UFC 279 was a very strange event that had so many things happen that some of them feel like they were a year ago. Having the press conference cancelled on Thursday doesn't even feel noteworthy anymore. By now, you know the whole story with Khamzat Chimaev missing weight badly and causing the entire event to be rearranged at the last second. Ultimately, the UFC got everyone on the same page and ended up finding matchups for everyone involved that were probably more interesting than the initial set up. I saw a bunch of people praising the UFC and saying how "the UFC does it again" and I think that is a pretty stupid take to be honest. I'm not sure why the UFC really needs to get credit for making the card better, when they were responsible for making the card bad in the first place. The only reason that Tony vs Li and Holland vs D-Rod were on the card in the first place is because it was so bad that no one was buying it and no one was buying tickets to attend in person. The UFC ended up adding those fights to try and salvage the event and it ended up saving the event after Chimaev almost sunk it. The UFC does deserve some credit for being able to get everyone to agree after the fact, but that doesn't excuse them from putting on the original card in the first place. I'm not really sure why the UFC and Dana were so willing to try and preserve Khamzat and defend him to this degree either. If you're a longer term fan, you've probably lost count of how many times Dana has sat at the table and blasted fighters for missing weight. Khamzat not only missed, but missed badly. It didn't really even seem like he tried to cut because he missed by so much and then didn't really even look dehydrated or anything. If it was truly a medical issue, that is perfectly fine, but I don't understand how he has a medical issue bad enough for him to not be allowed to cut weight, but then he is still allowed to fight the next day. The fact that the story of who stopped the weight cut has changed a few times in the last few days isn't making it look any better. The fact that Dana went so far to defend him just seemed so strange to me, but what do I know. It isn't like Khamzat is a champion or someone who is a big PPV draw because he obviously isn't or they wouldn't have had to add the other fights late. It isn't even like Charles Oliveira who missed by .5 lbs, he missed by 7.5 lbs and that wasn't even to get to championship weight. I guess if they want to slide Khamzat into a title shot next, they need to save as much face as possible, but I don't see how that could even be an option unless they're just forcing him up to middleweight. Anyways, we have time to get into all of that, let's just get back to the main event for today.
After all of the shuffling, we ended up with Nate Diaz vs Tony Ferguson in a fight that was so much more enjoyable than Nate vs Khamzat would've been. I texted my brother during the main event that this is the first PPV main event in forever where I was just sitting and actually having fun instead of being nervous. That's what this fight was. It was just fun. It wasn't about some grudge, status, contendership, or belt. It was two OG's of the game doing their thing and everyone was loving it. This might have been Nate's last fight in the UFC and it could've been one of Tony's last as well and for them to have a moment where they get someone on their own level to put on a show for the fans is what this event should have been from the start. I thought Nate looked how you would've expected him to. It's sort of hard to gauge him sometimes because it isn't always clear why he does some of the weird things he does. I don't know if he was starting to get tired when he was walking laps around the cage or if his leg was just that badly beat up, but he seemed ok whenever he continued the engagement. He is a little slower than he was in his prime, but his boxing is still pretty good and he seemed to have enough power that Tony had to at least respect it. Nate was giving away the leg kicks for free as he typically does, so that wasn't a surprise either. It was really just the 2022 version of the same style of performance that we've seen from Nate for years. Tony eventually tried to shoot a takedown for some reason and Nate grabbed onto the guillotine. After making an adjustment with his hands, Nate forced Tony to tap as I think he was just too tired and hurt to really fight through the choke the way he has toughed out some submission attempts in the past. At the end of the day, it isn't like we saw a resurgent performance by Nate where he's going to be fighting for the title, but he looked like he typically does and I think that would be a great way for him to go out if that is indeed the last time we see him in the UFC.
