Jul 318 min read

Bittersweet

Bittersweet vibes made up the air in Manchester after an interesting night of fights wrote chapter 304. We had some good moments no doubt, but it felt the negative moments took most the attention come the day after the event. Fighters sh** the bed. Manchester felt the time pain. Dana being Dana, and two fake warriors teasing to fiction. Throughout the bad, I still have some good to run through. Lets ride the Bittersweet slopes.

There's a new king at 170, Paddy the Baddy finds that tune again, and Tom Aspinall declares superiority as he claims his name atop the Jon Jones wait-list. Slope gets choppy with the rest of the card. We experienced seven consecutive decisions, a dead slept crowd (literally), an utterly awful broadcast, and one of the worst fight experiences since Nick Diaz and Anderson Silva... yes, even worse than Namajunas/Esparza. I think it's fitting to start there.

It's a good day knowing the UFC won't extend the contract of flyweight Muhammad Mokaev. What an awful performance by him. What an awful attempt in trying to get your contract resigned. The Punisher? Please. Nothing more than a fake tough guy who likes to cheat, bend rules, and spit on the game. Mokaev is a joker. I kid you not when I sat in disgust watching Mokaev "fight" Manel Kape. These two made huge scenes in the lead up to hype and sell their fight. Huge scenes. Fighting at the hotel, being held back at the faceoff, and even going as far as being held-back by security in the Octagon moments before the bell. This:

video via ESPN_MMA//X

...just to dance! The two cats went the first two minutes of the fight without throwing a strike just MOMENTS after being held-back by security. You can't write up a joke any better. Matters got even worse after Mokaev blatantly grabbed Kape's shorts in the worst of ways (the close-up replay is deep in the video):

video via @FightersAfrican//X

Disgraceful. The worst short grab I have ever seen at the professional level. I know the replay is toward the end of the clip, but I wanted to show Mike Beltran's confrontation with Mokaev. Huge fan of MB, his reaction was perfect, and expected- I do have some appall on not immediately taking a point from Mokaev. That's a fight costing error. You don't call DQ to punish both fighters, but you sure as hell take a point from the faulter. Appalled that Beltran didn't. Gotta love his bark, though. To pull that kind of crap in the UFC on the grandest stage... just nasty. You do it knowing you are on the hot seat to keep a roster spot!? What a bozo this Mokaev. That short grab is nothing short of a pure spit to the game. Yeah, enough with him, he isn't warranted the time. Have fun on the line.

That fight took the absolute air out of the room. Must have done the same for those in the back prepping for war. Five more decisions followed suit of Mokaev/Kape. You could hear the snoozes beginning to echo across the 4AM crowd in Manchester... until Paddy the Baddy made himself known to the stage. All braided up and locked-in. Pimblett continued his undefeated march inside the Octagon with a GORGEOUS sub, and thankfully got me back on his train. I have doubted Paddy since the Jared Gordon fight. A fight I personally had scored to Gordon. The lifestyle habits (diet) just didn't have me a believer. As I am now no longer a believer of McGregor (boozy). That changed with Paddy's sweeping of the hands performance over Bobby Green. Sorry King, but I still called Ochocinco, Chad Johnson (you're Bobby to us...).

What a subby dub for Paddy the Baddy. I have no idea what the hell Green was thinking when he shot towards him... but he himself didn't have long to think about it:

video via @MartialMind1//X

Triangle arm-bar to pure filth of execution. What a beauty. Green is a monster for choosing Mr. Mayhem and not tappin'. High percentage of fighters (and most civils) tap out to the triangle alone... adding the arm-bar is pure brutality. Paddy breaks his decision streak (2) to secure his 4th UFC finish in six fights. The Cage Warriors legend is now officially a ranked UFC fighter, placing number 15 at 155. I love the callout of Renato Moicano. That should definitely be the next move, unless the rumors of Moicano/Saint Denis in Paris (September) are true; then we can run the winner of that against Paddy to find clarification in the teens of the rankings at lightweight. Welcome to the ranks Paddy; I still rave about that sub.

Paddy winning in quick fashion was a needed result to give some life to the Manchester crowd as Tom Aspinall made his march to continue what he does: finishing his opps in lighting quick fashion. Aspinall didn't take the Orton/HHH route when following up Paddy, no he had to do things even grander, and even faster. No surprise, right? Aspinall does happen to have the shortest average fight time (min. 5 fights) after all. He made it even lower (2:10) after slaying Curtis Blaydes within a minute... officially closing the door there to move his sights solely on the heavyweight title.

AND NEW! Belal Muhammad shocks the world at UFC 304

Stunna Wunna? Belal Muhammad turned in a masterful performance to secure the UFC Welterweight title in the slaying of Leon Edwards' 8-year winning streak. It had been 3,146 days since Leon Edwards last lost inside the Octagon. After elevating to the highest echelon post the Usman-KO, most expected Edwards to beat Muhammad in his home country England. That didn't happen. Instead, Belal went into Manchester and made the home fans never forget his name... the ones that were still awake.

