After a one-month break, Bellator made its return Friday from the SSE Arena in London, and Rory MacDonald made a successful debut with the promotion by defeating Paul Daley via submission in the main event.
It was a great sh…
After a one-month break, Bellator made its return Friday from the SSE Arena in London, and Rory MacDonald made a successful debut with the promotion by defeating Paul Daley via submission in the main event.
It was a great showcase for MacDonald, who made the Bellator 179 match look easy by methodically picking apart Daley in the first round before locking in a rear-naked choke early in the second round for the victory.
MacDonald was fighting for just the third time since 2015 and first time in 11 months. His last match came at UFC Fight Night 89, when Stephen Thompson defeated him by unanimous decision for a second straight defeat and his third in six matches.
One reason for the long gap between fights for MacDonald was because of issues with his nose. The 27-year-old broke it in consecutive fights against Robbie Lawler and Thompson, and after losing to Thompson, he acknowledged it was a problem.
“I broke it actually a couple times before this fight,” MacDonald told Marc Raimondi of MMA Fighting. “I have no idea what to do. I gave it time’ it kept breaking. I don’t know if surgery is gonna be the best route. I really just have to take time. I’d probably at least look into surgery, see if that can make it stronger, because just time off didn’t do s–t.”
After defeating Daley on Friday, MacDonald said it’s been a long, slow climb to get back to the top of the mountain, via MMA Junkie’s Chamatkar Sandhu:
There was more good news for MacDonald following his victory, as Sandhu noted he will challenge the winner of June 24’s Douglas Lima vs. Lorenz Larkin matchup for the welterweight championship at Bellator 180.
MacDonald has not held a championship in any organization since winning the King of the Cage lightweight title in 2008. He made a strong impression in his Bellator debut and is one win away from capturing a title in the company.
Before the nose issues knocked MacDonald’s career off course, he looked like a budding star in UFC’s welterweight division. His fight with Lawler at UFC 189 was an instant classic that could have gone in either direction before Lawler was able to end it in the fifth round.
Now that MacDonald is healthy and able to train at full strength, he can show what he is capable of as a top star.
Stipe Miocic used UFC 211 to quickly put himself in a position to become the best heavyweight champion in UFC history.
Taking on Junior Dos Santos in a rematch of their instant classic in 2014, Miocic confirmed that he’s the best heavyweight in the wor…
Stipe Miocic used UFC 211 to quickly put himself in a position to become the best heavyweight champion in UFC history.
Taking on Junior Dos Santos in a rematch of their instant classic in 2014, Miocic confirmed that he’s the best heavyweight in the world.
JDS landed some leg kicks in the early going, but that’s where the positives end for the Brazilian challenger. Miocic backed him down early and often and landed overhand rights at will. That’s not a recipe for sticking around long with the champion.
The UFC passed along the right that ultimately ended the fight:
Given Dos Santos’ technical performance against Ben Rothwell last time out, this was an unexpected showing of regression. Andreas Hale of Champions MMA noted the tendency for JDS that ultimately ended his night:
With five straight knockout victories over some of the best in the division, the question remains as to who is next for the champion. Jason Floyd of the MMA Report took his best crack at the conundrum:
Either way, it’s clear that Miocic is the best heavyweight in the sport right now. He’ll have a huge opportunity in his next fight as he looks to become the first heavyweight champion to defend his belt three times consecutively.
The impressive knockout from Miocic was just the icing on a very violent cake that was UFC 211. This card didn’t fail to deliver on the hype as Joanna Jedrzejczyk also defended her title in brutal fashion.
Here’s a look at the quick results along with a breakdown of each of the main card fights.
UFC 211 Main Card
Stipe Miocic def. Junior Dos Santos, TKO (Round 1, 2:22)
Enrique Barzola def. Gabriel Benitez, unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Gadzhimurad Antigulov def. Joachim Christensen, submission (Round 1, 2:21)
Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs. Jessica Andrade
There’s Joanna Jedrzejczyk then everyone else in the women’s strawweight division. That’s the takeaway after watching Joanna Champion defend her belt for the fifth time.
On paper, Andrade looked like the ideal fighter to give Jedrzejczyk problems. She had experience fighting at 135 pounds, power and a strong ground game with the threat of submissions.
None of that mattered.
Jedrzejczyk simply put on a masterclass in the art of stick and move. The more Andrade charged at the champion with looping hooks and takedown attempts, the more Joanna Champion tagged her with head kicks and jabs.
The result was a five-round decision that felt more like a 25-minute beatdown for the champion.
After the bout, the champion summed up the state of the division quite well, per UFC on Fox:
Andrade should be given credit for her toughness. She kept coming despite diminishing returns for her labor. Sometimes a contender just runs into a transcendent champion, and that’s exactly what happened in this fight.
