A little over twenty four hours has passed since one of the most entertaining UFC cards of the year. Light Heavyweight Champion Daniel Cormier defended his belt for the very first time against former title challenger Alexander Gustafsson at the Toyota Centre in Houston, Texas at UFC 192. In this post I am going to have a look at just some of the many highlights from the card.
The main highlight of the event is the status of the Light Heavyweight Champion Daniel ‘DC’ Cormier as the now undisputed champion. DC has had a roller coaster of a year, having lost to former UFC Champion Jon Jones back in January at UFC 182 and crying in the press conference afterwards, DC was given the chance at redemption when he got to face Rumble Johnson in May for the vacant light heavyweight belt. He beat Rumble and became the undisputed champion. However with Jon Jones still potentially in the mix, Cormier was the disputed champion, the paper champ, keeping the belt warm for Jones, you name it, he was called it. Now having defended his belt and doing it against Alexander Gustaffson in what can only be described as a phenomenal performance, DC will hopefully now start getting the respect he deserves. Yes Jon Jones is still around and a rematch would probably end in the same manner as the first but thats not DC’s fault that Jones had to vacate his belt. DC didn’t crash into a pregnant woman and run away, Jon did, I hate to quote Ben Parker from Spiderman but great power does bring great responsibility and Jones actions did not show responsibility in what he did and he deserved to be stripped of his title. DC can only beat who is put in front of him and he has done that spectacularly. Hopefully this victory will bring the recognition DC deserves and stops the questioning when Bruce Buffer announces him as ‘Undisputed’.
The Ryan ‘Darth’ Bader Vs Rashad ‘Suga’ Evans fight brought with it some fantastic highs and one low. Before the whole Jones saga took place back in April, Ryan Bader was due to fight DC in Lafayette, Louisiana in June. When DC got the call for UFC 187, it left Bader without a dance partner for the UFC Lafayette show. At the UFC 187 press conference after DC won the belt, there was the infamous engagement between the pair where DC stated he only wanted to fight Bader because it was the “easiest paycheque” on the roster for him. The obvious contender right then and there for DC’s first title defence was Ryan Bader. He was over looked for a title shot despite being on a four fight win streak. His last fight was a lack lustre and less than convincing split decision win over Phil Davis back in January. When this fight was booked, the fate of Jon Jones had not been known, with a potential federal charge and prison time potentially looming for the former champion, the UFC had to plough on and make fights, this fight for Bader and Rashad was a number one contender fight. The highlight of this fight was Bader stepping up to the mark and executing a perfect game plan and dominating the former champion Rashad Evans to a 30-27 Unanimous decision win.
In the Women’s Bantamweight Division, season eighteen winner of TUF 18 Julianna Peña continued her impressive return from her knee injury by beating the number six ranked Jessica ‘Evil’ Eye. In a division dominated by Ronda Rousey, contenders are high in demand and low in supply. Peña had dominated season 18 of TUF in 2013 but was sidelined with a knee injury which left her on the sidelines until April this year. Julianna had a spectacular return with a first round brutal knockout of Miliana Dudieva. This was her first true test against a top ten ranked opponent and despite a shaky second round, Peña battled through and beat Eye in a unanimous 29-27 on the Judges scorecard. Eye is coming off a loss to Miesha Tate and is now slipping down the rankings. Pena moved up the rankings to number seven. (One spot above Holly Holm who fights Ronda next month for the belt) In her post fight interview she called out Ronda Rousey, she alluded to Dana Whites comments calling Ronda Mike Tyson and that she is her Evander Holyfield. Peña has the hype behind her to get the title shot, if she doesn’t I would like to see her fight Cat Zingano.
The UFC released a new show format on youtube a couple of weeks back called ‘Looking for a fight’. The idea is simple, UFC President Dana White, Nick The Tooth and Matt Serra travel the world, attending regional shows looking to recruit fresh talent to the UFC or TUF. One of the fighters they found was a nineteen year old called Sage Northcutt. Sage, a world karate champion and model was laughed at when the trio first saw his picture, when they seen him fight it was a different story. Sage dominated his fight and impressed Dana White so much that he offered Sage a UFC contract. Sage made his UFC lightweight debut on the UFC 192 Fight Pass Prelims against soon to be former UFC lightweight Francisco Trevino and he did it in the most incredible fashion ever by winning a TKO victory after only fifty eight seconds. Sage celebrated by what can only be described as defying physics with a crazy front flip. You could see the dollar signs lighting up in Dana Whites eyes.
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