Hindsight - UFC on FOX 26: Lawler vs. dos Anjos in retrospect

Get the thoughts and musings of Dayne Fox on UFC on FOX 26, from Jordan Mein’s career revitalizing performance in the opener to Rafael dos Anjos staking his claim for a title shot at welterweight.

Let’s forget the fact that the ratings for UFC on FOX 26 were dreadful. Ratings and PPV buys aren’t the strictest indicator of how good a card was. Because the action in the cage was pretty good. The main event may not have been the most competitive or entertaining contest on the night, but it was far from a dud, delivering a satisfying battle and a deserving #1 contender at welterweight. There were also a few thunderous knockouts and some bloody brawls. The best card of the year? Pfft… it wasn’t even the best card of the month. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t fun.

Here are my thoughts on UFC on FOX 26, with every fight and fighter involved broken down. The format is simple. The first bullet covers what was expected to happen and an attempt at a brief summary of what did happen. The next two bullets cover my thoughts on each fighter, how they did, and where they might be headed from here with the winner being covered first.

Jordan Mein defeated Erick Silva via unanimous decision

• Expectations/Result: Mein and Silva have been two of the most inconsistent fighters on the roster, making it difficult to project how a contest between them would go. I picked Mein due to Silva’s struggles outside of Brazil. It proved to be a wise pick. Mein looked better than he has in years, pressuring Silva, putting together slick boxing combinations, and beating up the Brazilian once he got him to the ground. Outside of a couple of nice punches in the midst of a few exchanges, Silva did next to nothing.
• Mein: At 28, some may claim that Mein is about to make a run. Given he’s been a professional since 2006, I don’t see that happen. However, whatever he did in his camp to prepare for this fight, he needs to keep doing it. He looked like he wanted to be there, a major change in his body language from his previous fights. His fists were sharp, his takedowns well-timed, and he was alert when Silva tried to threaten with a submission. So long as Mein is motivated, he can still be an excellent action fighter. Here’s hoping he can do so.
• Silva: Even though it was a one-sided contest, Silva didn’t look horrible… at least on the feet. The problem was that he couldn’t get back to his feet once he was taken down. I didn’t necessarily have an issue with how his guard looked… just that he was too willing to work from there, keeping Mein in a closed guard when he should have been trying to get to his feet. I would have been happier if he attacked from the bottom ala Michael Bisping against GSP. Remaining content to search for submissions from the guard completely negated him finding a way to conserve energy.

Alessio Di Chirico defeated Oluwale Bamgbose via KO at 2:14 of RD2

• Expectations/Result: Either Bamgbose was going to score a KO in the first round or he was going to lose. Simple as that. Though Bamgbose was dancing around on the outside a lot – as he usually does – he wasn’t attacking as often as usual, nor did he have the same amount of ferocity he typically displays. Di Chirico knew to expect Bamgbose to attack from the outside, effectively defending whenever Bamgbose attacked. Di Chirico began pressuring Bamgbose in the second, tied him up in the clinch, and put Bamgbose out cold with a knee to the face.
• Di Chirico: It’s always encouraging to see a youngster put forth an intelligent effort the way Di Chirico did here, never mind if it was boring up to the finish. He let Bamgbose use up energy dancing around the cage, refusing to chase after him early on. It was risky as he may have given up the first round, but Di Chirico changed his strategy in the second round slightly. He still let Bamgbose move around, but he cut effective angles as he looked for the kill. The knee that he put Bamgbose out was placed perfectly on the temple. I’m not going to say it was all luck, but there was a bit involved.
• Bamgbose: No one is denying the Bamgbose is dangerous. He’s very dangerous. The problem is that he’s predictable and doesn’t set anything up. There isn’t a functional boxing game in the pocket for Bamgbose. He’s not strong enough to find sustained success in the clinch. A ground game? Forget about it. At 1-4, it’s time for the UFC to end the Bamgbose experiment. If he’s going to develop new skills, he’d be better off doing so on the regional circuit.

