The UFC returned to the British Isles back in March, visiting for the first time since early 2019. The card, Aspinall vs. Volkov, is widely regarded as one of the most enthralling so far this year, with multiple native fighters emerging victorious on home soil. Now, the UFC return once more hoping to bring another groundbreaking night of MMA to UK shores.
Thanks to its predecessor, this card is just as if not even more highly anticipated. European fans have been treated to two weeks of hospitable timings, rather than the average process of sticking toothpicks between the eyelids. With several names returning, and stronger opponents making their way across the Atlantic, UFC London is primed to be another blockbuster.
Preliminary Card
- Cláudio Silva vs. Nicolas Dalby (Welterweight)
- Mandy Böhm vs. Victoria Leonardo (Women’s Flyweight)
- Jai Herbert vs. Kyle Nelson (Lightweight)
- Muhammad Mokaev vs. Charles Johnson (Flyweight)
- Makwan Amirkhani vs. Jonathan Pearce (Featherweight)
- Nathaniel Wood vs. Charles Rosa (Featherweight)
- Marc Diakiese vs. Damir Hadžović (Lightweight)
- Mason Jones vs. Ludovít Klein (Lightweight)
(Subject to change)
MMA fans, especially those residing in the UK, should certainly be tuning in to watch Muhammad Mokaev. The 21-year-old is an incredibly exciting prospect, winning his promotion debut against Cody Durden via guillotine choke at the previous London event. ‘The Punisher’, however, will need to be wary of his opponent Charles Johnson, an aggressive striker who is yet to be finished in his pro career. This will act as the American’s first UFC fight; expect to see Mokaev attempt to hit an early takedown.
Mokaev is 126lbs but needed the hoop #UFCLondon pic.twitter.com/FCNPQnxowu
— Chisanga Malata (@Chisanga_Malata) July 22, 2022
Jones vs. Klein is another intriguing preliminary matchup. The former is a 27-year-old Welsh striker who has provided enthrallment for viewers in all three of his promotion bouts. Despite a mixed bag of results (one win, one loss and one no-contest), Jones is the betting favourite by far against Klein, a Slovakian all-rounder who utilises big swings to terrify his opponents. Just two of ‘Mr. Highlight’s’ wins have gone the distance, making many believe this will be a proper slog of a contest to round out the prelims.
Main Card
Paul Craig (16-4-1) vs. Volkan Oezdemir (17-6-0) – Men’s Light Heavyweight:
Craig is a fighter whose stock has certainly risen in recent years, no-more so than after the previous London card where he submitted Nikita Krylov in the first round. The Scotsman has had just one fight in his pro career go the distance (a draw against Maurício Rua back in 2019), showcasing why he is such an entertaining athlete to watch. ‘Bearjew’ comes into the bout on a four-fight winning streak, and is known for excelling on his back in guard.
Oezdemir, on the other hand, has struggled for form in recent years. In fact the 32-year-old hasn’t achieved victory since 2019. ‘No Time’ however remains a constant threat in the light heavyweight division, and is ranked just one place below his octagon counterpart in #9. Oezdemir’s game is boxing dominant, and he doesn’t mind waiting in long periods for the counter. He’ll need to show great takedown defence tonight and keep the bout on feet.
Molly McCann (12-4-0) vs. Hannah Goldy (6-2-0) – Women’s Flyweight:
Most UFC fans will be well aware of Molly ‘Meatball‘ McCann, not only for being good friends with training partner Paddy Pimblett, but also for her spectacular spinning elbow finish of Luana Carolina four months ago. The 32-year-old relies heavily on a boxing approach with interchanging levels, while swarming her opponents with a high striking output.
Goldy has been given a chance on the big stage after achieving her first promotion win in September last year. The American got signed by Dana White after beating Kali Robbins via decision on the Contender Series, but proceeded to struggle in her next two fights. ‘24K‘ is a powerful fighter on her feet, albeit slightly slower than her upcoming opponent. On the ground, Goldy has a solid wrestling game and likes slamming fighters to the canvas.
