Helwani: 24 thoughts on the week in MMA
Ariel Helwani is an MMA reporter at ESPN. Follow him on Twitter at @arielhelwani.
It’s Monday, time for another edition of Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show, which airs live starting at 1 p.m. ET on Twitter and YouTube. After it ends, you can listen to the entire show via the ESPN podcast center.
Let’s get this out of the way right off the top: Jessica Andrade is the rightful owner of the UFC strawweight title. She won that fight fair and square. Even though it was scary to watch and could have been disastrous for Rose Namajunas, the slam wasn’t illegal. Respected referees present and past, such as Marc Goddard and John McCarthy have already addressed this on Twitter. Andrade’s nickname in English means piledriver, after all. She simply did what she is known for.
That was a spectacular ending to another wild Saturday night in MMA. Between UFC in Rio and Bellator in Rosemont, Illinois, a lot happened this past weekend. And guess what? The fun continues in a few days with the UFC in Rochester, the ONE Championship debut of Sage Northcutt, KSW 49 and more.
It’s Monday, so here are some random thoughts on the week that was and week to come in MMA:
The best insider in the sport, Ariel Helwani, and best personality in the sport, Chael Sonnen, break down the MMA weekend and look ahead to the biggest cards.
Watch on ESPN+
1. I really felt for Namajunas Saturday night. She looked amazing in the first round. Fast, on point, crisp, and confident. After everything she has been through this year, and all the talk of her fighting in enemy territory, it was a marvel to watch her fight like that. But this sport can be beautiful in the best of times and equally cruel in the worst of times, and that’s what Namajunas just experienced.
Daniel Cormier told me afterwards that all Namajunas had to do was release the submission and she would have survived that slam. She didn’t, and as a result, she’s no longer the champion. And then a funny thing happened immediately afterwards: she didn’t seem too upset about it all. Weird, right? Well, we’ve seen this scenario play out before. A fighter who just lost their belt seems more relieved than heartbroken that they lost. Why is this? I don’t think we can fully understand just how much pressure there is on these fighters’ shoulders once they win the UFC title. It’s a grind just to get to the title fight. You’re not earning a lot of money and the sport takes a real toll on your body. And then once you get the belt, you’ve got an army of fighters coming for you right away. Issue is, the fall from grace from a stature and, more importantly, a monetary standpoint is drastic once you lose the belt. That’s why Stipe Miocic was so adamant about fighting for the belt next. That’s why Luke Rockhold took over a year to return after losing the belt to Michael Bisping (just to name a few).
The reality of this sport is champions make a heck of a lot more than non-champions, and so the pressure to keep the title in order to keep earning that money is immense. Sometimes it just gets to be too much and these men and women long for a simpler, less stressful time. I believe that’s what we saw from Namajunas on Saturday night.
2. Do I think she’ll retire? It’s hard to say because she is only 26 years old. I know she’s had these feelings in the past but never quite verbalized them like she did this past weekend. I suspect, once the dust settles and she takes an extended break, she’ll get that itch again. Maybe not to gun for the belt right away but to continue on her martial arts journey. That’d be nice because she’s come a long way in a short amount of time.
3. Should Namajunas get an immediate rematch considering how good she looked early on? I’d have no problem with that. We’ve seen fighters get immediate rematches after never successfully defending their title once. However, considering it sounds like she wants to take a break, I suspect the UFC will move on. The winner of the Tatiana Suarez vs. Nina Ansaroff fight or Michelle Waterson will most likely be next for the new champion.
4. For whatever it’s worth, Andrade’s manager Tiago Okamura told me Andrade suffered a cut above her right eye two weeks before the fight. They opted to glue it shut instead of stitching it up and suspected it would open up early in the fight, so they weren’t concerned when she started bleeding. Now that she is a champion, they have also already discussed having her take English lessons because right now Andrade’s English is very limited. That will go a long way in terms of her marketability in America. Just ask the likes of Khabib Nurmagomedov and Junior dos Santos, who hardly spoke English when they entered the UFC and, once they did, saw their popularity rise.
5. Strawweight is without a doubt the most interesting women’s division in the UFC right now. I’m curious where former champion Joanna Jędrzejczyk goes from here because she does have a win over Andrade. I don’t think she should get a title shot next, though. Weili Zhang‘s manager, Brian Butler, told me Zhang wants Jędrzejczyk next. I’d love to see that.
6. UFC brass will never publicly admit it, but Namajunas losing is no doubt a blow to their business. She was on the cusp of becoming a star. She is very relatable and likable. They need more stars like her right now.
7. What a bizarre night for Brazilian MMA. In Rio, legends such as Anderson Silva, Jose Aldo, Thiago Alves, Antonio Rogerio Nogueria (not to mention adopted son BJ Penn) looked their age in defeat. However, over in Rosemont, Ill., of all places, Brazilians Patricio Freire and Douglas Lima shined bright at Bellator 221.
