What mattered most at UFC on ESPN+ 13 in Sacramento, Calif.? Here are a few post-fight musings …
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1. Germaine de Randamie can’t win with fans, but she doesn’t mind
Every time she fights it seems Germaine de Randamie has to answer for something. Things were no different Saturday, because even after tying Ronda Rousey’s record for fastest knockout in women’s bantamweight history at 16 seconds, “The Iron Lady” was forced to defend herself.
Was Herb Dean’s stoppage in the main event with Aspen Ladd fair? Ultimately that’s out of de Randamie’s control. She did her job by coming out and planting a perfect punch on Ladd’s face, and was en route to executing a brutal follow-up attack when Dean jumped in to wave it off.
It wasn’t the first time de Randamie left the octagon to a chorus of boos, and at this point she can’t seem to win. From the late punches against Holly Holm at UFC 208 to giving up her UFC women’s featherweight title instead of facing Cris Cyborg, fans have held a lot against de Randamie in recent years.
At this point her skill can’t be denied, though. De Randamie has won six of seven in the UFC with her lone blemish coming to Amanda Nunes in 2013. A rematch with the dual UFC champ could be on the horizon, which for de Randamie, might make all the backlash she’s received over the years worthwhile. Though with her incredibly upbeat personality she doesn’t appear bothered by it, anyway.
2. Aspen Ladd will be back
Ladd had every reason to be upset and outraged following a quick loss to de Randamie in her first UFC main event. She put together an undefeated record and a solid string of performances to put herself in position for the fight, and it was all taken away in the course of 16 seconds.
Dean’s stoppage in the fight was questionable, though not his worst. Ladd refused to throw the noted referee under the bus post-fight, and handled the entire situation with a level of class well beyond her years.
Ladd’s post-fight media availability was truly impressive. The 24-year-old answered every question in a gracious manner, which is all you can really ask for from a fighter in that type of situation. Ladd could’ve easily gone the other way and freaked out a bit, but now we know that’s not her style even under the worst of circumstance. That kind of mental strength gives hope she will rebound from this a better fighter.
3. UFC has a choice with Urijah Faber
In a sport in which comebacks largely go wrong, Urijah Faber showed he’s an outlier when he not only beat surging bantamweight prospect Ricky Simon, but did so in a quicker manner than any other win in his career. It’s hard to come away from that as anything other than impressed.
It was a best-case scenario for “The California Kid,” who has now put himself in position for something big. There seems to be legitimate steam behind a potential fight with UFC bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo, and the UFC brass must decide how they want to use Faber.
Faber obviously still has luster behind his name, and his $340,000 paycheck to compete isn’t cheap (relative to other fighters). The UFC may want to get the most out of its investment, and that would likely mean putting him in the octagon with a belt on the line.
Faber is currently the only fighter in UFC history to go 0-4 in title bouts. There would be some justifiable outrage if he got the fight with Cejudo over deserving contenders such as Aljamain Sterling or Joseph Benavidez, but would anyone be surprised if that’s how it played out?
4. What to make of Mirsad Bektic?
I’m not ready to write off Mirsad Bektic just yet, but it’s hard to not be somewhat disappointed (and surprised) with how the featherweight’s career is panning out after he was stopped by Josh Emmett’s strikes in the first round of their featured matchup.
Just a few years ago American Top Team coach Mike Brown told me Bektic was one of the most talented fighters he’s ever worked with. Bektic has since moved on to train at Tristar Gym under Firas Zahabi, and there’s been some ups and downs in that stretch.
Bektic’s shocking comeback loss to Darren Elkins a few years ago could be chalked up to a freak occurrence, but the outcome against Emmett is harder to digest. Bektic really struggled in the fight and it showed he might not be quite ready for the top level at 145 pounds.
At 28, Bektic still has a lot of time to get better and rebound from this. His ability to take damage is of concern, though, and so is the fact he’s had seven canceled UFC fights due to injury. We shall see how he proceeds.
5. Ryan Hall is more compelling than ever
After submitting B.J. Penn in December, Ryan Hall said he wanted to be more active, but would only accept fights that represented a test. So the UFC gave him perennial top-15 featherweight Darren Elkins, and that persuaded Hall to make his quickest turnaround between fights in years.
I, for one, am glad that happened, because we got to see new light shed on Hall’s ability. We knew his striking was orthodox, but Hall took it to a new level and shocked Elkins and a lot of the people watching with two knockdowns in the fight – the first with a kick and the second with a punch.
There are still critics of Hall’s style, but to me it’s simply enthralling. Hall was never in danger against Elkins, and now he wants a quicker turnaround when the UFC visits his home of Washington, D.C., for UFC on ESPN 7 in December. He also wants a top-10 opponent, and he should absolutely get it.
No one’s been able to solve Hall’s riddle, and we need to find out how good of fighters he can beat at featherweight.
For complete coverage of UFC on ESPN+ 13, check out the UFC Results.