Nikita Krylov (27-9-0) vs. Alexander Gustafsson (18-7-0): Light Heavyweight
It is slightly confusing that Krylov should lose to Paul Craig on the previous London card, yet appear further up the order on the return. The Ukranian is a sport veteran, however, and his dedication to the UFC since 2013 probably deserves higher bout placements. He’s also a great thrill supplier – all but one of “The Miner’s” wins have ended in some sort of finish. His opponent will have to be ready for all angles – Krylov will be looking for the finish.
For Gustafsson, the days of taking on the world’s best are all but over. Throughout the Swede’s 13 years within the promotion, he’s fought the likes of Jon Jones, Daniel Cormier, Anthony Johnson and Jan Błachowicz, remaining competitive with the majority of them. UFC London marks Gustafsson’s comeback after two years out, and many fans will be waiting with intrigue as to how much ‘The Mauler‘ has left in the tank.
Paddy Pimblett (18-3-0) vs. Jordan Leavitt (10-1-0): Lightweight
Paddy ‘The Baddy‘ Pimblett’s hype train is one that has ran with full steam since his promotion debut last year. The Scouser is a former Cage Warriors featherweight champion, and since arriving in the UFC has earned two first round finishes. Although he’s primarily a wrestler, Pimblett does not mind exchanging on his feet at all. He outputs just over 6 significant strikes landed per minute (SLpM) with an accuracy of 57%, although he often eats a few massive shots from his opponents too, which have tended to at least temporarily drop him.
"My nan is dead, and she'd finish him": Paddy Pimblett (@theufcbaddy) went *OFF* on Jordan Leavitt at #UFCLondon media day.
Full interview: https://t.co/6qZ8K9B5Nd pic.twitter.com/tpxRjlVJoz
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) July 20, 2022
The Baddy will certainly be facing his toughest opponent tonight. Jordan Leavitt became well-known in the MMA community for his post-fight celebration, and has lost just one of his 11 professional fights. The 27-year-old was victorious last time out in a close matchup with Trey Ogden, winning via split decision, and he’ll definitely be fighting in London with the majority of The O2 against him. Leavitt is predominantly a grappler, but with a takedown accuracy of just 26%, we may see Pimblett choose to keep this one standing.
Jack Hermansson (22-7-0) vs. Chris Curtis (29-8-0): Middleweight
Darren Till was originally meant to be taking on Jack Hermansson for the co-main event, however in a depressing but probably expected turn of events for UK MMA fans, the 29-year-old pulled out due to an undisclosed injury.
Chris Curtis was named as his replacement just over a fortnight ago, who is certainly no downgrade when looking at recent form. ‘Action Man‘ has won all three of his UFC fights, his last one coming via decision against the Brazilian Rodolfo Vieira. A stand-up artist, Curtis’ strikes contain damaging power which he mixes with high volume. The American averages 7.23 SLpM with 65% accuracy, levels which will be of great concern to any opponent he faces.
Something that will also worry Hermansson will be Curtis’ takedown defence: 100% (within the UFC). Taking into consideration that all of the Norwegian’s finishes have come via submission or ground and pound, he may begin to struggle very quickly if his takedown attempts emerge fruitless. ‘The Joker‘ is, however, a former Cage Warriors middleweight champion, and he’s much more experienced in the UFC than his opponent. It wasn’t too long ago people were discussing how he’d fare in a title shot with Israel Adesanya. If he can hit the takedown early on, Curtis may be in for a long three rounds.
Curtis Blaydes (16-3-0 (1NC)) vs. Tom Aspinall (12-2-0): Heavyweight
The winner of this main event could well be in with a chance of fighting either the number one ranked contender in Cyril Gane, or even a title shot against Francis Ngannou.
