10 Things We Learned at UFC 260
Tackling the takeaways and talking points from Saturday night's UFC pay-per-view, where a new heavyweight champion was crowned.
And New
Francis Ngannou is the new UFC heavyweight champion, claiming the title with a second-round stoppage win over Stipe Miocic.
The challenger answered every question people had for him heading into this contest in the first five minutes, showing improved patience and poise with his striking while stuffing Miocic’s takedown attempt before gathering the champion and tossing him to the canvas. In less than a round, Ngannou showed that all the promises that he’d made major strides in his wrestling and all-around game were legitimate, and in the second, he found his range, hit his marks, and put Miocic away with ease.
This was an absolutely masterful performance from Ngannou, who instantly becomes a terrifying figure atop the heavyweight division.
Think about it: he’s always shown devastating power, but now Ngannou has also added poise, patience, and solid wrestling, both offensive and defensive, making him just a nightmare matchup for anyone with designs on wearing heavyweight gold. There will always be questions about his ability to go five rounds, but given what he’s shown over the last five fights, the fact is that making it into the second round is a chore, so getting to the championship rounds is one of those “wishful thinking” type deals that we might not ever see again.
Ngannou looked incredible on Saturday night, fulfilling his destiny to rule the heavyweight division, even if he got there a little later than some initially expected.
Bring on ‘Bones’
Given how the rematch played out, there is no reason for an immediate trilogy fight — Miocic got trucked, he’s got a baby on the way, and we have no idea if he even wants to step into the cage with Ngannou again after a clobbering like that.
Besides, you’ve got Jon “Bones” Jones waiting in the wings and that is a massive, massive fight that you cannot put on hold.
Jones has made the move to heavyweight and is considered the greatest fighter of all time, so while there is sure to be some negotiating that needs to be done, it is unquestionably the fight to make. These two went back-and-forth about facing one another last year on Twitter and now the stars have aligned to make it happen. On top of that, good lord would it be colossal pay-per-view!
Think about it: Ngannou gets the opportunity to beat the best UFC heavyweight of all time and arguably the best fighter of all time in back-to-back outings, and at the same time, Jones could move up and claim championship gold in a second division by knocking off Ngannou, which would render any G.O.A.T. debates pointless.
Back the Brinks trucks up to their homes, pay them whatever they want, book AT&T Stadium in Dallas, stack the card, and watch the coverage and the money come flooding in.
There is nothing else to do.
Vicente Luque is a Contender Now
“The Silent Assassin” made some serious noise in the co-main event, earning a first-round submission win against former champion Tyron Woodley to establish himself as a contender in the welterweight division.
Woodley came out like a house on fire, charging across the cage and fighting with the kind of ferocity that has been lacking in each of his last three outings. Midway through the round, Woodley caught Luque behind the ear with a big right hand that put the Brazilian on roller skates, but Luque quickly recovered and reversed the tides of the fight, catching an aggressive Woodley with a right hand of his own that proved to be the beginning of the end.
With Woodley on rubber legs, Luque walked him down, picking his spot with big power shots and heavy knees, eventually depositing his off-balance opponent on the canvas. From there, he laced up a D’Arce choke, tightened up his squeeze, and drew out the tap, earning the biggest win of his career.
After a performance like that, there is no denying that Luque is a contender in the 170-pound weight class. Woodley looked better on Saturday than he did in his previous three outings and Luque finished him in less than five minutes, taking his best shot and responding in kind. This wasn’t a case of “The Chosen One” having nothing left in the tank and getting overwhelmed — he was primed and ready and Luque still did what he did, which makes his standing as a contender undeniable.
There should be no shortage of interesting matchups available to the streaking Brazilian going forward, as he’s earned three straight finishes, has won nine of his last 10, and is on the ascent at the moment, though there won’t be many fighters ranked ahead of him eager to sign up to share the Octagon with him after a performance like this.
This is a Cruel, Cruel Sport
Woodley looked better on Saturday night than he had in two years, and yet in the end, he came out on the business end of a first-round stoppage loss. It’s his fourth straight setback and brings up questions about what his future may hold.
When I talked to Woodley before the fight, he mentioned how the pack of contenders that was chasing him during his days atop the division had closed the distance on him during those extended stretches between fights when he was forced to deal with injuries and surgical procedures, and while that certainly played a part in it, the other piece is that it’s incredibly difficult to transcend generations and remain at the highest level in this sport the longer you stick around.
Woodley beat members of the generation before him like Josh Koscheck, Robbie Lawler, and members of his own era with wins over Carlos Condit, Stephen Thompson, and Demian Maia. He even got a couple on guys from the generation after him before they were fully-formed, beating current middleweight contenders Kelvin Gastelum and Darren Till, but these last four fights have come against elite talents in the prime of their careers and the results show how difficult it is to keep thriving against the next class.
People are going to re-write Woodley’s story because of how things are stacking up at this stage of his career, but he was the best welterweight in the world for several years, and nothing will change that.
No one remains on top forever, and the fall is usually quick and painful.
“Suga Sean” Shines Again, But Shows Immaturity As Well
Sean O’Malley returned to the win column with a third-round stoppage finish of Thomas Almeida in the middle fight on Saturday’s pay-per-view main card, dropping the Brazilian with a step-off left hand before putting him to sleep with a precision coffin nail with just over a minute remaining in the contest. It was another impressive effort from the ultra-talented Contender Series grad, but there were questionable moments as well.
Midway through the first, O’Malley put his shin on Almeida’s forehead and then sat him down against the fence with a follow-up laser down the pipe. Rather than pounce on his fallen foe and secure the finish, the flamboyant 26-year-old turned and walked away, believing he’d secured a highlight reel, walk-off victory. But Almeida quickly got back to his feet, the fight continued, and O’Malley’s immaturity became a key talking point when it didn’t need to be.
There is no denying O’Malley’s skills and his abundant upside — he’s quick, precise, varied in his attacks, and brimming with confidence — but he was one or two precise follow-up shots away from a first-round stoppage win and didn’t follow up, thinking too much about creating a moment than collecting a victory. It the kind of thing you can generally get away with when you’re the far superior fighter, and he was on Saturday, but it’s also the thing that can get you into trouble if you don’t get it out of your system now.
“Suga Sean” is a special talent — I believe he could be champion in the future — but there are ultra-focused, super-dangerous talents waiting for him in the Top 15 that will make him pay for those mistakes and any instances of over-confidence. This should be a teachable moment for the colorful upstart, but given that he’s reluctant to acknowledge his loss, don’t be surprised if he passes this off as no big thing either.
Quality Building Block Performance for Miranda Maverick
Flyweight prospect Miranda Maverick secured her second straight UFC win on Saturday night, surviving a scramble-heavy second round to outpoint Gillian Robertson on the cards.
The 23-year-old UFC sophomore was clearly the better striker, but showed she’s more than capable of hanging on the ground with a black belt grappler, flowing with Robertson on the canvas, preventing the Canadian from ever getting set up and having an opportunity to attack with submissions. Knowing things were potentially even after the first two frames, the PhD student at Old Dominion University came out firing to start the third, taking the fight to Robertson again and controlling the action throughout to earn the victory.
Maverick is one of the top prospects in the UFC — a fluid athlete who is skilled everywhere and continually showing improvements, and has the potential to be a factor in the 125-pound weight class in the not-too-distant future. The key going forward will be making sure to prioritize experience and development over making a rapid rise up the rankings, as the latter will come if the former remains the focus.
This was one of those fights we’re going to look back on in a couple years as one of the key moments in Maverick’s burgeoning career before on Saturday night, she showed she has a very bright future inside the Octagon and it won’t be long before she’s a fixture in the Top 10.
Jamie Mullarkey Blows Up “The Death Star”
It only took 46 seconds for Jamie Mullarkey to send some photon torpedoes down the exhaust pipe to blow up “The Death Star” on Saturday night, detonating a left hand on the chin of Khama Worthy that kicked off the UFC 260 pay-per-view main card in impressive fashion.