John Makdessi defeated Abel Trujillo via unanimous decision

• Expectations/Result: Both veteran lightweights have shown signs of wear and tear, though Makdessi’s skid has been more noticeable. Despite knowing full well that Makdessi was the slicker striker, I picked against him anyway as I worried about his durability. No need as Trujillo rarely made an earnest effort to touch up his chin, much less actually touch it up. Makdessi threw a barrage of kicks to the left leg of Trujillo, causing him to stumble on multiple occasions with the occasional counter landing on Trujillo’s chin. Makdessi became the pursuer in the final round – even though he was up on the scorecards -- to put his stamp on the contest.
• Makdessi: Easily the best performance from Makdessi we’ve seen in a long time. Not only were his kicks and punches on point, his takedown defense was stout too. Trujillo only got him to the ground once and Makdessi didn’t stay there for very long. Makdessi was calm and collected the whole way, though not having to fight from behind surely played a part of that. Even though Trujillo had the reach advantage, it was the shortest reach of any of Makdessi’s opponents in five years. That played a big role in Makdessi’s newly found comfort.
• Trujillo: I don’t know where Trujillo has gone since he left Henri Hooft, but it hasn’t been good for his career. He didn’t have a plan when his takedowns weren’t working, appearing to randomly throw out strikes in hopes something would catch Makdessi. As dumb as it sounds, I would have rather seen Trujillo start brawling as he’s excelled in that environment before. Nope. Regardless of what it is, Trujillo hasn’t looked right for a while. If he doesn’t find the source and turn things around, he’s going to be out of the UFC soon.

Nordine Taleb defeated Danny Roberts via KO at 0:59 of RD1

• Expectations/Result: There was some back-and-forth in picking this contest. I went with Roberts as his I expected his athletic advantage over Taleb to be the difference. He didn’t even get a chance to use it. As the two used the early moments to feel one another out, Taleb found his distance as he backed Roberts against the cage. Launching a head kick at him that Roberts partially blocked, it had enough force behind it to knock Roberts silly. As Roberts fell into the fence, Taleb followed up with a couple more punches before the ref stepped in to save a downed Roberts from further punishment.
• Taleb: I keep expecting the 36-year old Taleb to start slowing down and he continues to improve. I’ve always known he was tough as nails, but I expected his athletic limitations would prevent him from winning as consistently as he has. Instead, he’s avoided the type of brawls he became known for on TUF and used his veteran savvy to avoid damage while executing his technically sound striking game. Taleb’s athleticism has limited him in his two UFC losses, but he’s proven to be a top-notch gatekeeper.
• Roberts: While Roberts may have an argument that he wasn’t completely out when the referee called the contest, he would have been soon enough. This loss is heartbreaking for the Englishman as Taleb was the perfect type of victory that would have gotten Roberts over the hump in terms of being a name for fans to pay attention to. Now he’s just another talented welterweight who doesn’t seem likely to take the next step. If he doesn’t, he’s still a fun guy to watch, in part because what is holding him back is his defense. You’d think he’d be better at it with his boxing background. Roberts can still turn it around, it’s just going to be more difficult than originally thought.