Curtis Blaydes has been a top heavyweight talent for a number of years now, often remaining somewhat underappreciated, yet has never earnt himself a title shot. ‘Razor‘ comes into the bout off the back two wins, the last being a second round knockout over Chris Daukaus via a vicious right straight. The 31-year-old is a dominant wrestler with a takedown average of 6.06 (every 15 minutes), often seeking ground and pound rather than submissions. Blaydes’ striking was often criticised upon his entry to the UFC, yet over the last few years this aspect of his game has improved tremendously, which in turn has added more variety to his performances.
In his way, however, is the highly regarded Tom Aspinall, an Englishman with sublime technical ability in most MMA aspects. All twelve of his wins have come via a finish of some kind, aided by both his high strike volume (7.33 SLpM with an accuracy of 65%) and dangerous submission game. The latest of these came at the last London event, submitting Alexander Volkov in the first round via armbar. Despite his opponent’s strong grappling numbers, the #6 ranked fighter is yet to be taken down in the UFC (defence of 100%) while avergaing 4.07 takedowns of his own (per 15 minutes). Blaydes will certainly be the toughest wrestler Aspinall has faced so far, and you would think he’ll need the thousands of crowd members right behind him to help get the job done.
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]]>Mixed martial arts fans have already been treated to a plethora of enthralling UFC cards in 2022, and this weekend’s event is set to be a mammoth date in the promotion’s calendar. The next numbered instalment is headlined by two title fights across the middleweight and featherweight divisions, not to mention multiple eye-catching bouts preceding them. Rivalries continue and prospects look to surge up the rankings in UFC 276’s main card, under the observant gaze of a global audience.
Pedro Munhoz vs. Sean O’Malley
The pay-per-view kicks off with an intriguing bantamweight clash between ninth-ranked Munhoz and thirteenth-ranked ‘Sugar’ Sean O’Malley. The latter has been a star-studded revelation since entering the promotion back in 2017, utilising his high-output striking game to cause colossal damage to his opponents. The 27-year-old averages a whopping 8.26 significant strikes landed per minute (SLpM), and has recorded five knockout wins in his last six fights. O’Malley did concede a TKO loss to Marlon Vera almost two years ago, although this was mainly due to a lower-leg injury he sustained early on in the bout.
Munhoz, on the other hand, is certainly a bantamweight veteran. The Brazilian’s record boasts pretty much all of the biggest names the division has had to offer in recent years, with his last six fights being: Cody Garbrandt, Aljamain Sterling, Frankie Edgar, Jimmie Rivera, José Aldo and Dominick Cruz. Many think the 35-year-old is a perfect opponent for ‘Sugar’ given the height and speed difference, yet the American has shown a vulnerability to leg kicks in particular, which could be the key for Munhoz if he was to end his current losing streak. Expect O’Malley to take full advantage of his reach and throw countless spinning kicks to his counterpart’s wider torso.
Robbie Lawler vs. Bryan Barberena
This clash was pushed up to the main card due to a cancelled women’s flyweight bout between Lauren Murphy and Miesha Tate. Despite recent woes throughout the last five years, Robbie Lawler has been a mainstay in the welterweight rankings for the best part of seven years. Viewers were treated to a veteran clash in the American’s sole fight of 2021, as he beat decade-long rival Nick Diaz via TKO in the third round. Although many fans believed Lawler had lost much of his striking power, ‘Ruthless’ still emerged decisively victorious from UFC 266.
Bryan Barberena acts as tomorrow evening’s opponent, and enters the bout off the back of two decision wins against Darian Weeks and Matt Brown. The 33-year-old has described his upcoming appearance as ‘the dream fight’, and that for his MMA career “it doesn’t get much better than this.” ‘Bam Bam’ has certainly earned this payday however, putting in several entertaining performances (no more so than versus Brown) since first entering the promotion back in 2014. Barberena has gained a reputation for being able to take some gigantic shots to his chin while remaining seemingly unfazed. As previously mentioned, Lawler’s power has been doubted since the Diaz fight, which may just play perfectly in his opponent’s favour.
