UFC 282 was actually a pretty good event in totality. The problems started with the co-main and then the ending of the main event really ended the night on a sour note even though most of the fights were really good. We have plenty of time to talk about all of that stuff though as we only have one more card left in 2022, so we'll have several weeks to discuss some of the other stories coming out of this past weekend. The main event between former champion Jan Blachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev was supposed to crown a new champion after Jiri Prochazka vacated his title due to a pretty severe shoulder injury. The UFC opted to elevate the original co-main event to the main for the vacant title and left Glover Teixeira without a fight. I think most people disagreed with the decision and now here we are. You know by now that the fight ended in a split draw and the title is now still vacant. The UFC took quick action and was able to put together another title fight next month between Glover and Jamahal Hill, which now leaves Anthony Smith without a dance partner. The whole thing seems very disorganized and like the UFC is just making things up as they go and it's just not a great look right now. I'll get more into that part later, but let's focus on the fight that we just saw first.
A lot of people were really critical of this main event and I'm not really sure why. Now, I agree with the fact that this isn't the fight anyone really wanted, but the actual fight itself was just fine. Dana White had a lot of passionate things to say about how bad the fight was and I just didn't see it that way at all. It isn't going to be talked about for years to come or get any fight of the year nominations, but it was still a decent enough fight that was really close. Both guys had their moments in solid rounds early before Ankalaev took the final rounds more definitively. Then a lot of people were critical of the scorecards and I don't think they were all that bad. I thought rounds 2 and 3 both should have went to Jan, while 4 and 5 both went to Ankalaev. The two things that were the deciding factor were how you scored round 1 and whether or not Ankalaev got a 10-8 in round 5. I think 48-47 Ank, 48-46 Ank, 48-47 Jan, and 47-47 are all very valid cards in what was a fight with really narrow margins in 3 of the 5 rounds. I think this fight is getting a lot of criticism because people were so shocked with the result of Paddy vs Jared Gordon that they came into it with a negative outlook. While the fight didn't do a lot to turn the tide (especially the last two rounds), it really wasn't all that bad.
I guess we'll start off by talking about Jan and I thought he was doing a great job early. I think he was getting Ankalaev to fight the kind of fight he needed, which did overlap with what Ankalaev normally likes to do. He kept it a pretty clean outside kickboxing match, which I thought favored Jan going in and it turns out that was true. Jan seemed to be a bit more technical and was able to land more of the cleaner strikes. The first round was the closest, but I though he just did a bit better in terms of quality of significant strikes. The second and third rounds were a bit more clear for Jan as he was able to really damage both of Anakalaev's legs. He forced him to switch out of his normal southpaw stance in the second and then compromised the other leg in the third. That was when the tide turned against him though as the damage forced Magomed to go to his wrestling, which was very dominant. Jan was able to minimize the damage and stay relatively safe, but he wasn't able to work his way up. With almost 2 full rounds of ground control, Anakalaev was able to take those rounds without debate. That ended up costing Jan the belt. Without the 10-8 in the 5th, he would've won on the card that scored in 47-47, but that's the outcome we got. I don't think Jan fought poorly, but he definitely dropped the ball in the championship rounds.
Magomed also fought pretty well, just in the reverse order. He wasn't bad early per se, he was just kind of a step behind. Jan's kicking game really had him behind the 8 ball and once his legs became compromised, he was really in a bad spot. Luckily for him, he was able to get his takedowns fairly easily in those last two rounds or he could've potentially be finished via leg kicks. Once he did transition to a more grappling heavy plan, he was able to have a lot of success, but it was just too little too late. He battled back to get the draw, but he looked to be in a considerable amount of pain coming out of the cage. If either guy is going to take a longer time away, it would seem that Ankalaev was more the more hurt party. Hopefully he's ok and ready to return on a normal timeline, but I wouldn't blame him for taking some time away to recover and given the state of the division, he may not have much of a choice.
The complicating factor in all of this is that so many guys in the division are either already tied up or injured. The UFC sprang into action and booked another title fight next month as to not prolong the time of the title vacancy. Jamahal Hill and Glover Teixeira will battle it out in the UFC 283 main event next month to hopefully determine a champion. Ryan Spann is set to take on Nikita Krylov at the end of February. Johnny Walker is slated to fight Paul Craig on the same Brazil card. Jimmy Crute is booked against Alonzo Menifield earlier in February. Anthony Smith has stated that it seems like the UFC is going to ask him to be the backup for the Hill vs Teixeira fight. Aleksandar Rakic is still recovering from his ACL injury he suffered against Jan Blachowicz. Jiri is obviously out for an extended period. Dominick Reyes is a complete unknown going forward. Besides both Jan and Ankalaev, only Volkan Oezdemir and Khalil Rountree are completely available, with Anthony Smith sort of available, depending on if he's the backup or not. I think that sort of means both Jan and Magomed take their time and wait it out for a next opponent. There's no real need for them to rush back into a fight and even if they wanted to, there's not really anyone out there who makes any sense. Maybe we get an Ankalaev vs Rakic fight down the line or Jan vs Anthony Smith, but there's just no real way to guess how it all may play out. With so many guys booked over the next 10 or so weeks, 205 lbs will become a lot more clear in the coming months.
It was ultimately an unfortunate ending to an otherwise fantastic night of fights that really leaves the light heavyweight division in a state of flux for another few weeks. It leaves both Jan Blachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev without a clear path forward for the time being until some of these other fights play out, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I guess the silver lining is that it sets up an even more exciting matchup for the title next month in Brazil between Glover Teixeira and Jamahal Hill.
What did you guys think? How did you score the fight? Do you agree with the formation of the new title fight? Leave any and all thoughts and comments below. Thanks for reading and have a good one.
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