Chad Laprise defeated Galore Bofando via TKO at 4:10 of RD1

• Expectations/Result: There were two camps for this fight; those that thought Bofando’s size and athletic ability would be too much for the smaller Laprise to handle and those who thought Laprise’s technical game would overwhelm Bofando. We saw where both sides were coming from. Bofando landed a brutal combination knockdown in the opening minute of the contest, coming this close to finishing the Canadian. Laprise persevered and found a way back to his feet. It wasn’t long before Laprise found a takedown, securing side control and then the mount on Bofando. Bofando couldn’t fight off the punches Laprise rained down upon him and the ref stepped in with less than a minute to go in the round.
• Laprise: Everyone was concerned Laprise would be too small at welterweight to find sustained success. So far, he’s looked good, picking up two wins in two tries. However, he’s also been facing questionable competition. Bofando’s lone UFC win came over Charlie Ward and no one is going to consider that to be a legit UFC-level victory. Laprise’s other win at welterweight? Brian Camozzi with zero UFC wins. Laprise has done what he needs to thus far – sporting an impressive 6-2 UFC record overall -- and no one can take that away from him. But I don’t see the questions going away until he faces someone who has earned their roster spot. To sum it up, the UFC needs to stop bottle feeding Laprise.
• Bofando: There is no doubt Bofando offers promise as he is an excellent athlete. But he’s not going to be a consistent threat until he begins to emphasis fundamentals. His obsession with spinning attacks makes him far more predictable than he’d like to think he is and makes him easy to counter. If Bofando could develop some simple boxing combinations and/or threaten with some sort of a takedown, he’d become an action-fighting fixture as his athletic gifts would take care of the rest. Until then, it’s going to be hard for him to catch his opposition off-guard regardless of his talents.

Julian Marquez defeated Darren Stewart via submission at 2:14 of RD2

• Expectations/Result: After an impressive showing on the Contender’s Series, Marquez was an easy pick for most given Stewart had yet to pick up an official UFC win in three tries. Make no mistake, Stewart absolutely brought it… but so did Marquez! An epic brawl broke out between the two, both landing multiple blows to one another that would have put many others to sleep. Yet both remained standing to continue throwing leather. The breaks in the action came when Stewart would pursue a takedown after eating a heavy shot. Marquez would try defending by pursuing a front choke. He finally got one deep enough to submit an exhausted Stewart about halfway through the second.
• Marquez: While his contest with Phil Hawes wasn’t an official UFC contest, it was under the UFC banner. Marquez is now two-for-two in putting together can’t-miss brawls under that umbrella. Beating Stewart may not be the most impressive accomplishment, but doing so in the manner he did is a huge boost to the way that the UFC is likely to market him in the near future. He’d be smart to emphasize head movement and footwork as he continues to take a lot of damage. The 27-year old’s chin is holding up well, but they can only do so for so long. At this rate, his chin will be compromised by the time he’s 30, if not sooner.
• Stewart: Though it is no doubt disappointing that he fell short, Stewart may have performed well enough to maintain his UFC employment. Given it was his fourth UFC contest without an official victory, that says something about how well he performed here. Stewart’s chin had yet to truly be tested, but he proved he can take a hell of a beating in this fight. He also demonstrated he lacks much in terms of striking craft, relying solely on his heavy hooks. It nearly worked – and would have against many other opponents – but Stewart is on his last legs. He NEEDS a win in his next appearance.

Jan Blachowicz defeated Jared Cannonier via unanimous decision

• Expectations/Result: After a pair of action packed victories in the last year, Cannonier developed a bit of a cult following as an exciting brawler. Couple that with Blachowicz’s faulty gas tank and poor takedown defense, most were picking Cannonier. What they didn’t take into effect was Cannonier’s own struggles with takedowns. Blachowicz used his jab to break Cannonier’s rhythm and set up his takedowns. Cannonier turned up the aggression in the final round as Blachowicz slowed, finding some success, but was again subject to Blachowicz’s takedowns to end his potential comeback.
• Blachowicz: It’s been a hell of a turnaround for Blachowicz in the past two months. He was looking at potentially being cut should he lose to Devin Clark in October and now he’s looking at a potential contest with a top ten opponent. Blachowicz’s issues haven’t been completely solved, but he’s shored them up enough that he can work around them provided he fights a smart fight. His own offensive wrestling abilities are often overlooked due to his own problems stopping takedowns. He is unlikely to climb much higher than his current position, but he’s at least secured his spot on the roster at this juncture.
• Cannonier: This is a very disappointing performance from Cannonier. Many saw him as a dark horse to emerge as a title contender in a division desperately in need of fresh blood at the top a year ago. His loss to Glover Teixeira earlier this year wasn’t unexpected, but this loss to Blachowicz kills the possibility of him emerging as a contender. It isn’t that everyone didn’t already know to put Cannonier on his back before this contest, but seeing Blachowicz do so time after time emphasizes just how easy it is to do so. His cylinder block hands won’t mean anything if he can’t remain vertical. Having his standup stifled by a simple jab isn’t encouraging either.