Sean Strickland vs. Alex Pereira
A fight to determine the next title shot. It appears the stars are aligning for Alex Pereira, the world’s former #1 ranked middle and light heavyweight kickboxer, to face his long-time nemesis for the belt. Given the fact ‘Poatan’ has had just six professional MMA fights, it seems insane he could soon be challenging for UFC gold. The Brazilian can, however, boast to be the only man on the planet to knockout Israel Adesanya (kickboxing) while also defeating the Nigerian via decision before that. Pereira comes into tomorrow’s event with a duo of promotion wins, his last one going the distance against a talented fighter in Bruno Silva, who certainly pushed the 34-year-old to the best of his ability.
= 184.5lbs for Alex Pereira#UFC276 | Saturday | BT Sport 1 HD pic.twitter.com/swPpSFXEuH
— UFC on BT Sport (@btsportufc) July 1, 2022
Standing in his way is the experienced Sean Strickland. The American almost felt like a forgotten man for the majority of the build-up given the Pereira-Adesanya rivalry (at least until yesterday’s press conference). He even admitted to reporters the fight is “purely just a ploy by the UFC” to set up that exact title fight. ‘Tarzan’ currently ranks fourth in the middleweight roster, and comes into the bout on a six-fight winning streak with an unbeaten record at 185 lb. Strickland’s strategy will likely be to attempt an early takedown and sap the energy from Pereira, who will definitely have the stand-up advantage. Look out for the Brazilian’s formidable left-hook, which has been known to drop many a fighter throughout recent times.
Alexander Volkanovski vs. Max Holloway – UFC Men’s Featherweight Championship bout:
UFC 276’s co-main event adds another instalment into the greatest featherweight rivalry of all time. For Alexander Volkanovski, a win would almost definitely put a final nail in the coffin for any comparative conversations. The Australian ranks second in the promotion’s pound-for-pound rankings, with a flawless record since entering the UFC over six years ago. Volkanovski’s overwhelming striking and advancement, alongside his ridiculous chin strength, has remained a catalyst for featherweight domination. Across his career, he averages a SLpM of 6.63 with an accuracy of 57%, emphasising the sheer amount of strikes his opponents’ will generally need to withstand.
A number of MMA enthusiasts already put ‘The Great’ alongside Aldo in the 145 lb G.O.A.T conversation, an argument which was further broadened following his comfortable victory over The Korean Zombie back in April.
Tomorrow, however, he’ll be facing a more than familiar opponent and fan-favourite in Max Holloway. There’s no denying the talent that ‘Blessed’ holds, and on the feet he’s outperformed all but one throughout the featherweight division on numerous occasions. Since his last loss to Volkanovski, the American has beaten both Calvin Kattar and Yair Rodríguez via decision, earning two Fight of the Night awards in the process. Holloway’s striking output is almost incomparable in the UFC’s history, and he’s broken several promotion records including most significant strikes in one fight (290), as well as being the only fighter with more than 3,000 strikes on his record.
It will be intriguing to see if Holloway can continue to maintain his exceptional chin strength. All of the 30-year-old’s fights have gone the distance since 2018, and in that time he’s taken an uncountable amount of hits. It’s also worth noting both tomorrow’s fight and the Rodríguez clash were forced to be rescheduled due to his injuries. ‘Blessed’ will have to remain defensively sharp if he wants to regain UFC gold.
Israel Adesanya vs. Jared Cannonier – UFC Men’s Middleweight Championship bout:
‘The Last Stylebender’ has named his upcoming opponent as a ‘dark horse’ at 185 lb for a number of years now. The validity of that description will be tested tomorrow night.
