On Saturday, Chimeh finally did what many people were planning to do years ago, claiming UFC Gold, dominating Doricus Duplesis in one of his most impressive title challenger performances over the years. Note that I said “impressive” as many people were very unhappy with “Bolz” after a safety first approach to the game. Chimaev is currently a middleweight champion and appears to be aiming for a potentially great run, so let’s talk about everything about UFC 319.
“Has some of the MMA fanbase been overly experiencing Khamzat bored? What will your reaction to people seeking changes to the rules?”
MMA fans are often prone to exaggeration, and in this example, they are definitely ridiculous by calling Chimaev Boring. But at the same time, the fight certainly isn’t a rivet-like event and you shouldn’t let the former UFC champions make you believe.
Like it or not, Fight Sports is an entertainment business. Yes, winning is the most important thing, but that’s not the only thing. This fight was one of the few battles that invaded a wider audience than the hardcore MMA fanbase. I had a friend of Normie asking about this thing. Instead, the winners had zero serious submission attempts and got a dominant performance in which only 37 important strikes landed. Only the complete inverse is the exact opposite that attempts to argue that it is a good viewing experience.
Yes, the fight stinked. Is it impressive? absolutely. But it’s not a good atmosphere. But that doesn’t mean that Chimaev is a boring fighter, he has a boring fight. All fighters other than Justin Gesche sometimes throw a Clanker or two, and champions tend to do it more often as defense becomes a priority. But for Chimaev’s remaining performance, you won’t bore the man. He deserves the benefit of suspicion that this is an abnormality rather than a new normal.
Regarding changing rules, I would actually support clarification of rules that urged the referees to be more aggressive about stand-ups. For a long time I was against it because I had a very lame hipster take about “there is no stand-up in the real fight, derrrrrr” but it’s just ridiculous. Sports is entertainment, and almost all of them have rules that promote action, especially in wrestling. Going to see some wrestling, you’ll find that the ref throws warnings incredibly quickly to make sure the pace is high. I support the coming in with a more robust stand-up policy.
There’s not a problem here. DDP would have only been defeated 20 times, not 12.
“After seeing that dominant crucifixion repeat, do you even see giving competitive battles other than Kamal and Gilbert Burns?
Heading towards UFC 319, Dricus du Plessis is Chimaev’s most difficult matchup at 185 for many reasons, and it has been one of my worst take in a long time. Now, if they had a rematch, I think DDP would be better, but after watching the fight a few times, the difference in athletic ability is shocking and it doesn’t go anywhere. Please put it back. Yes, Chimaev was lightweight Although in front of him in technical wrestling, even when DDP actually defended his shot attempt, Chimaev simply teleported back to his hips as Doricus was moving so slow.
So if you compete with Khamzat, you must be able to reduce his grappling advantage or be a good athlete, both if possible. Luckily for him, many middleweights don’t even meet one of those needs, and both are so few.
That being said, we have seen Chimaev have had a fierce battle before. This happens every time a fighter wins. They want to crown goats before they actually do their job. The sport is littered with people, “Oh, my God, he’ll never lose.” That makes it so convincing.
The growing consensus seems like current candidate Anthony Hernandez. The alias “Fluffy” is because he is a very good grappler and has the aerobic exercise to win in the championship round. Frankly, I get the argument, but I don’t know if I was sold or not. He will be there against Chimeh, mainly because he cannot see the fluffy ones on his back.
For me, there are two options. The three CaioBorralhoNukes Nassourdine Imavov will be very intrigued by the match. The first one is Reiner de Ridder. Like DDP, he’s not a great athlete and will probably be blown away in the battle of 10 Cam That. However, in that 10th battle, RDR’s clinch work and knees to the body could make Chimeh’s life difficult, and he Many A defensive grappler that is better than DDP. He is also huge and it matters for something.
I don’t think I’d actually choose to happen before: Alex Pereira. Alex Pereira said, “Izzy defeated him!” But yeah, that’s how it works. When you don’t expect your kickboxing opponent to go for a takedown, it lands. Pereira has been extremely good at defending takedowns in recent years, being huge at 185 years old, and he bites Chimeh with his feet. If “Poitan” returns to 185, I think I’ll choose him and win.
“What did you learn from losing your UFC debut from Aaron Pico, Patchy Mix and Patricio Pitbull? Does that mean the UFC competition is outweighing other organizations? Are you worried about the premiere under the bright light of MMA’s biggest stage? ”
It’s not either of them. MMA is a difficult sport and its margins are small.
After Pico was bolted to Lerone Murphy in the co-main event, I certainly saw a chat about UFC jitter, but I just don’t buy it. Pico has previously fought in front of a large crowd, but he was essentially groomed from birth to be here. The bright light didn’t reach him, Lerown Murphy did. And Murphy is a great featherweight. The only thing I take from that fight is that Murphy is good and Pico has yet to beat an objectively good fighter in his career.
As for Patchy and Pitbull, Pitbull fought his prime several years past against the top 10 guys. That happens. And patchy? Well, I don’t have an answer about it. He looked like garbage, but that could be the fact that he had been out for a long time and had a fierce battle in a short period of time.
Also, the idea that competition is at a higher level doesn’t actually hold water. Yes, most of the best fighters in the world are in the UFC, but there are still some great fighters elsewhere. People went back that day for Pride, Strike Force and WEC, and in each example, those fighters came and won the title. Hell, Kayla Harrison comes in and she won the belt this year!
All of these losses mean that Aaron Pico has some fundamental flaws in his game (not very good for the style he fights), Pitbull is old, and patchy may be the next Will Brooks.
Thank you for reading and thank you to everyone who sent me a tweet (xs?)! Are there any burning questions about at least some relevance to combat sports? Then you are lucky because you can send your tweets to me, @jedkmeshewand I answer all the good things! As long as they’re good it doesn’t matter whether they’re local or insane. Thank you once more, and take a look at y’all next week.