What mattered most at UFC Fight Night 216 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas? Here are a few post-fight musings …
5. Rinat Fakhretdinov is the real
I said it after his dominant UFC debut back in June, and now I’m even more convinced: Rinat Fakhretdinov is going to be a problem in the welterweight division.
Fakhretdinov (20-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) extended his winning streak to 19 fights when he completely overwhelmed Bryan Battle for 15 minutes, even taking a pair of 30-25 scorecards, which are very rare. In 30 minutes of octagon time, Fakhretdinov has racked up more than 27 minutes of top control, which is just absurd.
Battle had no answers for the grappling and, when he put too much emphasis on defending, found himself knocked down by Fakhretdinov. So, he’s got some striking, as well.
There’s a lot of dangerous rising talent at 170 pounds such as Khamzat Chimaev and Shavkat Rakhmonov, to name a few. Fakhretdinov is the latest one we need to pay attention to, because at 31, he’s right in the midst of his prime, and I’m genuinely curious to see how the UFC handles bringing him up the rankings. It feels like he’s ready for the top guys now.
4. Drew Dober reminds us he's a hitter
Drew Dober has had some nice moments in his UFC career, but his knockout of Bobby Green has to be near the top of the list of his most memorable so far.
Not only did Dober (26-11 MMA, 13-6 UFC) catch his fifth bonus in his past seven bouts with a Fight of the Night, but he tied Dustin Poirier’s record for most knockout wins in UFC lightweight history (eight) when he laid out Green in the second round.
With 20 UFC fights under his belt, it’s fair to say at this point that Dober has entrenched himself among the most reliable action fighters not only at 155 pounds, but but in all of the promotion. He’s become must-see TV at this point, and he seems very aware of the service he provides to the viewer.
Put a Drew Dober fight anywhere on any card, and I’m absolutely going to watch.
3. Arman Tsarukyan shows his potential again
It might annoy some people that Arman Tsarukyan continues to hang his hat on being the guy who gave Islam Makhachev his most competitive UFC fight to date. However, it seems to be a truly beneficial driving force.
If you haven’t heard him talk about it 100 times, Tsarukyan (19-3 MMA, 6-2 UFC) fought Makhachev in his short-notice UFC debut in April 2019, and the pair put on the Fight of the Night. Since then Makhachev has evolved into the man who now holds UFC lightweight gold, while Tsarukyan is a contender on the rise.
Tsarukyan is determined to get that rematch, and he took a positive step forward by snapping the 19-fight winning streak of Damir Ismagulov, who doesn’t have the big name but is a hell of a talent and no pushover. Beating him is a huge win for Tsarukyan’s resume and puts him in position to get another high profile fight.
Should the UFC oblige Tsarukyan’s callouts and give him Charles Oliveira or Beneil Dariush, whom he asked for by name post-fight? No. He hasn’t earned those guys yet, and both of them deserve better at this stage. But trust me, it’s not going to be long before those conversations feel much more realistic. Tsarukyan is just that good.
2. Sean Strickland has himself to blame
Sean Strickland is sitting on back-to-back losses for the first time in his professional career after falling short in the main event, and it feels like both could’ve been pretty avoidable had he chosen to take a different stylistic approach.
Strickland’s (25-5 MMA, 12-5 UFC) decision to play a very slow-paced, low output game with Jared Cannonier came back to bite him. He might think he won, but there’s just simply not enough action in the fight for him to be screaming robbery. Had he picked up the pace a little bit more and listened to his corner’s advice to mix up his offense, I’d bet we’re sitting here talking about Strickland as the main event winner.
The same criticism goes to his previous fight against Alex Pereira in July. Strickland showed horrendous fight IQ, standing directly in front of the kickboxing standout without attempting a single takedown. He got his comeuppance for that in the form of a first-round knockout loss.
Strickland is a polarizing figure in our sport. We know this. But his schtick only works if he’s winning fights. It makes it much harder to tolerate the wild, offensive stuff that comes out of his mouth when he’s not giving back any upside. He gets some mulligans here given the level of competition, but unless he wants to be permanently trapped outside the top fights, he needs to make some adjustments.
1. Jared Cannonier should be Alex Pereira's biggest fan
Jared Cannonier did what he had to do to get his hand raised against Strickland, but this wasn’t the performance that has you champing at the bit to see him fighting for the title again.
After delivering a stinker with then-champ Israel Adesanya at UFC 276 in July, Cannonier (16-6 MMA, 9-6 UFC) needed to show he can still be a contender people are excited about. I don’t think he much accomplished that vs. Strickland, but he managed to at least maintain his position.
Going forward, Cannonier should absolutely be rooting for Pereira to beat Adesanya in their likely rematch for 185-pound gold, because if Adesanya gets the belt back, he has zero traction for another title shot. If Pereira defends, however, Cannonier has a new lease on life and a decent chance of being one fight away from an opportunity.
It’s just the reality of how the sliding doors game goes in the UFC sometimes, and Cannonier is currently a victim of that.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 216.
