MMA

Winners and Losers UFC 279

In what has to be one of the weirdest UFC PPV’s we’ve seen in quite some time, we walk away from what was an extremely thin card on paper with more questions than we had prior to the event. It’s difficult to give most fighters on this card a winner or loser tag given we had so many fights changed to where they were fighting different opponents. Tony for instance went from fighting an orthodox kickboxer to a southpaw boxer. Holland went from a traditional boxer to a mauling grappler and so on. As a result, there are few strong “winners” and few real “losers” of the event with most either walking away even. With that said, let’s dive in.

Winners

Nate Diaz

The biggest winner of the night by far has to be guy who “isn’t surprised motherfucker”. Initially scheduled to fight Khazmat, Nate instead found himself in the cage with another ageing striker, just 3 months removed from a brutal knockout. While the training camp was all focused upon grappling per Nate’s post fight interview, the ability for fight someone who’d happily engage on his terms proved to be the difference maker as he peppered tony with jabs all fight long whilst occasionally throwing some nice combinations. This isn’t to say he wasn’t challenged as Tony picked apart his legs much like Connor did in their second meeting. This led to Nate having a golf ball sized contusion on his shin. Still, Nate has never been stopped by leg kicks and his unrelenting forward pressure ultimately had Tony scrambling as the fight went on. That pressure led to Tony shooting an ill-advised takedown as Nate secured the guillotine and got his first submission win since the first Connor fight. While Nate looked significantly slower than in his prime, for a guy on the final fight of his deal that was being served up to the Khazmat hype machine just the day before the event, today couldn’t have gone better for Nate. He now leaves the UFC on the high of a win as he performed all the classic Nate Diaz moves that propelled him into stardom to begin with. With his UFC tenure over, it seems like Nate has set his sights on a potential boxing career, following in the footsteps of other MMA fighters such as Connor and Anderson Silva. It’s been a bizarre journey for Nate, never fighting for a title (made up belts don’t count) despite being one of the UFC’s most marketable stars but it’s great to see one of the stars of the “tapout” era leave out on top.

Irene Aldana

Another fighter who’s plans got disrupted by their opponent missing weight, Aldana stepped into her fight against Macy Chiasson with title aspirations should she manage to pull off an impressive win.  Initially scheduled as a 135 bout, Chiasson let it be known she was unlikely to make weight and as such Aldana had a decision to make. She could’ve made weight, received her show money and have the fight be cancelled as a result of the commission not sanctioning a fight with such a big disparity in weight. Or she could stop cutting weight, accept a catchweight bout at 140 pounds with no extra incentive beyond the standard reward of a potential win bonus and a jump in the rankings. Aldana took a risk, accepted the fight and looked like a genius in round 1 as she dominated Chiasson in all aspects of the fight. Pegged as a match between two grapplers, it was the striking that made the initial difference as Aldana picked apart Chiasson at range before engaging in grappling and controlling the ground game with several submission attempts. The second round however was a total 180 as Chiasson put Aldana in severe trouble on the mat as she mounted her, laid in some heavy ground and pound and threatened Aldana numerous times with submission attempts. It was such a turn around for Chiasson that DC and Rogan both argued on the broadcast that round 2 should be scored a 10-8. This didn’t last however, as Aldana appeared to be the fresher fighter entering the third and was winning the striking exchanges before a grappling exchange saw her on her back. It’s here where the bizarre finish took place as Irene landed a fairly innocuous upkick to Chiasson’s stomach that immediately had her rolling in pain and stopped the fight. The crowd was confused as was the commentary team. It wasn’t until we saw a replay that it revealed that Aldana’s heel connected hard with Chiasson’s liver for the first ever finish in the UFC via an upkick to the liver. It's certainly an incredible finish even if it didn’t come easy for Aldana as she’s now poised for a title shot in the rather thin 135-pound division. Perhaps a fight between her and Kaitlin Viera would settle it for a no.1 contender shot but should that not occur, Aldana has set herself up for a shot at Amanda Nunes after winning a fight that was in jeopardy of going ahead just the day prior.

