UFC 270: What We Learned Last Night
The first pay-per-view of 2022 delivered plenty of talking points, including a pair of fascinating championship fights that gave us plenty to consider going forward
The Champ Remains The Champ
It didn’t play out how anyone expected, but Francis Ngannou is once again the undisputed UFC heavyweight champion, securing the victory with scores of 48-47, 48-47, and 49-46, handing Ciryl Gane the first loss of his career in the process.
The interim champion came out in his traditional style to start the fight, bouncing on the outside and attacking from range, frustrating Ngannou and giving him no real opportunities to land with force. Early in the fight, Ngannou seemed gassed — his movements slowing, his strikes looking laboured — and it appeared like Gane was on his way to a stick-and-move victory on the scorecards.
And then we got the Ngannou Ngrappling.
In the third, “The Predator” caught a kick attempt from Gane, scooping him in the air and slamming him to the canvas. While he couldn’t land anything of substance on the ground and Gane clambered to his feet quickly, Ngannou put him back on the deck again before the round was out. In the fourth, he put Gane down again twice, grinding out control time and chipping away at the French interim champion’s energy reserves to draw level heading into the fifth round.
Early in the frame, Gane put Ngannou on the ground, but the hulking specimen from Cameroon swept into top position. Gane returned the favour, but after chasing a leg lock, Ngannou moved back to top position again, and successfully navigated another heel hook attempt to maintain control and grind out the final moments of the fight on the ground.
It was somewhat anticlimactic, but also utterly fascinating — a reminder that both men are still learning, still developing as competitors, and that even when things don’t go as expected, they can still be completely captivating.
Ngannou said in the lead to this fight that “the champ remains the champ,” and his words proved prophetic.
And still.
Now Things Get Interesting
Now what?
That’s the question on everyone’s mind now that Ngannou is once more cemented atop the division, as the undisputed champion has been at odds with the UFC over the last year. He has expressed both interest in pursuing opportunities in boxing and a willingness to sit out the remainder of the year in order to become a free agent if his team and the UFC can’t come to terms on a deal, and now he has more leverage than he did heading into the Octagon on Saturday night.
I don’t know what’s going to happen, no one does at this point, but I would honestly be surprised if the UFC allowed a fighter with the gravitational pull of Ngannou to spend the next 11 months on the sidelines or walk altogether.
Here’s what I think will happen: the two sides will find something that works for both of them, and without any real contenders at the ready, it wouldn’t be surprised if the UFC worked with Ngannou and his team to make one of those major boxing opportunities come together. There is just too much money to be made by both sides from maintaining this relationship, even if it goes forward with a little acrimony, for them to go their separate ways.
As for the division, the recently announced bouts between Derrick Lewis and Tai Tuivasa, as well as Alexander Volkov and Tom Aspinall both loom large, as wins for the latter man in each matchup injects them into the title conversation. If the veterans win, maybe we get a second fight between Ngannou and Lewis and cross our fingers that it’s better than the first time they met.
Just as the fight itself was fascinating, watching how everything shakes out in the heavyweight division going forward will be as well.
Please pass the popcorn.
They Need to Do It Again, Right?
Deiveson Figueiredo became a two-time UFC flyweight champion on Saturday night, edging out Brandon Moreno in an outstanding back-and-forth battle, earning scores of 48-47 across the board.
For the second time in three fights, these two went toe-to-toe for 25 minutes, and it was hard to separate them. Figueiredo won the opening stanza, Moreno took the second, and while he was on the way to securing the third, the Brazilian sat down the champion with a right hand right before the buzzer that shifted the frame — and ultimately the fight — in his favour. They split the final two rounds, and when the tens and nines were tallied, Figueiredo reclaimed the title he lost last year.
During his post-fight interview, the newly minted two-time champion said what had been on my mind all week: the series is now 1-1-1 and it only feels right that they do it one more time. He went as far as to offer to do it in Mexico.
And here’s the thing: it makes a lot of sense.