What's next for Diaz is really up in the air. At this point, it seems like he is destined to do a celebrity type of boxing match or two. Jake Paul is the big name of course, but if he loses to Anderson Silva, then who knows what the exact path is for Nate. I could see him doing some one fight deals to just fight whatever opponent is hot at the time and I think that is probably the best route if those contracts would actually be available to him. I'm not as familiar with boxing as I am with MMA, so I'm not really sure who would be available in Nate's weight range that would actually be interested. I don't really think any legitimate championship level boxers are going to be all that interested as a win over Nate won't really advance their career a ton. At the same time, I don't really see Nate being all too interested in fighting middle of the road boxers or young fighters looking to advance their careers. Nate is only moving for big fights with big paychecks. On the celebrity boxing circuit, I'm not sure who there is beyond Jake Paul that would really get his attention. I don't think it really fits his personality to fight other random celebrities or youtubers. Do potential matchups with the likes of Dr. Mike, Chad Johnson, Nick Young, Blue Face, or Mr. Beast really sound like something that would interest Nate Diaz to you? They don't to me, but who knows. In the cage, he hinted that he will probably be back in the UFC at some point and I would honestly be shocked if that wasn't the case. At the end of the day, I think everyone involved realizes that it is best for both sides to be working together. There is no bigger audience for Nate than when he is in a UFC octagon and having Nate Diaz fight under their banner is what is best for the UFC. At the very least, they have to make the trilogy bout with Conor McGregor. To not have a conclusion to the Diaz/McGregor saga would be one of the biggest mistakes the UFC could make. Ultimately, I want to see Nate fighting in MMA and for him to do so anywhere other than the UFC would be very, very strange. Ariel Helwani floated the idea that he could take the Floyd Mayweather approach and fight random guys in Singapore for a few million dollars a pop, but that doesn't really feel like the Diaz way either. I certainly wouldn't blame him for just taking the money as he has definitely earned it, but that just doesn't feel like the route he's going to take. Also, I'm so glad Nick was there. I love Nick Diaz and to see him look to be at peace is such a great thing. Seeing those two guys get their moment to take a photo after what could be Nate's final UFC fight and win is just something special. There will never be another set of brothers like Nick and Nate Diaz, that's for sure.
This is the first time during this current run where I'm really at a loss with what to say about Tony Ferguson. Tony is a legend of this sport and is only a few years removed from being one of the two best lightweights on Earth. However, it seems like his decline has overlapped with some really unfortunate matchups for him and I am now starting to question whether or not him continuing to fight is truly best for his long term future. The loss to Gaethje came in the first PPV after the pandemic and he was the consensus favorite over Gaethje at the time. That saw Justin Gaethje turn in the best performance of his entire career and brutally beat Tony over just over 4 rounds. Tony took immense damage in that fight and in hindsight, it's easy to wonder if that fight took something from him. His next two losses to Charles Oliveira and Beneil Dariush were bad matchups for Tony, so I sort of chalked those losses up to that. Having Oliveira beat Michael Chandler and Dustin Poirier in the immediate aftermath of that fight had the loss not looking as bad for Tony as well. The matchup against Michael Chandler wasn't a great one for Tony either and the knockout was especially ugly as well. However, Chandler is one of the most explosive guys in the division and that kick would've knocked out basically everyone in the division. Tony was looking at least competitive up until that point as well, so despite collecting yet another loss, things didn't seem completely lost for Tony. This loss sort of has me looking at Tony differently now, but it isn't without some caveats. Tony is only 4 months removed from that ugly knock out and took this fight on 3 weeks notice. He then got bumped to a different opponent and was now put into a 5 round fight instead of only a 3 rounder. With that said, Tony really just looked like an old version of that guy that we used to know. His striking didn't look bad and flashes of the old Tony were there, but they were really only flashes. His low kicks were working, but he seemed to be behind Nate in the boxing, which isn't necessarily a surprise, but it was the speed that concerned me. I thought Tony also looked a bit slow in a way that concerned me. Some of that could be the cardio situation and he just wasn't prepared to fight 5 rounds and probably shouldn't have been returning so quickly in general, let alone on short notice, but it still just wasn't a good look. Seeing Tony tap to a guillotine after he toughed out the armbar against Oliveira and heel hook against Dariush is also a bit concerning, but I think that is also the short notice cardio thing more than anything else.
When it comes to Tony's future, he seems energized to continue fighting and I think there are fights out there for him. The potential issue at hand is if Tony still thinks of himself as a top 10 kind of fighter. If Tony is still expecting ranked opponents, noteworthy opponents, or high level fights, I don't think things are going to work out. I do think the calls for Tony to retire were a bit over stated because even with 5 losses in a row, the previous 4 were all inside the top 8 or so of the division. It isn't like Tony is losing 5 in a row fighting random middle tier fighters, so I don't think it is a sure thing that he is just cooked. If Tony can accept his standing in the weight class at this stage, then I think there are plenty of fights for him, but Tony may not see things that way. He always sees himself as a potential title challenger and if that is the case, I'm not so sure that he will be in the UFC much longer. If Tony is realistic behind the scenes or has someone on his team that realizes what is going on, then I think he can still put on fun fights in the right situations. If he wants to go back to lightweight, I think fights with Carlos Diego Ferreira, Thiago Moises, Bobby Green, Vinc Pichel, and Jim Miller are sort of where Tony is at right now. If he wants to make a permanent move to welterweight, then matchups with Niko Price, Tim Means, Bryan Barberena, Alex Morono, and Matt Brown all make some sense. The key is matching Tony up with the right level of opponent on the right timeline. Tony hasn't always been the easiest guy to work with and doesn't always have the most realistic view on things, so I don't think that it is a given that he would be interested in the level of fights that fit him at this stage of his career.
What do you guys think? What did you think of the fight? What do you want to see for each of these guys next? Leave any and all thoughts below. Thanks for reading and have a good one.
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