UFC 271: 10 Things We Learned, Preliminary Card Edition
Deep cards deserve detail recaps, so the UFC 271 prelims are getting their own instalment of 10 Things
Just as the way I recap pay-per-views and Fight Night cards differs, there are times when pay-per-view cards are so good, so deep, so rich with talent and potential talking points that I’ve gotta bust out the double-barrelled approach to running things back, and this was one of those times.
Here’s a look at what stood out the most from Saturday night’s UFC 271 prelims.
Andrei Arlovski Just Keeps Hanging Around
Yes, I said that in John Malkovich’s “Teddy KGB” voice from Rounders, and you should too.
Saturday’s prelims wrapped with Andrei Arlovski doing what Andrei Arlovski does these days, getting the better of Jared Vanderaa in another matchup against a newer heavyweight looking to climb the divisional ladder at his expense. It’s the third consecutive victory for the tenured former titleholder and the fifth win in six matchups of this kind over the last three years, with emerging Brit Tom Aspinall the only one to get the better of the sturdy veteran.
Arlovski has changed up his game a great deal over the last several years, implementing far more movement and a great use of kicks and wrestling than in his earlier days when he was almost exclusively a boxer. He’s still in phenomenal shape and uses his veteran savvy to set a tempo that is difficult to keep up with, making his significantly less experienced foes fight at his pace and play his game, with very few of them showing they can do it.
People wince at words like journeyman and gatekeeper, but Arlovski is both and neither is said pejoratively. Those are earned distinctions that aptly describe where the 43-year-old is at these days, having logged more than 50 career fights and settled into position as the guy these hopefuls have to beat in order to advance in the division.
It’s a great spot for him as he continues to do what he loves into the twilight of his career.
“King” Casey O’Neill: Future Queen of the Flyweights?
Through four UFC appearances, Casey O’Neill has looked like a future world champion. Saturday night, the 24-year-old emerging star collected her fourth straight UFC victory, piecing up veteran Roxanne Modafferi in the kind of performance that showed just how talented she already is and what an incredibly bright future she has in the sport.
After getting the better of things in the first, the Scottish-Australian fighter turned things up in the second, battering Modafferi on the feet to where she was busted up and bleeding, though still coming forward. In the third, O’Neill ratcheted up the pressure and intensity even more, setting a new record for the most significant strikes landed in a three-round women’s flyweight fight, show that she’s improved her striking and capable of handling her business in a stand-up battle after earning her first three stoppage wins on the ground.
Going into this year, her sophomore season in the UFC, I wanted to see what kind of development O’Neill would show and hoped that she would get the chance to continue logging more cage time against increasingly dangerous, increasingly experienced foes without getting thrown into the deep end of the division. Unfortunately, she might be too good for the UFC to take a slower approach with, as she beat the hell out of Modafferi and looks capable of going toe-to-toe with anyone in the division right now, save for reigning champ Valentina Shevchenko.
That fight looks destined to happen at some point down the line as of right now, and if she maintains her current progression, it’s hard not to see O’Neill eventually sitting atop the division, with UFC gold draped over her shoulder.
Farewell Roxy
Saturday night was Modafferi’s final fight, as “The Happy Warrior” announced going in that her 50th professional fight would be her last, win or lose.
Calling Modafferi a pioneer doesn't full encapsulate everything she did over the course of nearly 20 years. Not only did she transcend different eras, but Modafferi never stopped improving, never stopped trying to be the absolute best version of herself possible. She pushed through a six-fight slide that started with a Strikeforce title fight loss to Sarah Kaufman and wrapped with a decision loss to Raquel Pennington on the TUF 17 Finale, eventually moving to Las Vegas, connecting with the crew at Syndicate MMA, and authoring another couple chapters in her story.
While the consistency was never there inside the Octagon, it never mattered and you’re never going to find a soul with a bad word to say about Modafferi.
On a personal note, I had a few different conversations with Modafferi over the years, but really loved the two interviews we did in 2020 — one ahead of her June fight against Lauren Murphy, and the other three months later ahead of her rematch with Andrea Lee.
She was candid both times, and made a point to reach out and thank me for the stories, complimenting me on reading her correctly each time and representing her story well, which meant a great deal to me.
She is was a consummate professional and an absolute class act, and I’m going to miss seeing her compete and getting to talk to her every once in a while.
Thanks Roxy — enjoy whatever comes next.
