What mattered most at UFC on ESPN 46 in Las Vegas? Here are a few post-fight musings …
4
Keith Peterson's preliminary card blunder
The overall focus of the preliminary card was not what it should’ve been, because the Nevada Athletic Commission found itself under scrutiny in more than one fight.
The first incident came in the second fight, when referee Keith Peterson called off Dan Argueta vs. Ronnie Lawrence for a submission that never happened. There’s no doubt Lawrence (8-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) was in a compromised position caught in a mounted guillotine choke from Argueta (9-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) while both were fresh and dry in the first round of the featherweight bout.
No matter how bad the spot, though, Lawrence did not tap out, and Peterson intervened to end the fight under the impression he had. It was unfortunate, because Argueta likely was on his way to a clean victory, his win bonus and a potential Performance of the Night. Instead, he got none of it, all because of Peterson’s mistake.
I can at least appreciate that Peterson owned up to the error immediately and, upon use of the replay review, the commission did the right thing in ruling the bout a no contest. That’s no help to Argueta, however, who did everything right when he stepped in the octagon, and was penalized for it in the end.
This situation was handled as best it could’ve been. Human error is going to happen with referees, and as much as we might want to rip Peterson for it, he doesn’t have a rich history of this exact misjudgment. Argueta was understanding in his post-fight interview, and if the fighter who was harmed the most isn’t going to freak out, we should be understanding, too.
3
Replay review raises questions about accidental head clashes
The second mishap came later on the prelims, when Carlos Hernandez had a finish that went from a slam to a series of vicious elbows in his flyweight bout with Denys Bondar.
This situation is more complicated to dissect than the one earlier, because it’s not anywhere near as clear-cut.
Hernandez (9-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) got a body-lock takedown in the final seconds of the third round and, as his momentum went down, his head connected with his opponent. Bondar’s skull had nowhere to go, and the force of being thrown down and his opponent’s head pinned appeared to put him out. Then Hernandez landed a series of disturbing elbows, which referee Jarin Valel was happy to watch him eat all too many of before stepping in.
Was this the right call? I’m truly still torn. My initial reaction was that it should’ve been a knockout, because the entire sequence happened so quickly and it’s hard to blame Hernandez for the momentum and force his head came down with. It didn’t strike me the same as say, the Bobby Green vs. Jared Gordon fight where a fight-changing head clash happened during a striking exchange on the feet.
A big piece of grappling is to use the head for a position and leverage. Hernandez didn’t utilize any dirty technical and the entire sequence was a product of his takedown action. If we’re going to start policing those type of motions, it could lead to some very muddy waters.
The upside here, unlike Argueta vs. Lawrence, was that the right man still won. Hernandez got his hand raised by technical decision after the replay review and got his win bonus. But there’s no last-second, highlight finish on his record that could’ve advanced his career in a different way.
2
Arman Tsarukyan's timely callout of Michael Chandler
Aside from a second-round scare from Joaquim Silva that he surely would’ve preferred to avoid, Arman Tsarukyan held serve as a massive favorite in the co-main event and earned a third-round TKO in what was essentially a placeholder fight against an unranked opponent.
Tsarukyan (20-3 MMA, 7-2 UFC) has no problem telling everyone who would listen, and I’ve heard the same behind-the-scenes, too, that securing matchups with top-ranked lightweights has not been easy. UFC has made its best effort to get Tsarukyan fights with the potential to move him forward in the rankings, but for various reasons, it hasn’t materialized.
That’s what made Tsarukyan’s post-fight callout of Michael Chandler so intriguing. Because while on the surface it seems ridiculous with Chandler (23-8 MMA, 2-3 UFC) positioned as the opposing coach to Conor McGregor on “The Ultimate Fighter 31,” with plans to fight the Irishman after, the talk about whether that fight will actually happen gets louder by the day.
McGregor, by all indications, is still not in the USADA drug testing pool and, unless an exemption is granted, he won’t be fighting this year. That could be the least of his problems, as well, if there proves to be legs to the sexual assault allegations toward him stemming from an alleged incident after Game 4 of the NBA Finals in Miami.
Chandler, understandably, is clinging onto the fight with McGregor for dear life – almost to the point of being in denial. That’s the right play from his perspective, and if there’s even a glimmer of hope that fight and payday are still coming, he should not consider anything else for a second.
At some point, however, Chandler might get dished a reality check. I can’t sit here right now and say whether the McGregor fight will happen. I don’t know. It doesn’t look promising at the moment, and if it eventually gets to the point where it’s dead, Chandler is going to have to start considering other opponents.
Maybe he doesn’t fight Tsarukyan even if he moves on from McGregor, but these type of callouts aren’t going to stop happening. There’s a number of hungry lightweights on the rise who want Chandler’s position in the rankings, and eventually he’ll need to do something about it.
1
Jared Cannonier stuck despite masterful win
Jared Cannonier put on a performances for the ages in the main event when he battered Marvin Vettori with the most significant strikes landed ever in a UFC middleweight bout en route to a unanimous decision win.
It was arguably the best overall showing of Cannonier’s (17-6 MMA, 10-6 UFC) career, which is saying a lot for a man who holds knockout wins across three different weight classes inside the octagon. And afterward, as he should say, Cannonier made it clear his goal is to work toward another UFC title shot.
The problem for him, is that so long as Israel Adesanya is holding that UFC middleweight belt, it’s highly unlikely he sees a chance to fight for it.
We can be blunt: Cannonier failed to show up in his first championship opportunity against Adesanya at UFC 276 in July. He had none of the tenacity, output and confidence in his offense that he displayed against Vettori, and it turned into a lackluster bout that he lost by unanimous decision. There’s absolutely no appetite from the MMA community to see that again, even after his effort against Vettori.
Of course, Cannonier isn’t entirely to blame for how that fight with Adesanya played out. The champion is not an easy puzzle to solve, and Cannonier seemingly froze up trying to decrypt the code. But when that happens, it takes a lot to reset the mind of the public and create an thirst for a rematch.
That’s why Cannonier is stuck. He’ll need some breaks in his favor if he wants another title fight, and that would be either Adesanya losing, an unforeseen circumstance happening that opens up a chance for him, or several more performances like he delivered against Vettori that make him an undeniable No. 1 contender.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 46.
