Saturday night was the first time in a long time that I've genuinely enjoyed just being an MMA fan. Granted not so much recently, but in normal times I spend many a Saturday night calling fights. Don't get me wrong, it's the best seat in the house; but as Norega said on Cypress Hill's Rock Superstar, "It's a fun job, but its still a job". Professionalism is a bore, but we do what we must in pursuit of that filthy lucre.
So it was a welcome change to kick back in front of some fights I was truly invested in, crack a couple of ludicrous cans and almost flip half my living room furniture when Paddy Pimblett got his first UFC win. Here are some hastily cobbled-together thoughts on UFC Las Liverpool, if you fancy...
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| Dolly Clew/Cage Warriors |
Times Are Hard, And Friends Are Few
It was tough to see Darren Till go out like that in the main event, especially after such a strong showing from his Scouse brethren further down the bill. You got the sense going into the final fight of the night that a big Till performance might have accomplished two things: Teeing Darren up for a title-eliminator when the UFC return to England next year, and generating a scaled-back approximation of that infamous night in Dublin for the Liverpool MMA scene.
Times look hard for Till in the cold light of day. He's clearly a top ten operator, but as things stand he'll likely be rooted in the #10-6 slots for the foreseeable future. The real shame is that like him or loath him (and there's plenty in both camps), he has the charisma and organic connection with fans to be a huge ticket for the UFC...but ultimately it's the wins that count and they'll have to start flowing again soon.
So what next for Till? For me it harks back to fellow British middleweight Michael Bisping's post-Henderson dilemma, so lets apply a similar solution. 'The Count' was matched with a well-known, serviceable but beatable opponent in Denis Kang; far from a 'gimmie', but a fight he could win. Let's get Till in there with Urijah Hall, or if he's to return to welterweight, Matt Brown.
At just 28 years of age, it's far, far too early to say "Ta-raa" to Darren's potential to be a UFC champion.
Bad Times Don't Last, Baddies Do
If you've followed Cage Warriors over the last half a decade or so (and even if you haven't), you've likely heard the hype, hate and bluster surrounding Paddy Pimblett ahead of his long-awaited UFC debut. Personally, I love the kid...but if you don't, that's OK too. Every prize-fighter that's ever made a wedge in this business has been divisive; it's part of the sport's intrigue. Paddy is no exception, in fact, he might just be the rule.
One thing you can't deny is that after a litany of bad times along the way, a leveled-up 'Baddy' has landed in the UFC with a bang.
Post-fight there's been a lot of talk around his defensive capabilities, the shots he took and how close he was to being finished. Let's be honest; unless he came out boxing like Floyd Mayweather people were always going to focus on this part of his game, it's the nature of the beast. As I see it, Paddy taking a few serious digs before getting the win has only added to the intrigue and anticipation for his sophomore performance, for three distinct reasons...
Firstly, it gave him chance to drop the infamous "Scousers don't get knocked out" line to a global audience. Secondly, it showed the world that he can take a shot with the best of them. Finally, and most importantly, if you're invested in seeing Paddy lose, maybe you're feeling a little more confident that a better striker than Vendramini might be able to get the job done.
Either way, you'll be tuning in to The Baddy's next fight... and that's all that matters.
Meatball Mania
In all the years I've spent navigating the European MMA scene, I've come across precious few people that wear their heart on their sleeve like everyone's favourite meatball, Molly McCann. I'm not just referencing her personality either; when Molly is up for a fight it's self-evident from her attitude in the cage. With her back against the wall and a dangerous opponent in front of her, The Meatball gave as good as she got, digging deep when it became clear that nothing short of a career-best performance in the third round would suffice.
And that's exactly what we got; Molly bit down on her gumshield, let rip and marched Ji Yeon Kim around the cage for the final five minutes; earning the win, fifty bags and almost certainly a shiny, new UFC contract.
Big shout out to Graham Boylan in her corner as well; those bucket carrying skills were second to none!
Jack Shorege St Pierre
As someone thoroughly exhausted from making comparisons to Conor McGregor every time Cage Warriors exports someone to the UFC with a bit of traction behind them, you'd think I'd shy away from this one too. Still, in for a penny, in for a pound. Shore, like GSP before him, is becoming a master of the mental aspects of battle; a ruthlessly efficient competitor with Tywin Lanister-levels of tactical proficiency.
That reference was a call back to the epic 'Game of Thrones'-style promo and write-up by yours truly for his Cage Warriors title bout with Scott Malone, by the way. No wasted words here my friends.
Shore has out-grappled wrestlers and strikers, and out-struck grapplers. He's fought around his own deficiencies; in this case, a torn bicep tendon that prevented him from getting the full squeeze on that arm-triangle in the first round of his fight with Liudvik Sholinian. He's very, very good.
While the flames may be slightly subdued as he recovers from said injury, Jack Shore is most certainly on fire.
Final Thoughts
- Tom Aspinal is an absolute tank, isn't he? We've seen a little bit of everything from the man hard enough to freely admit that he puts gravy on his fish & chips, and the ceiling has never looked higher. He's talked of taking things at a smooth pace, but the trouble with being a hot prospect in a division with relatively few rungs on the ladder is that if you keep cleaning people out, you'll be thrown in the deep end before too long. In the spirit of such, let's see how Big Tom does against the winner of the Tai Tuivasa/Walt Harris tilt next month.
- Gutting to see Modestas Bukauskas go down to a pretty grim-looking knee injury, so let's all send happy thoughts to The Baltic Gladiator for a full and speedy recovery. Respect also to his classy reaction amidst the online grief sent Khalil Rountree's way regarding the oblique kick that caused the injury.
- Look, if you want to ban the oblique kick in the interests of fighter safety then hoooo boy, do I have some depressing news about what getting punched in the head for twenty years does to a person's long term health. There seems to be an argument on social media that the oblique is some kind of un-defendable death blow (for knees). This is obviously bollocks. There are, however, some utterly depressing brain health studies currently in progress with combat sports athletes, and some legal questions around informed consent that may well cause sweeping changes to combat sports for under 18s, in the UK at least. Let's pick our battles.
Until next time,
B.W.
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