Johnny Walker

The best performer of the worm since Scotty 2 Hotty, Johhny Walker delivered a performance full of surprises. Heading into the UFC 279, Walker was coming off back-to-back losses with his previous fight being a devastating KO loss to Jamahal Hill. While this fight wasn’t a must win, having 3 straight losses while hanging on the fringes of the 205 rankings would’ve placed Walker on the verge of being cut and sent to the regional circuit. Instead, he looked revitalised as he overcome some initial adversity, displaying some impressive defensive grappling before performing some of his own offensive submission artistry. After gaining control of Cutalaba’s back, he took him down, sunk the hooks in and grabbed himself a clean rear naked choke finish in the first round. We still don’t have answer regarding whether Walker’s fixed his defensive ability on the feet but for now, it appears Walker has added a new wrinkle into his game, one that might mitigate his suspect chin and push him further into the light heavyweight division.

Julian Erosa

The third fighter on this list to win despite their opponent missing weight, Juicy J continues to prove himself as one of the most entertaining fighters in the UFC. His opponent Hakeem Dawodu is a great up and coming prospect who had a highly successful Muay Thai career before diving into MMA. As such, Dawodu was seen as a heavy favourite entering the fight given Erosa’s tendency to stand and exchange with anyone who’s willing. Unexpectedly however, this turned into Erosa’s advantage as he was able to dominate the first round on the feet via fantastic work in tight exchanges despite being the longer fighter. He’d go on to drop Dawodu with an uppercut and rocked him once more late in the round. The second round saw Dawodu finally find his range and started to piece apart Erosa at range but the tides turned after Erosa secured a takedown and moved into back mount where he’d proceed to punish Dawodu for the latter half of the round. The final round was a combination of the first two rounds, with Erosa able to inflict damage up close before securing yet another takedown, sealing the victory. It’s a significant win for Erosa as he secured his third straight win ( with back to back wins despite his opponents missing weight) and is now 6-1 in his last 7 fights. While he’ll likely never enter the stacked ranks of 145 pound division, he’s now far removed from his time floating between the UFC and regional organisations.


Chris Barnett

The final winner of the card goes to fan favourite Chris “Huggy bear” Barnett who opened the main prelims with an incredibly entertaining heavyweight fight. Opening as an almost 4-1 underdog, Barnett initially looked deserving of those odds as Collier dropped and swarmed him early, busting Barnetts eye in the process. Despite this, Huggy Bear endured and managed to land some solid strikes of his own by the end of round 1. This continued in the second round as Collier was noticeably slower whilst Barnett maintained a steady pace. After some heavy slugging exchanges, Collier shot for an ill-advised takedown that Barnett stuffed before moving to his back, gaining mount and ground and pounding his way to victory. As fun as this fight was to watch, it was Barnett’s performance after the fight that was the star of the show. He started off with his patented big man front flip and continued on with his post-fight interview, delivering a Michael Chandler-esque inspiring promo. You couldn’t help but grin ear to ear watching Chris deliver a charismatic and heart felt speech, cheering on the crowd and himself. Only someone with a heart of stone could refute being a Barnett fan after the interview and he further endeared himself to fans with a silky smooth dance as well as a double fisting of bears whilst bearing the biggest smile imaginable. Given his stature, age and weight cut issues, it’s unlikely Barnett will ever become a ranked contender. But that doesn’t have to be the goal for every fighter. For some like Chris, being a fan favourite will likely lead to many a pay day in his future and he’s likely got a career in some form of on-screen media once his career is all said and done. In a card that featured the MMA gods being unjustly cruel, this was a great feel-good moment to kick things off.

Winner and Loser

Khazmat Chimaev

I understand this is cheating but if there was ever a case for someone who both won and lost, it’s Khazmat. On one hand, he won the fight with such ease that Holland didn’t even absorb a single strike. Khazmat did what we all expected him to do and while there’s certainly the argument he did it against someone who’s a former 185er, given Khazmat’s lack of a weight cut, it’s clear that difference wasn’t as pronounced as it otherwise would’ve been. Still, it was as incredible a performance as all his others have been up until the Gilbert Burns classic. Why this isn’t a clear cut win for the future title contender is simple. He missed weight by 8.5 pounds without even seemingly attempting to cut weight and forced the entire card to be re-arranged at the last moment. He wasn’t apologetic at the weigh ins either, instead opting to flip off the Vegas crowd and spout his usual array of “I’m a gangster and I kill people” nonsense that I’m sure someone in his camp has advised him to do to increase his draw potential. This continued in his post-fight interview as he kind of professed why he missed weight though we haven’t heard any corroborating stories to back his version of events up. It was an utterly bizarre and somewhat deranged interview as he initially responded to Rogan’s compliment about his performance with a “ I kill everybody, abdul ahkbar”. After strangely admitting the doctor stopped him from cutting weight (“the doctor told me I need to drink water, he stopped me from cutting weight”), he then went on to say “no one can stop me, if I die, I die in the cage, I never leave the cage, I take everything from you guys”. It capped off what’s been a total 180 in public perception for Khazmat as he’s gone from the second coming of Khabib with all the associated fanfare, to the second coming of Khabib who also appears to be the Dagestani version of Ivan Drago. Whether this is a good or a bad thing for Khazmat, only time will tell. Certainly there’s a career to be made out of playing the villain role but I do wonder if that grappling heavy style is conducive to that antagonistic role. Colby Covington has managed to pull it off though even his schtick has losssed its appeal over the years.

