We’ll get to that snoozer in a bit but first things first, Zhang WeiLi and Joanna Jedrzejczyk absolutely stole the show last night. Between the way Dana had been promoting them and the performance those two put on, he may have been better off choosing them as the main event. This was a fight that showed you what a fight is supposed to be. You want to see fighters work at an incredible pace? How about a challenger enter the ring and lay it all on the line to take the champs belt? What about grit and determination; two warriors who will stop at nothing to get their hand raised? Then you tune into the co main event last night because that’s what we got! This is officially in my top 10 favorite fights all time, hell maybe even top 5! Hands down the best women’s fight I have ever seen.
Now if you’re interested in the total opposite of what I just said, or you need to find a way to put yourself to sleep before the work week begins, go back and watch last night’s snooze fest!
I was pulling for the soldier of god last night, as Dana made it clear this would most likely be his last crack at the title. As a huge Randy Coture fan, I’ve been waiting to see a guy in his 40s hoist the title again. Guess I’ll have to wait for DC/Stipe 3.
First round starts and Yoel takes the center of the octagon and virtually stands still, challenging Izzy to come forward and fight him. Izzy meanwhile took a Mayweather “I’m the champ, you come get me” approach. After 2-3 minutes of posturing from both competitors, an Ali shuffle, some weak jabs by Israel and a huge overhand left from Yoel we close round one… guess what? This is virtually what’s about to take place through all five rounds.
You know things are getting really bad when after four straight rounds of nothing but boos from the crowd, the ref brings both “fighters” (using that term loosely for this bout as no fighting took place.) to the center of the ring before the start of five. He told them plainly, “You need to give the judges something to score.”
So even referee Dan Miragliotta, the man with the best seat in the house, was of the belief that neither fighter had done damn thing. I mean, if I have to give somebody credit for something, I guess I’ll tip my hat to Israel for being the first guy I’ve seen fight Yoel who was really able to effect him with his leg kicks. I guess I can also credit Yoel for landing a few good overhand lefts, and doing that weird forward roll, and takedown combo, but all in all I was very disappointed with the way this main event played out. I won’t even waste everyone’s time to even try to break down how boring each round was.
The crowd was at their peak following the performance of WeiLi and JJ and this fight just did not live up to the hype. In fact it completely sucked the air out of the arena. I guess we all should’ve paid closer attention at the first press conference when the dance battle broke out, on account that’s really all these two guys did last night: A WHOLE LOT OF DANCING!
A few days back I was watching Chael Sonnen speaking about the fighting style of Yoel Romero, states how most fighters go out there to do as much as they can to win a round while Yoel does the bare minimum, and this just proved his theory. He was trying to either lull Izzy to sleep or provoke him into rushing at him out of frustration. By the time it was clear that tactic wasn’t going to work, the fight was already over leaving the two men were virtually scoreless through 5.
Enter Paulo Costa. I am sure Costa will bring the best version of Israel Adesanya back out to play. The Champ seems to thrive under pressure and when he can counter attack and Costa doesn’t have a scared bone in his body. He’s the type of fighter to march forward against any and every one and let combinations fly. I’m sure that by the time Paulo is cleared by a licensed doctor this fight will be a distant memory especially when it will so obviously be overshadowed by the bonkers co-main event. Let’s also not let this review of the main event deter you from going back and checking out the highlights from the main card and preliminary fights! There were some great bouts and awesome finishes. Shane O’Malley sent Jose Quinonez’ head into orbit with a round house kick, before going complete donkey Kong on his head with hammer fists. Drakkar Klose and Beneil Dariush had a hell of a second round, both men swinging for the fences. Klose then fell victim to a bomb from Dariush that knocked his mouth piece out and put him to sleep. Magny also had a stellar performance even though he entered the fight as the underdog. Finally, Oliveria v Griffin was an all-out dog fight. All in all, it was a decent night of fights but I think we are all ready for Khabib v Tony now.
To The Rack With Mac 