As a whole, I thought UFC 276 was a very good event. Maybe it wasn't great like we thought it could be, but it was still pretty good and had a lot of fun or important fights. If anything, it was the actual PPV portion of the card that disappointed. It really hurt that the weak fights opened the card and ended it. The Sean O'Malley vs Pedro Munhoz fight opened the main card and ended after the eye poke left Munhoz unable to see. I'll get more into that later. That started the PPV portion of the night on a sour note and then the main event wasn't as exciting as most people would have liked to end the night. I touched on that Monday and I'm actually going to talk more about it tomorrow, so stay tuned for that. I think had the lackluster fights been mixed into the card, we would have had a generally higher opinion. If the main card opens with Barberena vs Lawler and has Volkanovski vs Holloway as the main event, I think the overall opinion of the entire night would have been higher, but maybe I'm wrong. Anyways, there's a lot of fighters who need to be mentioned and discussed, so I don't want to make this intro too long.
I admittedly don't have a ton to say about Julija Stoliarenko, but I didn't want to single her out as the only one. Her fight didn't last long at all, so there's not much to get into from a performance perspective. It was back and forth on the feet, but she found the takedown and immediately attacked armbar, which is her signature submission. She snatched Jessica-Rose Clark's arm quickly and ended up damaging it pretty badly. That was her first UFC win, so it was a pretty big moment for her and on a big stage. I think someone like a Bea Malecki would make sense for her next time out.
Also, shoutout to Jessica-Rose Clark. She seemed to think that Stoliarenko held onto the submission too long, but it didn't seem like anything malicious or out of the ordinary to me. Hopefully the damage to her arm is minimal and she can return rather quickly. Best of luck to her in her recovery.
Next up is Maycee Barber and she had her best performance in awhile this time out. She came out ready to fight and was landing hard shots early and often. I'm not sure that Jessica Eye had the best strategy, but it was a good win for Barber nonetheless. Her work in the clinch, especially when she would frame and elbow, was brutal and probably the most effective thing she did all night. She continues to move her way up the rankings and will have a top 10 opponent next in all likelihood. The most obvious choices are the two women directly above her, Jennifer Maia and Andrea Lee. Lee and Maia use similar styles, so I don't know that there is a reason to choose one over the other, but they will both be a good test for Barber. They are both solid strikers who throw good volume, so it will be interesting to see how Barber fairs against that type of fighter.
Tip of the cap to Jessica Eye on a great career. Glad she got to go out on her own terms, even though it was a lot. She'll have a retirement post coming, but Eddie Wineland needs to happen first as his is long overdue.
Andre Muniz turned in an absolutely dominant performance over Uriah Hall. He continues to move up the middleweight rankings rather quickly and I think he is one guy that the UFC is looking at to set up a potential fight with Izzy in the not too distant future. His ground game is as slick as they come and he was able to get takedowns fairly easily in what was a somewhat favorable matchup for him. He's probably going to be at number 9 on Tuesday morning (writing this Monday night) so the options for him will be more limited. As things currently stand, Derek Brunson is probably the clearest option for him. I think that is a fight that the UFC would want to do in order to potentially build a new contender as Brunson is close to retirement. The loser of the upcoming Darren Till vs Jack Hermansson fight is another option for him. The winner is probably going to end up fighting up in the rankings, but the loser will be in position to potentially match up with Muniz as he tries to continue to climb.
As for Uriah Hall, I'm not sure what is really left to say about him at this point. The same things that have held him back over his entire career continue to be issues. He looked badly gassed despite it not being a very high paced fight and couldn't get his strikes off. He couldn't stay off of the ground either. I think a lower ranked striker or maybe even someone on the outside looking in makes sense. A Brad Tavares matchup would make a lot of sense as their timelines obviously fit and they're both coming off of a loss. I think that would be a good measuring stick to see where both of them still stand at this stage of their careers.
