It was a slower week in MMA since there were no title fights or any Diaz brothers making a big card feel even bigger. Instead, there were two incredibly disappointing main events, as the UFC and Bellator saw their cards headlined by what looked like incredible fights on paper.
Johnny Walker vs Thiago Santos
When this main event was made, I thought there was no conceivable way that it would go the full five rounds to the judges’ scorecards. That was before I saw John Kavanaugh’s new Johnny Walker. For the first few rounds, I almost wanted to give credit to them. Johnny looked like a smarter fighter who didn’t put himself in danger, a vast change from the free-swinging wildman who found himself rocked multiple times, but I thought he’d let his hands go. Another mistake, as the SBG Ireland corner seemed pleased with his feint-heavy, actual striking-light approach.
The result of this fight was a Thiago Santos decision victory because Santos was the aggressor who actually landed strikes. Santos landed a heavy overhand right on Johnny Walker’s chin late in the fight, but unlike in the past, Walker took it and didn’t seem phased by the heaviest strike landed. It was a much-needed victory for Santos after going on a three-fight losing streak, but it was a far cry from a prime Marreta performance. There were flashes, but Santos has clearly slowed down in the past few fights. Santos said himself in the post-fight interview that his contract was up and he would like a new one, with a little bit more cash. If we know anything about Dana White, it’s that he’s almost certainly going to let Santos walk to PFL or Bellator and sign someone from the Contender Series for $15,000.
Johnny Walker’s new style is concerning for his future as a fighter. His style could have been more effective if he had pulled the trigger. I think what happened was Johnny Walker had immense respect for Thiago Santos’ power and worried that his chin wouldn’t hold up if he put himself out of position. If it had been another light heavyweight in the cage with him, I feel that Walker would have been more comfortable throwing the strikes that made him famous: more spinning attacks, more attempts to engage in the clinch and unleash those elbows, and more striking overall. Thiago Santos is amongst the greatest knockout artists in UFC history. It makes sense why Walker was gunshy, but Walker made his name as one of the most exciting fighters in the UFC. If this isn’t just a one-time occurrence, then SBG Ireland has effectively taken away what made Johnny Walker special in the first place.
Confusion in the Co-Main Event
The last two fights on the main card on Saturday felt like the worst-case scenario for the UFC. Two knockout artists enter the cage and both leave with relatively little damage compared to the usual five-rounders. Kevin Holland goes into the cage with Kyle Daukaus and nobody leaves a winner.
The co-main event between Holland and Daukaus started out pretty slow. Daukaus clearly did his homework and tried to take Holland down from the start. Holland showed his improved takedown defense, talked to Daniel Cormier from across the cage, and continued being the same fun, talkative Kevin Holland we’ve seen in the past, but once Holland broke away from Daukaus and engaged in a striking exchange, there was a head clash and Holland went down and looked out.
Referee Dan Miragliotta moved in to stop the fight, but Holland had somewhat recovered enough to begin defending himself on the ground. Miragliotta signaled for a review and the fight continued until Daukaus locked in a rear-naked choke to submit Holland.
Then the confusion came. Dan Miragliotta reviewed a replay of the incident and seemed to be leaning towards letting the decision stand and giving Daukaus the win. Then Herb Dean, serving as the replay review official, attempted to whisper (poorly) to Miragliotta that he needs to make the decision that he can go to bed easily at night with. Considering that the clash of heads led directly to Holland being floored and beginning the process where Holland ended up being submitted, Miragliotta decided to rule the fight a no contest. Props to Herb Dean for giving his input, because ultimately, it led to the right call. Sports fans know how difficult it is for referees to change their minds on their own call, and Miragliotta only needed the nudge to go with the right decision.
Kevin Holland vs. Kyle Daukaus 2 has been set for November 13th. Considering that Holland took a knockout blow from Daukaus’ head, I find this booking questionable. Holland is probably itching to get back in the cage and Daukaus would like to get past this quickly, but it doesn’t seem wise to allow Holland back in the cage that quickly after this fight. Holland also took down a car thief two days after the fight, so Holland probably doesn’t care about my concerns on his status.