At 25 years old, Andrade will probably continue to lurk in the division, and it wouldn’t be shocking to see this fight happen again.
Then again, she’d have to make some extreme improvements to have a shot against the champion in a rematch.
Jorge Masvidal vs. Demian Maia
Jorge Masvidal grappled with Demian Maia and managed to survive all three rounds, but he couldn’t do enough to convince the judges that he won the fight. Maia controlled all three rounds on the ground en route to a split-decision victory.
Masvidal put in a great showing. He started off guns blazing and appeared to have the Brazilian in trouble early on, but Maia did what Maia always does—he got the fight to the mat and resumed grappling excellence.
In all three rounds, Maia took the back of Gamebred. The impressive part for Masvidal was being able to avoid being submitted in all that time on the ground and even doing some damage of his own at times.
For Maia, the win pushes his winning streak to seven. According to Damon Martin of Fox Sports, the win locked up a title shot for Maia in his next fight:
The title shot is a long time coming for Maia. His fighting style isn’t for everyone, but he’s been effective at imposing his will since moving to the welterweight division.
Tyron Woodley will be a difficult matchup for the challenger, though. Masvidal’s quickness on the feet had Maia in trouble at times, and Woodley is one of the most explosive fighters in the sport.
This sets up an interesting fight pitting Maia’s jiu-jitsu against Woodley’s wrestling and power.
Yair Rodriguez vs. Frankie Edgar
Yair Rodriguez wasn’t ready.
It didn’t take long for that to become apparent to anyone watching the 24-year-old take on Frankie Edgar.
Rodriguez took a big step toward becoming a well-known commodity in his last bout when he beat up an old BJ Penn in a main event, but Edgar showed he has much more to give in the cage than the antiquated Penn.
Edgar quickly took Rodriguez down and went to work on rearranging his opponent’s face on the ground. The result was a badly swollen eye and a cut that kept the cutman working throughout the break between rounds.
The second round didn’t look much different. The UFC passed along the epic slam from The Answer:
From there Rodriguez flailed in desperation for submissions but had no answer for the problems that Edgar gave him. The former champion continued to blast away with punches and elbows at the swelled-up eye.
When the doctor had a chance to look at it between rounds, that was it.
As Patrick Wyman of the Washington Post noted, this was the kind of loss that should force Rodriguez to evaluate where he is as a fighter:
For Edgar, this was a clear indication that he should be in line for a title shot soon. This is his second TKO win over a top-10 opponent since losing to Jose Aldo at UFC 200.
David Branch vs. Krzysztof Jotko
No. 9 middleweight Krzysztof Jotko welcomed David Branch back to the UFC for the first time since 2011 to kick off the main card in a fight that was forgotten almost as soon as it ended.
With a five-fight winning streak coming in, the 27-year-old Jotko is one of few middleweight prospects, but he became victim to Branch’s smothering wrestling. Branch was released by the UFC in 2011 after establishing a reputation for being a dull fighter.
He didn’t do much to change that perception against Jotko. He effectively closed the distance, avoided damage and stifled Jotko’s offense, but he didn’t do much to cause damage himself.
The crowd was sure to let Branch know their displeasure, but as Connor Ruebusch of Bloody Elbow noted, it was Jotko that allowed Branch to get great position in the clinch consistently.
This fight probably did more to damage Jotko’s rise than it did to say anything about Branch. The veteran’s successful comeback gives him 11 straight victories that included two championship belts in World Series of Fighting, but there’s not much he did to make fans believe he can become a factor in the UFC heavyweight division.
As for Jotko, this was a classic case of a dynamic striker getting outpointed by a wrestler. He can complain about Branch’s approach, but ultimately he has to figure out how to create space to do damage.
After an extended period of UFC cards of spotty quality, UFC 211 came along and reminded hardcore fans of what the sport’s top promotion can do when it really sets its mind to it.
The main event was easy enough to understand: Stipe Miocic and Junior do…
After an extended period of UFC cards of spotty quality, UFC 211 came along and reminded hardcore fans of what the sport’s top promotion can do when it really sets its mind to it.
The main event was easy enough to understand: StipeMiocic and Junior dos Santos did battle, not only for Miocic‘s heavyweight title but for the unofficial title of Baddest Man On The Planet.
From the biggest UFC division to the smallest, fierce women’s strawweight champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk put her own belt in peril against the bigger, stronger, potentially more dynamic fighter in Jessica Andrade.
And those were only two of the evening’s 14 contests. As usual, the final stat lines only reveal so much. These are the real winners and losers from UFC 211 in Dallas, Texas.
For the literal-minded among us, full card results appear at the end.
