THE RNC V.1 - UFC 285: GOAT BYKE, GRASSO STUNS THE WORLD & MORE
Let's break down UFC 285's Main Card
ITTT IS TIMEEEEEEEEEEE TO TALK UFC 285
MAIN EVENT: HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE FIGHT - JON JONES VS CIRYL GANE
RETURN OF THE GOAT
The undisputed GOAT of MMA gets the Heavyweight Title Belt strapped on by an ecstatic Dana White as Bruce Buffer screams out AND NEWWWWWW. Jon Jones joins Randy Couture & Daniel Cormier as the 3rd fighter to win titles in the Light Heavy & Heavyweight division in convincing fashion over promising up and comer Ciryl Gane.
Bones is Jordan, LeBron, Brady, but mostly Tiger. GOAT status. Period. He carries the burdens of a tumultuous personal life with him. His legacy is stained in a way that other sports icons outside of Tiger are not. But like Tiger winning the 2019 Masters - Bones’ supreme skill, transcendent talent and lore thrust him into the spotlight atop the UFC’s biggest stage.
After a 3 year layoff, numerous run-ins with the law, a domestic violence charge, changes to his camp and coaching staff and moving up to heavyweight - I wondered if we would ever see Bones in the octagon again, and if we did, would he be the dominate force of nature we’ve seen in his past incarnation at light heavyweight.
The answer was pretty clear. Absolutely.
Let’s start here: Jones should’ve walked out to Metro Boomin.
Salute my DOG Conner Burks for this Thanos edit that went CRAZY.
UPON FURTHER REVIEW:
MMA is a chess match. Watching your opponent, seeing their game plan and countering. I love when we see two fighters jump into the deep end and let it rip from the jump. Gane and Jones exchanged a few leg kicks one of them landing on the groin of Jones. That was it. Gane’s most effective and damaging strike of the fight - 8 seconds in.
Bones was controlling the center of the octagon and blitzing Gane with pressure. This put Gane in a tough spot with defending takedowns with probably the most skilled ground fighter in UFC history.
We saw Jones’ newfound power on full display after taking Gane down with relative ease 1 min into the fight. After some hand fighting for position, Jones has Gane against the fence and tries for a guillotine that Gane get’s out of - setting Jones up for better position with a 2nd guillotine attempt that makes Gane tap.
A complete masterclass from Jones.
MY TAKE:
Ciryl Gane may look like an Adonis and have tremendous KO power like we’ve seen in previous fights like Tai Tuivasa, Derrick Lewis and Junior Dos Santos. BUT. When he gets dragged into deep waters with the elite guys in the division he’s just not that guy. A 35-year old, 3 year hiatus (albeit GOAT) fighter took his lunch money and barely broke a sweat doing it.
Uncle Dana has already penned Jones and Stipe for the next Heavyweight Title bout in July. Jones can go on another storied run in yet another division because let’s face it, Francis Ngannou will ‘Never be in the UFC again’ per Dana. That leaves Stipe, and a bunch of guys to contend against the greatest MMA fighter of all time. I’ll take my chances with Bones.
CO-MAIN EVENT: WOMENS FLYWEIGHT TITLE FIGHT - (C) VALENTINA SHEVCHENKO VS ALEXA GRASSO
¡VIVA MEXICO CABRONES!
Massive underdog Alexa Grasso (+600) shocked the world last night when she submitted seven-time defending Flyweight Champion Valentina Shevchenko with a rear-naked choke (ding). 1 She becomes the third Mexican born champion in the UFC after Brandon Moreno and Yair Rodriguez.
Before we dive in to Grasso’s championship performance - let’s give some love to Bullet.
A historic (7!) title defenses for Valentina, that puts her Top 5 with names like Jon Jones, Demetrious Johnson, Anderson Silva, Georges St. Pierre and Jose Aldo. It is THE preeminent run in Women’s MMA history.
With that said, there were signs of her slowing down during the fight with Taila Santos in the controversial split decision of June 2022. After this defeat at the hands of Alexa Grasso - Valentina will be eyeing an instant rematch to win back her belt.
UPON FURTHER REVIEW:
Alexa Grasso seemed unfazed by the Champion standing across from her in the octagon.
A very measured Grasso coaxed Shevchenko into a standup fight for the 1st round. Grasso was crisp with her punches and counters showing the poise of a champion while Shevchenko was getting deep into her bag with spinning backfists, spinning wheel kicks and an early front question mark kick. At 1:56 Grasso lands a 3 piece punch combo that leaves the champ a bit dazed and changes the equation of the fight.
After this 1st round, I said on The MMA Hangout (our UFC PPV live watch along on the LeBatard Show Youtube and Twitch channels) that Valentina needed to muddy up this fight and make it boring. She needed to start taking Grasso down and ground & pound to get the fight back to her pace and terms. Standing and trading blows with Grasso was proving to be a tough game plan.
2nd and 3rd rounds go as expected, Valentina starts working her ground game and has a full mount and dropping punches when the ref inexplicably stands both ladies up leading to fewer opportunities for Shevchenko to go on offense and submit Grasso after having her on the ground for the better part of two rounds.
As both sides exchange blows and takedowns, the fights pivotal moment is at 1:02 in the 4th round, Shevchenko loads back to fire off a spinning back kick that misses as Grasso slides in leaving her back totally open. Grasso does an incredible job at recognizing the mistake and works on getting both clinches in and has Shevchenko in deep on a RNC. After cranking and getting under the chin, Valentina Shevchenko knows she’s done and has to tap.
MY TAKE:
Alexa Grasso had amazing technique and defense when it came to not allowing Shevchenko to determine the pace and style of the fight. Grasso’s punches landed like cinderblocks and forced Shevchenko to derail her game plan in order to stay upright. An immediate rematch was called for and would be huge for the division. The scenario that intrigues me the most is if the UFC will give Erin Blanchfield a shot at the title vs Alexa Grasso before giving the rematch to Shevchenko. Out of respect there should be a Grasso vs Shevchenko II then the winner takes on Blanchfield - but you know how that goes.
QUICK HITTERS OF UFC285
Shavkat Rakhmonov vs Geoff Neal
Rakhmonov contiunes his ascent in the Welterweight division with a commanding win vs Geoff Neal. Rakhmonov continues to impress with vicious striking and standup game like he did in this fight - which ended with a standing rear-naked choke (ding).
Mateusz Gamrot vs Jalin Turner
I thought Turner looked good in this fight, was landing some serious strikes in the second round but Gamrot and his ground game proved to be the deciding factor. Here’s the thing about MMA (Pablo Torre Voice) the judges will still give the rounds to the ground specialist if they have control. Gamrot wins by decision and wants a Top-5 guy up next.
Bo Nickal vs Jamie Pickett
Future UFC star Bo Nickal makes quick work of Jamie Pickett with an arm triangle in the 1st round. A clear knee to the groin led to the takedown and submission for Nickal, I’ll let you be the judge.
A big thanks to everyone who stuck around and read through! The RNC is something I’ve been meaning to do for a while. You can expect a breakdown like this after every UFC PPV. Also, I’m trying to build a communal aspect of watching the UFC for casuals and diehards alike - check out The MMA Hangout on the
show Youtube and Twitch channels at 10pm every PPV.We’ll see you for UFC286 - until then, love y’all! Peace!
Every time someone wins by RNC submission in honor of the newsletter we’ll drop a ding for the haters and capitulators
Aye Tony my boi. Salute to you brutha. Here via Mystery Crate ep222
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