a guy with 26 fights under his belt and the savvy to make him look really, really bad, depending on how things shake out, and that’s what makes it so interesting to me.
Hardy was never going to win the fight against Volkov — it was too much, too soon, and the fact that he went the distance was about as much as you could have asked for from the UFC rookie — but a victory here isn’t out of the question and would go a long way to really validating this ongoing venture.
Beating Tybura might still be too big a challenge for Hardy at this stage of his development, but this is exactly the type of fight he needs to close out his sophomore season and coming off the best win of his career.
Heavyweight is too shallow for him to simply continue treading water against guys like de Castro and Greene and the Ben Sosolis of the world. Hardy needs to show he has legitimate upward potential and if he can’t show he is at least capable of holding his own against a veteran like Tybura, the UFC might very well start to wonder if the juice is worth the squeeze when it comes to the infamous former NFL defensive lineman.
Anthony Pettis’ New Approach
Please don’t take what I’m about to say as a slight aghast Alex Morono, who is a good dude, a solid fighter, and someone I enjoy watching compete each and every time he steps into the Octagon.
I absolutely love the fact that Anthony Pettis is now in the “Fuck it — I’ll fight Alex Morono” stage of his career and I am all the way here for it.
Too many established fighters cling to the notion that they can only fight name-brand opponents as they start moving into the post-contender days, but Pettis — who is a former lightweight champion and interim featherweight title challenger who has headlined multiple PPV events and fought nothing but big names during his UFC tenure — just wants to fight and doesn’t seem particularly concerned about who is going to be standing across the cage from him.
You don’t hear him talking about “one more title run” or how he doesn’t want to be facing up-and-comers or unranked guys, and it’s something I really wish more veterans would do more often. I understand why it doesn’t happen, but I still think it’s dope that “Showtime,” who is still ranked in the Top 15 at welterweight and coming off a good win over Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone in May, signed up to face a dangerous, but unheralded guy like Morono here.
Fighter I Can’t Quit: Pannie Kianzad
I’m forever going to be interested in seeing Pannie Kianzad step into the Octagon because I’m forever going to think she’s on the cusp of making a run.
The former Ultimate Fighter finalist enters this weekend’s bout with Sijara Eubanks on a two-fight winning streak and in a position to creep closer to the Top 10 with a victory. She had some quality wins on the European circuit before enduring a run of eight fights where she went 3-5, including three straight losses under the Invicta FC banner and defeats in her first two UFC appearances, but since then, Kianzad has posted back-to-back decision victories over Jessica-Rose Clark and Bethe Correia to land at No. 14 in the bantamweight rankings.
Still just 29 years old, Kianzad is scrappy and solid everywhere without being spectacular anywhere. While she probably tops out in the 8-10 range in the division, that’s not a bad way to make a living (as I said previously) and there are a ton of fun, entertaining, competitive fights for her in that space, including this one with Eubanks, who fits a similar profile.
I know a lot of people (most people?) really fixate on championship pairings and bouts that carry major divisional significance, but personally, I want to see fights like this and fighters like Kianzad just as much.
Introducing Tafon Nchukwi
I started to get excited about Tafon Nchukwi when I was writing the preview for his appearance on the Contender Series this summer.
Although he was just 3-0 at the time, “Tafon Da Don” had closed out 2019 with a first-round stoppage win over William Knight, who had earned a developmental contract the previous summer on the Contender Series and an invite to join the UFC roster the week earlier after registering a second victory inside the Apex. Did I mention he’d made his pro debut only eight months earlier?
Nchukwi didn’t disappoint when he arrived in Las Vegas, registering a second-round stoppage win over Al Matavao that brought Dana White out of his seat and secured him a UFC contract. Now, he’s set to make his promotional debut on Saturday against fellow Contender Series grad Jamie Pickett.
At 26 and looking like he’s sculpted out of granite, it’s easy to understand why plenty of people are excited about Nchukwi’s prospects and this fight with Pickett will be a solid initial measuring stick for where he stands in his development and what the next couple years could look like.
He’s still green, he still has limited experience, he’s still learning, but his potential is obvious and it will be really fun to see how things play out for Nchukwi this weekend and throughout his career.