Glover Teixeira defeated Misha Cirkunov via TKO at 2:45 of RD1

• Expectations/Result: Teixeira has continually been used as the potential scapegoat for young blood making their way up the light heavyweight ladder to make a name for themselves. Patrick Cummins was unsuccessful. So was Cannonier. Why would Cirkunov be different? Cirkunov started out very strong, throwing kicks to the legs and mid-section of Teixeira as the established veteran continued to swing for the fences. Teixeira mixed it up by getting a takedown, going for Cirkunov’s back before transitioning to the mount and finishing off the Canadian with a flurry of punches.
• Teixeira: Despite his 38-years old, Teixeira is still very relevant at the top of the light heavyweight division. Given how clumsy he looked on the feet here against Cirkunov, that’s not a good thing for the state of the division. Yes, Teixeira’s power still makes him dangerous on the feet, but he didn’t even try to establish his range before swinging for the fences. Fortunately, he still has his difficult to stop single-leg that he can fall back on. Given Alexander Gustafsson is out due to shoulder surgery, Teixeira could very well be next in line to face the winner of Daniel Cormier and Volkan Oezdemir. Is the UFC sure it made the right move in letting Ryan Bader leave?
• Cirkunov: I understand where the UFC was coming from in lining Cirkunov up against Teixeira. If he was able to get the win, he’d be launched right into title contention despite his loss to Oezdemir earlier this year. The risk was if he lost to Teixeira, Cirkunov would become irrelevant in the title picture. Make no mistake that the UFC re-signed Cirkunov in hopes of him being a contender. To give Cirkunov credit, he did look better on the feet than he ever has, avoiding Teixeira’s offense and picking apart the Brazilian in return. The problem is that his grappling was supposed to be a strength and he offered very little resistance when he hit the ground. Despite that, Cirkunov is progressing. The UFC simply fed him to the wolves before he was ready.

Santiago Ponzinibbio defeated Mike Perry via unanimous decision

• Expectations/Result: The prognosticators were split down the middle over who would win between Ponzinibbio and Perry. The only thing they knew is that it would be a hell of a clash. They weren’t wrong. Ponzinibbio started slowly as Perry pressured him to take the early advantage. However, Perry was unable to land cleanly as Ponzinibbio continually moved around the cage, creating a difficult target. Ponzinibbio turned up the volume in the second, mixing kicks with stiff punches to the head. Perry continued to swing for the fences, but faded fast, being unable to land any haymakers towards the end of the contest. Ponzinibbio closed out the final round with a series of takedowns to ensure Perry couldn’t land a bomb from out of nowhere to steal the win.
• Ponzinibbio: While this wasn’t Ponzinibbio’s best win – that would still be the win over Gunnar Nelson – this was the most high-profile win as this took place on network television. He was willing to give up the first round as he allowed Perry to chase after him and wear himself out with low kicks being the only consistent offense he landed. After that, his combinations were sharp as he pieced up Perry. Perry continued slowing down and after picking up a lead early in the third off a knockdown, Ponzinibbio wisely took Perry to the ground to eliminate the chance of the young slugger landing a power shot on the feet. Brilliant strategy! The only thing I would like to have seen is Ponzinibbio mix his punches to the body. Other than that, flawless. With six straight wins, the Argentinian is potentially one victory away from a title shot. Obviously, there would have to be some unique situations playing out for that to occur, but it isn’t impossible at this juncture.
• Perry: A loss here isn’t necessarily a bad thing for Perry. The youngster is more intelligent than he appears to be at first glance… at least in terms of his fight IQ. Ponzinibbio conserved energy early while Perry continually went for the kill. He’d be wise to develop a jab to score points as he’s going to have a hard time winning all of his fights moving forward by KO. I was happy to see him score a takedown in the second round, showing he’s willing to take those steps. Given Perry is 26 years old and has been a professional for just over three years, he has plenty of time to continue to grow.