There isn’t a No. 1 contender waiting in the wings at the moment — there’s a fight or two on deck, but nothing is set in stone — and you could hustle these two together once more in the summer, then do the next title fight at the end of 2022 or early next year. They’re too evenly matched, all three fights have been too exciting to just leave things even across the board.
One more time for all the marbles.
Who’s with me?
Less Crazy Pereira Becoming a Contender
Michel Pereira threw a couple of his signature inventive strikes on Saturday — a Superman punch off the fence, a couple Rolling Thunder attempts — but he largely stuck to the more traditional attacks, and for the third straight fight, it produce a victory on the scorecards, as the Brazilian earned 29-28 scores across the board against the game Andre Fialho.
The Brazilian was on the wrong end of things in the opening stanza, as the Portuguese newcomer Fialho walked him down, stayed patient, and worked behind his hands to earn the first round on all three scorecards. But Pereira came out more aggressively in the second, taking the fight to Fialho, mixing up his attacks, and after drawing level heading into the third, his variety and output earned him the third and the fight.
Fialho deserves full marks for a strong effort on short notice against a very dangerous opponent, and a full-camp assignment next time out will be must-see, but the bigger takeaway here is that Pereira is becoming a contender in the welterweight division.
As I said all week, he’s dialled back the unnecessary actions and focused more on using a diverse collection of strikes, like the repeated kicks to the body that chipped away at Fialho’s gas tank on Saturday. He moves well, has tremendous size for the division, and the more he focuses on effective offence instead of creative, explosive movements, Pereira will continue to be more and more of a problem.
Saturday was supposed to be a showdown with Top 15 fighter Muslim Salikhov, and after pushing his winning streak to four with a third straight win on the cards, something similar makes a lot of sense for “Demolidor” next time out.
Statement Made by Said Nurmagomedov
Fighting for the first time in over a year and taking on a long-time Top 15 stalwart, Said Nurmagomedov turned in a dominant effort, catching Cody Stamann in a nasty ninja choke just 47 seconds into the opening round.
The 29-year-old from Dagestan came out of the gate flashing offence, landing a spinning back fist and a spinning back kick right off the bat, and when Stamann changed levels to look for a takedown, Nurmagomedov clamped onto a high-elbow guillotine. He shifted his grip to a ninja choke and dragged Stamann to the canvas, where the American tapped almost immediately.
This is one of those performances that people are going to downplay because Stamann has now lost three straight, but as the announce team said on the broadcast, Stamann has only lost to quality competition in the UFC — Merab Dvalishvili, Jimmie Rivera, Aljamain Sterling — and none of them got him out of there that quickly. Styles make fights and the timing of things has to be considered, but this wasn’t some dude that is washed dropping one to a guy that got lucky.
Nurmagomedov looked like a million bucks to start and locked up that choke with the swiftness. Bantamweight is absolutely loaded with talent and the competition to break into the rankings is rugged, but Nurmagomedov showed on Saturday that he’s in the hunt for a number next to his name and not someone to be trifled with inside the Octagon.
Remember the Name Michael Morales
If you weren’t checking for Michael Morales ahead of UFC 270, you’re paying attention now. The 22-year-old made his promotional debut in the opening bout of the main card, navigated some rough waters early, and collected a first-round stoppage victory over UFC veteran Trevin Giles to move his record to 13-0 overall.
A member of the DWCS Class of ‘21, Morales looked sharp in the APEX last fall, but was a little awestruck early, getting stung and sat down by Giles early in the fight. But the former middleweight opted to clinch instead of continue throwing hands, which allowed Morales to shake out the cobwebs, and once they got back into space, the Ecuadorian newcomer found his range and found the finish. He clipped Giles with a right hand, and as soon as he recognized “The Problem” was hurt, he turned up the pace and got him out of there, ending things a couple seconds into the final minute of the first.
