The first UFC event from 2023 is in the books and, all things considered, it was a pretty good Fight Night. Unfortunately, it got overshadowed by a lot of general MMA news. We now know that Jon Jones vs Ciryl Gane is scheduled to be the main event of UFC 285 on March 4. Part of me wants to be excited for it, but the other part of me will kind of believe it when I see it. The other part of that fight is that it's for the undisputed heavyweight title, meaning that Francis Ngannou is no longer holding the belt and is officially set to move on from the UFC. People are coming in with a lot of hot takes about who is right and wrong or who won and lost and I don't really think that's necessary, especially now. It's really impossible to say until we see what Francis does and where this decision leads him and the UFC's heavyweight division. I'm also not sure there needs to be a winner and loser. While someone may have "more success" (and that depends on how you measure success) that doesn't mean the other side lost. Sometimes it is just the right time for two sides to go in different directions and that is sort of the vibe I'm getting from this situation. Francis had things he didn't want to budge on and the UFC didn't want to budge on their side either. No one has to be right or wrong about that. Selfishly, I wish they could have come to an agreement as there's no place that I would rather see Francis fight than the UFC, but that just isn't really in the cards right now it seems. Anyways, we had a pretty fun night of action and I want to give those fighters their due. Instead of just talking about the winner like I've done for these in the past, I want to talk about the fight as a whole. I think it will make sense to sort of project the fight with my picks on Saturday and then reflect on the fight in a similar fashion here after the fact.
The first win of the year in the UFC went to Charles Johnson and he just looked on another level. Jimmy Flick really had no answers in his return and he kind of looked like a guy coming off of a two year lay off. I'm not ready to right him off completely, but it clearly wasn't his best night. Johnson's striking and takedown defense was a combination that I think even the best version of Flick would have struggled with though. Johnson started to put it on him pretty early after he realized he was going to be able to stuff all of the takedowns. Flick was getting dinged and wobbled by shots pretty early and eventually Johnson put him down and went in for the finish. Maybe the stoppage was a tad early, but Flick didn't look like he really had much interest in getting out of that position. He lives to fight another day and Johnson picks up his most impressive looking UFC win to date. I think Charles Johnson vs Cody Durden makes some sense for his next fight.
Dan Argueta picked up his first UFC win and he did so pretty cleanly. Aguirre came into the fight on short notice and he really wasn't looking his best. A lot of people questioned whether he was really ready for true UFC level competition coming in the first place and doing so without a camp and limited cardio really will only add fuel to those flames. Argueta did what he needed to do and really dominated the last two rounds, but it didn't feel that great. It seemed like a situation that was tailor made for Argueta and I sort of left the fight with more questions than answers. Any win his a good win at this level, but I'll be interested to see how he looks his next time out. I would be interested in the UFC rebooking the fight with his original opponent, Isaac Dulgarian, if they could. If not, someone like Garrett Armfield, Francis Marshall, or William Gomis makes sense to me.
Allan Nascimento picked up his second win in a row and looked very good doing it. I thought the margins in each realm were relatively narrow, albeit in Nascimento's favor. However, he showed that was clearly not the case and his grappling was more than just a step ahead. The athletic gap was also maybe a bit more pronounced than I even gave it credit for. Nascimento was able to get to dominant positions rather quickly and then locked in the choke soon after. He looked fantastic and his arrow is definitely pointing in the right direction. I think a matchup between him and Charles Johnson could actually be interesting now that I think about it. Someone like Tyson Nam could also be an option.
Masteusz Rebecki picked up a win in his debut and I thought he looked pretty solid. He did a lot of what I expected him to do and did it fairly well. He may have pushed his gas tank a little too far early, but it largely held up for him. He did more striking than I thought he would and while it wasn't particularly technical, he was somewhat effective. He was throwing with volume and power. After he started to slow, he was much more willing to engage in the wrestling and he looked good there. He was able to get takedowns pretty consistently and then control from top position. I would like to see him against some better competition, but that will come with time. I think an Uros Medic type or Natan Levy makes sense for his next fight.
