HYDEN BLOG: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly from UFC Vancouver

FRANK HYDEN MMATorch columnist

Hyden Blog
Sep 14, 2019; Vancouver, BC, Canada; Justin Gaethje (blue gloves) defeats Donald Cerrone red gloves) during UFC Fight Night at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

UFC Vancouver was this past weekend and it featured an exciting main event.


UFC Vancouver

GOOD- Misha Cirkunov submits Jimmy Crute

Crute had some success and was on top of Cirkunov raining down some punches until Cirkunov slapped on a great choke and got the submission. Good win for Cirkunov.

GOOD- Uriah Hall vs. Antonio Carlos Junior

This was a close and tight fight that Hall won by split decision. I can see that, though Carlos Junior had some really good grappling. Hall lobbied for a title shot after the win but that’s not happening anytime soon. Hall is like a roller coaster, up and down. He’ll have some really exciting fights followed by some of the most boring you’ll see. That’s a tough sell for the UFC. Good win for Hall, though.

GOOD/BAD- Michael Pereira vs. Tristan Connelly

Pereira came out fighting like a random opponent in a fighting game who’s trying to troll you. He was all flips and dances and all that. He even did a choreographed dance with his corner before the fight. That worked against him, though, as he gassed hard and Connelly took over and won the decision. Good win for Connelly.

BAD- Todd Duffee vs. Jeff Hughes

Duffee looked pretty good but then got poked in the eye and the fight was stopped and ruled a No Contest. That’s disappointing, to say the least.

GOOD- Glover Teixeira vs. Nikita Krylov

This was another really close fight. Teixeira won the decision, though you could definitely argue that Krylov should have gotten the nod from the judges. I would have gone with Krylov myself  but I think Teixeira did enough that this win isn’t a huge deal. Nice win for Teixeira.

GOOD- Justin Gaethje stops Donald Cerrone

Gaethje used legkicks early and often and scored some big shots. Gaethje then dropped Cerrone with a big right hand and pounced on him to force the ref to jump about four minutes into the first round. Good win for Gaethje in multiple ways. One, he finished a good opponent. Two, he didn’t take a whole lot of damage in this fight. Three, Gaethje’s legkicks always give an opponent something to think about because he’s so effective with them. This was a really good way to end the night.

*************

GSP vs. Khabib?

There’s been talk of the UFC booking a fight between UFC Lightweight Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and Georges St. Pierre. Would that be an interesting fight? Hell yeah, it would be. Should it be booked? Hell no. Tony Ferguson absolutely has to get the next title shot. There’s no ifs, ands, or buts about it. You just cannot have some big money fight over a man who has won twelve fights in a row. I don’t give a damn if the UFC thinks they’re going to make way more money with GSP-Khabib over Ferguson-Khabib, you can’t do it. At a certain point, you have to respect the sport. You can’t just chase dollars because you’ll do long-term damage to your credibility.

Booking GSP to fight Khabib would be complete BS. I would like to think the UFC wouldn’t be that dumb but greed makes people do dumb things. We’ll have to wait to see what happens but I think they’ll do the right thing and book Ferguson-Khabib. That’s a fight that a lot of people want to see,, and hopefully we actually get to see it this time.

Comments and suggestions can be emailed to me at hydenfrank@gmail.com and you can follow me on Twitter at @hydenfrank


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