Before Jose Aldo and Chan-Sung Jung even stepped in the cage, we learned something important from UFC 163. Or rather, we solidified something that should no longer surprise us.
Judging in mixed martial arts is often bad. And at times, it’s downright atrocious.
I won’t delve into the farce that was Phil Davis somehow beating Lyoto Machida in a fight that was almost unanimously scored by onlookers as a 30-27 win for Machida. We’ll have plenty of time for that next week.
Right now, we’re here to talk about the main event: a featherweight title fight between Aldo and Jung. Here are just a few of the things we learned in watching the conclusion to the UFC’s latest trip to Rio de Janeiro.
Korean Zombie: More of a Man Than I Will Ever Be
I grimaced when Jung’s right shoulder separated after he connected on a punch to Aldo’s dome. I gasped when the pain was reflected on the Zombie’s face. But I nearly passed out when the fighter tried to pop his shoulder back into place in the middle of a fight with the world champion.
I can only imagine the pain that was coursing through Jung’s body. I’ve never suffered a separated shoulder, but if it’s enough to make a tough and durable fighter like Jung show pain on his face, well, I’m fairly certain it would kill me.
Jung attempting to repair himself in Round No. 4 will be my lasting impression of this event.
I’m cringing even now, as I write this, and I’ve had some time to digest what happened. This, more than the awful decision in the Machida-Davis fight or any of the other preliminary bouts we saw twice each (thanks to the UFC’s deal with Brazilian TV outlet Globo that allows it to broadcast the final two fights from UFC pay-per-views), will be the thing that sticks with me.
Jose Aldo Is a Violent and Terrifying Man
When Aldo saw Jung’s obvious shoulder injury, he did something that will scar me for life: He kicked it. Hard.
As I mentioned above, Jung was trying to pop his shoulder back in, but Aldo didn’t let him. Instead, he capitalized in a vicious, heartless and utterly terrifying way. The shoulder injury spelled doom for Jung, as Aldo isn’t the kind of guy to show compassion and sympathy to an opponent.
And while we’re at it, can I just point out that Aldo’s refusal to avert his gaze from the ground until the beginning of a fight is quite chilling? It reminds me a little bit of Fedor Emelianenko: stoic, unemotional and sharply focused on the task ahead.
Aldo Still the Best in the World, but Top Challengers Remain
I understood why the UFC elected to give Jung the title shot against Aldo. When you’re dealing with relatively late notice for a main event in one of your hottest markets, you try to put together the most marketable fight you can make.
That was Jung. He wasn’t the most deserving, but he was the most popular. And at featherweight, where Aldo and Jung are the only true stars, it made sense to put the fight together, even if it didn’t really make sense.
Now, though, it’s time to move on. When Aldo returns, he needs to be facing Ricardo Lamas or Cub Swanson or perhaps even Frankie Edgar again. We dipped our toes in the water by giving a shot to the fighter with the most name value of the potential contenders who had yet to fight the champ.
From this point forward, or at least until Aldo elects to vacate the division in search of the lightweight title, we need to see contenders given title shots because they earned it, not because they can sell the most pay-per-views.
Lamas is the next logical contender, or perhaps even Chad Mendes, provided he beats Clay Guida later this month. But no matter who Joe Silva puts in the cage with Aldo, he should be someone who has built up a credible challenge through his recent actions in the cage.
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