This is an excellent victory and a major statement for Morales, who profiled as a strong long-range prospect coming off the Contender Series, but takes a step forward by dispatching Giles in less than a round on Saturday. He’s still super-young and there is no reason at all to rush him into the thick of things in the welterweight division, but continued improvements and further efforts like this will force the UFC’s hand.
There are a ton of super-intriguing young talents on the UFC roster right now, and Morales deserves to be included amongst that group.
What a Debut for Victor Henry
Victor Henry clocked 26 fights in 15 different promotions before finally landing in the UFC for the first time this weekend, and the 34-year-old debuting fighter used all that experience, a suffocating pace, and sharp striking to score a unanimous decision victory over Brazilian standout Raoni Barcelos.
A catch wrestling protege of Josh Barnett, Henry is one of those guys that folks that have been following the fight game for a while and paying attention to action outside of the major promotions have known about for a while; a game, talented fighter who never settled in one spot in terms of an organization, but constantly put up good results. He’s beaten some Japanese veterans, a UFC vet, and current bantamweight Kyler Phillips, and on Saturday night, he earned a clean sweep of the the scorecards against the biggest favourite on the card.
Listen, Barcelos is legit — he was 16-2 coming in and won his first five UFC appearances — and Henry went out and put it on him from Jump Street. While the first round was close, “La Mangosta” continued to pull away little-by-little, minute-by-minute by staying in Barcelos’ face, never allowing him to reset or regain any real measurable momentum.
This was an outstanding debut — the kind of effort that you don’t see from first-time UFC fighters, not against guys of Barcelos’ caliber — and even though it happened early in the year, it needs to be remembered when we start handing out hardware in 12 months because Henry’s performance was that impressive.
Introducing Jack Della Maddalena
Jack Della Maddalena made one helluva first impression at UFC 270.
On Saturday night, the 25-year-old Australian showed in his fight on Dana White’s Contender Series last fall was even more impressive, putting a hurting on late replacement Pete Rodriguez and getting him out of there inside the first round. Just as he did at the UFC APEX, “Della” displayed his sharp striking and ability to float from southpaw to orthodox and be effective from both stances, battering Rodriguez from the outset, bloodying him quickly, and ending the fight in a tick under three minutes.
Beating Rodriguez, a short-notice replacement with just four professional appearances under his belt before Saturday, isn’t going to get Della Maddalena a ton of attention, but the way he did it should highlight why he was paired with Warlley Alves before the Brazilian was forced off the card. This was a smooth, clinical beatdown by a poised, patient fighter who has shown a ton of promise to date, and one that should put him right back in line for a stern test next time out.
Australia hasn’t gotten the credit and attention it deserves given the number of quality competitors we’ve seen come from the country in recent years, including Alexander Volkanovski and flyweight Rookie of the Year Casey O’Neill, but much like their counterparts from New Zealand, the Aussies are tough as all get out, talented as can be, and continually impressing.
And now you can add Della Maddalena’s name to the list of fighters to watch from down under.
Early Contender Series Struggles
Guys that competed on Season 5 of Dana White’s Contender Series opened the year with four losses in five fights, with Team Alpha Male’s Viacheslav Borshchev earning the lone victory on last week’s 2022 debut, and as the guy that previewed and recapped every episode from last season (and each season thus far), I have to say I’m not surprised.
Saimon Oliveira became the second straight male member of the Class of ‘21 to falter on Saturday evening, getting out-wrestled for 15 minutes by quality bantamweight holdover Tony Gravely. While he had a couple little moments on the feet, the 30-year-old Brazilian newcomer had no answer for Gravely’s takedown attempts, chasing guillotines that weren’t there before making the universal “all this guy wants to do is take me down” gesture to someone at Octagon-side when he was getting put on the canvas for the 11th time late in fight.
While there are some fighters from Season 5 that showed promise and have a chance to become consistently successful going forward — including Borshchev, Della Maddalena, and Jasmine Jasudavicius — there were also an awful lot of “I’m just not sure about this person” types, including Oliveira, Genaro Valdez, and Joanderson Brito, who came up short last week.
