You’re still in a bit of a hangover mode after UFC 244, you say? Too bad. The UFC machine stops for no one.
With the 500th UFC card of all-time in our rear-view mirror, the second half of the company’s march toward 1,000 begins with UFC on ESPN+ 21 in Moscow on Saturday. And as far as UFC events go, if last week’s was a night in which it felt like the eyes of the greater sports world and even the culture at large were fixated upon MMA, this one feels like … well, whatever the opposite of that is.
Still, some of you will get up to watch this event, which is headlined by an interesting featherweight contenders matchup between Zabit Magomedsharipov and Calvin Kattar, so for you diehards, who will watch absolutely everything with the UFC logo attached, here are a handful of decent reasons to pay attention.
UFC on ESPN+ 21 takes place Saturday at CSKA Arena in Moscow. The card streams on ESPN+.
Without further ado, then, here are five burning questions heading into the card, starting with, really, the one thing drawing in most of the viewers:
Will we see Greg Hardy get KTFO?
When the UFC fast-tracked heavyweight Greg Hardy into the main roster this year, this was how everything was supposed to go down: The company was expecting that all publicity would be good publicity, and that after an initial outrage period, people would get used to having an unapologetic convicted domestic abuser on the card. ESPN would be able to use his NFL name for ratings success, and after the initial controversy died down, some of the more gullible media chuckleheads would start writing “What if Greg Hardy is actually a hero?” columns, then Hardy’s momentum in the cage would take care of the rest.
That was the blueprint. Things haven’t exactly gone to plan.
Hardy (5-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) has been handed gimme opponents to a degree that would embarrass Sage Northcutt. But he’s proven that even against 1980s “Superstars of Wrestling”-caliber opposition, if you get him into the second round, he gasses. And when he gasses, his go-to move is cheating. We saw that in his first fight, when he was DQd with a blatantly illegal knee, and in his most recent, against Ben Sosoli last month, in which he went for an inhaler after noticeably slowing in the second round.
If one thing was clear coming out of UFC Boston, it’s that simply going forward with Hardy vs. the latest handpicked jobber of the month was fast becoming untenable. Perhaps Hardy gets that, too, which would explain why he’s taking a gigantic leap in competition, against former Bellator champion Alexander Volkov, on the latter’s home turf. Hardy stepped in when Junior Dos Santos had to pull out of the planned main event.
Maybe Hardy pulls a staggering upset against Volkov (30-7 MMA, 4-1 UFC) despite there being no evidence on paper this will happen. Or maybe the reason most people are tuning in will happen: Hardy will get his head knocked halfway back to South Florida, and the clip will go viral, and the UFC will have their opportunity to get out from under one of the more unfortunate chapters in its 25-year history, or at least downgrade him enough so that we don’t have to keep watching an atrocious person’s atrocious fights over and over.
How will Calvin Kattar adjust to a drastic change of setting?
If nothing else, let’s credit Calvin Kattar for being a good soldier. Kattar (20-3 MMA, 4-1 UFC) lobbied hard to be a part of UFC Boston, and was even willing to take on the tough assignment of the highly impressive Zabit Magomedsharipov in order to get that spot.
Then the UFC elected to move Kattar’s hometown fight to Moscow, a far friendlier territory for his Dagestani opponent, and Kattar simply rolled with the punches.
Magomedsharipov (17-1 MMA, 5-0 UFC) is undefeated in UFC competition, with three post-fight bonuses along the way, and appears ready for big things. But Kattar, without much fanfare, has been grinding away, and his victories include handing Shane Burgos his only career loss, and an impressive knockout of former title challenger Ricardo Lamas last time out.
So while this fight, which was elevated to a three-round main event after the previous headliner dropped out, might seem like the moment made for Magomedsharipov’s elevation to the top tier, if Kattar can adjust to everything thrown his way and take the victory here, then UFC Moscow could instead become his coming-out party.
How does Anthony Rocco Martin respond to a big setback?
Remember when Stephen Thompson got ragdolled by Matt Brown back in 2012? We bring this up, here, because “Wonderboy” had a lot of hype heading into this fight, and was humbled. And his response was to go back to work on all aspects of his game, whereupon he improved, twice came within a hair’s breadth of winning the welterweight title, and is still a major factor at 170 pounds.
We’re thinking of this because we remember what happened to Anthony Rocco Martin the last time out. Martin went on a hell of a run winning four straight fights upon returning to welterweight. Then he got his biggest test in Demian Maia. Then, well, Maia vs. Martin kind of played out like Brown vs. Wonderboy.
So what’s next? Martin (16-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC) takes on Ramazan Emeev, a Dagestani fighter who doesn’t have as high a profile as Maia around these parts because he’s yet to fight in North America, but Emeev (18-3 MMA, 3-0 UFC) is unbeaten in the UFC and going to be a tough out. Martin’s performance here should signal whether he’s going to be a factor over the long haul, or whether he was just another guy who had a decent run until he hit a certain level.
How does Ed Herman keep doing his thing?
The ageless Diego Sanchez, “The Ultimate Fighter 1” champion, is still going in the UFC, but that’s about it for the legendary original cast. The day has long passed since the last “TUF 2” competitor left the active roster.
Then there’s “The Ultimate Fighter 3,” which still has one fighter who has been with the UFC the whole way: middleweight finalist Ed Herman.
To paraphrase what Primus once sang in “Jerry Was a Race Car Driver,” Herman (23-14 MMA, 12-11 UFC) never did win the checkered flag, but he never did come in last. Herman’s been on runs where he seemed like he was knocking on the door of a title shot, like a three-fight, three-finish, three-bonus run in 2007. He’s been through other where you wondered why he was still in the UFC.
Either way, his fights are rarely boring, he’s still a part of the UFC 13 years later, and he’s coming off a first-round finish of Patrick Cummins. A win over late replacement Khadis Ibragimov (8-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) could incredibly put him on another hot streak heading into the 2020s.
How will the Pannie Kianzad vs. Jessica-Rose Clark rematch pan out?
Deep down on the prelims lies an interesting bantamweight bout, which also happens to be the only women’s fight on the show.
Pannie Kianzad and Jessica-Rose Clark squared off at Invicta 13 in 2015, with Kianzad taking a unanimous decision.
Since then, both competitors have appeared to be just a step shy of breaking out. The Australian Clark (8-5 MMA, 2-1 UFC) won three straight bouts, including over Paige VanZant at 125 pounds, before losing to Jessica Eye last year. The Iranian Kianzad (11-5 MMA, )-2 UFC) held Cage Warriors gold and reached the finals of “TUF 28,” but she’s hit stumbling blocks as well.
But it’s too soon to give up on either, and a fair bet to conclude the winner of this fight will be one to keep an eye on.
