Check out my ten thoughts on the aftermath of UFC 167.
1. The Main Event
Really, everything about the fight including the decision, the post-fight statements and the indications for the futures of GSP, Johny Hendricks and the welterweight title require full on articles, so aside from all of that talk, let’s keep things simple here and break down their performances. Hendricks answered questions about his conditioning and GSP answered questions about his chin and toughness. They were about even in the wrestling department, which speaks volumes about Hendricks since that’s the one advantage GSP could usually depend on to clearly win fights. GSP’s jab was as good as ever, but all of those combined with his kicks didn’t really seem to hurt Hendricks, while Hendricks clearly hurt GSP. Hendricks, regardless of the physical damage he caused, made GSP look like he wasn’t GSP. That’s both a testament to Hendricks and a sign of worry for GSP. Aside from the controversial decision, it was everything you wanted in a title fight.
With that said, there are a ton of questions that need answers now. Will GSP retire? If not, how long will his “break” be? What’s the “personal issue”? Does GSP still have that drive in him? Because apparently he doesn’t. Does he really want to come back and rematch Hendricks, who looked extremely comfortable and confident for the duration of the fight? All of the signs point in one direction, but this story needs time to play out.
2. A hungry Evans is a dangerous Evans.
He went through Chael Sonnen faster than Jon Jones and Anderson Silva did. And he did it playing Sonnen’s game, clincing and wrestling against the cage. Sonnen held the upper hand for a bit there, but than Evans turned it on and it got ugly in a hurry.
Dana White said Evans was focused and intense before the fight, and it showed. Evans apparently found that fire again because he looked absolutely fantastic against Sonnen. It’s going to be interesting to see where he goes from here, but if this fight was any indication, Rashad Evans is back.
3. Lawler wins the split…the right call.
Lawler won that fight. He almost finished MacDonald and looked very good for the most part, but he didn’t dominate that fight and it shouldn’t have been a unanimous decision. A split decision fit that fight perfectly. Lawler may have just earned the next shot at the title, or a spot in a title eliminator. It was a split decision, true, but it was over Rory MacDonald, who many had challenging for the welterweight title if he won tonight. He put Rory into a ton of trouble. The last guy to do that was Carlos Condit, and we all know what happened with him.
On the flip side, MacDonald looked very odd and lethargic at times. That was the worst we’ve seen him look in a long time. He played it very tactical and safe in round one, then did his thing in round two, but getting into a brawl with Lawler in round three was foolhardy and didn’t fit his style and personality. MacDonald doesn’t win by brawling, he wins by out-thinking opponents and exploiting their weaknesses. He looked like he reverted to his old persona when he lost to Carlos Condit. All is not lost as he did bounce back at the very end and had that fight been five rounds the ending may have been different. But for all of the hype he’s received, Rory MacDonald still has plenty of work to do.
4. Tyron Woodley is scary.
He had a few trouble spots against Koscheck, which is both a credit to the skill of Koscheck and a deficit on the part of Woodley. He has to improve on that and learn to recognize big shots and do a better job of avoiding them. But man oh man, Woodley’s punch made me get out of my seat and do the classic “OHHH!” reaction. That thing was frightening. He already had Kos on the ropes, but coming back with that right hook made Kos do the air squat and then it was over. Woodley was like a lion in there, just waiting for the moment to pounce and he absolutely destroyed a former title contender in a way that no one has. Hendricks didn’t come close to doing that to Koscheck. That’s a scary sign for the welterweight division.
5. Josh Koscheck has some thinking to do.
That’s three losses in a row, first time ever in his career. Back to back KO finishes in that losing streak. He may or may not be done in the UFC, and he may or may not be done fighting. He definitely has it still, but what is the reward and potential gain? He won’t be fighting for a championship anymore, unless it’s in a different organization. There’s no shame in that at all, but if he somehow stays in the UFC, he’s at top ten gatekeeper status. That’s a big drop from fighting for the title and almost beating a guy who just fought for it as well. His generation of fighters is slowly fading into the background, while guys like Woodley and other younger guys and newcomers are starting to shine. It’s the natural process for any sport. Whatever he decides to do, he’s done a lot to help build the sport and deserves a ton of credit from both the UFC and fans of MMA.
6. Donald Cerrone…wants to drop to featherweight?
That’s the aftermath of his big win over Evan Dunham apparently. Cerrone, no matter what he says about losing streaks, just can’t seem to make that next jump and consistently compete with the best guys in the world. Hell, he’s never actually been on a losing streak, he’s never lost back to back fights. That’s what can be so frustrating about him, he just can’t string together wins over big names. It’s never been a question of size, weight, power or speed, so going to featherweight doesn’t make a ton of sense. But it does when you consider that he can try his hand at the elite guys in the FW division, since he’s already lost to some of the best lightweights. Cerrone may be a classic “B” level fighter. He’s going to beat 80-90% of the guys you put in front of him, but when it comes to that really elite, top fighter, he can’t seem to get over that hurdle yet.
7. Looking active is not equal to being active.
Tim Elliot losing to Ali Bagautinov should be a lesson to all new fighters: there is a big difference between what you think you are doing and what is actually happening in the fight. Fighters have to learn to accurately recognize if they are winning or losing the fight. Part of it is on fighter’s corners, especially when they lie to their guys about winning rounds, which isn’t doing them any favors. That didn’t happen with Elliot, but just because he was doing the pursuing and looking really active doesn’t mean he was winning. Bagautinov was constantly countering and tagging him throughout the fight and clearly won it. It looked a lot like Nick Diaz vs. Carlos Condit, where one guy was really going after the other, who kept peppering him with counter punches and kicks. Cage control only means so much.
8. The requisite grappling match was…
Leites vs. Herman. It seems like every card has to have at least one or two of these, where the guys end up just grappling and clinching against the cage for the majority of the fight. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with it even if most fans can’t stand watching it, and to be fair, the refs at 167 were pretty quick to stand guys up or separate them when the action stopped. In the case of Kim Winslow, maybe a little too quick. But until the rules change, it’s a huge part of how people fight, and more importantly, win in MMA. Leites proved once again, as guys do on every card, that simply out-grappling a guy can win you fights, if not necessarily popularity and fans.
9. The value of leg kicks.
Rick Story did exactly what Joe Rogan suggested he should do and it paid off. Had he resorted to those leg kicks a little earlier in the fight, and with more frequency, he may have earned a finish over a very durable and tough Brian Ebersole. Jose Aldo is probably the most vicious and effective practitioner of leg kicks, with other guys like Anthony Pettis, Jon Jones and Renan Barao right up there with him. Sometimes fighters are too caught up in the hands and just outboxing a guy, which makes sense since they are closer in proximity to the head and body, where most of the stand-up damage is done. But if you look at a Vitor Belfort and Jose Aldo, and what these guys are able to accomplish with their kicks, you can’t argue with the results. Chopping a guy down from the bottom up is just as, if not more effective than focusing solely on the head.
10. Watch out for Erik Perez.
What a dominating, super-impressive performance. There wasn’t a single thing he didn’t show in that fight. Speed, strength, striking accuracy, toughness, takedowns, he showed everything. The only reason he didn’t get a finish is because Figueroa was so damn tough. Figueroa had a lot of chances where he could have just quit and give it up, but he stayed in there, dished out some dingers and took a ton of punishment. Perez could easily be undefeated in the UFC except for that close split decision loss to Takeya Mizugaki. He’s only 23 and trains at Jackson’s MMA, and he hasn’t even reached his prime yet. He’s going to make some noise in the bantamweight division.
