This card has been getting some mixed reviews from fans and I honestly can't blame them. I didn't think it would bother me, but to walk out of this card with basically nothing to talk about in terms of serious fallout in changing the landscape of welterweight is a really hollow feeling. With that said, I don't think it was a bad card or anything, just some fights didn't end up being as interesting as I had initially anticipated. The main event went how I think a lot of the reasonable analysts expected. Masvidal had his moments and won some exchanges, but his ability to put together stretches of success was severely limited by Colby's pressure and wrestling. Colby Covington was able to get to his game plan and wear on Masvidal until he basically had nothing left in the 5th round. I was a little disappointed in how the fight ended though. I was just sort of hoping we would get a round where they threw caution to the wind and decided to settle their beef instead of just trying to win an MMA contest, but Colby opted for the ground control and I don't blame him for doing so. If you're new around here, I start off with the winner of the fight and then talk about the loser because that's the order they do the in cage interviews, so let's get into it.
Overall, I thought Colby put on a pretty good performance. Not that I claim to be an expert, but he didn't look like the same version of himself that we saw in both Usman fights in the early going, but he turned it on starting in the 3rd round. I really don't have anything profound to say about Colby Covington in this fight because this is largely the same version of him that we have seen for quite a few fights now. He used his cardio advantage to push Masvidal to the limit and then was able to take advantage after he was tired out. He got to his takedowns early and often and was able to land them a little earlier than I thought he would. His striking is also what we have come to expect from him. It isn't the prettiest to watch, but he throws and lands a ton of strikes and that damage can really add up. He did seem to have a little more power in those shots than I remember, but maybe that was just because of the bad blood. I don't think Saturday was the best version of Colby that I've ever seen, but he was still plenty good enough. He proved why he is the consensus second best welterweight in the world and why is he going to be a tough out for anyone. I guess if I had to critique his performance, it would be his lack of submission skills. For someone who can get their opponents to the ground the way Colby can, I think adding some higher level finishing skills would take Colby to an even higher level and make him a more dangerous fighter to deal with. Finally, I'm not even going to call it a weakness or a critique, but just something I want to keep an eye on going forward is Colby's chin. He was hurt and finished by Usman in their first fight, dropped by Usman again in the second fight, and he was dropped by Masvidal Saturday. He's in great shape and he was able to recover and go on the fight a very competitively against both Usman and Masvidal, but that's 3 of his last 4 where he's found himself downed. I'm not going to make a big deal of it yet, but it is something that I will watch for going forward.
This next section is kind of what was wrong with the fight in the first place. There isn't really any clear direction for either guy to go next. Colby called out Dustin Poirier in the post fight interview with Joe Rogan and a lot of fans didn't seem to like it. Call me a contrarian if you must, but I actually liked the call out for him. We all know that Colby and Dustin have their issues and I don't think there's a bigger fight for him out there right now. We know that Colby wants a third chance at Kamaru Usman and he can still get it, but it is going to take some time and some wins for him. I think he has to wait for Usman to defend his belt probably twice and he needs at least one, probably two more wins of his own before that becomes a real option. Usman had the surgery on his hand and the current rumor is that he will be defending his belt against Leon Edwards in early July. In my estimation, Gilbert Burns vs Khamzat Chimaev next month will be the number one contender fight for the following defense. Assuming Usman beats Edwards for a second (because if he doesn't then they will run that fight back) and comes out relatively healthy, he will be in line for a second fight in 2022 towards the end of the year. If Khamzat beats Burns, there's no way he doesn't get the next shot. If Burns wins, then I think he gets it as well. He will have defeated Wonderboy Thompson and then defeated "the guy no one wants to fight". I think having Colby fight in June or July would make a fair amount of sense. There's no bigger fight for him than Poirier in my estimation, but Poirier has been very dismissive of the idea in the past. Of course, a public call out could change things and money has a way of changing people's minds, but Poirier has plenty of options, namely Nate Diaz. While the Poirier fight is pretty interesting to me, he isn't the only option. If the only goal for Colby is to get to that title shot, I think the winner of the Belal Muhammad vs Vicente Luque fight is the next logical place to look. That fight is next month, so as long as the winner doesn't suffer any significant injuries, the timelines aren't too far off. Beyond that, I don't really see a next place to look for Colby. Honestly, I think throwing himself into the spot of the back up fighter for Usman vs Edwards or Usman vs Burns/Chimaev would be a pretty solid plan. If it was up to me, I think I would try for the Covington vs Poirier fight first and then use the Luque/Muhammad winner as the back up plan. I would definitely be more excited for Poirier than the other options, but I don't mind either option. At the end of the day, they serve as opportunities to build a contender off of Colby's name if he loses or good wins to build up Colby's resume for a third shot if he keeps winning.
