Let us all gather to give thanks for the structural integrity of our precious faces after watching that UFC event in Washington, D.C. on Saturday night.
And let us also dig into this week’s MMA Mailbag to sort through our complicated feelings on the matter.
I’m having a hard time seeing what the controversy is behind the Overeem stoppage. With 4 seconds left, Dan is right there, waits as Overeem gets up. Overeem stumbles along the fence nowhere near the direction of Rozenstruik and has a fight ending busted lip on top of it. A knockout at the bell is still a knockout and this happened with in the round we don’t have to let the 4 seconds play out or get the doctors involved. What am I missing? – David M.
I don’t think there’s any controversy in the “you did the wrong thing” sense. Instead, it’s more like a controversy in the “oh buddy you were so close” sense.
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Four seconds. All Alistair Overeem had to do was convince the world and Dan Miragliotta that he was somewhat with it for another four seconds, and he would have won a unanimous decision victory. Yes, his face would have still looked like a shoe that got mangled by a lawnmower. And no, that outcome probably would not have been very satisfying for any members of the audience who didn’t have money on him. