UFC 267: 10 Things We Learned (Extended Edition)
Tackling the takeaways and talking points from Saturday's massive fight card on Fight Island
And New!
Glover Teixeira is the UFC light heavyweight champion!
The 42-year-old Brazilian claimed the title with a second-round submission win over Jan Blachowicz in the UFC 267 main event, taking the fight to the champion from the outset and capitalizing as soon as he had the Polish veteran in a compromised position.
After putting Blachowicz on the deck in the first and controlling him on the canvas, they traded blows standing early in the second before Teixeira connected with a hard left hand that clearly hurt Blachowicz. Soon after, he pulled the champion to the canvas once more, climbing to mount and flattening him out, sinking in a rear-naked choke and drawing a tap soon after, completing an incredible run to the title.
Blachowicz was classy in defeat and promised to return, but now, after 21 UFC appearances and 20-year career, Glover Teixeira stands atop the light heavyweight division as the best fighter in the 205-pound weight class.
Golden Once More
Petr Yan once again has UFC gold around his waist after out-hustling Cory Sandhagen in an outstanding battle for the interim bantamweight title.
After dropping the first round on all three scorecards, Yan turned up his pressure and started having more success in the second, getting the better of the exchanges from that point forward, constantly pressing forward and never allowing Sandhagen to ever get all the way back into the fight. While the fifth round was close, it was clear that the Russian was a step ahead, landing with greater power and impact throughout and matching Sandhagen’s efforts whenever the American tried to turn up the output.
This was the kind of start-to-finish classic that eliminates any lingering questions that may have existed around Yan and makes it clear that he is the top bantamweight on the planet, regardless of the fact that Aljamain Sterling officially sits atop the division. He is a complete fighter, skilled in every facet while brandishing good power and outstanding conditioning, constantly working at what feels like 80-percent for as long as it takes for him to get the job done.
As flush with talent as the division is right now — and it’s crazy-deep with ultra-skilled guys — you see a fight like this and start to wonder what it’s going to take in order to knock off Yan, who is still just 28, stands at 16-2 for his career, and doesn’t show any real noticeable flaws in his game.
Regardless of what comes next — a rematch with Sterling, a date with former champ TJ Dillashaw, something else — you should make a point of paying close attention because Petr Yan is one of the most complete and entertaining fighters on the planet right now.
Nine and Counting
Islam Makhachev blew through Dan Hooker on Saturday, registering his ninth consecutive win with a first-round submission victory over the game New Zealand native.
This was an absolute mauling, as Makhachev worked inside quickly behind an overhand left, getting in on Hooker’s legs and putting him on the deck. From there, it was precision, man, as the surging contender locked up a kimura, climbed over the head, and torqued, twisting Hooker’s shoulder into a gruesome position that prompted the fight to be stopped. That’s three wins and three finishes in 2021 for Makhachev, who continues making his case for a title shot and for truly being the heir to the throne abdicated by his friend, teammate, and coach Khabib Nurmagomedov.
It’s wild that so many people have taken so long to recognize Makhachev’s talent and the upside he brings to the table — he’s won nine straight fights in the lightweight division, which has long been considered the deepest, most competitive division in the sport, and he’s done it with style points of late. He has been absolutely dominant this year and should be no worse than one fight away from challenging for the title, if not next for the winner of the upcoming title clash between Charles Oliveira and Dustin Poirier.
In a year full of great performances, this one was right up there as one of the best.
Extremely Clear Tiers at Heavyweight
Saturday’s main card clash between Alexander Volkov and Marcin Tybura was a meeting of Top 10 fighters in the heavyweight division that turned into a clear illustration of how things stack up in the big boy ranks, as Volkov earned a unanimous decision victory that halted Tybura’s five-fight winning streak without making you feel any differently about him going forward.
Tybura came in stationed at No. 8 in the rankings, while Volkov was positioned at No. 5, and that feels like where they each top out, as Volkov remains a notch below the likes of Curtis Blaydes, who himself remains a step behind the true championship class of Francis Ngannou, Ciryl Gane, and Stipe Miocic.
It’s both cool when this happens in a division because knowing where everyone stands is helpful, but it can also create matchmaking challenges in the future, especially when a lot of matchups have already taken place and few fighters are interested in fighting backwards in the rankings. It’ll be interesting to see where the matchmakers look to go with Volkov next, as he’s three of the five men listed ahead of him in the Top 10, with Ngannou booked and Miocic unlikely to have any interest in that fight.
If I’m Volkov, I’m trying to get Chris Daukaus or Tom Aspinall in hopes of cutting down their momentum in order to boost my own, but that’s just me.
Khamzat Chimaev is Legit-Legit
If you know me, you know I’m real hesitant when it comes to heaping too much praise on emerging talents when they’re knocking off people with limited experience and marginal records, so it shouldn’t surprise anyone to know I wasn’t sold on Khamzat Chimaev after he blitzed John Phillips and Rhys McKee on Fight Island last year, or when he dropped Gerald Meerschaert in 17 seconds a couple months later.
But Saturday night, the unbeaten upstart returned and manhandled Li Jingliang, a tenured, talented welterweight, choking him out in the first round while pitching his third straight shutout.
Chimaev has a little of that “Mike Tyson Aura” going on right now, where dudes are psyched out before they step into the cage, and I get it because his four opponents have landed one strike total thus far, plus he wastes no time getting after you. I think suggesting he easily mauls the gentlemen at the top of the welterweight and middleweight divisions with ease is overboard and a classic MMA overreaction, but if the UFC wanted to drop him in with a Top 5 fighter in either division next, it would make a lot of sense.
There is no denying he’s an impressive talent and just instantly recaptured all the momentum that cooled over his year-long absence; now it’s just a matter of seeing how far he can take this… and if anyone can land more than a single strike against him inside the Octagon.
Praise for Precise, Technical Performances
Magomed Ankalaev thoroughly outworked Volkan Oezdemir in the main card opener, with Ankalaev running his winning streak to seven with a unanimous decision victory over the former title challenger. It was a precise, technical effort for the talented, well-rounded emerging light heavyweight contender, one that showed he’s already a handful for anyone in the division, and only continuing to get better.
Despite winning handily and muting Oezdemir’s offence for much of the fight, the broadcast analysts spent much of the third round wanting more from the surging fighter from Dagestan, voicing their desire to see Ankalaev take more risks and push to finish as if securing a stoppage was the only way to recognize a brilliant effort inside the Octagon.
This was a one-sided, adjust-on-the-fly display from the 29-year-old Ankalaev, who is now 7-1 in the UFC, 16-1 overall and literally one second away from being an undefeated force in the light heavyweight division. Even if you want to say Oezdemir was rushed into being a title challenger, he’s proven himself to be a tough litmus test in the Top 10, and Ankalaev passed with flying colors, yet it still came off like he needed to do more, which is crazy. Dominick Reyes barely beat Oezdemir and folks were singing his praises, now we’re out here downplaying what Ankalaev was able to do on Saturday?
We need to get better at being excited by outstanding technical efforts and praising brilliant tactical performances like this one.
Outstanding Return Effort
Last time Amanda Ribas stepped into the Octagon, she was knocked out and knocked off her rapid ascent in the strawweight division by fellow Brazilian and current top contender Marina Rodriguez. Saturday night, the energetic hopeful returned and turned in the kind of performance you want to see from a young fighter coming off a loss.
After getting stung late in the first round of her fight with Virna Jandiroba, Ribas found her footing and fought beautifully for 10 minutes to secure a unanimous decision win over the game former Invicta FC titleholder. She found her range, found a home for several key strikes, and showed excellent takedown defence, thoroughly outworking Jandiroba over the final two rounds to get back into the win column and shows why she remains one to watch in the 115-pound ranks.
This was the kind of effort you love to see from a fighter in Ribas’ position, one where she dealt with a little adversity early in the contest, but steeled herself away and won going away. She stayed patient and stayed measured throughout, not rushing to get the first round back, but opting instead to stick to her guns and find her openings, controlling things over the second and third to secure a very good win against an unrated talent.
Tukhugov, Ramos Shine in Fun Featherweight Scrap
Zubaira Tukhugov and Ricardo Ramos got after it for 15 minutes late in Saturday’s preliminary card, with the former coming away with a unanimous decision win in an entertaining, high output affair.
This was the best the long hyped Tukhugov has looked in the UFC, as he made weight without issue on Friday and maintained his pressure and output throughout, staying on Ramos from the outset without fading as he has in the past. He’s been inconsistent in his results over the last five, and inconsistent in the midst of some odd those contests even, but he was sharp from the start on Saturday, flashing sharp counter-striking and quality distance management from start to finish.
In addition to being a fun little scrap near the end of the prelims, this was a reminder of the depth in the featherweight division and one of those fights that illustrate why I shout so much about so many of these battles between unranked, unheralded talents up and down these fight cards each week.
Because it was on the prelims of a highly anticipated card, folks watched and enjoyed the bout between Tukhugov and Ramos, which would have been just as fun, just as exciting as a main card scrap on one of these recent Fight Night shows, even if those same folks weren’t tuned in. Don’t let a lack of ranking (or Wikipedia page) ever dissuade you from checking out the action because you might just end up missing a fun little tussle like this one.
No More Inexperienced Officials Please
International shows like Saturday’s event in Abu Dhabi often include a selection of officials, both referees and judges, from different regions and with different levels of experience, and it’s beyond time for the practice to stop because when there are janky cards or suspect officiating, it almost always comes from an inexperienced official.
Referee Vyachaslav Kiselev made an absolute mess of the welterweight scrap between Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos and Benoit Saint Denis, allowing the fight to continue while the Brazilian bombed away on the clearly compromised newcomer before taking a point from dos Santos in the third round for what might have been the weakest penalized inadvertent low blow in MMA history. The fact that Saint Denis survived to the final horn doesn’t change that the fight should have been stopped midway through the second, as any experienced, reliable official would have stepped in.
I don’t enjoy criticizing officials because their jobs are exceptionally difficult, but we’re at a point where there are scores of very good people for the UFC to draw from for events like this, where they’re either self-regulated or working closely with the local commission, to have dudes like Kiselev inside the Octagon.
One fight later, veteran Jason Herzog paused the action between Albert Duraev and Roman Kopylov when the latter grabbed the fence to defend a takedown. He warned Kopylov and restarted them in as close to the same position as he could, resulting in Duraev competing the takedown he was originally chasing and dominating the rest of the round on the canvas. It was a stark contrast to Kiselev’s mistakes and a reminder that having poor officials in the cage doesn’t need to happen.
Impressive Work from Michal Oleksiejczuk
Polish body-work specialist Michal Oleksiejczuk put it on Shamil Gamzatov from the jump, bouncing him from the ranks of the unbeaten with a first-round stoppage win on Saturday.
The 26-year-old took the center immediately and landed to the body straight away, staying in Gamzatov’s face from there, never allowing the returning grappler to get comfortable. It was non-stop forward pressure from the enigmatic young talent, who sealed the deal with a sharp uppercut between the guard that dropped Gamzatov to the canvas in a heap, giving Oleksiejczuk his second consecutive victory inside the Octagon.
What makes the young Polish fighter such a conundrum (at least to me) is that for as skilled and polished as he looks on the feet, he’s green as can be on the ground, having lost back-to-back fights by low-percentage submissions prior to his two most recent wins. His striking is outstanding and his pressure and pace are weapons, so if he can make some improvements and advancements in the grappling department, he could emerge as a dark horse in the 205-pound weight class.
Lerone Murphy: Featherweight Leon Edwards
Here’s what I said about Murphy at the start of the week in my Fighters on the Rise piece for UFC 267:
Murphy has a real Leon Edwards vibe to him, and not just because they’re both British and started their UFC careers as unheralded talents. Like his countryman from Birmingham, the Manchester-based Murphy is solid everywhere, brandishing crisp, clean striking with more pop than you might expect, and quality grappling abilities, both offensively and defensively, which were on display in his scramble-heavy win over Ramos. He’s gotten better each time out and has a quiet confidence about him, two more traits he shares with Edwards.
Saturday in Abu Dhabi, Murphy spent the first round getting out-grappled by Makwan Amirkhani, but 14 seconds in the second round, “The Miracle” put a knee on Amirkhani’s head as he looked to change levels, putting “Mr. Finland” to sleep and pushing his record to 11-0-1 in the process.
There is nothing flashy about Murphy, but he consistently handles his business, which is precisely what Edwards did while he quietly worked his way up the ladder in the welterweight division, and now he’s doing the same. He’s won three straight and is unbeaten in four UFC appearances thus far, profiling as an intriguing emerging threat in the 145-pound ranks.
Knowing Yourself is Critical
Midway through the first round, Andre Petroski looked gassed, but the recent Ultimate Fighter contestant was able to recognize the sizeable grappling edge he held over Hu Yaozong and play to it, working a takedown-heavy approach the rest of the way before securing a submission finish late in the third.
The American was dogged in his pursuit of takedowns and submission attempts throughout the fight, repeatedly putting Hu on his back and floating through a series of looks, working a front headlock series whenever the Chinese middleweight looked to stand, and searching for arm triangles and a rear-naked choke whenever he had Hu on the canvas. Midway through the third, he chased a single out of a Hu sprawl, completing the takedown and remaining in top position for the remainder of the frame, locking up the arm triangle late.
Petroski is still green and definitely needs to address his conditioning and energy expenditure issues, but he’s also 2-0 in the UFC with a pair of finishes, so he deserves credit for that. He also merits recognition for understanding his strengths and playing to them in critical junctures, which is something a lot of athletes fail to do.
We’re Still Scoring Top Position
Tagir Ulanbekov eked out a split decision win over Allan Nascimento in the UFC 267 opener, getting the nod primarily for being in top position for much of the first round, even though the spent much of the frame defending submission attempts.
The dissenting voice amongst the judges was Ben Cartlidge, the most experienced and trustworthy of the three officials scoring the fights, and he was the only one to award Nascimento the opening frame, where the Brazilian showed a hyper-active guard, attacking with armbars and triangles and keeping Ulanbekov from advancing positions. His effort off his back was the definition of effective grappling, which is the key scoring criteria in a round contested largely on the canvas.
All three officials were in lockstep on the second and third rounds, giving Nascimento the second and Ulanbekov the third, where the hopeful from Dagestan threw more strikes from top position and worked to advance positions, keeping his Brazilian adversary from attacking with submission attempts. That was the difference between the first and third rounds, and therefore the fight — or at least how it was scored — and is a critical point for judges and fans can learn from going forward.
Pay attention to who is being more effective, regardless of if they’re in top position or not.