MMA Thanksgiving

 Because American Thanksgiving just passed, I thought it would be a good idea to do a quick post about some of the things that I am thankful for in MMA, with a heavy emphasis on things that have happened in 2022. I don't really have much of a structure in mind, but I thought it would be fun to take a more positive approach to MMA since it is so easy to be negative in this sport if you really want to be. I'm not going to make this super long and drawn out either. I'll keep it short and to three to five items. Let's do it.

The first thing I'm thankful for is title fights delivering with a high rate of consistency. This is one that is much more specific to the UFC than MMA in general, but it is a big one for me. Maybe it's just because this sport never stops, but it really feels, at least from my perspective, that the UFC hasn't had a ton of really awesome PPV cards this year. The last two have been good, but a lot of the others have felt pretty thin. They've mostly been made worth it though because the title defenses are living up to the hype a vast majority of the time. January had Figueiredo vs Moreno III and Gane vs Ngannou. Those were both great fights and we got a shocking development in the ground game from Francis to flip that fight on it's head. February only had Adesanya vs Whittaker II and while that fight wasn't a thriller, it was still a pretty good fight and an extremely high level display of skill. March didn't have any belts on the line, but April gave us Aljo vs Yan II and Volkanovski vs The Korean Zombie. We got to see Aljo prove everyone wrong and then an absolutely flawless performance from Volk that really got him talked about as possibly the best fighter on the planet. Our first really bad title fight came in May when we got Carla Esparza vs Rose Namajunas II. Even though it was bad, it was bad in a way that was so bizarre that it still had a ton of talking points coming out and well after (thanks to Pat Barry). Everyone quickly forgot about that fight though because Oliveira vs Gaethje in the main event was fantastic. June gave us the first really close call in a long time when Taila Santos almost upset (I thought she won) Valentina Shevchenko in a really close fight. The main event was Jiri Prochazka vs Glover Teixeira in a fight of the year candidate. July gave us the trilogy between Volkanovski and Max Holloway and Volk gave us another performance for the ages. Unfortunately, it gave us probably the most disappointing fight of the year in Adesanya vs Cannonier, but that's really only the second bad title fight to this point. The second PPV of July had an interim title fight between Brandon Moreno and Kai Kara-France that was really fun for as long as it lasted and the rematch between Julianna Pena and Amanda Nunes. It was a dominant win for Nunes, but it was so in an impressive way and not a boring way, at least for me. August gave us the moment of the year when Leon Edwards upset Kamaru Usman in the final minute of their fight to become welterweight champion. After no title fight in August, September had the weird fight between Aljamain Sterling and TJ Dillashaw where Dillashaw's injury kind of took a lot of steam off of the fight. The main event was as impressive of a performance as we've seen all year when Islam Makhachev fulfilled his destiny by defeating Charles Oliveira for the lightweight title. Just a few weeks ago, Zhang Weili recaptured her title in dominant fashion over Carla Esparza and Alex Pereira upset Israel Adesanya to become middleweight champion. Even if Jan Blachowicz vs Magomed Ankalaev isn't amazing next month, that would be 3 bad title fights in a year and maybe a few so-so title fights? I think that's a win, especially when a lot of these cards are very reliant on those fights delivering. In a year with only 1 heavyweight title defense and where the P4P king coming into 2022 only fought once, I think that is extremely impressive and am very thankful that so many of these PPV cards have left us with a positive ending. 