Israel Adesanya has, for the most part, made lightwork of the division throughout his illustrious career to-date, and remains undefeated against all middleweight opponents. The Nigerian’s repeated utilisation of feints and high-level kickboxing has worked wonders, especially alongside a brilliant takedown defence which has allowed fights to be dictated on his terms. He beat Robert Whittaker for the second time in his previous outing, although his usual flamboyance and creative skills were put slightly on hold aside from a first round knockdown. While averaging just over 2.5 strikes absorbed per minute (SApM), it’s obvious Adesanya has his defensive skillset honed in too.
That #UFC276 presser brought the ???? ?
[ #UFCFightWeek | Saturday | Live on ESPN+ PPV: https://t.co/f2ejdXxGz3 ] pic.twitter.com/hU4I1zHqzZ
— UFC (@ufc) June 30, 2022
Not many have given Jared Cannonier much of a chance in the lead-up to the weekend’s main event, something which has seen many of his highly-regarded attributes overlooked. ‘The Killa Gorilla’ has previously fought at both 265 and 205 lb, gifting him with demolishing power for someone in the middleweight division. He’s lost just once at this weight class (Whittaker via decision), with five of his six wins coming down to an early stoppage. The 38-year-old puts a heavy focus on his boxing skillset, although his kicking game should also be acknowledged, something MMA veteran Anderson Silva found out the hard way.
Cannonier overcame an in-form Derek Brunson over four months ago using vicious ground elbows in the second round, although many were quick to call the fight ‘slow’ and ‘sluggish’ for the majority of its tenure. The American will know that, at his age, this will probably be his last chance at a title shot. If he starts to go behind on the scorecards, expect the challenger to begin throwing some wild shots in hope of a finish.
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]]>The Lightweight Division has long been home to some of the most captivating fighters throughout the UFC’s history. Superstars like Conor McGregor, Khabib Nurmagomedov and B.J. Penn have all fought at 145 lb, bringing in millions of viewers to the promotion’s ever-growing audience.
The division is often categorised as the toughest in the roster, yet few former champions have fought through adversity better than the current holder: Charles Oliveira. A so-far 14-year MMA career has been crammed with a mixture of highs and lows, and the journey is set to take another step next weekend at UFC 274.
Early Inconsistency
Oliveira has made a name for himself as one of the best finishers at President Dana White’s disposal. Just three of the Brazilian’s 29 UFC bouts have gone the distance, showcasing the frightening ability that his opponents must overcome. Unfortunately for ‘Do Bronx’, there were difficult periods earlier on his promotion career which saw him on the receiving end of multiple premature stoppages.
Before the beginning of his current unbeaten streak, Oliveira won just nine out of his first 17 UFC fights between 2010 and 2018, being finished himself in seven. Not the record often associated with a champion. The last of these came at the hands of Paul Felder, a bout which saw the now 32-year-old attempt to tap out to punches, an act many avid fight fans criticised him for.
Despite this, Oliveira was still taking on some of the most dangerous fighters possible, as well as repeatedly bouncing between featherweight and lightweight. The constant inconsistencies meant he could never make his way to the pinnacle of either division, however, and the majority of the MMA fanbase never really thought of the Brazilian as a serious threat for the belt.
Recent Success
After succumbing to the onslaught of Felder at UFC 218, even the most controversial of promotion enthusiasts would not have predicted what was to come next. Oliveira’s next matchup came six months later, where he took on MMA veteran Clay Guida. ‘Do Bronx’ overcame his opponent with ease, completing a guillotine submission after just two minutes and 18 seconds. It certainly didn’t seem to signify much at the time, but this was to be the beginning of an outrageous winning streak which would last until modern day. This would subsequently coincide with his switching of camps to Chute Boxe Diego Lima.
The Brazilian would go on to win all seven of his fights over the next year-and-a-half, ending the contest early in all but one of them. He took on the likes of Kevin Lee, Jim Miller and the well-renowned Tony Ferguson during this period, emerging victorious pretty convincingly against all of them.
