It took a bit longer than most expected, but T.J. Dillashaw’s shotgun title defense ultimately ended as most expected. The unlikely challenger, Joe Soto, put in a solid effort, but the Team Alpha Male product had the fight in his hands from start to fi…
It took a bit longer than most expected, but T.J. Dillashaw‘s shotgun title defense ultimately ended as most expected. The unlikely challenger, Joe Soto, put in a solid effort, but the Team Alpha Male product had the fight in his hands from start to finish.
Dillashaw landed combinations on top of combinations, inside other combinations. While Soto blocked much of the champ’s offensive output, he had little response to the deluge of punches. Battered, Soto fell prey to a massive head kick in the fifth frame. Dillashaw followed it up with a devastating punch and that, as they say, was that.
It was an impressive effort by Dillashaw, which reasserted some of the things he has already proven in the last year. His cardio truly is top-notch. He can finish a fight at any time. He has an entertaining, fan-friendly style.
Not only that but owning a belt has given him a definite swagger that wasn’t there six months ago. But what new things did we learn from this fight?
Well, we certainly learned that Soto is a tough dude. The former Bellator featherweight champion and Tachi Palace Fights bantamweight champion was a dark horse to potentially win this fight, given his heavy hands and solid wrestling. Many expected him to be a legitimate tomato can for Dillashaw and he most certainly was not that.
Hand-in-hand with that, Soto is just the tip of the “bantamweight talent outside the UFC” iceberg. Bellator titleholders Joe Warren and Eduardo Dantas, WSOF’s Marlon Moraes, One FC’s BibianoFernandes and many more would all be potential contenders if they joined the UFC. The fact Soto could basically be plucked out of the parking lot, plugged in on 24 hours’ notice and post a reasonably strong fight speaks to that fact.
We also learned that Dillashaw should be regarded as the best bantamweight in MMA. Frankly, it’s still perplexing that people don’t believe this after he broke Barao like a wild horse before knocking him out, but it’s basically impossible to deny at this point.
The biggest lesson, however, came before the fight. That lesson is that the UFC truly, honestly, unrepentantly doesn’t care about the bantamweight division.
It’s something many have suspected, of course. How could one think different when the UFC habitually plucked fighters off preliminary cards, unceremoniously fed them to then-champion Barao, then tossed their remains back onto Fox Sports 1? But the way the UFC handled UFC 177 was truly, utterly disrespectful to Dillashaw and all the fighters he reigns over.
Slapping together a pointless rematch in Dillashaw vs. Barao 2 was a crummy start on its own but giving the event a comparably awful co-main event in Demetrious Johnson vs. Chris Cariaso? Then stripping that away, and trying to pass off a fight between anonymous, unranked lightweights as something worth paying $55 for?
That wouldn’t happen with any other division. Just look at how the UFC buffed up UFC 161. In spite of the fact that it sported a weak headline in Dan Henderson vs. Rashad Evans, it was backed up by fan favorites like Roy Nelson and Pat Barry, and featured rising stars in Alexis Davis and TyronWoodley. Look at the cavalry UFC assigns behind Chris Weidman and Ronda Rousey on any given card and compare it with the Hogan’s Heroes they send to back up Dillashaw.
Bantamweight title fight tonight is fucking bullshit!
While Soto’s effort was commendable, it doesn’t change the fact that the UFC took a “yeah, whatever” approach to what should have been an epic coming-out party for one of its most exciting young talents.
Unless the UFC radically changes its approach to its lower weight classes, T.J. Dillashaw‘s greatest opponent is, and will continue to be, the UFC boardroom. No matter how many silly sound bitesDana White puts out and no matter how much the UFC complains, there is no substitute for actually grooming and promoting contenders.
If the UFC doesn’t start making an effort to build Dillashaw in the same way they build other champions, he will never be a draw. That would truly be a shame.
UFC 177 was a battered pay-per-view before it ever got a chance, but the main card came through with some solid action.
T.J. Dillashaw retained his UFC bantamweight title with a fifth-round knockout, and co-main eventers Tony Ferguson and Danny Castill…
UFC 177 was a battered pay-per-view before it ever got a chance, but the main card came through with some solid action.
