What did you think of Demetrious Johnson and Eddie Alvarez’s ONE Championship debuts and what did you think of the overall presentation of the event?
David McGrath, Host – MMATorch Today Podcast
I loved ONE’s presentation. I was thoroughly impressed with Mighty Mouse and believe he was and is the best flyweight on earth. That being said the UFC still got the better of the deal. Eddie Alvarez is what I thought he was, a slightly overrated mid-tier lightweight.
Frank Hyden, Columnist – The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
I saw the highlights after the event. DJ looked very good like he’s his usual outstanding self. He fought well and had a decisive victory. Alvarez, on the other hand, did not look all that good. It happens to everyone, you get caught. Sometimes it’s because you’re not as good as you used to be, other times it’s because your opponent had the perfect strategy, sometimes it’s just bad luck. Alvarez has taken a lot of punishment over the years so it’s hard to say for sure what happened. I think he’ll rebound from this and come back but that’s a rough debut.
From what I saw, the presentation looked fine. I didn’t see a whole lot but what I did see looked like your typical MMA event presentation. It was fine. I didn’t see anyone ripping them online for anything so I think that’s a win for them, in a way.
Sean Covington – Columnist – Covington’s Corner
Demetrius Johnson showed the passion that he hasn’t shown in quite some time. He was aggressive and DJ isn’t quite that aggressive in fights; I loved it. DJ just paved the way for the flyweights of UFC to make a name for themselves elsewhere.
As for Eddie Alvarez, the guy has become a bum! He was NEVER that good to begin with. Joe Rogan hyped that dude up and y’all lost y’all mind. He needs to return to Bellator or quit the sport, he is washed!
Patrick Shaheen, Host – MMA Scope Podcast
Warning: I was not awake for either but have watched them since. DJ is a killer, the goat I dare say. He’s going to mop the flyweight division in ONE Championship. Eddie is on the down slope of his career and it was tough to watch him get thoroughly outperformed.
I personally loved the presentation of one, the UFC has never cared too much about the in-arena presentation and it seems to now be carrying over to television as well. We have to remember that this is an entertainment business and ONE is very aesthetically pleasing.
Michael Hiscoe, MMATorch Managing Editor
Eddie Alvarez got beat up, that can’t be denied. He’s said since that he was hesitant to pull the trigger and be more aggressive. I think there’s something to that. He had a similar problem when he fought Conor McGregor. Perhaps “The Underground King” isn’t at his best when he’s on the big stage. He wasn’t at his best in his UFC debut, he got pieced by McGregor, and now he fell to Timofey Nastyukhin in the first round.
Demetrious Johnson, physically, looked as good as he ever has so it looks like Asia is treating him well. In the cage, it was more of the same “Mighty Mouse” that we’ve become accustomed to. I’m with those who think he will walk through this tournament. A year from now, I think people will be begging to see him back in UFC for a trilogy fight with Henry Cejudo.
NEXT: KHABIB AND CONOR CONTINUE TWITTER FEUD
As for the presentation, the show was a little long, but being on YouTube, it’s easy to digest the show in bits and pieces or just skip ahead to what you want to see. There’s a lot about ONE that wrestling fans who haven’t taken to UFC may appreciate. Their video packages were good, and they do a good job of making their fighters look like stars. The ring announcer who talked to the fighters after their wins was a little over the top, but some people may enjoy that.
Leave a Reply