If you don't count a 'No Contest' or any bad scorecards, Belal Muhammad's active 10-fight win streak ranks second behind Jon Jones (18). It was a flawless performance at 304. A nasty watch, but a good performance nonetheless. Belal was 9-for-13 on takedowns with 12 minutes of control time (zero official sub attempts), out-landed Leon on the feet, and out-worked Leon in the cardio department. Belal training with Khabib Nurmagomedov made total sense when watching his execution. I hate the style, but here's the thing: I deal with it. This is MMA. Mixed. Martial. Arts. There is several routes to victory for a reason. You all need to either accept that, or stop calling yourselves MMA fans. Say your combat fans or something, but don't sit there and call yourself a MMA fan. Don't hate the player; hate the game. Ever head of that one? It's true. You can't degrade Muhammad or the Dagestans for choosing that style. You can hate it; but don't belittle them as champions of the sport. I lived and learned with that. I hate it, but they are elite at what they do, and what they do is a branch of MMA.

Had that on my head, needed to let it loose. Don't get it all shaded now, there was still plenty of folk that had love for Belal and his feat. There was actually a lot more people on his wave that I thought there would be, ha! I didn't expect trash to be thrown, the UK peeps are a bit well behaved in comparison to those south of the States in that regard, but I certainly didn't expect this man Belal to shut down the streets of Manchester right after winning the gold:

video via @bullyb170//X

The remix to Paddy the Baddy had me shell-shocked. Ooooh Belaaaal Muuuuhammad! Didn't have that one on my betting slip. I thought I was watching AI there for a hot second on X, man! Belal spoke everything into existence. Kudos to him, honestly. It was one impressive weekend for the new champ at 170. I dozed during his main-event, and utterly can't stand his style. Rather as a spectator or fighter- I can't stand it, but I recognize him as champion, and respect his accolades. As I now do for Khabib. This is MMA! Again, don't hate the player; hate the game. Belal has mastered a style of the sport that creates control and dominance; now he's a UFC champion. Muhammad was the better fighter on Saturday:

video via schwick6

Not only do I respect the performance; I respect his post-fight comments regarding his next opponents... well not the BS call to Dricus, but saying he plans to look down the line at 170 and fight the next crop of risers in Shavkat, Machado-Garry, Usman (old crop), and Della Maddalena is good and how things should be. I can't tell you how tired I am of how this new gen of stars do their callouts. The Dricus snag made my upper lip go up, but at least Belal said the right thing shortly after. Independent promotions can allow camps to pick and choose; UFC has too much leverage to allow it. Clear that up with the fighters, yeah?

Leon Edwards now becomes the third champ to fall in 2024, joining Sean Strickland and Alexander Volkanovski. The change atop the mountain at 170 really shakes things up within the division when considering the next matchups to make. So, what's next? Who should get the first crack at the new champ, and who should the title eliminators be? Hunter and Dana are set to play with the playdoh. Let me get the whiteboard out.

We have three SHINY competitors with their names in the hat, with a 4th competitor a win away from joining the fray. Sorry, Chimaev is out; the dude is a walking question mark. Next!

Now it's just a matter of determining the order of the line. I for one, would like Shavkat to run with Usman next to determine Belal's first title defense. If not, you allow Shavkat the title shot due to the fact that people won't sign to fight him (we don't know if that's fiction or not tbh), plus the sell meter is highest with that pairing. Here is what I am thinking:

I know it seems like I don't have the fallen-former champ in the plans; that's not the case. I just don't agree with him getting the immediate rematch. For those who may call me a hypocrite, think about the context with Leon. He got shut down in his home country as the favorite. The fight was a snoozer, and his previous wins are against the old crop in Covington, Usman, and Diaz. Edwards isn't out of the equation, but he needs to beat one of these new croppers to get a crack and reclaiming his title. It would be different with different results at 304. You ask me? I'd rather he and Machado-Garry run things up than Covington and Garry. Bottom line though? It's Shavkat or Usman next... not Edwards.

It will be interesting to see the route they go first. I hope it's Shavkat with JDM & Machado-Garry being the top title eliminators. Belal and Shavkat will be a solid matchup. I don't expect them going out of their way to sell; they would be a perfect main or co-main for UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi. Fight is an automatic sell there. Hey, I am just a cat sharing opinions- it's now up to Dana, Hunter, and Sean to make the call. Hopefully it lines up with my white board.

Number three has been slayed... you already know I have some significant changes to my current Men's Pound-for-Pound list! I had a few changes on the Women's side as well with Virna Jandiroba and Namajunas making moves. With those being top-15 moves; I will share them on X. Here is my updated top-15 (full top-35 on X):

Bittersweet

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