T.J. Dillashaw retained his UFC bantamweight title with a fifth-round knockout, and co-main eventers Tony Ferguson and Danny Castillo had an entertaining back-and-forth battle that went to Ferguson by split decision.
Bethe Correia continued her ascent up the ranks by knocking off Shayna Baszler by TKO, Carlos Diego Ferreira looked like a hot lightweight prospect in his victory and Yancy Medeiros picked up a much-needed victory as well.
The eight-fight card came through after all, but who were the winners and losers from Sacramento, California? Let’s take a gander.
“Welcome the the haunted UFC card,” Joe Rogan said to kick off the official weigh-ins for UFC 177. Truer words have never been spoken.
In a crazy turn of events, the lineup for the promotion’s return to Sacramento underwent a drastic shake-up as the ca…
“Welcome the the haunted UFC card,” Joe Rogan said to kick off the official weigh-ins for UFC 177. Truer words have never been spoken.
In a crazy turn of events, the lineup for the promotion’s return to Sacramento underwent a drastic shake-up as the card lost two high-profile tilts, one of which was the main event rematch between bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw and RenanBarao. The Baron was forced to stop cutting weight for medical reasons and was removed from his bout with the Team Alpha Male standout. This forced the promotion to make an 11th-hour call, and the UFC tapped promotional newcomer and former Bellator champion Joe Soto to step in for a title opportunity.
News of this last-minute change put the MMA community in an uproar, as a card already deemed thin by all measurable standards seemed to barely be holding onto a pulse. Nevertheless, the show was to go on, and Dillashaw was set to make his first official title defense against a man who had never stepped foot inside the Octagon.
While these circumstances set the stage for career-defining upsets and the unpredictable nature of the sport never fully closes the door on possibility, there was no Rocky story to be written in “The City of Trees.”
The 28-year-old California native put on the performance of his young career when he dethroned Barao back in May, and he came into the Octagon in front of his adopted hometown crowd looking to validate his reign as champion…no matter who he was facing.
While it wasn’t the steamrolling most expected (yours truly included) Dillashaw worked an effective game plan as he earned his first successful title defense via knockout in the fifth and final round. That said, Soto certainly proved to be more game than anyone gave him credit for, but he was facing some ridiculous odds in taking a shot at the bantamweight champion in his promotional debut.
When it was all said and done, everything that went into Saturday’s card at the Sleep Train Arena was one of the oddest affairs in recent memory. Let’s take a look at the good, bad and strange from UFC 177.
The Good
Coming into his first official title defense at UFC 177, the one thing on T.J. Dillashaw‘s mind was proving his place as bantamweight champion was a legitimate one. Three months earlier, the Team Alpha Male standout had shocked the MMA world by dethroning the seemingly invincible RenanBarao. On Saturday night, he wanted to prove it wasn’t a fluke by defeating The Baron again.
Things wouldn’t play out that way, though, and the champion would go on a roller-coaster ride before he ever stepped foot inside the Octagon. The former champion would be forced out of the bout due to issues with his weight cut, and the UFC would tap former Bellator champion Joe Soto to take his place. The switch undoubtedly put the champion in a tough place, but Dillashaw was determined to make UFC 177 the first step of his title reign. And that is certainly what he did.
While he didn’t come out and mop the floor with Soto like most expected, Dillashaw dominated the fight for four rounds until he scored a knockout finish in the fifth. It was an effective showing by a fighter who is only getting better each time out. With the win, Dillashaw has now won seven of his eight showings under the UFC banner, and it will be interesting to see what’s next for the champion.
Turning to the women’s side of the bantamweight division, Bethe Correia just might have the best gimmick going in MMA. The scrappy Brazilian bantamweight set her sights on getting a title shot against Ronda Rousey by targeting Rousey‘s Four Horsewomen crew. After putting a lopsided beating on Jessamyn Duke, Pitbull took a crack at the veteran of the group in Shayna Baszler on Saturday night. After the Queen of Spades took the opening round with her grappling, Correia cut loose in the second and unleashed the fury.
