What mattered most at UFC 287 at Kaseya Center in Miami? Here are a few post-fight musings …
5
Did the UFC rush Raul Rosas Jr.?
Christian Rodriguez gave 18-year-old sensation [autotag]Raul Rosas Jr.[/autotag] a sobering lesson in the main card opener when he outworked his younger foe to a unanimous decision in their bantamweight bout.
After making a splash as the youngest fighter in UFC history to get a win in his octagon debut last December, Rosas’ confidence went into crazy territory. He not only claimed he was going to win the belt in arguably the most stacked division in the sport within a short time span, but he also said he was going to be a three-division titleholder – something never done before in the UFC.
His confidence was endearing in a way at first. It showed he has high expectations for himself, and we could take his boisterous nature in tow since he’s still just a teenager. Unfortunately, he now faces the backlash of all the claims he made, and how he handles that is going to be the biggest test of all.
Take nothing away from Rosas after this: The fact he is here at 18 is ridiculous and remarkable. But anyone who has followed the sport long enough knew that there would be no problems as long as the going was good. But now he faces adversity.
No disrespect to Rodriguez, but he was a sizable underdog for a reason. UFC considered him on the lower tier of 135-pound fighters, and if Rosas can’t get past him, it raises questions about how he will be booked going forward and how his future could be negatively impacted if things go awry a few more times.
4
Gilbert Burns gives an ultimatum – and it works
It wasn’t the most thrilling performance of his career, but [autotag]Gilbert Burns[/autotag] took the path of least resistance in using his superior grappling to grind out Jorge Masvidal for a unanimous decision win in the co-main event.
Burns (22-5 MMA, 15-5 UFC) is often soft spoken and humble, but in the aftermath of the victory, he stood up for himself in a way we haven’t seen before by issuing an ultimatum to the UFC brass. Burns said he wanted assurances that he’ll fight the winner of Leon Edwards vs. Colby Covington for the welterweight title – even if he has to be a backup – or he wanted to be released from the UFC.
It’s an ultimatum not many fighters are bold enough to issue for themselves, but Burns went there – and it apparently worked. UFC president Dana White was presented with his stance at the post-fight press conference and said Burns has “got a deal,” which should be very exciting news for the Brazilian.
One person that news probably isn’t exciting for? Belal Muhammad, who seemingly continues to get shuffled back in the title queue after this latest development. It’s a brutal situation if all plays out as planned, but that’s not Burns’ fault. He took a shot and the UFC was receptive, so it couldn’t have turned out to be a much better night for “Durinho.”
3
Jorge Masvidal's well timed retirement
Coming into fight week, the idea of [autotag]Jorge Masvidal[/autotag] retiring with a loss to Burns wasn’t something on the forefront of many people’s minds. But as the week progressed and the bout drew near, all the signs were there.
Masvidal (35-17 MMA, 12-10 UFC) decided enough was enough in his storied MMA career after he suffered a fourth consecutive defeat with his unanimous decision loss. At 38 and with the fight going down in his hometown of Miami, there seemingly couldn’t have been a better time for “Gamebred” to make the choice to hang up his gloves.
Credit to Masvidal for sticking true to his word. He’s consistently said that he’s only going to keep fighting as long as he thinks he can become UFC champion. The path was there if he would’ve won given his history with current 170-pound titleholder Leon Edwards, but the defeat effectively shut the door on any title conversations around Masvidal for the foreseeable future.
The career retrospectives for Masvidal will pour in over the coming days, so we don’t need to go into the minutiae of it all right now. But if anything can be said about Masvidal, it’s that he deserves immense praise for turning himself from a mid-tier name in the UFC who was aimlessly floating around the promotion into one of the biggest stars around.
Masvidal’s 2019 campaign with wins over Darren Till, Ben Askren and Nate Diaz represented one of the great resurgences in MMA history given where Masvidal was in his career. That will go down as the defining point in what he did during his nearly 20-year run as a professional.
2
Israel Adesanya saves his legacy
[autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag] needed to turn in a winning performance as badly as any fighter in a high-level spot in recent memory during his MMA rematch with [autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag]. Not only did he achieve that, but he produced a highlight-reel finish to reclaim the middleweight title.
It’s hard to put into perspective the immense pressure that was on Adesanya (24-2 MMA, 13-2 UFC) going into this fight. Pereira (7-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC) was his boogeyman after defeating Adesanya twice in kickboxing then following him to MMA to take his 185-pound belt with a fifth-round TKO at UFC 281 last November.
Not only did Adesanya exercise his demons against Pereira, but he did it in the most spectacular way imaginable with a brutal second-round knockout. It’s hard enough for a fighter who has lost a UFC title by knockout to rally and win it back, but in this spot, it truly felt as though Pereira had his number. But then Adesanya changed the narrative.
For all the good Adesanya did during his first title reign – and there was a lot of it – the rivalry with Pereira was a thorn in the side of his legacy. He’s managed to beat everyone else who has confronted him at 185 pounds, but another loss to Pereira would’ve damaged where the pundits ranked him among the greatest ever in his division.
But now Adesanya enhanced his position. He’s the first two-time champion in the storied history of the middleweight division, and he can now point to his initial loss to Pereira and subsequent revenge as a positive piece of his story.
It was truly one of the most significant results in the history of the UFC, and company president Dana White was exactly right when he labeled Adesanya as “special” in the aftermath of the event.
1
Does the trilogy need to happen?
The way in which the two UFC fights between Adesanya and Pereira have played out sets up the perfect situation for a trilogy bout. Both men have earned dramatic wins, and the overall history between them makes it feel like a layup for the promotion to book.
Yet somehow, in the aftermath of the event, the winds don’t appear to be blowing in the way of a rubber match. White was almost insistent that Pereira will move up to light heavyweight in the aftermath of the loss, and Adesanya brushed off the idea of going it again.
Adesanya reinforced White’s comments that he thinks Pereira’s future rests at 205 pounds but said if the Brazilian wants to run it back for the belt, he needs to earn his way by beating some contenders. That’s fair given the fast-track Pereira received to his first title shot, but how much confidence is there he could beat a Robert Whittaker, Khamzat Chimaev or Marvin Vettori, who are all stylistic nightmares for him?
That leaves the UFC in a bit of a conundrum. It would feel incomplete if Adesanya and Pereira never had a third encounter in MMA, and the UFC would be taking a sizable risk if sets both men in different directions with hopes it comes together down the line.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 287.
