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Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) put a bow on its first set of events on “Fight Island” — which is technically Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates — as UFC on ESPN 14 took place last night (Sat., July 25, 2020) inside Flash Forum. The headlining act saw Robert Whittaker edge out Darren Till in a Middleweight bout (highlights). In the co-headlining act, Mauricio Rua went up 3-0 against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, escaping with a split decision victory (recap).
Biggest Winner: Fabricio Werdum
Werdum had a lot riding on his fight against Alexander Gustafsson, as he claimed prior to the fight that he was not going to re-sign with UFC after the United States Anti Doping Agency (USADA) debacle. And while his name alone would have secured him a nice offer from Bellator MMA or another promotion that wants his services, a win would assure him some nice leverage to ask for more money. And that’s just what he earned after forcing “The Mauler” to tap halfway through round one. It’s an impressive win to say the least since Gustafsson is no slouch. Now, not only did Werdum avoid a three-fight skid, gave his managers some good talking points when they start negotiating with promotions, but he also gets an extra $50,000 bonus check. And who knows, he may have even earned himself a nice offer from UFC. While Fabricio is adamant he won’t fight inside the Octagon again, the promotion could always make him an offer he can’t refuse in order to stay put. Personally, I hope “Vai Cavalo” eventually finds a way to stay right where he is since he still has plenty to offer the fight game and is still a threat to any big man standing in front of him. And with Cain Velasquez long gone and Daniel Cormier set to retire this year, UFC’s 265-pound weight class needs all the big names it can get.
Runner Up: Robert Whittaker
Whittaker got a much-needed win after doing enough to earn a unanimous decision over Darren Till in his first fight back after losing his 185-pound strap to Israel Adesanya last October. And whatever issues “The Reaper” had to get through after postponing his return, he seems to have put them way behind him since he looked like “The Reaper” of old. No, he didn’t get a finish and no it wasn’t a complete and utter dominate performance, but Till is far from a slouch so getting a win over him anyway he can is a good notch on the Aussie’s belt. Prior to the bout, I firmly believed the victor would have to beat Jack Hermansson for the right to fight for the title, but Dana White has other plans because he stated that either Jared Cannonier or the winner of this fight would face the winner of Israel Adesanya and Paulo Costa, which is set to go down at UFC 253 on Sept. 19, 2020. While White can change his mind at the drop of a hat, for now “The Reaper” is just glad to be back on the winner’s podium. More importantly, however, he’s happy again.
Honorable Mention: Khamzat Chimaev
As if the Welterweight division wasn’t already stacked as it is, Khamzat Chimaev is already making some noise …. and he’s only been fighting for UFC for 10 days. The 26 year-old made his Octagon debut last week at UFC Fight Island 2, dominating John Phillips before scoring a fight-ending submission in round number two. Soon after his win, he expressed his desire to fight on this card, which UFC obliged. All he did was turn in an even more dominate win over Rhys McKee, stopping him in the very first round via strikes (see it), all while not allowing McKee to land a single strike. For his efforts, he scored $50,000 post-fight bonus and perhaps even more importantly, the praise of UFC president Dana White, who dubbed the Swedish scrapper “special.” And we all know if you can get on uncle Dana’s good side the UFC PR machine follows suit, as do the big opportunities. Furthermore, Chimaev went on to say he wants to compete on an upcoming card in Las Vegas on Aug. 15, something White and Co. were quick to say “yes” to. A star is born in Chimaev, now it remains to be seen if he can continue to live up to all of the praise from his boss and colleagues after literally coming out of nowhere.
Biggest Loser: Alexander Gustafsson
Things didn’t go quite as “The Mauler” would’ve liked in his return to mixed martial arts (MMA), as he was forced to tap to a devastating armbar from Heavyweight jiu-jitsu wizard, Fabricio Werdum, in the very first round. After losing his last two at Light Heavyweight Gustafsson opted to retire from the fight game a little over a year ago. Hoping for a fresh start at 265-pounds “The Mauler” was happy to draw “Vai Cavalo,” a former world champion whom he’s trained with in the past. And though Alexander claims to have gotten the best of Werdum during sparring, the submission ace proved to be the better man when it counted. Where Gustafsson goes from here is anyone’s guess, though he will now have to work extra hard if he wants to make a run at the Heavyweight title. And frankly, the same goes if he decided to go back down to 205 pounds.
For complete UFC on ESPN 14 results and coverage click here.