She wailed on a defenseless Baszler against the cage until the referee decided he had seen enough. With the win, Correia not only keeps her undefeated record intact but put herself into the conversation of a possible title opportunity against Rousey.
*** The lightweight division is a talent-rich collective, and Tony Ferguson has been eager to break into deeper waters for some time now. El Cucuy had won three of his last four coming into his tilt with Danny Castillo, and with the co-main event showcase, the 30-year-old Californian had the perfect opportunity to make a statement. Unfortunately for both men, there wasn’t all too much action to be had as the majority of the bout was spent locked in a stalemate on the ground. When the final bell sounded, Ferguson got the split-decision nod on the judges’ scorecards and picked up his fourth victory in five outings
*** Diego Ferreira got fight fans excited by his lightning-quick submission victory in his UFC debut, and that buzz should amplify considerably after he pounded out Ramsey Nijem on Saturday night. The Brazilian grappling ace was giving The Ultimate Fighter alum trouble on the ground, which prompted Nijem to bring the fight back to the feet. That proved to be the wrong move as Ferreira caught Nijem rushing in and leveled him with a right hand. He pounded out the stoppage shortly after to pick up his second win under the UFC banner.
*** It had been a rough road through the UFC for Yancy Medeiros coming into UFC 177. The 26-year-old Hawaiian had battled a host of established veterans and failed to notch a victory in his three showings inside the Octaogon. Coming into his bout with promotional newcomer Damon Jackson, Medeiros desperately needed a victory, and he got one in spectacular fashion. With Jackson trying to get the fight to the ground, Medeiros locked in a reverse guillotine that forced Jackson to tap and brought the fight to an end.
*** There wasn’t anything pretty about it, but Derek Brunson got things back on track by out-grappling Lorenz Larkin en route to the unanimous-decision victory. The Strikeforce veteran landed some strikes early, but it was all Brunson when the action hit the canvas. While Brunson didn’t do much damage from top position, he certainly controlled the action to pick up his fourth victory in his last five showings.
*** Chris Wade made about as impressive UFC debut as humanly possible as he choked the life out of Cain Carrizosa in the first round of their tilt Saturday night. While Carrizosa came out aggressive, Wade quickly took the action to the canvas and began looking to implement his offense. It didn’t take him long to find what he was looking for as he locked in an arm-in guillotine that put his opponent to sleep on the mat.
The Bad
Where do we start when talking about “The Bad” aspects of UFC 177?
Anytime an event loses one of its main event fighters, it is never a good situation, but this card losing RenanBarao 25 hours out from the start of the show is devastating. Three months ago, the Nova Uniao standout was being touted as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters on the planet, but after his loss to Dillashaw at UFC 173 and his weight-cutting disaster at UFC 177, his profile has taken a severe amount of damage.
Has he proven to be one of the best bantamweight fighters in the world? Yes, but the 27-year-old is having a rough 2014 campaign. Following his scratch from the card, UFC President Dana White made it clear he would not be getting the next title shot upon his return, and that is going to leave The Baron with some work to do.
That said, while the Brazilian striking phenom has a strong track record inside the Octagon, promotional newcomer Henry Cejudo does not. The Olympic gold medal-winning wrestler turned mixed martial artist was set to make his UFC debut against Scott Jorgensen on Saturday, but issues during his weight cut forced him off the card as well. While Barao dropping out of the main event is severe, Cejudo not being being able to make the fight with Young Guns will not bode well for him.
The highly touted prospect has been plagued by his inability to make weight throughout his young career, and his failure to do so at UFC 177 has forced the UFC brass to issue an ultimatum. While Cejudo hasn’t been released by the organization, White told Ariel Helwani on the Fox Sports One broadcast that he will either have to fight at 135 pounds or not fight for the UFC. Those are some hard lines set by the UFC President, and it will be interesting to see how Cejudo responds.