Abdul Razak Alhassan registered another knockout victory, but this time in the second round. Alhassan's power has always been next level and he finishes all of his victories, so that part wasn't a surprise. His willingness to engage in the wrestling was a positive sign that maybe he is feeling more confident in that area than he has in the past. His cardio seemed to be holding up as well. Alhassan isn't getting any younger, so I'm not sure exactly how far he can rise up the division, but he still seems to have good fights ahead of him. I think a Roman Kopylov fight makes sense for him. Maybe Dusko Todorovic or Joe Pyfer could fit the bill as well.
Javid Basharat looks to be too talented and too well rounded for the level of competition that he's currently facing. He needs a somewhat sizeable step up in competition because he's just going to outwork anyone at a similar level to what he's been getting. His striking is too clean and he brings the volume. He's been able to out grapple his opponents offensively and defensively as well. He's going to be able to have his way with anyone who is a specialist. I think someone like Montel Jackson, Raoni Barcelos, or Kyler Phillips would be the caliber of fighter necessary to give Basharat some real resistance.
Umar Nurmagomedov was really the star of the show as he looked great in his toughest test so far. Most, including myself, expect to see Raoni Barcelos provide some real resistance to the roll he's been on and that really wasn't the case. The fight was moderately competitive for most of the run time, but Umar was getting the better of the striking exchanges pretty consistently. That was up until he landed the knockout shot that I don't think anyone saw coming. Barcelos has been very durable historically and Umar isn't known for having the craziest power, but he caught hi right on the chin with a short left hook that put him out cold. He's put himself in a great spot going forward as he has to only be looking at big fights for the time being. Ranked opponents like Said Nurmagomedov, Chris Gutierrez, and Ricky Simon all make sense to me for his next fight.
Raquel Pennington extended her winning streak with a split decision victory over Ketlen Vieira. It was a very close fight, which wasn't a surprise. It felt to me like one of those fights where Vieira maybe should have gotten the win, but Rocky may have won the fight if it was still Pride scoring. I don't think it was clear enough to call it a robbery, but it seems like most people were on the Vieira side. I haven't watched the fight again, but I see to remember more moments from the second round in favor of Pennington than anything else. In any case, Pennington really can't be more than a win away from a title shot at this point. Maybe she's set up for a fight against Julianna Pena next.
Roman Kopylov has looked pretty good for a second fight in a row now. His striking has always been the strength of his game, but he appears to be making strides there and upping his output a bit. His technical advantage over Puna was wider than I anticipated and that was really the different. When Puna started to gas, Kopylov was able to continue to hit him at a very solid rate and eventually put him away with some nasty body shots. I think someone like Chidi Njokuani or Phil Hawes could make some sense for Kopylov next.
Dan Ige got himself back on track with a nice knockout over Damon Jackson. Dan needed a win and getting one in emphatic fashion will go a long way towards settling him down and getting back in a rhythm. Jackson gave him the exact kind of fight that he needed, which was a bit strange, but the athleticism gap seemed like it was really going to limit Jackson's takedown ability. Ige landed the big shot and put him out badly in his best performance in awhile. Alex Caceres, Edson Barboza, and Sodiq Yusuff are all reasonable next opponents for Ige.
The main event saw Sean Strickland getting back in the win column with a pretty impressive performance on short notice. Strickland's cardio held up and he was able to push the pace he needed in order to come out on top. Strickland was trending in the wrong direction after back to back losses and he was able to put a stop to that, at least for now. He's positioned himself for a fairly important fight and a real chance to insert himself back into the title picture with another win. A fight versus Paulo Costa would make some sense for him. Maybe the winner of Brunson vs Du Plessis is the route.
That is it for me on this card. It was a great way to start the year and now we're going into UFC 283 with some real momentum. What did you guys think of the event? What was your favorite fight? Who was your biggest winner? Leave any and all thoughts below. Thanks for reading and have a good one.
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