Dricus Du Plessis picked up a phenomenal win over Brad Tavares in what was probably the fight of the night for me. Well, I guess Barberena vs Lawler was good too, but it was in contention. Du Plessis didn't get off to a hot start and it looked like it may be too much too soon for him, but he turned it around and ended up winning a decision. His power held up over the entire 15 minutes and he was able to land consistently from start to finish. He answered a lot of questions and I think he really put himself on the map for a potential title shot as early as next year. He will most likely take the 12 spot that Tavares was in and called out Kelvin Gastelum. I think that is a perfect fight both rankings wise and stylistically. That fight would answer even more questions about Du Plessis and a win there would really solidify his spot in this division. I suppose a matchup with Uriah Hall is an option as well if the Gastelum fight can't get made.
For Brad Tavares, he's starting to get up there in age now, but I thought he still looked solid. He took punches as well as he has in awhile and his offense still looked pretty good. I wasn't sure how much he had left in the tank coming into this fight, but he held up very well and looked like he still has plenty more fight in him. I think the Uriah Hall fight is really the one for him as it fits what both sides need so well. The winner can look to make one last push towards the title, while the loser would probably move into a gatekeeper type of role. If not that, I think a fight with someone who is in a similar spot as Du Plessis was coming into this weekend is the move. Chris Curtis and Edmen Shahbazyan kind of fit that bill.
Next up is Ian Garry and I thought this may have been his most impressive performance to date. I was interested to see how he dealt with what Gabe Green brings to the table and he largely handled it without issue. His technical striking ability is pretty impressive for someone his age and I think the slow build is the right path for him. He still has a lot of growing and improving to do, but his arrow is certainly pointing in the right direction. I think the next logical step in his development would be someone like a Carlston Harris, Court McGee, or Miguel Baeza. The one matchup that I would be really interested to see would be Garry vs Matt Brown.
Jim Miller picked up yet another win and another finish. Beating Cowboy Cerrone in his final fight has to be a special moment for him and I don't know if there is a better man for the job than Miller to be honest. It is hard to say exactly how the UFC wants to book Miller going forward, but I think looking to rebook the Bobby Green fight would be the first place to look. Besides that, I think maybe a Claudio Puelles or a Mark Madsen fight could be something the UFC would look at. It is hard to get a read on the exact kinds of matchups they are looking to make for Miller though.
Tip of the cap to Donald Cerrone as well. Truly a legend of the sport. Of course, he'll have a full retirement write up in the coming weeks, so stay tuned for that.
Jalin Turner is an absolute animal. That guy's skillset is very interesting and how he uses it is so fun to watch. He honestly looks like a middleweight and somehow he gets all the way down to 155. He is a pretty solid striker and has serious power to go with it. His submission skills are also forreal and he can finish any fight in the blink of an eye. He blasted Riddell early and then jumped on the submission after forcing Riddell to shoot for a takedown. Turner will be looking at another ranked opponent next and it is sort of difficult to figure out exactly who it may be. Damir Ismagulov is also new to the rankings and just recently fought himself, so their timelines matchup decently. Maybe he will be the next opponent for Arman Tsarukyan. The loser of Rafael Fiziev vs RDA this weekend is a potential third option, but none of them feel any more likely than the others.
I feel like Brad Riddell needs a bit of a reset. He's lost two in a row, but I still believe in Riddell as a good fighter who can get back into the rankings. The main problem for him is that he is a tad undersized for the division, which was only made worse this time out against the biggest guy in the weight class. If they want to just keep giving him guys who are right in his tier, I think Guram Kutateladze, Joel Alvarez, and Thiago Moises all sort of fit. If they are looking to maybe drop him down another tier to give him a bit of a reset, I think Bobby Green, Renato Moicano, and Alexander Hernandez are some options. There is a fight at the end of the month between Carlos Diego Ferreira and Drakkar Klose and I wonder if maybe those guys would be options as well. For me, I kind of like the Thiago Moises fight. I think that strikes a good balance of allowing him to reset without dropping him too low down the division.