Expected to be an explosive and entertaining scrap between two quality veteran lightweights, Mullarkey pressed forward, faked a right hand, and fired a long left hook that landed flush, causing Worthy to do a world-class stanky leg and face plant, opening the door for the Australian to fire off follow-ups and earn the finish.
After landing on the wrong side of the results in each of his first two outings, this was a big bounce-back performance for the 26-year-old, who has earned finishes in each of his last 11 wins and 12 of 13 victories overall.
With his consistently entertaining approach and a highlight reel finish in his 2021 debut, this probably won’t be the last time we see Mullarkey appearing on the main card, and he’ll certainly have even more eyes on him next time out regardless of where he lands.
Alonzo Menifield: Still Worth Watching
Alonzo Menifield came off the Contender Series looking like someone capable of making serious noise in the light heavyweight division, earning a pair of victories on the summer talent search, with a couple wins on the regional circuit in between. Then when he hit the UFC, the Fortis MMA product quickly collected a pair of victories, earning first-round stoppage wins over Vinicius Moreira and Paul Craig to push his record to 9-0.
But the inexperienced powerhouse stumbled in back-to-back fights against Devin Clark and Ovince Saint Preux, tiring and dropping a decision against the former before getting caught with a counter left hook against the latter three months later, putting his prospect status in question.
Saturday night, Menifield got back into the win column in impressive fashion, sprinting across the cage, slamming Fabio Cherant to the canvas, and forcing the short-notice replacement to tap to a Von Flue choke 71 seconds into the opening round.
It was a welcome return to the win column for the still developing, but talented 33-year-old, who maintained his 100% finishing rate with the second submission win of his career, and the kind of effort that should remind everyone that Menifield is still someone worth keeping tabs on in the wide open 205-pound weight class.
Education Around Scoring Fights Needs to Continue
Throughout the light heavyweight matchup between Scrabble standouts Michal Oleksiejczuk and Modestas Bukauskas, the broadcast crew of Jon Anik, Joe Rogan, and Daniel Cormier repeatedly referenced how the former was pressing the action and moving forward, and how the visual of that has an impact on the judges.
It shouldn’t, because forward pressure shouldn’t be factored into the scoring of a round unless the effective striking and/or grappling was so close that determining who was ahead was impossible, and that wasn’t the case here.
While it was a close contest where both men had their moments, the suggestion that Oleksiejczuk earned the nod because of is pressure and forward movement is incorrect, and not the kind of thing that needs to be reinforced on a broadcast. A couple of the analysts have done a great job in recent weeks of showing an improved understanding of how fights are scored / should be scored, but it felt lacking here.
To be clear: this was an entertaining back-and-forth fight and while I disagree with the verdict — a split decision win for Oleksiejczuk — I can accept it because the action was tight and there were no real clear “you can’t score that round for that dude!” instances that deserve serious scorn.
But man, this far along, after this many fights, we should be at a point where correct information is what is being presented at all times.
Welcome to the All-Action Team, Marc-Andre Barriault
Gatineau, Quebec’s Marc-Andre Barriault cemented his place on the All-Action Team in Saturday night’s opener, pushing a torrid pace and distancing himself over the course of the fight against the returning Abu Azaitar.
After a competitive first round and getting cracked hard early in the second, the French-Canadian middleweight started imposing his will as Azaitar’s gas tank ran empty, turning a close middle stanza into a clear round in his favor before opening a tall boy of Whoop Ass on the Moroccan in the third. Halted mere seconds before the final horn, the action could have been waved off anywhere after the first minute, where Barriault put Azaitar on the deck and began unloading a barrage of unanswered blows.
This was an impressive effort from Barriault, who dropped his first three UFC appearance and then had a victory over Oskar Piechota last time out overturned due to a positive test from a tainted supplement. He showed his toughness and mettle, indefatigable spirit, and ability to work at a swift pace with steady output, all of which makes him a welcome addition to the All-Action Team.
He might not make it to the Top 15, but “Power Bar” will certainly be an entertaining fixture in the middle of the 185-pound weight class for the next couple of years and that sounds pretty good to me.