Kyler Phillips Needs to Keep Things Simple
Listen, fighters have no reason to listen to me when it comes to strategic advice or direction when it comes to how they deploy their weapons inside the Octagon… but if I were Kyler Phillips, I would cut out all of the flash and work behind the basics, because he’s an excellent fighter that frequently seems to tire himself out after getting off to a quick start.
The former Dana White’s Contender Series competitor and Ultimate Fighter contestant turned in excellent performance on Saturday, taking the fight to Marcelo Rojo out of the gate and showcasing the depth of his arsenal before lacing up a third-round submission win over the gritty Argentine, so it feels odd to be critical of him here. But watching the fight, it was the basics that paid the most dividends for “The Matrix” through the fight — low kicks, a stiff jab, clean right hands, driving through takedowns and getting into his jiu jitsu game.
I love Phillips as a prospect — he’s 26, works with an outstanding crew at The MMA Lab, and had a great performance last March against Song Yadong that tells you where he fits within this division — and he’s only going to be more and more dangerous the more he sticks to the high percentage tactics and looks to maximize his output inside the Octagon.
He has the potential to be a contender in the 135-pound weight class, and I think the key is keeping it simple, not flashy.
You Can’t Call Timeout in MMA
Carlos Ulberg landed a borderline low blow in the opening round of his bout with Fabio Cherant, who immediately started to walk away and deal with the impact, as Ulberg pushed forward to kick him again. Cherant looked at him incredulously as referee Dan Miragliotta finally arrived on the scene, paused the action, and chastised Ulberg, who was doing what every fighter is told to do during every fighter meeting — fight until the referee tells you to stop.
While I’m not advocating for low blows or fouls by any stretch, I do think we’re seeing far too many instances where competitors look to call timeout mid-fight when they feel like something unsavoury transpired, and most of the time, referees allow it, which leads to instances like this, where Cherant could have been caught with a more punishing blow. Thankfully, that didn’t happen, nor did the low blow have any real impact on outcome of the fight — which Ulberg won handily, without much fanfare — but that’s not the point.
Additionally, the second shot that landed when Cherant called his timeout is on Miragliotta, not Ulberg, as the veteran officially was on the other side of the cage, rather than close to the action, and took far too long to get between the light heavyweights and call, “Time!” The entire fight, he seemed out of position, watching the fight from the opposite side of the Octagon and only getting close towards the end of each round.
For all the times officials impact fights and interject themselves in spots where it’s not needed, this was one of those situations where Miragliotta had one job and dropped the ball.
Lawrence is Becoming a Problem, Martinez is as Tough as They Come
After a year on the sidelines, Ronnie Lawrence rolled into the Octagon and took it to Mana Martinez in his own backyard for the first 10 minutes of their fight, beating the Houston native in every phase and looking like he was going to earn a clean sweep of the scorecards.
But Martinez didn’t quit, taking the fight to Lawrence in the third, dropping him twice and threatening wth an armbar, ultimately coming up short, but showing he’s got a ton of heart and toughness.
Lawrence impressed on Season 3 of Dana White’s Contender Series (DWCS), earning high praise from the UFC President for his win over Jose Johnson, and followed it up with an up-tempo, unrelenting third-round stoppage win over Vince Cachero. He was forced to withdraw from a fight with Trevin Jones last July following some issues during his weight cut, and couldn’t find a dance partner to get him back in the cage before the end of the year.
But he looked sharp through the first two rounds against Martinez on Saturday, displaying improved hands to go along with his excellent footwork, sound sense of timing, and quality reactive wrestling, but got a little worn down and nearly coughed it up in the third. This will be a tremendous learning experience for the 29-year-old Tennessee native, who trains with the crew at Sanford MMA and is one to keep tabs on going forward.
Martinez should remain on peoples’ radar too — he has some holes in his game, but is an action-oriented competitor who should continue to deliver entertaining scraps in the talent-rich bantamweight ranks for the foreseeable future.
Malkoun Rallies, Class of ‘21 Still a Conundrum
Jacob Malkoun spent the majority of the first round of his fight with A.J. Dobson getting picked at on the feet and having takedown attempts rebuffed. But after shifting to a single-leg approach late in the frame, the Australian found an approach that worked, turning the fight around and turning in a dominant final 10 minutes to secure his second straight victory.