Keeping those things in mind, losing two bouts absolutely did zero favors for the broadcast team at FS1. The production team was forced to drag three fights over a two-hour time slot before leading up to the pay-per-view portion, and it was nothing short of brutal. Naturally, newcomer Chris Wade choking out Cain Carrizosa just north of a minute into the opening bout didn’t help matters much, but trying to cover that type of real estate with three bouts was doomed business to begin with.
While there were certainly other entries that could fill this space (Lorenz Larkin losing his fourth fight in five showings inside the Octagon and a horrible bout between Anthony Hamilton and Ruan Potts), nothing was quite as bad as how two fighters missing weight put UFC 177 on the skids.
The Strange
Normally I would jot several hundred words into this category describing the curious happenings that worked their way into the night’s action, but is that really necessary?
A newcomer gets a title shot? A production truck catches fire? Chaos unleashed in Northern California?
UFC 177: It really happened. That’s my unofficial tag line for the card, and had Rod Serling popped in and stole the mic from Joe Rogan to talk about the paradox between time and space, no one would have even batted an eye.
It was just that strange.
Duane Finley is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. All quotes are obtained firsthand unless noted otherwise.
The Ultimate Fighter season 13 winner Tony Ferguson faced off with longtime veteran Danny Castillo in one of the weakest co-main events in UFC history.
Ferguson entered the night with two excellent stoppage victories over Katsunori Kikuno and Mike Rio,…
The Ultimate Fighter season 13 winner Tony Ferguson faced off with longtime veteran Danny Castillo in one of the weakest co-main events in UFC history.
Ferguson entered the night with two excellent stoppage victories over KatsunoriKikuno and Mike Rio, and has looked genuinely scary of late. Danny Castillo has proven his worth with a six-year-long Zuffa career but has never had the opportunity to snag a belt.
When the two faced off, it resulted in a fun, scrappy ground battle defined by Castillo’s top control against Ferguson’s wild submissions. Two of the judges would give Ferguson 29-28 scorecards, earning him a close split decision win.
So what did we learn?
Tony Ferguson Is a Gamer
Generally, when you’re fighting a savvy veteran wrestler who has won lots of fights with smothering top control, you don’t try anything too fancy. Jab him to death, stuff the takedowns, out-point him, don’t stay underneath. That’s what the smart way to handle somebody like Danny Castillo.
Tony Ferguson, though? He’s too exciting for that “smart” stuff. Flying body kicks, all-in submission attempts, barrel roll after barrel roll, that’s how Tony Ferguson handles somebody like Danny Castillo.
It made the fight way closer than it should have been, sure, but it was a really fun scrap.
Tony Ferguson Is Still Not “There” Yet
When a legitimate contender appears, it usually comes at the expense of a solid veteran. Anthony Pettis staked his claim for UFC contendership by practically decapitating Joe Lauzon. TJ Grant jumped into an ill-fated title shot by shattering what was left of Gray Maynard’s chin. Michael Johnson vaulted into the top 10 by knocking out GleisonTibau.
Tony Ferguson was in a position to do the same, and wasn’t able to capitalize on the opportunity. “El Cucuy” could be a contender in the future, but he isn’t quite there yet.
Judges Don’t Always Go for Top Control, Apparently
Our own Jonathan Snowden discussed the so-called “wrestler bias” last week. The phenomenon where judges reflexively label the fighter that isn’t on the ground as the one that is winning has been a bane on MMA, but they may be changing their tune.
Castillo had Ferguson on his back for a large portion of the fight and at least once each round. Ferguson, to his credit, attacked with submissions and/or strikes the entire time.
In most fights, that wouldn’t have been enough to get him the win. This, apparently, wasn’t most fights.
Danny Castillo Did at Least One Memorable Thing Tonight
Castillo dragging out the old, ‘if we were in jail, he would’ve been in trouble.’
After Ferguson was announced the winner, Castillo got the chance with the microphone and proceeded to deliver a lengthy, strange, confusing, kind of sad speech where he expressed his belief that he won, and apologized to his mother. The highlight, however, was saying “If we were in jail, he would have been in trouble,” referring to his lengthy spans of top control.