Throughout these eighteen months, Oliveira’s impressive run had seemingly gone under the radar. The division was under the dominating rule of Khabib Nurmagomedov and his violent rivalry with the notorious Conor McGregor. After the former retired from MMA in October 2020, the lightweight belt was left unguarded and up for grabs for someone to claim. Oliveira had been steadily climbing the ranks, and White saw fit to arrange a title fight between the Brazilian and promotion newcomer Michael Chandler at UFC 262.
Despite getting knocked down in the first couple of minutes during one of Chandler’s several flurries of punches, ‘Do Bronx’ claimed a second-round victory. He cracked the American with a perfectly timed left hook 6 seconds in, sending him flailing down to the canvas. Ten seconds later, referee Dan Miragliotta waved off the fight.
Oliveira was now the undisputed Lightweight champion – before the Guida fight he hadn’t even been ranked. Although he hadn’t had to beat Khabib for the belt, it was still an incredible underdog story that the fanbase hadn’t seen for a while (arguably since Rose Namajunas beat Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 217). His next fight, however, was to be against the hard-hitting Dustin Poirier, fresh off the back of two wins against McGregor.
This defence is widely regarded as the 32-year-old’s magnum opus. Few gave Oliveira a chance last December, and despite again being dropped quite easily in the first round, he utilised his excellent Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu skillset to drain the American of energy and earn another submission victory via rear-naked choke.
UFC 274
Next weekend marks the long-awaited bout between ‘Do Bronx’ and stand-up artist Justin Gaethje. The latter has been gunning for a title shot since falling short to Khabib back in 2020, coming off the back of a decision win against Chandler at UFC 268 last November. Both of Oliveira’s title fight opponents have had a similar fighting style, and the latest is certainly no different. It’s almost guaranteed that the Brazilian will come into the bout with a ground game plan, comparable to what he showed in his performance against Poirier.
The 32-year-old is most dangerous from the back, and his Jiu-Jitsu transitions make it extremely challenging to keep him away from that area (even if his opponent is standing). A 3rd degree black belt in BJJ, he averages 2.5 takedowns every 15 minutes; compare this to the fact he attempts 2.8 on average in the same amount of time, and you’ve got a terrifying octagon counterpart. Gaethje’s takedown defence is not exceptional at just 73% (his main downfall against Khabib), therefore the American will have to improve going into the main event.
Chandler also unfortunately discovered that Oliveira’s stand-up game can’t be overlooked. The champion has earned three knockout victories in his last six fights, landing 3.4 significant strikes on average per minute. The 32-year-old does, however, absorb 3.1 strikes every 60 seconds, which will be a worrying amount going into a bout against the overwhelming nature of Gaethje.
UFC 274 may mark the most challenging fight of Oliveira’s career so far, but if there’s anything that the man from Guarujá knows, it’s how to beat the odds.
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]]>A division riddled with talent, spearheaded by one of the most dominant champions in the promotion. Yet, the UFC welterweight division lacks any sense of clarity.
Kamaru Usman is in quite the tough spot as the champion of the UFC’s 170 pound division. He recently and dominantly dispatched friend turned foe Gilbert Burns, leaving many wondering who’s next for the ‘Nigerian Nightmare?’
When you look at the rankings, one would assume that you would be totally spoiled for choice when it comes to contenders. The top six within the rankings consists of Colby Covington, Jorge Masvidal, Stephen Thompson, Leon Edwards, Gilbert Burns and Michael Chiesa.
Each name on that list, have either been mainstays within the division or have seen strong run of form in recent months. With such a stacked top 6, one would imagine there would be easy pickings for contenders – that is until you remember, Usman has already beaten all but two of them already.