The Australian was relentless, dragging Dobson to the canvas, piling up the control time and damage from top position en route to a clean sweep of the scorecards. It was a performance that highlighted the importance of Fight IQ and being able to make in-fight adjustments, as Malkoun learned from what didn’t work early to find a way to implement his game plan and find success.
Dobson is another member of the Class of ‘21 from Dana White’s Contender Series, and another example of why I’ve taken a “wait and see” approach with this year’s group. There have been some quality performances, but there have also been more than a couple instances where competitors have looked unprepared to compete at this level. This one falls somewhere in between, as Dobson started well, but couldn’t maintain, sending him into the next one as a giant question mark with lots to prove.
One other thing: just as I feel obligated to sing the praises of the bantamweight division all the time (see below), I have to say once again that middleweight is a wide-open weight class with plenty of room for competitors to climb the ladder, and the level of talent isn’t nearly as robust as in some other division.
Bantamweight is Awesome, Exhibit 4873
Douglas Silva and Sergey Morozov set the Fight of the Night bar freakishly high in their preliminary card bantamweight pairing, with Silva rallying after getting busted up and beaten down in the first to secure a second-round technical submission victory.
Morozov took the fight Silva right out of the gate, dropping him with a nasty uppercut and splitting him wide open with shots on the ground, spending the first five minutes in complete control. As soon as the second began, the Brazilian grabbed the momentum for himself, stunning Morozov with a nasty right hand that put him into a haze that persisted for the remainder of the fight. Silva was unrelenting, bashing his Kazakh rival with big shots before forcing him to the canvas, lacing up a choke, and putting him to sleep.
This was yet another example of why bantamweight is the best division in the UFC at the moment, as neither of these guys are anywhere near the Top 15, but they’re highly skilled, exceptionally dangerous, and capable of being a miserable night at the office for anyone that stands across from them inside the Octagon. There are fighters like this in every division, but there is an abundance of them in the 135-pound ranks and it makes everything that transpires in that weight class so much more compelling and meaningful.
This was one of the best performances of the year so far inside the Octagon and it’s a shame that a lot of people likely missed out on it because neither is a big name.
Having Ultra-Talented Friends Isn’t Always a Good Thing
Blood Diamond secured an opportunity to compete in the UFC because he’s a long-time teammate and training partner of middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and a member of the vaunted City Kickboxing team. He was signed despite having just three previous MMA appearances, and while he had a ton off kickboxing experience, that lack of experience shone through on Saturday as Jeremiah Wells dominated the action for the duration of the opening round before finally putting him to sleep in the waning seconds of the frame.
Wells closed the distance right away, working for a takedown from the jump, and once he got on top, it was one-way traffic, with the Philadelphia product eventually squeezing out a choke sans hooks.
We’ve seen athletes with famous teammates, from talked about camps get opportunities that they may not otherwise get in the past and we’ll see it happen again, but more often than naught, those opportunities go awry.
Now, Wells is a talented veteran coming off a very good win over Warlley Alves, so it’s not like Diamond got dominated by someone lacking skills and talent, but he also looked completely overmatched in there. The City Kickboxing bump hasn’t worked out all that well for the last couple fighters to get a look, and it will be interesting to see if the pipeline from the Auckland outfit slows a little after this one.
William Knight’s Miserable Weekend
William Knight accepted Saturday’s fight against Maxim Grishin on short notice, jumping at the chance to fill in for Ed Herman and test himself against a veteran with 40-plus fights under his belt.
He shouldn't have.
Knight came in 12 pounds over the light heavyweight limit, taking to Instagram to explain that he’d been sick in December and started his camp at a much higher weight than normal, and simply couldn’t get down to 205 pounds. Then on Saturday night, he got completely outworked by Grishin, who earned the victory with scores of 30-27 across the board. It was a bad performance to close out a miserable week and it needs to be the catalyst for major changes and improvements for the DWCS graduate.
The fact that Knight made it to the UFC and secured three victories less than four years into his professional career illustrate the athleticism and explosiveness the Connecticut native possesses, but now he needs to take the next step. Knight needs to switch gears from focusing on his physicality and muscularity and really start focusing more on further developing his MMA skills. His size is always going to be a detriment, but his explosiveness is an edge, and if he can learn to do a better job of integrating that explosiveness into more consistent, more practical offence, he could find additional success.
But that’s no easy task, and just as he should have said, “I can’t make 205” when the UFC called to offer him this fight, there is a real possibility that he says, “I don’t need to change anything” and this is who he’s going to be for the rest of his career.
Time will tell.