What mattered most at UFC on ESPN+ 25 in Rio Rancho? Here are a few post-fight musings …
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1. Polish power reigns supreme
Jan Blachowicz continued to silence his doubters in impressive fashion, this time with a blistering first-round knockout of Corey Anderson. This was not an easy moment for Blachowicz to attain. He was fighting an opponent who had thoroughly dominated him less than five years ago, and many believed he didn’t have the solution to win the rematch.
Blachowicz’s somewhat deceptive power-punching was the massive X-factor, though, because the instant he landed a clean shot on Anderson’s chin, it was over. The Polish fighter has now won seven of his past eight bouts and has put himself near the forefront of the title discussion in the light heavyweight division.
It remains to be seen if Blachowicz gets his championship opportunity against Jon Jones, who was sitting cageside and walked away impressed with what he witnessed. Blachowicz may not be able to do anything effective that “Bones” hasn’t been seen before, but he deserves his chance to try.
2. Corey Anderson’s positivity
Corey Anderson is going to have to work “Overtime” if he wants to get back to the position he found himself in for the fight with Blachowicz. It was a loss Anderson really couldn’t have no matter how it unfolded, but to get starched in the first round makes it a particularly difficult outcome to accept.
Not only did Anderson take a rough knockout, but he did so against an opponent he’d already handily beaten. The loss snapped his four-fight winning streak and came on the platform of his first main event. Champ “Bones” Jones relished Anderson being fed some “humble pie” after talking a big game in recent months, and it seemed others were basking in his demise, too.
All this paints the picture of a terrible low point for Anderson. It appears he won’t allow himself to get caught up in that negativity, though, because his post-fight statement showed a mature attitude in a challenging moment
It’s going to be an uphill climb for Anderson to return to the position he found himself in against Blachowicz. But if anyone will embrace such a task, it’s Anderson.
3. Did Diego Sanchez quit?
It’s kind of jarring that a Sunday morning narrative following a Diego Sanchez (30-12 MMA, 19-12 UFC) fight involves some questioning of his fighting spirit – all because he rightfully took a disqualification win over Michel Pereira following a brutal illegal knee to the head.
Sanchez has given every piece of himself to this sport and since before he joined the UFC in 2005. Never once in that stretch has his heart or courage been called into question, but because of one decision to not continue in a fight he was badly losing, after taking a concussive and illegal blow, some people are choosing to look at him differently.
Could Sanchez have continued and fought out the final two minutes against Pereira? Possibly. But he was in a haze after taking that illegal blow, and it wouldn’t have been wise. Instead, Sanchez left the octagon with his 19th UFC win (sixth all-time) and got the entirety of his fight purse. In a sport where nothing is given and everything must be taken, Sanchez looked out for himself.
It was the right move for his health and career, and although he’s already been blasted with some negative feedback, Sanchez is no quitter and deserves the benefit of the doubt.
4. Meanwhile, Michel Pereira …
It’s somewhat of a shame that Michel Pereira’s entire performance was overshadowed by a careless move in the third round of a fight in which he was way ahead.
All three judges had Pereira up 20-18 on the scorecards before he landed the illegal blow on Sanchez in the third, and the Brazilian was looking utterly dominant. Pereira seemed to find the perfect middle ground between acrobatic and meaningful offense, and Sanchez had no answers for it.
Pereira (23-11 MMA, 1-2 UFC) did provide some of the theatrics he’s known so well for, but it was a much more measured approach than what he displayed in his previous UFC fights. One lapse in judgement cost him the biggest win of his career, though, and in a flash, all his good work was for naught.
5. The Ray Borg situation
It’ll be interesting to see how the future plays out for Ray Borg coming off his win over Rogerio Bontorin. Everyone is well aware by now that Borg missed weight for a fourth time in his UFC career, a situation made especially bad by the fact he’d promised 10 months earlier that if he was ever off on the scale again, he would “leave the sport of MMA forever.”
Borg (12-5 MMA, 6-5 UFC) has been through a lot professionally in recent years, and even more personally. Many give him some leeway for the mishaps, but he’s stuck in a trend that simply can’t continue. By no means is Borg expected to follow through on his word and retire, because he has a family to support and it’s somewhat nonsensical.
What he does need to do, though, is get his act together in a hurry. It’s a shame because Borg is a talented fighter, but at this point it seems like he’s used up about all his rope and rightfully should be walking on very thin ice from here on out.