The second thing I'm thankful for in MMA this year is competition amongst promotions. No one is catching or really even competing with the UFC any time soon, but that's not really the point I'm trying to make. The emergence of the PFL as the second best MMA promotion (at least in the western hemisphere) provides very legitimate secondary options. For awhile now, it's really just been the UFC and then everyone they didn't sign or people they let go would go to Bellator. Mix in the occasional fighter going to ONE championship (of course, after both the Pride and Strikeforce days) and that was about it. The PFL being a real player gives fighters some very interesting options. The potential to win the million dollar prize has to be so tempting for the fighters on the UFC roster who are on the fringe of the top 15. Fighters like Li Jingliang and Daniel Rodriguez had to watch the welterweight championship fight last night and think they could have won. The potential upside in earnings is there and they're clearly offering good contracts from the jump as they pulled Shane Burgos away from the UFC and matched Bellator's offer for Kayla Harrison. I'm not sure where they are getting the backing to pay out all of this money, but I'm not paying for it, so it doesn't really matter to me. I personally enjoy the PFL's product a lot more than Bellator these days as well. I think their playoff and season format is just more interesting right now. Bellator may have the better roster, especially at the very top, but they seemingly aren't even interested in their own events these days. If they can't be bothered to promote their own fights, I don't see why I should be bothered to be interested in them. More high level MMA to watch is a great thing for fans. While the promotions compete with each other, there isn't an reason for brand loyalty for us because there's plenty of room for more events. The UFC has Saturday's, but the PFL could easily get most of that same UFC fan base to watch just by fighting on Thursday's. There's really no one losing if they continue the success they're having. Putting the finals on PPV was a bad idea, but they've been making a ton of good decisions over the last couple of years and they're really only getting bigger. They've already passed Bellator in my mind and I'm looking forward to their next season. I'm thankful that the fighters have other legitimate options and I'm thankful that fans are getting more high level MMA to watch. 

The final thing that I am thankful for in MMA is the legends of our sport. I think this one applies to the last few years and not just 2022, but still. Since the UFC started having shows back in front of crowds, it feels like the last of the older generation has started to exit the sport. For me, it is some of the fighters who were on top of the sport when I first started to become a more serious fan or just started getting interest in the sport in general. There's no way I could list them all, but I'm going to try and talk about as many that come to mind. Jose Aldo just recently stepped away and his legacy in the sport doesn't need any explanation. He's one of the best fighters from the smaller male weight classes of all time. Rory McDonald recently retired from competition. Joanna Jedrzejczyk said she was done, but hinted at potentially one more not that long ago. We may have seen the last UFC fights for both of Nick and Nate Diaz. Cowboy Cerrone fought his last fight this year. One of my personal favorites, Carlos Condit, walked away. Frankie Edgar's retirement is so new that I almost forgot to list him here. Paul Daley retired earlier this year (I think that was this year). Roxanne Modafferi's retirement was this year as well. Uriah Hall, Nina Nunes, and Luke Rockhold left MMA this year. They weren't this year, but legends like Daniel Cormier, Khabib Nurmagomedov, and Anderson Silva have moved on from MMA competition in the last few years. I'm sure I'm forgetting some other huge ones as well (Tyron Woodley leaving the sport just popped into mind). It also seems likely that there are some more notable retirements in the not too distant future. TJ Dillashaw, Dominick Cruz, Korean Zombie, Rafael Dos Anjos, Tony Ferguson, Jorge Masvidal, Neil Magny, Robbie Lawler, Derek Brunson, Glover Teixeira, Derrick Lewis, and Stipe Miocic are all coming towards the end of very long and successful careers. On the women's side of things, Carla Esparza, Angela Hill, Michel Waterson-Gomez, Tecia Torres, Jessica Penne, Holly Holm, and Miesha Tate are all starting to get up there in age as well. We don't know how much longer we'll see others like Amanda Nunes, Valentina Shevchenko, and Rose Namajunas as there's not a ton else for them to prove. Cris Cyborg may have fought her last MMA fight as well. I'm not here to prematurely retire any of those names, but just to point out that we should enjoy them while we still can. I am very thankful for all of the legends who have walked away over the last few years and all of the fighters from that same era who are still going strong, I'm thankful for however many fights they have left in the tank. I don't know how I almost forgot that Fedor has his retirement fight on the schedule. I'm thankful for all of those fighters and the memories that they've provided me and most everyone else reading this. 

I think I'll leave it at that for this one. Hopefully everyone who celebrates had a nice Thanksgiving holiday and even if you don't, take a moment to reflect on the positive aspects to your life and day. What things are you thankful for in MMA in general or in 2022 specifically? Leave any and all thoughts and comments below. Thanks for reading and have a good one.