What mattered most at UFC on ESPN 14 at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi? Here are a few post-fight musings …
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1. Dan Hardy vs. Herb Dean
One of the bigger talking points from this event was the conflict between referee Herb Dean and color commentator Dan Hardy, who had what’s now turned into a well-publicized spat stemming from stoppage in Francisco Trinaldo’s TKO of Jai Herbert.
There are two obvious things to be noted about this situation: First, the fight was absolutely stopped late. It was over when Trinaldo landed a bomb that dropped Herbert like a sack of potatoes, and there was no need for Dean to wait for the Brazilian to land four extra shots on his grounded foe. Second, Hardy is well within his right to criticize the finish to not just this fight, but any fight he wants from his commentary position.
The key words there, though, are from his commentary position. The lines started to blur when Hardy went out of his designated position of the booth to vocalize his feelings directly to Dean. Was the face-to-face tongue-lashing justified? Probably. Dean messed this one up. But that’s not Hardy’s role. There are regulators cageside in actual positions of authority who can express opinions and discipline Dean, if merited, after a bad call.
Not to get it twisted: Hardy’s passion is appreciated, and he made it clear both in the moment and in his statement after the event that he’s merely trying to hold the referees accountable and look out for the athletes stepping in the octagon, because he of all people knows how dangerous the sport can be. Those are the kinds of people we need in MMA, but he can’t allow his emotions to spill outside his duties on a live broadcast.
Despite the UFC’s claim it will investigate the situation, it’s unlikely much comes of this. Ideally, it serves as a learning lesson for all involved. Dean has been the gold standard for refereeing for a long time, and because of that his mistakes are magnified compared to other referees. He’s made some notable errors in recent years, and this was one of them.
As someone who has interacted with Dean and seen what this job means to him, I can confidently say he’s going to be hard on himself about this. Thankfully, Herbert doesn’t appear to have been seriously injured in the loss, and all we can hope for is that Dean does better going forward.
2. ‘The Reaper’ returns to form
Although no one wants to lose in this sport, Darren Till’s career position seemed better suited to cushion a loss in the main event opposed to Robert Whittaker. That’s why his unanimous decision victory was so important for his career.
Everyone wants to examine how a fighter will fare coming off losing a UFC title. Not only did Whittaker drop the belt to Israel Adesanya in October, but he lost in a definitive fashion in front of a record-setting crowd in Australia, where he resides. That’s a really tough moment to get over.
Although Whittaker seemed to have the right, reenergized attitude coming into the matchup with Till, it’s always a little tough to know how much of that is genuine and how much is putting on a strong face. When Whittaker got dropped by Till in the first round, it seemed his worst-case scenario was coming to life.
That adversity only emphasized Whittaker’s heart and determination. He got himself back in the fight and managed to outwork Till over five rounds and get the win. Just like that, “The Reaper” is back in the mix with the top contenders at 185 pounds.
Whittaker said it was important to him not to go from being on top of the world to a hard fall of back-to-back losses. He managed to achieve that goal, and now more big fights are ahead.
3. Darren Till an elite middleweight
Darren Till didn’t get the win over Whittaker, but he proved one thing for certain: He belongs at the top of the UFC middleweight division.
After back-to-back stoppage losses to Tyron Woodley and Jorge Masvidal sent him out of the welterweight division, Till made his debut at 185 pounds in November with a ho-hum performance and split decision win over Kelvin Gastelum. It was an OK showing from him, but many wondered if it was just an off night for Gastelum and Till anaged to sneak one out.
There’s no doubting Till’s worth now, though. Outside of losing to Adesanya, Whittaker has ran shop in the middleweight division for the past half decade, and more often than not leaves his opponents in a world of pain when they leave the cage. Not only did Till keep conscious over five rounds, but he arguably won the fight.
The 48-47 scorecards for Whittaker were probably the right way to go, but Till was there all along. He was not embarrassed and he was not outclassed, and it’s clear he’s, at worst, top five in the division.
At 27, Till has already established himself in the upper tier of two weight classes in his career. He appears to be motivated to continuing striving for greatness, and all his supporters should be pleased with what they saw, even in a losing effort.
4. Alexander Gustafsson’s disappointing comeback
When news dropped Alexander Gustafsson was coming back and moving to the heavyweight division, a lot of the excitement centered around how his striking and footwork would translate to the weight class. What we all seemed to forget, though, is none of that is useful on the ground.
Fabricio Werdum certainly didn’t forget, and that’s why he wasted no time putting Gustafsson on the ground and finishing the Swede with the armbar. Now Gustafsson is on a three-fight skid dating back more than three years, and has been finished inside the distance in all three.
Gustafsson seemed to be in the right mindset pre-fight. He said his comeback following a surprising retirement in May 2019 wasn’t a one-off and he was here to stay, but it’s hard not to wonder if this result is going to change his mind. At 33, Gustafsson still has time on his side, but getting stopped in the first round by a 42-year-old Werdum will be tough to digest.
There’s no shame in losing to Werdum, as the former UFC champ is still highly dangerous, especially on the ground. However, Gustafsson needed this win to set himself on a promising path in his new division. He can still recover from this and making a run, but there’s definitely a lessoned intrigue compared to when we hadn’t seen him fight there yet.
This is not the end of the road for Gustafsson if he doesn’t want it to be. We all know how talented a fighter he is, but he’s now 3-6 since his first memorable title encounter with Jon Jones in September 2013. He can only ride the wave of that fight for so long, and Gustafsson needs to start producing consistent wins if he still has ambitions to do anything truly significant in the sport.
5. Khamzat Chimaev makes history
A lot of people dismiss historic achievements in the UFC. Trust me, as the “stats guy,” I’ve see much of it over the years. However, I can confidently say no one is taking this one away from Khamzat Chimaev.
Let’s break down the specifics of this modern-era record turnaround win after beating Tom Phillips and Rhys McKee in the span of 10 days. Not only did he make the turn in record time, he did it in two weight classes, earned finishes in both fights by way of a knockout and a submission, and received “Performance of the Night” honors for both efforts. I don’t see how that could possibly be topped.
The unique nature of the “Fight Island” schedule gave Chimaev the chance to do this. We don’t know how often in the future UFC will do a Wednesday-Saturday-Saturday string of events, but it hasn’t happened a ton in recent years. The only way it gets beat is if someone fights twice in seven days, which, just given the optics of medical suspensions and other factors, is improbable.
So, Chimaev. Take a bow. You did something unique that’s going to stand in the record books for a long time, and possibly forever. Now you have the perfect start to a UFC career that could really be something special.
