What mattered most at Saturday’s doubleheader of UFC Fight Night 229 in Las Vegas and Bellator 300 in San Diego? Here are a few post-fight musings …
5
Drew Dober etches his name in the history books
Drew Dober might not be the first name who comes to mind when asked about the best knockout artists in UFC lightweight history, but according to the record books, he is now officially that guy.
Dober (27-12 MMA, 14-7 UFC) dispatched of Ricky Glenn with strikes just minutes into their 155-pound bout UFC Fight Night 229 bout, and as a result he advanced out of tie with Dustin Poirier for sole possession of the record for most knockout wins in divisional history. It’s a major achievement for Dober, who has provided many action fights over the years despite never making a serious title run.
If comparing side-by-side to Poirier, it’s obvious Dober’s finishes in the category don’t stack up in the same way in terms of level of competition and significance. So the record is flawed, in a sense. But that doesn’t matter, because the statistics are the statistics, and Dober’s power has led him to many great wins.
It’ll likely lead him to more, too, and it’s almost guaranteed he adds on to this record, and holds it for a while. Outside of Poirier’s eight knockouts, the next closes active fighters on the list are Justin Gaethje and Jim Miller, who trail with six knockouts.
Dober is likely going to be able to label himself as the “Knockout King” for the foreseeable future, and he should certainly run with it, because it’s a hell of an achievement.
4
Cris Cyborg should've been main event, delivers anyway
Cris Cyborg was the high point of a relatively ho-hum Bellator 300 main card. She destroyed Cat Zingano in vintage fashion for a first-round TKO, showing that even at 38, she hasn’t lost much of a step and will only be beaten by a special performance.
People like to hold Cyborg’s 51-second knockout loss to Amanda Nunes at UFC 232 over her head and use it as a reason to tear down her greatness. It’s completely unfair. The fight was almost five years ago, and she’s 7-0 since then. It’s the only blemish on her resume in a remarkable 22 years, which is unprecedented level of sustained success.
You always know what you’re going to get out of a Cyborg fight, and that’s likely why she should’ve been the Bellator 300 headliner. I understand Usman Nurmagomedov (who we will discuss in a moment) has his appeal and is the younger fighter with the brighter future, but Cyborg deserved that spot. The night would not have ended with fans booing, and that’s a tip of the cap to Cyborg’s reliability to bring excitement.
Nevertheless, Cyborg still got her deserved shine on this card, and once again reminded us what a force she is inside the cage.
3
Will Usman Nurmagomedov be the best from his family?
The rumbling out of American Kickboxing Academy for years said that while UFC Hall of Famer Khabib Nurmagomedov was an incredible talent, the even better fighters would be his cousins, Usman Nurmagomedov and Umar Nurmagomedov, both of whom are undefeated.
Digging further for insight, people in the know would point to Umar as having the highest ceiling, which is why the UFC was willing to thrust him into a fight with someone like Cory Sandhagen so early in his career. Injuries and inactivity have stunted his development, however, which has allowed Usman to jump to the forefront.
Was Nurmagomedov’s (18-0 MMA, 6-0 BMMA) five-round dominantion of Brent Primus to defend his Bellator lightweight title and advance to the 155-pound grand prix final the most exciting fight? Nope. It was not. It was one-way traffic from beginning to end, and Nurmagomedov was never once in danger. That’s how most of his fights look, because through 18 contests, he still hasn’t lost a round.
Nurmagomedov’s ability to blend his striking and grappling together seamlessly is a huge problem for his opponents. His kicking game is already elite, and his fight IQ is off the charts. All of this at just 25 years old means he’s poised to be a force to be reckoned with for years to come.
The question on all of our minds, though, of course, is where will Nurmagomedov spend those years? Depending on what the future of Bellator looks like, the promotion should do everything in its power to hang on to him. As should PFL if a sale or merger happens and it has the chance to take on his contract.
Where we all want to see Nurmagomedov eventually, however, is under the UFC banner. It would be fascinating to see how he would stack up against the best lightweights, because he might very well be the most skilled of all. He will never fight good friend and teammate Islam Makhachev, but there’s plethora of other ma tchups there for him. Hopefully that door opens for him one day, because it would be a shame if he ends up becoming one of those guys people know is incredible, but use level of competition as a way to discredit his position.
2
Bobby Green's feel-good upset puts him on radar
Bobby Green made fools of us all who were leaning heavily to the side of Grant Dawson going into the UFC Fight Night 229 main event with an absolutely wild upset knockout victory in just 33 seconds.
It’s pretty cool to see Green (31-15-1 MMA, 12-9-1 UFC) gaining the traction he has in the past few years. He’s been around the sport for a long time and has always kept relatively the same energy in regard to his fighting style and mentality toward the sport. His career seems relegated to mediocrity, but Green has changed the narrative.
I’m not here to make the case that a 37-year-old Green is about to become a legit threat. He surprised Dawson with this one, but the fights are only going to get tougher in the loaded UFC lightweight division.
Green’s late-career resurgence actually has a lot parallels to what we saw from Jorge Masvidal during his 2019 run that put him in Fighter of the Year conversations. Two guys that have had many up-and-down chapters in the sport and have clear flaws, but found the time and place to maximize opportunities and raise their profile.
Depending on how the UFC plans to utilize Green going forward, we’ll see if the buck stops here with him, or if he can create more magic. Regardless, he’s already given us one of the most surprise non-title UFC main event upsets in recent memory, and that’s a nice feather in his cap.
1
The uncertain status of Bellator
With Bellator 300 sharing the night with a relatively underwhelming UFC Fight Night 229 lineup, the opportunity for the promotion to steal all the positive headlines was right there for the taking.
Unfortunately for the organization, the fights were just OK and far from spectacular. Nine of the 16 bouts went to a decision, and there weren’t any viral moments that set social media ablaze. That put the post-fight storylines back on the state of the promotion amid rumors of a potential sale to PFL or outright dissolution of the company.
To his credit, Bellator president Scott Coker sat in front of the media at the post-fight press conference and fielded every question asked to him about the situation. Were his answers particularly insightful or satisfactory? Not really. But he noted Bellator is a Paramount-operated company, and ultimately he’s just an executive with a contract, so he can only say so much.
Listening to Coker’s comments and demeanor, though, it definitely reflected a tone of impending doom for Bellator. This was a landmark event for the company, but the vibes from top to bottom felt like this was the end of something, and not a monumental moment in the process of an even grander future.
There will seemingly be plenty of time for fans and media to wax poetically about what Bellator meant to MMA and how the status of the company being in limbo is damaging to the sport as a whole. But the biggest takeaway of the evening, for me, was the grim atmosphere around what should’ve been a celebratory moment.