While it’s easy to question whether or not this was an appropriate thing to say, this likely qualifies as Castillo’s most memorable in-cage moment. Granted, that’s not a great thing, considering Castillo has 18 fights under the Zuffa umbrella. Still, this is one for the ages, and something that will be regularly quoted in close fights.
Bethe Correia defeated Shayna Baszler by second-round TKO at UFC 177 on Saturday, and now she sets her sights on a potential title shot.
Baszler entered as a slight underdog, but she was the veteran with much more experience between the two. Corre…
Bethe Correia defeated Shayna Baszler by second-round TKO at UFC 177 on Saturday, and now she sets her sights on a potential title shot.
Baszler entered as a slight underdog, but she was the veteran with much more experience between the two. Correia garnered this fight after defeating Baszler’s teammate Jessamyn Duke. Correia wanted to take out both of Ronda Rousey’s UFC teammates and then get a title shot.
She has done just that, but the title shot is still up in the air.
What did we learn from this fight? Let’s take a look.
What We’ll Remember About This Fight
Correia hurt Baszler and then went to work against the fence with fight-ending combinations.
The best part of the flurry was the body work. She mixed it up from body to head, and Baszler had no answer. She tried to cover up, but it was not going to work. She just allowed Correia to tee off on her. The referee had no choice but to stop the fight.
It was a big win for Correia.
What We Learned About Shayna Baszler
Baszler is an accomplished submission fighter, but her striking has never caught up. We learned that the veteran is past her prime and is no real threat to any of the top-tier women in the division.
Baszler has fought a who’s who of women but has come up short against the elite. She has failed to take the next step. And with woeful striking defense, the beatings have taken a toll.
Baszler remains a better fighter than her teammate Duke, but she will never challenge the elite of this division.
What We Learned About Bethe Correia
We knew she was doing a fine job of marketing herself up the ranks at bantamweight, but now we know she can back it up in the cage.
Correia is not likely to dethrone Rousey, but she can at least be competitive against most of the division, including the top five.
She is a solid, well-rounded fighter. And she is still learning. That is the biggest plus to Correia in this division. She’ll run up against several fighters who are more talented than she is, but she may be able to do enough to drag them to a decision.
What’s Next for Baszler?
Without question she will head back to the drawing board, but the UFC needs to place her against the back half of the field.
Baszler can be a serviceable fighter. She can take bouts to keep the division moving forward. She just is not going to get it done against the upper echelon. Anyone coming off a loss who is in the back part of the division makes sense for Baszler.
What’s Next for Correia?
I say give her Rousey. Why not?
No top contender is ready for Rousey, and the UFC has not yet finalized a deal with Gina Carano.
Correia no doubt has her attention, and it will be a way for the UFC to nab some pay-per-view buys off Rousey’s star power. It will not be a competitive fight in the slightest, but it’ll showcase Rousey’s skills. And it will put an end to the Four Horsewomen storyline that Correia has been using.
There’s no denying it—a great deal of shuffling left UFC 177 underwhelming on paper.
UFC 176 was cancelled. The highly anticipated rematch between Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson was pushed back. So was the co-main event between Dem…
There’s no denying it—a great deal of shuffling left UFC 177 underwhelming on paper.
UFC 176 was cancelled. The highly anticipated rematch between Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson was pushed back. So was the co-main event between Demetrious Johnson and Chris Cariaso. Even the rematch for the UFC Bantamweight Championship between TJ Dillashaw and Renan Barao was canceled when the challenger passed out trying to make weight for the main event, according to UFC.com.
Instead, the biggest fight of the night features Dillashaw defending his title against promotional newcomer Joe Soto. While there are a handful of solid lightweight fights and an intriguing women’s battle between Bethe Correia and Shayna Baszler, this card feels worthy of a time slot on television during the week instead of a pay-per-view event.
The PPV buys are going to be down, and it’s not going to be the best show of the year, but there are still plenty of reasons to watch.
Let’s take a look at how the results play out from Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento, California, on Saturday.
It took a bit longer than most expected, but T.J. Dillashaw‘s shotgun title defense ultimately ended as most expected. The unlikely challenger, Joe Soto, put in a solid effort, but the Team Alpha Male product had the fight in his hands from start to finish.