With Usman having picked up wins over majority of the main contenders, the rest of the pack are looking to stake their claim to be next in line for a title shot. That is where the problem lies, amongst the top five in the division, none of them holds a win over the other. The nearest one you can consider? Stephen Thompson’s win over Jorge Masvidal. However, even with that, the fight occurred four years ago before Masvidal became the superstar that he is today.
Even with fighters such as Leon Edwards, the Birmingham native has had prolonged bout of inactivity and his return bout? A no-contest against a short notice opponent in Belal Muhammed. Edwards’ impressive streak aside, how does the UFC market him as a title contender on the back of that?
Colby Covington hasn’t fought since his TKO loss to Usman, neither has Jorge Masvidal – who was touted to be next in-line. However, even with Jorge, he may have stepped in on short notice against Usman, but the lack of action since makes it hard to push for his spot.
Should the matchmakers throw a curveball into the mix, there is questions of legitimacy there too. Whilst Stephen Thompson has been a consistent mainstay in the division, challenging for the title twice before – his two recent wins were against Vicente Luque and Geoff Neal, both of whom are ranked 10th and 11th.
Even Michael Chiesa, who is on a run of four wins, three of those opponents are now not even within the top ten except for Neil Magny, which was his most recent victory. Is that enough substance to call for a title shot?
As the champion of the division, it must be alarming for Usman, that his main challengers have a lack of leverage to call for the title. Both Masvidal and Covington are rematches – with the latter having been stopped by the champion. With both men inactive since their respective losses to Usman, fans have openly vocalised their desire to see the two battle for the top spot, however, even that bout seemingly fell apart after reportedly being done.
With a division stacked with talent, it is quite startling that there seems to be very little clarity or movement at the top. As the days pass and the call-outs continue, the direction of the division becomes more unclear, when will there be a breakthrough on the next clear challenger?
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UFC 259 saw Israel Adesanya handed his very first loss in MMA. With many expecting this to be another addition to his budding legacy, where does his defeat place him going forward?
When the fight between Israel Adesanya and Jan Blachowicz was confirmed, many saw this as something of a ‘give-me’ for the New Zealander. His star power was booming on the back of his demolition of Paulo Costa on ‘Fight Island’. The fight world seemingly his oyster, he had a growing super-fight bubbling with UFC star, Jon Jones and was quickly becoming the company’s go-to star behind Conor McGregor.
Leading up to the bout, one would be forgiven for overlooking Jan Blachowicz – simply for the fact the was not the protagonist of story, but rather an obstacle feeding into the arc of Adesanya’s growing stardom. He was the big, heavy monster to be slain, but to his credit, he didn’t let the moment phase him.
The Pole just a couple of years ago was fighting for his Octagon future, yet, he rose and fought back – obliterating Dominick Reyes to capture the gold, a man who many had believed to beat Light Heavyweight legend Jon Jones. For all the attention that was being placed on the narrative of Adesanya, Blachowicz was quietly building quite the comeback story too.
Whilst the fight didn’t provide the fireworks many had expected, the seeming million dollar question is what does this loss do for the Middleweight champion? Prior to his clash with Blachowicz, he had thrashed every foe that stood before him. A similar display was seemingly expected here, with Adesanya widely expected to be too quick and too technical for Jan. Even with the rumblings about the size and weight difference, few truly had an expectation for the Pole.
Throughout the opening exchanges, Israel proved to be quite the puzzle for Blachowicz. He would bite at every feint, as his foe would manoeuvre around the Octagon like a matador attempting to bait the bull. Although, as time began to press toward the championship rounds, neither man had done much of note until Blachowicz initiated the grappling.
With many wondering how Adesanya would deal with the size discrepancy, those questions were answered immediately – Blachowicz’s larger and heavier frame gave him a huge advantage in the grappling, with Israel unable to explode out of exchanges or force a scramble.
The fight would hit the mat again in the final round, with Jan keeping it there for majority of the round. An anti-climatic end to quite the anti-climatic fight. And just like that, Israel Adesanya had been defeated. The man who had stormed to the UFC Middleweight title had fallen in unspectacular fashion.
