To say that I am not sitting here on on Sunday morning, sipping on my extra black coffee (that's a lie, who the fuck drinks black coffee? We stuck in some Red Dead universe or some shit?), in some form of depression after watching my favorite fighter have their consciousness separated from their body for the first time in their career would be an understatement. Seeing Tony face down, on the mat, stiff as a new employees white T-shirt fresh out of the dry cleaners on the first day of work, causes nothing but heartbreak. But that is part of the fascination I have with the sport of MMA. The highest of highs and the lowest of lows. For UFC 274 there were plenty of both.
We first start off the card with the replacement for the Donald Cerrone v. Joe Lauzon fight that was set to occur but was pulled due to “Cowboy” falling ill after weigh in due to Food poisoning. At least we were treated to a fairly competitive match between Randy Brown and Chaos Williams. I had Brown winning going into the fight thinking he would use his length to his advantage to stay away from the power of Williams. And the fight played out much like I though it would. Brown was deploying a double jab effectively and was punishing Choas from the distance. Chaos did have some success going in but the reach advantage proved too much and Randy Brown ended up winning the decision.
We then had two snooze fest’s in Shogun Rua v. Ovince Saint Preux and the title fight rematch between Carla Esparza and Rose Namajunas and while it might seem disrespectful to bundle a title match that was the Co- main event with the second match of the fight card, for anyone that actually saw the fight you know why. For both fights it seemed as though both sets of fighters were afraid if not at least a little apprehensive to engage. For Shogun it seemed like he still had the taste in the mouth from the previous KO loss to OSP. For Rose it seemed as though there was way too much respect for Esparza’s wrestling ability as she was kept outside of the center of the octagon. OSP ends up winning the series 2-0 over Shogun via decision. Carla ends up taking the decision victory over Rose in what to me was lack of situational awareness. The most concerning thing about the championship bout that I come away with is the certainty that the corners had thinking that they were winning the fight. Through the first two rounds at most maybe eight to seven strikes were landed. For the record I still have Isreal Adesanya v. Yoel Romero as the most disappointing and boring UFC title match, but Esparza v. Namajunas is cemented as second in that category.
Now for Tony time. My pick leading up to the Chandler v. Ferguson fight was Tony via Decision. My thinking was that both fighters had similar fighting styles, eat your shit whole. Take two shots to give one. And in that type of fight I had Tony winning the dance. Up until this point Tony Ferguson had faced the cream of the crop and had never been finished while Chandler facing similar adversaries had been finished before. But that was it, I figured it would be a close match between fairly even fighters on paper besides the 4 inch reach advantage Tony carried into the fight. Much to my pleasure, Tony seemed happy and in the right state of mind going into this fight.
The fight starts with both going straight to each other and we see a glimpse of the Old Tony back, and my heart begins to flutter. Tony is winning the exchanges and knocks down Chandler, who quickly gets back up a bit flustered but ends up blasting a perfect double leg takedown to get Tony on his back. For any other fighter this would cause concern to a fan to see the fighter that they care so much about being on there back. As a Tony fan I was elated knowing that Tony was more dangerous on the mat and that most of Chandler’s power would be subdued. The round ends. Tony is covered in his opponents blood after winning his first round in three years. I am whole.
And then this shit happens.
Chandler fires of one the the most violent shots I have seen in the sport. Winds up an kick from behind his frame and throws it with so much force he almost falls back. Except he doesn't. He lands square on the chin of Ferguson reminiscent of the Chito Vera front kick to Frankie Edgar or Anderson Silva to Vitor Belfort. Chandler plays spoiler to Tony Ferguson’s return and to me as a fan of El Cucuy.
I will never rewatch this fight. But that’s the sport, one winner, one loser. Props to Chandler. Coming out with that shot for the first thing in the second round is insane. Especially considering he lost the first round and Tony seemed in the driver seat. Being the first to KO Tony is insane. He earned the win in the most violent of ways. And he nailed the promo calling out McGregor. As for Tony, he is still my boy. Hopefully he recovers fully and makes a comeback. That’s the ride or die way. And fuck if i’m gonna turn my back on my boy, because he is still my boy.
And then we finally have the the main event for the possibility for one half to get the undisputed UFC lightweight belt. All because Charles Oliviera was not able to cut an additional half a pound. As far as the conspiracy theories concerning the scale go, am I really going to entertain the possibility of the scale to being off just because a Brazilian fighter mentioned as much, when the only two fighters to miss weight were Brazilian and have had a history of missing weight? Nah, c’mon homies. The simplest answer is usually the right one. Charles missed weight, and as a consequence had to vacate the belt.
Not that it mattered much, the fight started right off the bat with both fighters meeting in the middle and trading immediately, much to the relief of the crowd that was waking up from the dud that was the co-main. Gaethje ends up knocking down Oliveira twice in which he does not engage after the knockdown due to Oliveira being such a wizard on the mat which ends up giving Charles just enough time to recover. after another exchange Gaethje ends up on the receiving end of a shot that knocks him down. Except for Charles there is no threat on the ground from Geathje, so he goes for the finish, and gets it. Jumping on Gaethje immediately and securing a rear naked choke which forces Gaethje to tap. Reminding Justin who the actual quitter is.
Besides the heartache brought on by the Ferguson finish it wasn’t all bad. Daniel Cormier was inducted to the hall of fame after having a story book career in a sport where he was always the smaller, older fighter. At least that is some form of consolation prize to a roller coaster of emotions that was UFC 274.
But now I must go back to bed, and nurse this heartbreak. But man if I wasn’t as high as the crackhead outside of the 7 eleven after that Tony Ferguson first round.
That’s the hurt business for you.
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