Losers

Tony Ferguson

Remember the times when Khabib vs Tony was the most hyped fight that never got booked? Well, we’re a long way away removed from those times as Tony takes a 4th round submission loss to Nate Diaz with the only blood being drawn is Ferguson’s. To his credit, this wasn’t the stylistic matchup he prepared for and it’s not as though it was a one sided affair. Tony inflicted a lot of damage onto Nate’s legs, landed some solid combinations and pulled out some of his trademark goofy and unorthodox movements. All of this came as if you were watching the fight at half speed however as neither fighter looked smooth or agile. Tony would continue to have his back turned to Nate and seemed genuinely uncomfortable at the amount of pressure Nate presented him with, often circling half the cage while being chased before resuming action. This led to some pretty comical situations as Diaz taunted Tony by turning his back to him and at one point, seemed to almost quit the fight. It was reminiscent of the fight between Costa and Rockhold just a couple of weeks prior in its sheer absurdity. The ending sequence was a sad punctuation to a fight that didn’t really feel good to watch with the exception of seeing Diaz walk away without Dana and co feeding him to the lions. Where this leaves Tony is a tough one. He’s had some devastating losses recently and hasn’t won a fight since the middle of 2019, losing his past 5 fights in a row. Now prior to Diaz, all those losses were to top ranked competition but Diaz himself hasn’t looked competitive since 2019 either. Ferguson seemed adamant this wasn’t the end of the road for him however and should he continue fighting, Dana needs to set him up with another aging, unranked veteran. A Miller or Lauzon perhaps as while Tony is still durable, the lack of speed he showed in this fight would seem to indicate he’s no longer capable of surviving in the shark tank that is the ranked 155 division.

Daniel Rodriguez and Li Jingliang

The other big losers of the night are two fighters forced to face each other after the Khazmat weight debacle. Initially, Li was scheduled to face Tony Ferguson at 155 pounds, a much more favourable matchup given what we just saw from Ferguson. Meanwhile for Rodriguez, he was scheduled to face Holland, who if he had beaten, likely would’ve pushed him into the rankings at 170 give his notoriety. Instead, Rodriguez got a controversial win over someone in a lower weight class that even Dana thought he lost to. The fight itself wasn’t too intriguing either as Rodriguez would have little to offer Li beyond a persistent and strong jab. While this almost certainly won him the third round, it seemed fairly clear and obvious that Li’s wide variety of strikes, including some great leg and body kicks, were enough to secure the first two rounds. Unfortunately, none of the judges were unanimous in scoring any of the rounds and everyone walks away having lost one way or another. It will almost certainly take another fight for Rodriguez to enter the rankings despite picking up the win and the fight likely exposed some holes in his inability to beat a kickboxing style. Meanwhile for Li, he lost a matchup he likely would have won against a huge name in Ferguson whilst also being on the losing end of a controversial decision in a fight he almost certainly won. The MMA gods were unjustly cruel for most of this card and its no more clear than in this fight.

That wraps up the winners and losers list from an incredibly strange PPV event. Not every fighter is listed here as some performed exactly as expected of them. For instance, no one expected a great defence from Holland after spending an entire camp training for a kickboxer. Likewise, his defensive grappling got him rag dolled in a division not even known for its wrestling. Similarly, for Jailton Almeida, he performed exactly how most expected him to, smothering a contender series fighter who came in on 10 days’ notice. Until next time, this has been Kurt.