As the 0 on his record would fade, as would the potential super-fight with Jon Jones – but what about his star power? Would his value take a hit? The answer is not really. While he may no longer be unbeaten, he wasn’t outclassed or spectacularly knocked out, he wasn’t hurt or battered.
‘The Last Stylebender’ may be disappointed, it’s worth remembering that he did indeed take a risk here. He may not have left the Apex with another gold belt but he did leave with his reputation and star-power very much intact.
He said in his post-fight interview: ‘dare to be great,’ and whilst he did indeed take the dare, the truth is he simply stumbled against a larger challenge. Similarly to former UFC star, BJ Penn, who attempted to defeat Georges St-Pierre for a second title only to be defeated.
Much like Israel, Penn was a superstar in MMA at the time. However, unlike Adesanya, B.J saw the towel thrown in after being beat down by St-Pierre. Although, following the loss, the Hawaiian would go onto have some of the best bouts in his career, maintaining much of his star power.
Adesanya is seemingly on a similar pathway at this point in time. He was unsuccessful in his bid to make even further history in his career, but all is not lost. The reigning champion still remains very much atop the game and atop of the 185 division with options still available to him.
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Hollioke, also competed as a professional boxer back in 2004 and had six successful seasons with Surrey.
Despite being born in Melbourne, he spent a long time in England before moving back to Australia. Currently, Adam is a very busy man.
“I’m at the crossroads of my life.” he said.
”I am currently coaching the Queensland cricket team. I’ve just resigned as an assistant coach and I’ve been taken on as a batting consultant. But I’ve also got two companies that I’m a founder of. One is a social media company called CoStar, which connects fans with their favourite stars.
We’ve been working for probably five or six years to get some big names, athletes and musicians etc on our platform including the NBA, which we signed just the other day which is the biggest league in the world, so that was a massive coup for us. Signing the NBA, I wouldn’t say is like winning the Ashes, but it’s like winning a T20 for my club side.”
Hollioake captained Surrey to three county championship wins. He acknowledges that it wasn’t just about him, but others that deserved praise.
“A lot goes into winning a championship, the work that has to go on from all the way from CEO’s, Director of Cricket to the coach down to the players.
“I was just fortunate enough to be the person who had the label of the captain at the time.”
He put Surrey’s success down to private schools in the area and a successful youth set up.
“I think it was the perfect storm.
“Whilst Surrey isn’t necessary the biggest population in the county, we’ve got a high percentage of cricket players, mainly due to the private schools, so we’ve always got a large data base to pick from.
“We’ve also got a really good youth set up as well. The Nescafe youth system sponsored us for twenty or thirty years and that side that won it in 99, I think we had eight of us that came through that system.”
Adam only played four tests for England but was picked 35 times for England in ODI’s.
“I had two of my tests against Australia who were the best side in the world at that time and on not very good pitches.
“I then went to the West Indies and one of the matches was on the wicket which they called the game off and the other game was on a wicket that wasn’t particularly good either so I didn’t particularly get a good shot at it, but saying that there are better cricketers than me who have never played test cricket before.”
Adam made the decision to retire from cricket at 31 years of age. At the time he was in good form in all forms of the game.
“I was probably playing the best cricket of my life”, he said
“Physically I could still play now. I’m 48 now and physically I’m in as good as shape now as what I was when I was 31.
“My reasons for retiring was outside of cricket. My family obviously suffered the loss of my brother. I wasn’t enjoying my cricket as much as I used to and I didn’t feel I was necessarily being the best role model for the Surrey players coming through.
“I played my cricket with incredible intensity and when that wasn’t there I wasn’t particularly proud of the way I was playing and to be honest I wasn’t enjoying much without my brother being there and I wanted to be back in Australia with my parents.”
Hear the full interview with Adam Hollioake
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