UFC 295 was held in New York City’s Madison Square Garden,
continuing an annual November tradition. Originally headlined by
Jon
Jones versus
Stipe
Miocic, promos of which played during the ESPN part of the
broadcast; that fight was scrapped, with the co-main being promoted
to the new main event, and a new interim heavyweight title cobbled
together two weeks ago.
The new headliner was
Jiri
Prochazka versus
Alex
Pereira for the vacant light heavyweight crown. Prochazka was
the champion after defeating
Glover
Teixeira in June of 2022 in the waning seconds of the match,
arguably one of the best fights of all time, which also capped off
a
magical 3-0 run in the UFC. Unfortunately, a major shoulder
injury forced him to give up his title. However, in an odd twist,
the new light heavyweight champion
Jamahal
Hill also had to vacate his crown due to an Achilles tendon
injury, setting the stage for Prochazka to regain his throne in his
first fight back. His foe was recent UFC middleweight champion
Alex
Pereira, who had moved up to the new weight after losing his
title by knockout to
Israel
Adesanya. The Brazilian had only fought at the new weight once,
a gritty split decision triumph over ex-champion
Jan
Blachowicz less than four months ago. Fireworks were expected,
and it certainly delivered. Round 1 saw Pereira land heavy leg
kicks that clearly hurt Prochazka, but the Czech switched gears and
got a takedown, inflicting heavy ground-and-pound. Round 2 was even
crazier, with Pereira continuing to land big leg kicks, but
Prochazka landing some big punches upstairs, wobbling the Brazilian
at time. Prochazka landed more punches late in the round but got
overeager, with Pereira pasting him with an awesome short right
hook into a left hook combination. Prochazka panic-wrestled and
Pereira hit him with some short elbows to the side of the head,
though the Czech fighter kept moving and scrambling. Unfortunately,
referee
Marc Goddard
stopped the contest early, with Prochazka seemingly cognizant and
continuing to resist the whole time, potentially spoiling a
classic. Regardless, Pereira is the new UFC light heavyweight
champion.
The new co-main featured the superlatively skilled
Tom
Aspinall, a 6' 5”, 250+ pound heavyweight who moves around the
cage as quickly and fluidly as a middleweight, with solid striking,
especially a brutal elbow, fantastic grappling, with terrific
takedowns and a brutal top game. Aspinall was 6-1 in the UFC
heading into the bout, with an aberrant 15-second knee injury loss
to
Curtis
Blaydes being his sole blemish, and all his victories coming by
stoppage. Pavlovich, meanwhile, has distinguished himself as the
most fearsome heavyweight knockout artist since Francis N'Gannou.
After losing his UFC debut to
Alistair
Overeem in 2018, he had won 6 in a row, all coming by
first-round knockout. That includes a 55-second demolition of
Derrick
Lewis, a brutal 54-second beatdown of
Tai
Tuivasa, and most impressively, taking just over 3 minutes to
bludgeon Blaydes one fight ago. Most thought Aspinall's best
chances would come on the ground, but he defied those expectations.
After weathering an early big punch from Pavlovich, Aspinall landed
two lightning-quick 1-2s, one after the other, that bounced off the
Russian's head and left him crumpled on the canvas. Aspinall
immediately pounded him out with a series of hammerfists to become
the new interim heavyweight champion. The whole ordeal took just 69
seconds.
Right before that, female strawweight contenders squared off when
Mackenzie
Dern faced
Jessica
Andrade. Dern was a considerable favorite, likely due to recent
results, as she had looked impressive in defeating
Angela Hill
in her last outing, while the former strawweight queen Andrade was
on a three-fight losing streak, all by stoppage. Nevertheless, it
proved an awful fight stylistically for Dern, as she was utterly
unable to take down the better wrestler Andrade, or lure her into a
ground battle. And on the feet, Andrade was far more technical,
waiting for the right time until she could crack Dern with a big
power punch. She repeatedly did so, dropping Dern late in Round 1
and then doing so several times in the second before the fight was
waived off.
In other significant fights,
Benoit St.
Denis continued his impressive winning ways, uncorking a
gorgeous head kick knockout of
Matt
Frevola, only two months after his stoppage knockout of
Thiago
Moises. He has now won 5 in a row in the UFC, all occurring by
stoppage.
With the pay-per-view over, here are some great fights that can be
made in 2024:
This was the fight talked about in the post-fight interview, and
it's the one that makes the most sense. Hill was the champion
before having to vacate due to injury, and it's only appropriate
that he come back to challenge the new king Pereira. There is an
additional angle in that Hill beat Pereira's coach, mentor, and
close friend Glover Teixera for his title, retiring the Brazilian
legend. It will, like Prochazka-Pereira, be a showdown between two
sensational strikers with a bevy of outstanding knockout
highlights.
This is the clear, obvious fight between the two current UFC
heavyweight champions. It would not only unify the belts, but would
be a huge PPV main event. There would be a lot of intrigue and
discussion about who would win and who should be favored. It's a
fight that that the entire MMA world would love to see.
Andrade has fought most of the top contenders, but there is an
exciting battle brewing with a fellow former champion in
Carla
Esparza, who is determined to return after maternal leave.
Andrade will obviously look to keep the fight standing and
capitalize with her superior stand-up. Esparza will be looking for
the takedown, and could do well do so, being a much better wrestler
than Dern. Esparza also has sturdy defense, also unlike Dern, which
would make it potentially difficult for Andrade to connect with a
big knockout blow. It's a very interesting contest as well as one
of the bigger fights in the women's strawweight division, featuring
two former champions.
St. Denis just torched the No. 14 ranked lightweight, Frevola, and
his striking appears to be getting better and better. A fine foe
would be the former lightweight champion
Rafael dos
Anjos, who is currently ranked No. 10. It would be a
fascinating contest; can the wily legend dos Anjos find a way to
defeat his younger foe either on the feet or on the ground? Will
this be a passing of the torch from a former champion to a future
one? Both men have potent striking as well as grappling, and are
consistently engaging in a fast-paced, crowd-pleasing manner. It's
difficult to imagine this not being an exciting affair. It would
also be a great test and opportunity for St. Denis, and a
worthwhile fight for the Brazilian master.