UFC 293: 10 Things We Learned
Interpreting the results from Saturday's UFC pay-per-view in Sydney, Australia and the impact those outcomes will have going forward
And New
Sean Strickland is the undisputed UFC middleweight champion, delivering a masterful performance to dethrone Israel Adesanya in Sydney.
The challenger set the tone in the first round, pressuring forward and dropping Adesanya towards the end of the opening frame. While the champion bounced back to win the second on all three scorecards, Strickland ran the table from that point forward, going forward and out-working Adesanya over each of the final three rounds. It honestly wasn’t close.
As much as I expected Adesanya to win and win handily, this was a vintage Strickland performance and precisely what makes him a miserable opponent for each and every person that faces him inside the Octagon. He’s unrelenting and indefatigable, deploying a “death by a thousand cuts” approach that is near impossible to truly prepare to deal with in there.
What a sport. What a performance.
Dislike him all you want for the way he carries himself, the things he says and everything else, but give the man his due. Sean Strickland is a helluva fighter and he’s the new UFC middleweight champion.
Volkov’s Roll Continues
Entering off back-to-back first-round stoppage wins, Alexander Volkov put himself back in the title conversation with a second-round submission win over Tai Tuivasa in the UFC 293 co-main event.
The Russian veteran used his length and diverse striking attack to batter “Bam Bam” in the opening stanza, busting him up while successfully dealing with a bunch of thudding low kicks from the local standout. It was more of the same early in the second, with Tuivasa growing increasingly confident until he was spilled to the canvas midway through the second, and from that point forward, Volkov rolled. Alternating between raining down blows and looking for submission openings, “Drago” stayed active, presenting Tuivasa with multiple dilemmas before attacking an Ezekiel choke and securing the tap.
Folks may want to dismiss Volkov as a contender because he’s already dropped fights to Curtis Blaydes, Ciryl Gane, and Tom Aspinall, all of whom are ranked ahead of him. But he’s clearly adding elements to his game and developing as a competitor, and with a third straight stoppage win this weekend, he should find himself back in the title conversation when the dust settles and the smoke clears after UFC 295 at Madison Square Garden in November.
Kape Wins, But dos Santos Impresses More
Manel Kape earned a clean sweep of the scorecards midway through Saturday’s pay-per-view, out-working and out-landing newcomer Felipe dos Santos to collect his fourth straight UFC victory.
“Starboy” was a touch faster and landed with great heft than his debuting counterpart throughout, leaning on his speed and experience advantage to carry him through the competitive battle. As much as the former RIZIN champ was clearly the better man, dos Santos not only showed he belongs, but elevated his stock tremendously with his effort in Sydney. Originally slated to compete on Dana White’s Contender Series two weeks ago, he instead turned up on pay-per-view and went 15 hard minutes with a Top 10 fighter.
There is no denying Kape’sa skills, but there is something distinctly unlikable about the Portuguese flyweight. He carries himself with an arrogance that bleeds into his efforts in the Octagon, and he showed himself to be volatile and ignorant at both the press conference and in his post-fight interview. He’s a hell of a fighter, but it’s impossible to root for him, which is the exact opposite of how I feel about dos Santos coming out of their meeting on Saturday.
Don’t Sleep on Justin Tafa
Less than three months after their initial meeting ended as a result of one of the gnarliest eye pokes in recent memory, Justin Tafa picked up where he left off prior to that contest, dispatching Austen Lane in just 82 seconds.
Lane grazed the eye of Tafa again in the first interaction between the two, but the 29-year-old “Bad Man” made sure it wouldn’t be an issue later in the contest by dropping the former NFL defensive lineman with a clean, reaching left hand. Rather than walking it off like he did earlier in the year against Parker Porter, Tafa followed him to the canvas and pounded out the finish.
That’s now three straight first-round stoppage wins for Tafa outside of his no contest prior to this one. He reached the UFC after just three fights, went 1-3 in his first four outings, but has clearly settled in and started to get comfortable since. His power is undeniable, and it’s going to be interesting to see how he continues to develop, especially as he trains alongside his brother, fellow UFC heavyweight Junior Tafa. It’s never going to be flashy, but Tafa has a real “Mark Hunt vibe” about him and that could bring increased opportunities.
That’s How You Start a PPV
Tyson Pedro kicked off the main card by dispatching Anton Turkalj in the opening round, waiting to find his openings before putting the Swedish light heavyweight on rubber legs and ultimately sending him to the Shadow Realm.
The Australian fan favourite took his time out of the gates, making reads before wobbling Turkalj with a right hand down the pipe that found the mark. From there, he waited to find his openings, connected with more power shots, and put “The Pleasure Man” on the canvas, sealing the victory with coffin nails in the center of the cage.
