What mattered most at UFC on ESPN+ 30 at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi? Here are a few post-fight musings …
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1. Heartbreak for Joseph Benavidez
That was a tough one to watch from Joseph Benavidez. Everyone knew he was facing a steep climb against Deiveson Figueiredo in their flyweight title rematch after seeing what went down in the first fight, but there was optimism he could pull it out.
Unfortunately, it went even worse the second time around. Benavidez was dropped multiple times then strangled out cold by Figueiredo and now sits on the first 0-4 UFC title fight record in history. The situation is not lost on Benavidez, who turns 36 on July 31, as there’s almost no chance of another title shot coming.
Benavidez admitted post-fight he knows he won’t get another crack at the belt, and will have to live with being second best for the rest of his days. It’s unfortunate, because anyone who has met Benavidez face-to-face knows he’s one of the genuine good guys in MMA and will now go down as one of the best fighters to never gets hands on a UFC title.
What happens from this point forward, though, could potentially be very dangerous. Benavidez said in his post-fight press conference that he doesn’t want to go out on a loss and have his final octagon image being choked out cold. That’s perfectly understandable, but the race to go out on a final moment of glory has the possibility for grave consequences.
If the next one doesn’t go Benavidez way, does he try again? What about the one after that? Or the one after that? Even in defeat, Benavidez is still capable of beating most 125-pound fighters out there, so this may not be a problem. However, if he follows through with this plan, he’s putting himself on a tightrope that could have a scary fall.
2. Deiveson Figueiredo is a problem
Deiveson Figueiredo is a really scary dude. I was seated cageside for his knockout of Benavidez in their first fight in February, and that was a brutal finish. Say what you want about the controversy with the head butt, but he put Benavidez away in a highlight-reel manner.
The performance in the rematch was even better, and given what Figueiredo went through to get there, I wouldn’t want to be a flyweight contender. From a false positive COVID-19 test to a delayed arrival in Abu Dhabi to a mandatory quarantine that led all the way to the final hours before weigh-ins, Figueiredo had to overcome a mountain of obstacles to get his hands on that UFC flyweight belt.
Give the circumstances, Figueiredo’s performance was sensational. He didn’t have a moment of worry as he dropped and out-positioned Benavidez all around the octagon until finishing the fight with a slick rear-naked choke.
Figueiredo has shown a very well rounded game during his UFC run. He can knock opponents out and submit them too, and it’s going to take a Herculean to take that belt off him now.
3. Kelvin Gastelum’s rough slide
It’s crazy to think that just 16 months ago Kelvin Gastelum came a few successful offensive moments away from beating Israel Adesanya to become interim UFC middleweight champion. Now he’s on a three-fight skid and just got handed the quickest loss of his career in the form of a 78-second heel hook from Jack Hermansson.
MMA is a cruel and fickle sport and Gastelum is currently feeling the worst of it. He can take some peace knowing that he’s still just 28 and his losses have come to some of the best at 185 pounds in Hermansson, Adesanya and Darren Till, but the UFC title is seemly as far from his grasps than ever.
Gastelum is going to have to be cautious in what fight he accepts next, because no matter who it comes against, having four losses in a row on his record is historically a very tough spot to escape from.
4. “Queen of Violence” finally reveals herself
It took until her fourth UFC fight, but finally Ariane Lipski lived up to her moniker of being the “Queen of Violence” with one of the nastiest kneebar finishes in UFC history.
Lipski completely destroyed Luana Carolina’s leg just 88 seconds into their flyweight bout. She promised a knockout coming in, but this was equally, if not more impressive, mainly because of the angle in which she destroyed Carolina’s leg.
After a fine run in the Poland-based KSW organization where she became champion, Lipski’s UFC stint started badly with back-to-back losses. It seemed as though she might be a flop, but has turned things around in her past two. This performance against Carolina, who is no joke, was exactly why people were exited about her coming in, and hopefully that momentum can continue going forward.
5. Happy trails, Joe Duffy
After his third consecutive loss, Joe Duffy announced his retirement from MMA. It was somewhat surprising, but at the same time, not so much.
Listening to Duffy’s interviews ahead of his first-round submission defeat to Joel Alvarez, it was clear a lot was weighing on this fight. He’d taken 16 months off prior and hadn’t won since March 2017, so the writing was somewhat on the wall if it went badly.
Still, though, the manner in which Duffy retired was kind of wholesome. He’s only 32, but admitted that he just doesn’t have it anymore in his retirement statement. There’s probably a lot of fighters Duffy could still beat, but to have that type of self-awareness on the UFC level is quite rare, and very admirable.
Hopefully Duffy can find happiness in his next chapter, because he deserves it. From a personal perspective he’s been nothing but awesome to me throughout his cover. Always took the time to talk and is a very down-to-Earth individual.
So with that, happy trails to Duffy. His UFC run may not have gone according to plan, but he’ll always have that win over Conor McGregor on his resume.