If you still haven’t figured out how to say Joanna Jedrzejczyk’s name, it might be time to figure it out. The Polish striker successfully defended her title at UFC 211 with a unanimous-decision win over Jessica Andrade in the evening’s co-main event Sa…
If you still haven’t figured out how to say Joanna Jedrzejczyk‘s name, it might be time to figure it out. The Polish striker successfully defended her title at UFC 211 with a unanimous-decision win over Jessica Andrade in the evening’s co-main event Saturday in Dallas.
UFC on Fox had the scores from the lopsided decision:
The first frame had all the signs of a great fight forming. Both fighters had success doing what they do best. Jedrzejczyk peppered Andrade with jabs and kicks from the outside, but Andrade’s aggressive forward movement allowed her to land heavy hooks to the head.
Andrade’s strength was also evident early on as she picked up and slammed the champion to the mat. The UFC passed along the highlight:
Former Jedrzejczyk opponent and rival Claudia Gadelha provided some insight into what it’s like to fight the champion after the first round:
The difference in movement between the two fighters highlighted the second round. Andrade’s flurries from the first frame started to miss more regularly as she continued to chase Jedrzejczyk, and the champion simply circled away and peppered her with shots from the outside.
Although the round was mostly one-sided for the champ, the UFC provided the highlights from a close end to the round:
Former UFC fighter Brendan Schaub weighed in on the champion’s masterful striking:
As usual, Jedrzejczyk’s use of range and space was just too much for Andrade to handle. RJ Clifford of SiriusXM summed up the difference between the two rather nicely:
As the disparity grew in the later rounds, it became obvious that two things were on display: Joanna Champion’s excellence and Andrade’s toughness. Damon Martin of Fox Sports gave props to Andrade for continuing to go at the champion despite getting countered at every opportunity:
Toughness can only take someone so far, though. Jedrzejczyk’s skill was simply too much to overcome as she showcased why she’s the undisputed champion of her division.
The win marks yet another notch in the belt for the dynamic Jedrzejczyk. After beating inaugural women’s strawweight champion Carla Esparza in 2014, she has taken the division and run with it, reeling off five successful title defenses.
For Jedrzejczyk, it’s just the beginning of what she hopes will be a career that puts her among the best female fighters of all time.
“I know what I want from myself and what I can expect from myself. I want to be the first female fighter to hold two belts,” Jedrzejczyk said, per Mike Bohn of Rolling Stone. “First I want to reach the record of Ronda Rousey. She had six successful title defenses, which is a pretty big deal to me. I want to be an undefeated champion and retire undefeated. It’s not going to be easy.”
With title defenses, Jedrzejczyk now has the first part of her plan in reach. Just one more defense and she will match Rousey’s mark.
Given her win over Andrade, it’s hard to envision her not successfully defending the belt at least once more.
In her time in the UFC, the champion has shown little in the way of weaknesses in the cage. However, Gadelha was able to push Jedrzejczyk with her grinding wrestling game and strength. Ostensibly, Andrade was the one who could have taken that to another level.
A former bantamweight, Andrade had the size and strength advantage, but Jedrzejczyk still found a way to get through this challenge.
The second part of Jedrzejczyk‘s plan is much more attainable than it once was now, too.
According to Shaun Al-Shatti of MMA Fighting, The Ultimate Fighter 26 will crown the first women’s flyweight champion.
With a weight class now just 10 pounds up for the Jedrzejczyk, the reality of being a two-division champion isn’t far-fetched. It’s a probability.
Demian Maia entered UFC 211 with everything on the line. A loss would have crippled his chances at ever getting another UFC title shot, and he was facing a top-tier challenge against Jorge Masvidal at American Airlines Center in Dallas.
The scorecards …
Demian Maia entered UFC 211 with everything on the line. A loss would have crippled his chances at ever getting another UFC title shot, and he was facing a top-tier challenge against Jorge Masvidal at American Airlines Center in Dallas.
The scorecards may have been split, but the fight clearly belonged to the Brazilian.
Maia’s grappling stifled Masvidal throughout the three rounds and only gave the American Top Team product brief moments to score with his offense, which he did to make it close. Still, the result was the right one with Maia getting his hand raised.
Maia shot in around the 30-second mark. Masvidal fought off the takedown attempt well, but Maia stayed attached to him. Maia took his back, but Masvidal stood with him against the fence. Patience became the name of the game.
Maia peppered Masvidal with punches trying to get space to slip his arm under the chin. Masvidal remained calm enough to defend as the first round ticked under two minutes. Masvidal’s patience paid off with under 30 seconds as he shook Maia to the canvas and landed several big punches. It made the round close as he landed the big offense compared to Maia’s control.