8. I’ve been saying it all week, but it’s worth repeating now that the fight is over: If Alexander Volkanovski‘s next fight isn’t for the belt, the UFC has some serious explaining to do. The Aussie is now 20-1 as a pro, 7-0 in the UFC, has won 17 straight and just beat Aldo in Rio. There’s nothing left to do. Imagine a card later this year where he challenges featherweight champion Max Holloway in the co-main under a Robert Whittaker vs. Israel Adesanya unification title fight? That could sell 80,000 tickets in Australia, I reckon.
9. And yeah, I know Frankie Edgar‘s team has enjoyed twisting my words this past week, but I only speak in facts: Since Edgar’s last win 13 months ago, Volkanovski has gone 3-0 with wins over Darren Elkins, Chad Mendes and Aldo. Edgar is riding a one-fight winning streak. But again, he is one of the legends of the sport. He has always been a company man. If the UFC wants to give him a title shot next, and Volkanovski is OK with that, I have no issues with Edgar getting one more crack at the title. My only point is, Volkanovski should not be asked to fight anyone else. We don’t want another Tony Ferguson situation on our hands. (By the way, isn’t it weird how they are so much more vocal about Volkanovski getting to Holloway before Edgar and didn’t say a peep when Holloway moved up to fight Dustin Poirier in April? Shouldn’t that have ruffled their feathers more? I wonder why that is.)
10. Speaking of Ferguson, as you probably know by now, he met with UFC officials last Monday in Las Vegas. They had a great meeting and initially expressed interest in having him fight Justin Gaethje at UFC 238 in Chicago. They really wanted to beef up that June 8 card. Well, that fight didn’t materialize, so they called upon old reliable Donald Cerrone to save the day … again. And that he did. Ferguson vs. Cerrone is a phenomenal addition to the card and feels like a true No.1 contender fight at 155 pounds. Funny thing is, I feel like whomever wins that fight would rather fight Conor McGregor afterwards than fight for the belt.
Daniel Cormier and Dominick Cruz react to Nate Diaz vs. Anthony Pettis fighting at UC 241. For more UFC, sign up for ESPN+ http://plus.espn.com/ufc.
11. UFC brass had a phenomenal 24-hour stretch of matchmaking this weekend. First they finalized Ferguson vs. Cerrone and then they booked Nate Diaz vs. Anthony Pettis at welterweight for Aug. 17. This is a fight that has been in the making for years, and, as I told you last week, Diaz has been itching to come back over the past few months. I know a lot of people feel Diaz fights aren’t real anymore, but trust me, this is real. Diaz wants to fight and he wants to fight Anthony Pettis. It’s good to have him back.
12. Back to UFC 237 for a moment. It was a real bummer watching Penn (again) and Silva fight the way they did. I’ve never been a fan of media calling for fighters to retire, but I’ll just say I hope these two consider it. The fact that Penn is now the owner of the longest losing streak in UFC history (7) blows my mind. I don’t understand how some can say he isn’t hurting his legacy by sticking around this long. He hasn’t won a fight in nine years. That’s half the length of his career. This is now a massive part of the BJ Penn story.
13. Silva didn’t go to the hospital on fight night because, according to his manager, hospitals in Rio are very busy on Saturdays and it would have taken them hours to get looked at. So, despite being in excruciating pain, he just went home. The plan is for him to go to the hospital on Monday to get an MRI. Silva still has two fights left on his UFC contract. His team told me before the fight he really wants to fight those out.
14. I loved the way Jared Cannonier dealt with the Rio crowd after his win over Silva. It was perfect. They didn’t deserve to hear from him. And by the way, that was a legitimate win, too. It wasn’t a freak injury or an accident. Cannonier did all that damage and earned that victory with a great game plan.
15. Have I mentioned how much I hate it when Bellator and UFC go head-to-head on the same night? I really liked the Bellator 221 card on paper, but I was having a hard time giving it my full attention due to UFC 237. In the end, I saw it all, but man is it stressful (first world problems, I know).
The UFC is now on ESPN and ESPN+. Subscribe to ESPN+ to get: exclusive live UFC events, weigh-ins and more; Ariel and the Bad Guy; Dana White’s Contender Series; and more exclusive MMA content.
Some thoughts: Jake Hager needs to stick with this heel gimmick because he seems more comfortable being the bad guy. TJ Jones is a fun character and has earned at least one more fight in the organization. A.J. McKee might be one of the best fighters in the world that no one knows about it. Michael Page will be better because he finally lost. If Rory MacDonald gets by Neiman Gracie next month, I hope he’s fully motivated to fight Douglas Lima, because Lima hits really, really hard. And I had no problem with the stoppage in the Pitbull–Michael Chandler fight. It felt a bit unsatisfactory, but it was the right call. Can Pitbull finally become a star? Remains to be seen, but his improved English is definitely helping.