On the other side of things, I don't really think Jorge Masvidal fought all that poorly. This fight was more of just a showcase as to how tough of a matchup Colby Covington is even for really tough competition. The biggest problem for Masvidal all night is that he just couldn't get any respect from Colby. Covington was just in his face for basically the entirety of the fight. Masvidal needed to find a way to have more of this fight take place at range and he just couldn't make that happen. Starting in the 3rd round, you could see the pace starting to wear on Masvidal and Colby slowly starting to assert himself more and more. Of course, the biggest talking point on the Masvidal side of things is the missed opportunity in the latter part of the fight. He threw a hook that connected right on Colby's chin that caused his legs to give out for a moment. I don't think he was hurt quite as badly as some are suggesting, but he was definitely in trouble for a short period and Masvidal really didn't do much to take advantage. In the moment, I thought if Masvidal had just rushed him, Colby would have changed levels and gotten the takedown. I can only assume that is what Masvidal was thinking as well and why he didn't really try to capitalize on the opportunity. Of course, hindsight being what it is, there really would have been no downside in Masvidal rushing in to try and get the finish because he lost anyway. If he rushes and gets taken down then nothing really changes from a final result perspective. If you didn't watch the fight and only looked at the final scorecards, I think you would guess that Masvidal got steam rolled and I don't think that was truly the case. Other than the 30 second stretch after Colby got dropped, he was never really in any danger, but that isn't to say Masvidal did nothing well. He was good in moments and exchanges, but he couldn't turn good exchanges into good stretches. That really has been what has plagued Masvidal for much of his entire career. He just has a hard time really putting together minutes and rounds where he is consistently in control of the fight. A lot of his biggest wins have come in moments and not over the course of the entire contest. With someone who is as smothering and throws the amount of strikes as Colby Covington, moments of success was never going to be enough unless he was actually able to find the finish.
As for where Jorge Masvidal goes from here... I really have no idea. He's in a great place because he is one of the most popular fighters on the roster. Every fight he's in from here on out will feel like a big fight and given his style, there is the opportunity for a lot of really fun matchups. On the other hand, because he is so popular, to just put him in there with strikers who will be fun fights may seem weird if they don't bring at least a similar level of hype. For example, I think a rematch with Wonderboy Thompson would be interesting, but I don't really know where that fight fits into a card, especially given how much money Masvidal will be owed. The first and clearest option for him is Leon Edwards. Leon will be fighting Kamaru Usman for the title, probably in July, but if he loses that fight, I think the matchup is probably the best option for them both. The fight was already booked once and I think it is just one of those fights that can be put together at any time because of the "3-piece and a soda" storyline. Admittedly, I'm a little less interested in that fight now than I was at the time, but I think it is still a perfectly reasonable fight to make. Make it a co-main event on a PPV card and I'm fine with it. For some reason, it seems like the UFC brass is extremely against a Masvidal vs McGregor matchup and I really don't know why. They're the perfect opponent for each other because their styles will allow the other to be at their best. I think it would be really fun, but I guess we'll just have to imagine for the time being. There's always the possibility for another BMF fight with Nate Diaz, but I don't think that is really high on anyone's list right now. Diaz is going back and forth with Dustin Poirier and still has the McGregor trilogy sometime in the future as well. Beyond that, I really don't have any suggestions. I'm sure he wouldn't mind a fight with Poirier either if he was making a full time move to 170, but that is still up in the air for now. If it was up to me, I would be most interested in the potential McGregor fight, but if I had to pick one from the more realistic options, I guess I would go with Leon Edwards, but even that doesn't feel like a huge deal right now. Maybe in a few months after this fight is farther in the rearview mirror I'll feel differently.
What do you guys think? What did you think of Colby's performance? Do you like the Poirier call out? If not, who do you want next for him? What about Masvidal's performance? Who should he fight next? Let me know in the comments. Thanks for reading and have a good one.
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