Masvidal was ready to defend slower takedown attempts in the second round as Maia spent a lot of energy in the first frame. Still, Maia tried all the tricks to stay attached to Masvidal. Maia finally assumed top position with Masvidal on his back with two minutes remaining in the second. He would have to begin working from half-guard. Masvidal’s defense got him through another strong two minutes of control from the grappling ace.
Half of the third and final round was spent feeling each other out. Maia looked for an opening knowing he didn’t have the energy to chase Masvidal, and Masvidal was weary of an oncoming takedown attempt. However, at around that halfway marker, Maia was able to get Masvidal to the ground. He worked on a rear-naked choke, but he did not have it under the chin or have Masvidal’s back completely. He would work to that position shortly after giving up the choke.
Masvidal defended until the horn. Survival was his only option, but it was still much more than most of Maia’s opponents have been able to do on the mat. Maia controlled the fight and grappled his way to yet another victory.
The loss was damaging to Masvidal, but only minimally so. Masvidal showed he can survive with Maia on the ground and had moments on the feet to challenge him. Masvidal will move down the ladder again, but his showing proves he’s one of the elite at 170 pounds.
Maia’s next step is clear. A title shot.
Tyron Woodley is seeking a challenge, and all signs point to Maia as being that next man up. That includes a post-fight moment with UFC President Dana White who shouted, “You got it!” from cageside to Maia. The ink still needs to be put to paper, but Maia’s chance at glory is coming up.
Maia vs. Masvidal lived up to the hype. It was a high-level battle of elites. The superior fighter got by with his world-class skills and appears destined for a date with the champion.
Many believed that Yair Rodriguez vs. Frankie Edgar was a case of too much, too soon for the hot prospect. At UFC 211, those people were proved very, very correct. In a contest so lopsided that it’s hard to even consider it a “fight,” the former l…
Many believed that Yair Rodriguez vs. Frankie Edgar was a case of too much, too soon for the hot prospect. At UFC 211, those people were proved very, very correct. In a contest so lopsided that it’s hard to even consider it a “fight,” the former lightweight champion scored one of the most decisive wins of his career over El Pantera.
Right from the get-go, it was clear where the fight was going. Edgar pressed the action early in the first, with his technical boxing generally trumping Rodriguez’s wild, lunging strikes. A takedown came before long, and Rodriguez wouldn’t get up until the horn sounded and mercifully halted Edgar’s smothering top game.
The second round picked up right where the first left off. After a brief striking engagement, Edgar landed a takedown. While Rodriguez briefly threatened with a kneebar, Edgar was settled into top position before long, and rained down punches and elbows until the horn.
That would mark the end of the fight. With Rodriguez’s left eye swollen shut and colored various shades of purple and yellow, Edgar was declared the winner by TKO via injury at 5:00 of the second round.
It’s a brutal turn for the high-flying Mexican. Rodriguez entered the cage at UFC 211 as one of the most interesting talents in the UFC, and one of the few remaining testaments to the organization as a talent-building entity.
The winner of The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America, Rodriguez turned the heads of American fans with his blistering pace and wild striking, and established himself as the first Mexico-born male top prospect in MMA history. That early success didn’t slow down, either, as he worked his way up the rankings, and amassed a six-fight winning streak with very little difficulty.
That success, coupled with his strong marketability, made him a fighter that should have been slowly nurtured into the UFC’s next big star. Instead, they opted to throw him into the deep end of the featherweight talent pool against, arguably, one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the game today.
While this doesn’t end Rodriguez’s career by any stretch of the imagination—he is just 24 years old in a division where fighters age quickly—this is a major setback for him and a bout that, unfortunately, shaves time off his very promising career.
Edgar, despite the win, remains on a career treadmill. Despite the fact that The Answer is unquestionably an elite-level talent at 145 pounds, his two losses to on-paper champion Jose Aldo lock him out of title contention for the time being. Worse, if Aldo defeats Max Holloway at UFC 212 in June, the timetable for another shot at gold is extended indefinitely.
There are various ways he could find his way to a shot at the belt, sure.
Aldo could lose the title at some point…but Aldo didn’t become one of the UFC’s most dominant champions by luck. Edgar could return to 155 pounds and resume his chase after Conor McGregor…but with McGregor potentially boxing Floyd Mayweather, it’s completely unknown when (or if) he may come back. He could drop down to 135 pounds and potentially get an immediate title shot…but a hard career reboot and adventurous weight cut at 35 years old isn’t necessarily wise.
As such, nobody really gained anything from this fight. Not Edgar, not Rodriguez, not the UFC and not the fans. On paper, Edgar is the winner but really, it feels like this fight only had varying degrees of losers.
After a one-month break, Bellator made its return Friday from the SSE Arena in London, and Rory MacDonald made a successful debut with the promotion by defeating Paul Daley via submission in the main event.