16. Happy trails, Tom Duquesnoy. “The Fire Kid” unexpectedly announced his retirement on Sunday. He’s just 25 and one of the top bantamweight prospects in the world, so this was a real shocker, especially considering he’s won seven of his past eight. We all know MMA retirements can be wishy-washy, but someone close to him told me they think this one might stick. He’s just not feeling it anymore. Credit to him for knowing when to say when.
17. Am I the only one who thought it was weird how much Ronda Rousey was promoted on the UFC 237 broadcast? If this were pro wrestling, you’d think they were teasing a comeback, but she’s not coming back. Why not spend that time promoting fighters who are on the active roster?
18. Curious to see what JacksonWink does with Aaron Pico. I’m not ready to give up on the youngster just yet.
19. Scott Coker should pay Jordan Burroughs right now, much like he did with Pico years ago, just to be in his farm system, so to speak. Pay him while he’s training for the Olympics. Burroughs, the former Olympic gold medalist who thoroughly dominated Ben Askren in their exhibition match last week, is too good to pass up.
20. I enjoyed covering my first PFL event last week. It’s always fun to see how different shows are run. The crowd on Long Island wasn’t great, but the fights were good. Biggest story, of course, was Kayla Harrison crying while leaving the cage following her dominant win. This made me respect Harrison even more. She cares. She’s hard on yourself. There’s nothing wrong with that. Does it make you wonder how she’ll deal with a loss if/when that time comes? Sure. But for now it makes me think PFL has something real special on their hands. She is worth all the time, effort and money they are investing in her.
Ariel Helwani and Randy Couture react to Kayla Harrison appearing very emotional after earning a win by unanimous decision vs. Larissa Pacheco at PFL 1.
21. True story: I’ve been trying to interview Matt Wiman for over four years. Every time I reach out to him, he responds, but he always declines. I haven’t bugged him in a year, and then all of a sudden we find out last week that he’s agreed to fight for the first time in almost five years against Luis Pena in June. Well, welcome back, Matt Wiman! Of course, I reached out to him after the news broke. His response? “Hi Ariel, you’d be the guy I’d talk to, but to be honest, I don’t really see the point or incentive in doing interviews at this time.” I tried to convince him, but to no avail. It’s always a pleasant chat, so no hard feelings. But Wiman continues to be my white whale.
22. Rest In Peace, Harold Lederman. When I was younger, my brother and I used to imitate his famous “OK, Jim!” line while watching the big HBO Boxing events. What an amazing character he was, and while I never met him, seemed to be a lovely man. I watched Saturday’s fights with a heavy heart after hearing the news of his passing. MMA is so young, we don’t have characters like Lederman yet, and I suspect we will never have them quite like him. He was really special.
23. A couple of weeks ago I mentioned the UFC might be back at MSG sooner rather than later. They reserved July 27 at the Garden for a potential pay-per-view but that now seems unlikely because a McGregor return that soon seems unlikely, as well. New plan is to hold the event in Edmonton, which was first reported by Nolan King. I think Edmonton’s Rogers Place is still the nicest arena I’ve ever been to.
24. This weekend’s UFC card in Rochester is a sneaky good one. I like the Kevin Lee vs. Rafael Dos Anjos main event a lot, as well as Luque vs. Magny, Eubanks vs. Ladd, Heinisch vs. Carlos Junior, Lentz vs. Oliveira, Hubbard vs. Ramos, Anderson vs. Spencer, Green vs. Jordain … OK, I know that’s a bunch of this one, but I really do like this card. Hope you enjoy it.
1 p.m.: Weekend recap
1:05: Alex Volkanovski
The featherweight contender will talk about his win over Jose Aldo at UFC 237 and what’s next for him.
1:25: Tatiana Suarez
Suarez will give her thoughts on the Namajunas-Andrade fight and preview her UFC 238 fight against Nina Ansaroff.
1:50: Douglas Lima
Lima will recap his thrilling knockout of Michael Page and discuss the finals of the Bellator welterweight Grand Prix.
2:05: Anthony Pettis
“Showtime” will preview his Aug. 17 fight against Nate Diaz.
2:20: Mike Dolce
He will respond to fellow nutritionist George Lockhart’s callout last week.
2:45: Jake Hager
The former WWE star will recap his win over TJ Jones this weekend and discuss his future in MMA.
3:05: Stipe Miocic
Miocic will preview his upcoming heavyweight title rematch against Daniel Cormier.
3:20: Kevin Lee
“The Motown Phenom” will look ahead to this weekend’s main event against Rafael Dos Anjos.
3:40: Jared Cannonier
Cannonier will talk about his win over Anderson Silva this past weekend and his next steps.