I think the move is to rebook the Pedro Munhoz vs Sean O'Malley fight. I'm not necessarily beholden to seeing this fight, but I really don't see a reason to move off of it either. If they go other directions, it just leaves the UFC in a spot where they are going to be looking to find a similar opponent for the both of them. If they do move on, I think O'Malley vs Frankie Edgar is a fight they would want to make. As for Munhoz, I think Adrian Yanez and Umar Nurmagomedov are the options. I just don't see the point in making those fights when we have Munhoz vs O'Malley right in front of us. That fight was going to answer questions that I wanted the answers to, so I still want to see it play out. I want to see what happens when O'Malley has to go 15 minutes with someone who won't go away. With all due respect to Kris Moutinho, Pedro is just on a different level than that. I wanted to see how O'Malley would deal with heavy leg kicks over and over again. I also wanted to see what Pedro Munhoz has left in the tank against a hungry young opponent. I thought this was the right fight for everyone involved. The fight was playing out to be pretty close as well. I thought Pedro's leg kicks were the most impactful thing to happen in that round even though Sean was checking some of them. In what we got to see of round 2, O'Malley looked like he had figured some things out and was starting to land more frequently and with a little more impact. Maybe it's just me, but I want to see how that fight would finish out. Also, if anyone thinks Pedro Munhoz of all people would fake an injury, then I don't know what to tell you. I tweeted it in real time that the replay made it hard to see him actually get poked, but the zoomed in slow motion replay shows it pretty clearly. His eye is badly swollen in the days since and hopefully it doesn't take him too long to get back. He was pushing for the DQ a little and I guess some fans are within their right to not like that, but I don't know. It isn't the best look in terms of "the warrior spirit" type of thing, but this fight game is unforgiving. I don't necessarily blame the guy for trying to get a win (and his win bonus) anyway he can.
Bryan Barberena picked up a nice win, but a tough win over Robbie Lawler. He was taking a ton of shots, but he was at least taking them well. On one hand, that was a nice hard fought win and it does put him on a pretty nice streak, but his wins are all really close over some interesting competition. With that said, the UFC is a better place when Barberena is in it as long as he's given opponents who will stand and bang with him. I think fights with Khaos Williams, Tim Means, Niko Price, or Kevin Holland all make sense and would be fun matchups in front of a big crowd.
I was down on Robbie Lawler coming into this fight and was kind of worried about him, but I thought he actually looked pretty solid. I definitely wouldn't mind if he continued fighting after that and I think he could win fights against legitimate competition still. His boxing looked good and his power even looked to be a bit better than it has been in the past couple of fights. I think fights with Matt Brown, Francisco Trinaldo, or Max Griffin would make sense for Robbie if he still wants to fight.
The last fight to talk about is Alex Pereira vs Sean Strickland and there really isn't much to say about Pereira. He has the touch of death type of power and we saw that as Strickland took one solid left hook and was floored. His kick boxing is forreal and he brings a level of power that doesn't often come with that level of technical skill. We know he's going to be fighting Israel Adesanya next, so there's no reason to waste time on that.
As for Strickland, he didn't come with the right strategy. His ego got the best of him and he decided to stand in front of Alex Pereira and paid for it. Strickland is a good striker and is a pretty tough guy, but Pereira is just different in so many ways. I don't necessarily think less of Strickland as a fighter, but clearly the fight IQ may not be there, which should be kept in mind going forward. I think his next fight being against Jared Cannonier just kind of makes sense. It is sort of just sitting there to be made. Both coming off of a loss and their schedules are lined up. It has too many things going for it in my mind. If they do go in another direction, I think Darren Till would be a good matchup. They both want to strike, so I don't see why not. Andre Muniz and Dricus Du Plessis were also on the same card, so they could be lined up with Strickland as well. The Du Plessis fight would be especially interesting.
What do you guys think? What was your favorite fight? Who made the biggest move for you (besides Alex Pereira)? Leave any and all thoughts about the card in the comments. Thanks for reading and have a good one.
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