What really mattered at UFC on ESPN+ 8? Here’s a thing or five…
1. How about now, are we ready yet to concede that Hermansson might be for real?
Before he beat Ronaldo Souza in every aspect of the fight, all most people knew of Jack Hermansson (20-4 MMA, 7-2 UFC) was that he had tricky submissions and an awkward style, both of which had somehow enabled him to put up wins against seemingly superior athletes on his rise up the ranks.
But surely, accepting a late-notice fight with “Jacare” was overplaying his hand, right? He couldn’t seriously think he belonged in there with the division’s elite fighters … could he?
The next thing you know, he’s hurting Souza with punches, taking him down and showing zero respect to his guard, and generally outworking the perennial middleweight contender en route to a decision win. So how about now, are we ready to take this polite Swede seriously?
He took a risk and made it pay. He keeps telling us that he won’t be satisfied without the title. Beating someone like Souza ought to be the kind of thing that would get us to listen.
2. Hardy finally gets an opponent who does what he’s there to do
UFC commentator Dominick Cruz summed up Greg Hardy’s first-round TKO win over Dmitrii Smoliakov about as well as anyone: “Too easy.” And yeah, that was basically the idea. That’s why the UFC went and re-signed a heavyweight it had cut after he went 0-2, because it wanted someone easier than Hardy’s last opponent, who at least managed to stick around long enough to win via disqualification.
The plan worked. Smoliakov managed to do very little before wilting under Hardy’s power, and now the controversial former NFL player can say he got a UFC win. It also spares the UFC from having to decide whether or not to just keep putting him in high-profile spots he hasn’t earned even after a loss, which is exactly how he wound up in the co-main event here.
Clearly, the UFC wants Hardy (4-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) to be a heavyweight star. The boos after this one-sided display suggest fans aren’t yet onboard. They’re smart enough to spot a set-up, and it’s not what they came to see. What remains to be seen is if the UFC cares enough to correct the course.
3. Perry gets a win when he needs it most
Mike Perry 13-4 MMA, 6-4 UFC) was in a tough spot here. Obviously, he’s made himself into a known man among MMA fans. Some of that is because he can knock people out, sure. But a lot of it is because, as a person and a presence, he’s the kind of spectacle we can’t look away from.
That brings a measure of fame in the fight game, but if you want to avoid becoming a punchline, you also have to win some fights. Perry took this bout with Alex Oliveira as a replacement opponent, and he came in having lost three of his last four. He needed to beat a very skilled opponent just to stay relevant for the right reasons, and he found a way to get it done even after a shaky start.
Is he ready for Colby Covington next? No, nor has he earned it. But he’s still here, still stubbornly in the conversation. And that’s something.
4. Add another name to the bantamweight title picture
Imagine what must have been going through the mind of Cory Sandhagen (11-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) as he found himself stuck in John Lineker’s guillotine choke, feeling the blood gush from his nose as Lineker squeezed with all he had in those final 10 seconds. Likely Sandhagen knew he could last through it. And he probably felt pretty good about what was already on the scorecards after three rounds of smart, solid work. But first there was this bit of unpleasantness to suffer through.
Sandhagen survived it and got the decision win. When the crowd booed that fact, even after a great showing by both men, he was also honest enough to admit on the mic: “That doesn’t feel very good, but OK.”
That’s four straight in the UFC, adding Sandhagen’s name to the list of contenders in the suddenly wide open bantamweight division. The bad news? Everyone above him already has a fight lined up. The good news? Those fights are mostly on the same night in June. And who knows, maybe his phone rings with an offer to step in if somebody can’t make it.
5. Your feel-good moment of the night: A victory for the Miller family
It always sounds like a bad idea. You’re about to get into a cage fight for money? Maybe don’t reserve a front row seat for your small children. Even if you’re supremely confident. Even if you feel sure that you can beat this guy. As we’ve all seen, anything can happen in there. You could win and still end up searing an image of unforgettable gore and violence into their brains. So why not just DVR it at home and let them watch later, once you’re sure everything went OK?
But no, Jim Miller (30-13 MMA, 19-12 UFC) wanted his family to experience the UFC carnival firsthand, at least once. Maybe the desire to make sure their experience was a positive one motivated him to get in there and make quick work of Jason Gonzalez, who he submitted easily in a shade over two minutes. And so a potential heartbreak became a positive moment for one of MMA’s true good guys.
You don’t get a lot of moments like that in this sport, by which I mean moments where everything goes the way you hope it will. But then, there also aren’t many people like Miller, either here or anywhere. It’s nice to see him cross an item off his wish list. Especially when you know what usually awaits people the longer they hang around this unforgiving world.
For complete coverage of UFC on ESPN+ 8, check out the UFC Events section of the site.