Pedro is one of those guys that has shown flashes of upside in the past, but also dealt with setbacks and injury struggles as well. He’s getting settled at City Kickboxing and has now won 3-1 since returning to action. He turns 32 on September 17 and with his finishing abilities and previous experience, there is a chance he turns into a dark horse to follow in the light heavyweight ranks going forward.
Ulberg Keeps Improving
Coming into UFC 293, I wanted to see if Carlos Ulberg would show further improvements and development, and Saturday, “Black Jag” closed out the prelims by delivering a resounding “YES!” to answer my question.
After out-landing Da Woon Jung in each of the first two rounds, Ulberg appeared to be wilting in the third, as the South Korean continued to pressure forward and chip away with a steady diet of low kicks. But Ulberg responded to Jung’s attempt to wrestle by taking the fight to the canvas himself, and from there, he busted up “Sseda” before securing a fight-ending choke.
We’re not seeing leaps and bounds progression from Ulberg, but the growth is evident every time out. He’s more patient, more measured, and has deepened his arsenal, as evident by his getting the fight to the canvas and dominating on the ground. His natural athleticism and power make him a dangerous opponent for anyone on the way up, and as he keep building, Ulberg could become a threat for those stationed ahead of him in the light heavyweight ranks as well.
A Good Win, An Unfortunate Finish
You have to give Chepe Mariscal full marks for being a persistent pain in the backside of Jack Jenkins on Saturday night, as the relative newcomer stayed in the Australian’s face from the jump, even when Jenkins was touching him up throughout the opening stanza.
In the second, Mariscal looked to grapple more along the fence, and midway through the round, he attacked with a harai-goshi that prompted Jenkins to brace for impact by planting his right hand on the canvas. Much like when Joe Pyfer faced Dustin Stoltzfus on Dana White’s Contender Series, the impact of the throw caused his elbow to become dislocated, bringing the fight to an immediate, unfortunate end.
It’s always difficult to frame injury finishes, but you have to give Mariscal credit for notching a pair of wins in just over two months and changing up the dynamics of the fight with Jenkins in the second. He was a tough out on the regional circuit that fought a number of future UFC competitors, and in two fights, he’s not only proven he belongs at this level, but established himself as a “truth machine” in the middle of the lightweight ranks.
Hard to Quit Haqparast
After a year away and fighting with a heavy heart following an early morning earthquake in his adopted home of Morocco, Nasrat Haqparast turned in a strong effort opposite newcomer Landon Quinones to earn his second straight victory and show that he’s still someone to track in the lightweight division.
Haqparast has long been forecasted as a potential contender in the 155-pound weight class, but has faltered in key matchups that would carry him into the contender mix. While besting the debuting Quinones in a competitive back-and-forth certainly doesn’t elevate him into that upper echelon in the talent-rich division, it was a good win that serves as a reminder of the quality elements of Haqparast’s game.
He feels like someone that needs to remain as active as possible in order to potentially maximize his upside. There have been too many injuries and too many long layoffs in order to really get things rolling, not to mention those tough assignments that didn’t go his way earlier in his career. If he can stay healthy and fight again inside of six months, we should get an even better read on where Haqparast fits and what to expect of him going forward.
So Fly
Gabriel Miranda made his UFC up a division against surging lightweight Benoît Saint-Denis. On Saturday, he was back down at featherweight and showed that he might be a future problem, as the Brazilian ran through City Kickboxing man Shane Young in under a minute.
This was one-way traffic from jump as Miranda closed the distance immediately and forced Young to defend a single leg. He scrambled to the back, locked in the body triangle, and set his sights on the finish, shifting from a neck crank to a rear-naked choke as Young’s chin elevated. Miranda’s squeeze was so tight that the New Zealander went to sleep in a hurry, ending the possibility of a clean sweep for the Oceanic super camp on Saturday.
Miranda’s victory is another illustration of why we need to pay attention to athletes that debut up a division against quality competition and then move back to their natural weight class. We talked about it heading into Singapore with Garrett Armfield, and I overlooked it here, much to my own frustration. The Brazilian has a 100 percent finishing rate, with 16 of his 17 wins coming by way of submission, and it’ll be interesting to see what he he can do going forward after an impressive outing in Sydney on Saturday.
Such a Smooth Broadcast Experience
Laura Sanko became the first female to call a UFC PPV event since Kathy Long sat in with Bill Wallace and Jim Brown at UFC 1, and her integration into the broadcast team was seamless.
It also made for a more measured, more informative call throughout the night.
In addition to having a number of keen, thoughtful points over the course of the card, Sanko’s measured tone seemed to keep Daniel Cormier from getting too worked up as well, which is the opposite of what usually happens when he’s on the pay-per-view broadcast with Joe Rogan. There were fewer tangents, fewer screams, and more insights, all of which made for a much more enjoyable viewing experience.
I get that folks like Rogan and he’s a familiar figure, but it behooves the UFC to integrate Sanko and other fresh voices into broadcasts more frequently to get them additional reps and give the audience a little something different on these near-weekly broadcasts.