Post by mr. excellent on Apr 25, 2021 14:39:08 GMT -5
UFC 261:
There's more things to say about this event than I have time to comment on today. This is saying something, because I'm going to say a lot. That said, a few things happened that I will share about.
*A man snapped his shin in half, in one of the most gruesome injuries sustained in an MMA competition. The man's name is Chris Weidman, the former Middleweight champion who once caused the same injury in his opponent Anderson Silva (The great I should say).
*Former straw-weight queen Rose Namajunas reclaimed her title with a precise head kick in round 1. The woman she beat was on a 20 fight win streak and has fought tough, tough opponents.
*fly weight champion Valentina Shevchenko secured another dominant victory tonight against a very dangerous and game opponent in Jessica Andrade. The win was pretty much flawless. She took her opponent down 7 times, landed a high percentage of the strikes she threw. Then, about half way through the 2nd round she secured a crucifix on the ground and elbowed her partner until the referee waved it off.
*Kamaru Usman defended his title again against the always dangerous Jorge Masvidal. To the victor go the spoils, but I have to say that I was just as impressed with Masvidal as I have ever been. If ever there was a competitor who fights like 2012's The Dark Knight Rises' Bane, it's Masvidal. He first became famous from his backyard brawl videos with Kimbo Slice in the late 2000s (what are those, the oughts?). Then, he came back from a knock down to KO a powerful and big (for the weight class) Darren Till in 2019. He followed that victory with the viral 5 second jumping knee KO of then (keyword) undefeated Ben Askren. He followed that with a TKO doctor stoppage of Nate Diaz. Diaz of course protested the stop to the contest, and he was starting to get a little bit of a rhythm the final round of the action, but up until that point, Masvidal had been mauling him mostly.
The Masvidal of 2019 til now is all about fighting in big explosive bursts of violence. He is the epitome of fighting with more aggression and determination than your foe to overcome your opposition, but with skill and technique to boot. He starts the fight with his hands behind his back and then charges his opponents with very mean and nasty attacks. There's no jab-jab kick to the hamstring. With "Street Jesus" it's push kick to the stomach, then 2 or 3 elbows to the face. It's a barrage of wild punches, a fake retreat, followed by an immediate flying knee to the face. When people like Kamaru Usman take an opponent down, they dominate and rain down punches from the top. His opponents try to fight back from the bottom but mobility is limited. When Masvidal gets taken down, he has this unique ability to maneuver himself into positions of generating power. He slices his opponents up with elbows while he is on the bottom *the bottom!*, scrambles, further positions himself to punish his opponents with hard strikes to the head until the opponent retreats, or put themself in a position that allows him to burst off the ground and back onto his feet. Masvidal is quick to land hard short uppercuts or double up on elbows as they release from a clinch. He's just vicious, and it's all very Bane like.
That said, Kamaru Usman will not be denied. Nasty as Masvidal is, and he did look impressive while the fight lasted, Usman landed a right hand that would've KO'd a horse to end the fight. If you've seen in movies where a guy gets punched so hard his head turns 180 degrees... this is what happened. Usman through his entire body into it too, and unlike most times when this type of punch lands, there was no shifting of the opponents body to take some of the sting off the blow. It completely took Masvidal by surprise, and shut his lights out. Usman is on his way to becoming the greatest welterweight *170 pound class* fighter to ever do it. I love GSP (he plays Batroc in the MCU) and believe he could still defeat the top of the top competition in the UFC. GSP is currently retired, but is considered by most to be the greatest welterweight ever. He even came back from his first retirement to challenge the middleweight (185 pound weight class) champion and won the belt via submission. However, if Usman keeps going, he will surpass GSP not only in wins but also prestige. There's no one who seems up to the task of defeating him except for maybe Khamzat Chimaev.
Khamzat burst onto the scene in 2020 defeating 3 opponents in under 3 months. His gimmick was bouncing between welterweight and middle weight every other week to take on all comers. Two of those victories came in just 2 weeks before scheduling dictated he wait about 9 weeks before competing again. The 3rd victory came by way of 1 punch KO within the first 30 seconds of competition. Unfortunately, Khamzat caught COVID, didn't take care of himself and nearly died. Following continued lack of regard for doctor's instructions, he was unable to recover for 3 or 4 months and then he abruptly retired. The decision was clearly an emotional one though. Dana White, President of the UFC tried to exxert his influence over Chimaev and help him along the way to recovery. Flew him to Nevada and had their doctor's look him over, but Chimaev wouldn't be saddled. What's even crazier is that this Chechen dictator named Ramzan Kadyrov ended up being the one to pressure Khamzat out of retirement. That story was wild. Kadyrov comes out and he's like, "I told him that ALL Chechens were upset by [his retirement]. I reminded Chimaev that the youth, whom he inspires, are pinning their hopes and expectations on his success…and if fans need to wait for his return, then we will all look forward to his return to the octagon with trepidation and patience." He also said he had arranged for Chimaev to return to Chechnya, where he will “complete a rehabilitation course” and “hold a training camp.”
That sounds like it came straight out of Sacha Baren Cohen's "The Dictator". Then again, Cohen's whole schtick is taking the absurdity of reality and putting it front and center. Regarding Chimaev, sometimes, your life isn't your own. What a wild sport, right?