The longer DWCS continues, the more difficult it’s going to be to find genuine breakout talent. We’re starting to see that already, and it will be interesting to see how some of these other debuts go later in the year.
Movement Doesn’t Equal Intelligent Defence
Matt Frevola knocked Genaro Valdez down at least four times in the three minutes and 15 seconds their preliminary card fight lasted, and yet it took that long before referee Mike Beltran to finally step in and wave off the action.
The lightweights started swinging right out of the gate, with Frevola landing the better blows early and often, sitting Valdez down a couple times. While he recovered and returned fire after the first couple knockdowns, it was clear that he was dinged up and working on instincts, and after Frevola dropped him again and swarmed looking for the finish, Beltran could have stepped in and spared Valdez further punishment. Instead, he read his movement as an ability to continue, and while he worked back to his feet, the Mexican newcomer wasn’t upright for long.
Even after Frevola clobbered him along the fence, knocking him down for what would turn out to be the last time, Beltran continued to hover and allow the fight to continue. It wasn’t until Frevola climbed into back mount, flattened Valdez out, and landed a handful of blows to the side of his head that the veteran official finally intervened.
Beltran is an outstanding referee and the job is incredibly difficult, but this was a late stoppage.
I understand his decision-making process — Valdez kept moving, kept getting back up, kept trying to return fire, and landed a few shots in there that made Frevola pause momentarily — however there is a point, to me, where the official has to protect the athlete from themselves, and this was one of those times. Competitors shouldn’t have to be all the way out or stumbling around the cage for a fight to be waved off, and there are countless times where referees make those calls at the right time, including Beltran.
This time, however, he was a little late.
The Complete Vanessa Demopoulos Experience
Even though it didn't even last half a round, Vanessa Demopoulos’ victory over Silvana Gomez Juarez still managed to showcase everything you can expect when she’s inside the Octagon.
Right out of the chute, the former LFA champ got tagged with a right hand. And then another one. A couple seconds later, she ate another one, and then Gomez Juarez connected with one that put Demopoulos down in the center of the Octagon, and for a second, it looked like the Entram Gym representative was going to pound out a finish.
But Demopoulos did a good job of tying up hands and getting into her grappling, attacking an armbar off her back. She kept working and adjusting, Gomez Juarez made tactical mistakes in defending, and after briefly looking like she might go belly-down, Demopoulos was able to find the angle, flatten out with her shoulders on the canvas, and secure the tap.
I’ve been critical of the 33-year-old in this space over her two UFC appearances, but this went exactly as anticipated, including Demopoulos getting touched up early. She has her strengths and her weaknesses, she gets plus marks for navigating those rough waters to start, and took advantage of Gomez Juarez’s deficiencies in the grappling game. This was a good performance, but one that one expected, and the real key will be how Demopoulos does next time out when she faces a more experienced, more skilled opponent.
Solid Debut… and Size Definitely Matters
Jasmine Jasduvicius secured a unanimous decision victory in her UFC debut in Saturday’s opening pairing opposite Kay Hansen, earning scores of 30-27, 29-28, and 29-28.
The Canadian newcomer, who earned a contract with a good win on Dana White’s Contender Series last fall, dominated the action in the opening two rounds, using her length to keep Hansen on the outside before controlling things on the canvas each time they hit the deck. Though she wasn’t doing a ton of damage, she stayed active, stayed heavy, and stayed clear of Hansen’s submission and sweep attempts. Hansen appeared to get the better of things during the third round, where the two remained on the feet for five minutes, but it wasn’t enough for the local flyweight to swing the results in her favour.
This was Hansen’s return to action after more than a year away and a return to flyweight after a few fights in the 115-pound weight class, and the size difference was apparent and impactful. The 22-year-old gave up five inches in height and reach, and if she wants to make headway in the division going forward, Hansen is going to need to either get started quicker or figure out a way to combat the size difference she’s going to face most nights.