Josh Emmett defeated Ricardo Lamas via KO at 4:33 of RD1

• Expectations/Result: As a late notice replacement for Jose Aldo, Emmett was facing a tough task going up against the former title challenger Lamas. Missing weight didn’t seem to help him either. Lamas started out strong, attacking a pressuring Emmett’s legs with kicks as the Team Alpha Male representative swung for the fences. One of those home run swings eventually paid off as Emmett found Lamas’ chin flush with about 30 seconds left in the opening frame, stunning the MMA world with a massive upset.
• Emmett: While no one can take away the win from Emmett, it is tainted by him missing weight. Granted, Emmett took the contest on short notice and he’s huge for featherweight. At least Emmett has apologized for it. However, until Emmett can pick up another top flight win, this is going to smell incredibly fluky. His best win prior to this contest: probably Felipe Arantes. I’m not going to state who Emmett should fight next as there are several important contests in the division coming up in the next month, but he’s sure to get a ranked opponent next. If he can pick up a win there – or at least put up a competitive contest – he’ll be viewed with a lot less skepticism.
• Lamas: It doesn’t look like Lamas is going to be getting a second shot at featherweight gold after this loss. It was a longshot he’d be able to claw his way back there anyway at the age of 35 with a loss to the champion Max Holloway already on his ledger, but it’s officially closed now. That doesn’t mean Lamas is done. He looked sharp up to the point Emmett cracked him. He simply got too confident in the pocket with a harder hitter. He can remain a gatekeeper to the top ten – maybe even top five – for a year or two before I’d expect he’ll start to feel the regression that comes with age.

Rafael dos Anjos defeated Robbie Lawler via unanimous decision

• Expectations/Result: Given the size disparity between the two, most were picking the former welterweight champion to overthrow the former lightweight champion. In other words, Lawler over dos Anjos was the popular pick. To no one’s surprise, dos Anjos took the early lead as Lawler traditionally takes some time to feel out his opponent. Dos Anjos attacked the legs, which didn’t have an immediate impact, but played a huge part in the later stages of the fight. Lawler hung tough in through three rounds – including enduring a 23-second flurry from dos Anjos in the second – before fading as he struggled to maintain a solid base. Lawler needed to stay close to the fence to ensure he stayed on his feet, leading to dos Anjos battering him in the clinch for long periods of time in the final two rounds.
• Dos Anjos: It isn’t that nobody believed that dos Anjos couldn’t win. It’s that nobody saw dos Anjos winning this way. He bullied the bigger Lawler for the final half of the fight as Lawler could barely stand. Had dos Anjos found a submission or taken some rounds with a wrestling and grappling approach, no one would have been shocked. But to thoroughly take every round with the majority of each frame taking place on the feet? Yeah, that was a bit shocking. It also adds to the legitimacy of dos Anjos as a contender at welterweight. Should Dana White keep his word and award dos Anjos a title shot off the strength of this win, the champion Tyron Woodley appears to stylistically be a tougher contest for dos Anjos than Lawler was. Then again, each opponent dos Anjos has faced at welterweight has stylistically appeared more difficult and he continues to find ways to win.
• Lawler: It’s safe to say that Lawler is out of title contention for good. He didn’t seem like he cared all that much in the first place whether he ever got another crack at the belt in the first place as he appears more interested in simply solving whatever dilemma is placed before him and having a good time while doing it. It appeared his strategy here was to tire dos Anjos out as he attempted a rope-a-dope strategy in the second and attempted to grind out dos Anjos in the clinch the following round. Instead, it was Lawler who appeared to have a shortened gas tank. At 35 with 15 years of high level MMA competition under his belt, it appears Lawler’s body may be breaking down. Yes, he was there at the end of the contest, but he was also barely standing. I don’t think he’s retiring yet, but I’d rather see him involved in an Anderson Silva-type role where he’s largely an attraction rather than a contender.