There's more things to say about this event than I have time to comment on today. This is saying something, because I'm going to say a lot. That said, a few things happened that I will share about.
*A man snapped his shin in half, in one of the most gruesome injuries sustained in an MMA competition. The man's name is Chris Weidman, the former Middleweight champion who once caused the same injury in his opponent Anderson Silva (The great I should say).
*Former straw-weight queen Rose Namajunas reclaimed her title with a precise head kick in round 1. The woman she beat was on a 20 fight win streak and has fought tough, tough opponents.
*fly weight champion Valentina Shevchenko secured another dominant victory tonight against a very dangerous and game opponent in Jessica Andrade. The win was pretty much flawless. She took her opponent down 7 times, landed a high percentage of the strikes she threw. Then, about half way through the 2nd round she secured a crucifix on the ground and elbowed her partner until the referee waved it off.
*Kamaru Usman defended his title again against the always dangerous Jorge Masvidal. To the victor go the spoils, but I have to say that I was just as impressed with Masvidal as I have ever been. If ever there was a competitor who fights like 2012's The Dark Knight Rises' Bane, it's Masvidal. He first became famous from his backyard brawl videos with Kimbo Slice in the late 2000s (what are those, the oughts?). Then, he came back from a knock down to KO a powerful and big (for the weight class) Darren Till in 2019. He followed that victory with the viral 5 second jumping knee KO of then (keyword) undefeated Ben Askren. He followed that with a TKO doctor stoppage of Nate Diaz. Diaz of course protested the stop to the contest, and he was starting to get a little bit of a rhythm the final round of the action, but up until that point, Masvidal had been mauling him mostly.
The Masvidal of 2019 til now is all about fighting in big explosive bursts of violence. He is the epitome of fighting with more aggression and determination than your foe to overcome your opposition, but with skill and technique to boot. He starts the fight with his hands behind his back and then charges his opponents with very mean and nasty attacks. There's no jab-jab kick to the hamstring. With "Street Jesus" it's push kick to the stomach, then 2 or 3 elbows to the face. It's a barrage of wild punches, a fake retreat, followed by an immediate flying knee to the face. When people like Kamaru Usman take an opponent down, they dominate and rain down punches from the top. His opponents try to fight back from the bottom but mobility is limited. When Masvidal gets taken down, he has this unique ability to maneuver himself into positions of generating power. He slices his opponents up with elbows while he is on the bottom *the bottom!*, scrambles, further positions himself to punish his opponents with hard strikes to the head until the opponent retreats, or put themself in a position that allows him to burst off the ground and back onto his feet. Masvidal is quick to land hard short uppercuts or double up on elbows as they release from a clinch. He's just vicious, and it's all very Bane like.
That said, Kamaru Usman will not be denied. Nasty as Masvidal is, and he did look impressive while the fight lasted, Usman landed a right hand that would've KO'd a horse to end the fight. If you've seen in movies where a guy gets punched so hard his head turns 180 degrees... this is what happened. Usman through his entire body into it too, and unlike most times when this type of punch lands, there was no shifting of the opponents body to take some of the sting off the blow. It completely took Masvidal by surprise, and shut his lights out. Usman is on his way to becoming the greatest welterweight *170 pound class* fighter to ever do it. I love GSP (he plays Batroc in the MCU) and believe he could still defeat the top of the top competition in the UFC. GSP is currently retired, but is considered by most to be the greatest welterweight ever. He even came back from his first retirement to challenge the middleweight (185 pound weight class) champion and won the belt via submission. However, if Usman keeps going, he will surpass GSP not only in wins but also prestige. There's no one who seems up to the task of defeating him except for maybe Khamzat Chimaev.
Khamzat burst onto the scene in 2020 defeating 3 opponents in under 3 months. His gimmick was bouncing between welterweight and middle weight every other week to take on all comers. Two of those victories came in just 2 weeks before scheduling dictated he wait about 9 weeks before competing again. The 3rd victory came by way of 1 punch KO within the first 30 seconds of competition. Unfortunately, Khamzat caught COVID, didn't take care of himself and nearly died. Following continued lack of regard for doctor's instructions, he was unable to recover for 3 or 4 months and then he abruptly retired. The decision was clearly an emotional one though. Dana White, President of the UFC tried to exxert his influence over Chimaev and help him along the way to recovery. Flew him to Nevada and had their doctor's look him over, but Chimaev wouldn't be saddled. What's even crazier is that this Chechen dictator named Ramzan Kadyrov ended up being the one to pressure Khamzat out of retirement. That story was wild. Kadyrov comes out and he's like, "I told him that ALL Chechens were upset by [his retirement]. I reminded Chimaev that the youth, whom he inspires, are pinning their hopes and expectations on his success…and if fans need to wait for his return, then we will all look forward to his return to the octagon with trepidation and patience." He also said he had arranged for Chimaev to return to Chechnya, where he will “complete a rehabilitation course” and “hold a training camp.”
That sounds like it came straight out of Sacha Baren Cohen's "The Dictator". Then again, Cohen's whole schtick is taking the absurdity of reality and putting it front and center. Regarding Chimaev, sometimes, your life isn't your own. What a wild sport, right?