MVP Defeats Douglas Lima in Rematch
Michael “Venom” Page defeated Douglas Lima via split decision at Bellator 267 in a rematch that was panned by fight fans. MVP dropped Lima early on in the fight and Lima got a few good shots in, but this fight was just an incredibly dull affair. Lima was far too passive, and MVP is a point fighter who wasn’t fighting a can for once. Lima did hit the same leg kick, uppercut combo that knocked Page out in their first fight but didn’t land nearly as flush. The boring nature of the bout along with it being only three rounds (which fans are somehow complaining about instead of thanking their lucky stars that there weren’t two more rounds of that) made it seem like a typical cursed Bellator fight.
After the fight, Page suggested a rubber match to decide who gets the welterweight title shot against Yaroslav Amosov, but it’d be best for everyone involved to fight someone else to wash the stink of that main event off of them.
Scott Coker announced on “The MMA Hour” with Ariel Helwani that Bellator will make all of their main events five rounds, which is honestly a long time coming. Hopefully, Fedor Emelianenko has retired by then because I really don’t want to see them bring out the greatest heavyweight of all-time in his mid-forties for a five-round fight.
Holly Holm Out of October 16th Main Event, Aspen Ladd In
As first reported by Ariel Helwani, Holly Holm has pulled out of October 16th’s Fight Night main event due to an injury. Aspen Ladd will be taking on Norma Dumont at women’s featherweight in Holm’s place.
I’m not going to pull any punches, this card is cursed. The original main event was Miesha Tate vs. Ketlen Vieira, which was called off due to Tate testing positive for COVID-19. Then Holm vs Dumont took the main event slot, only for Holm to pull out due to injury. Now the main event would never be the main event on any other card. Norma Dumont is not Cyril Gane, she shouldn’t be main eventing after seven professional MMA fights.
Aspen Ladd was supposed to fight on last Saturday’s card, but her fight was canceled due to Ladd missing weight at bantamweight and visibly shaking on the scale, which has become a pattern with Ladd. The time seemed right for Ladd to move up to featherweight due to her troubles cutting weight down to bantamweight, but doing so on short notice is troubling. Hopefully, Ladd gets in the cage with a less troublesome weight cut and can surprise us with a great main event against Norma Dumont.
The rest of this card is…well, it’s technically a Fight Night card. Carlos Felipe will face Andrei Arlovski in the co-main event. No offense to Carlos Felipe and Andrei Arlovski, but that fight is a prelim on most other events and it’s co-main eventing here. Still, Felipe is an entertaining fighter and he’s getting the test that all future ranked fighters must face, Andrei Arlovski and his regenerative chin. Julian Marquez is fighting on the main card, and if he wins, who knows who he’ll call out. He’s called out Miley Cyrus for a date, he’s called out Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes, maybe this time he’ll call out Salvador Perez.
UFC 267: RDA Out, Dan Hooker In Against Islam Makhachev
Just a few days after Hooker’s victory over Nasrat Haqparast, ESPN’s Brett Okamoto broke the news that Hooker would be stepping in for the injured Rafael dos Anjos to fight Islam Makhachev. People have been praising Hooker for good reason. No one has wanted to fight Makhachev with a full camp, let alone stepping in on short notice. Makhachev has been a boogeyman of sorts for the lightweight division because he had been the definition of a high-risk, low-reward fight. Now that he’s ranked, the reward is so much higher for someone like Dan Hooker.
UFC Fight Night: Dern vs. Rodriguez
On paper, this card looks pretty thin. There aren’t many big names and there are two new main eventers. Any fight fan will tell you that it’s always the cards you don’t expect that end up having bangers.
Mackenzie Dern and Marina Rodriguez should put on a show of a fight. These two are up-and-coming stars in the UFC’s deepest women’s division. Rodriguez brings heavy hands and should have the clear striking advantage. Mackenzie Dern is one of the best Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners on the planet and should be looking to get this fight on the ground. Rodriguez is no slouch on the ground, as she’s a BJJ black belt herself. Rodriguez hasn’t been submitted in her professional MMA career, but Dern is on a different level than most black belts. Rodriguez has a 62% takedown defense rate in the UFC, which isn’t spectacular, but Dern has had a difficult time pulling her opponents to the ground. If this fight stays standing, Rodriguez has the advantage.
Randy Brown will co-main event this card against Jared Gooden in a welterweight bout. This fight feels like it should be a showcase for Randy Brown. He’s coming off of a submission victory over Alex Oliveira and he’s facing an opponent who is 1-2 in the UFC. BetMGM agrees, as they have Brown as the -250 favorite heading into this Saturday’s card.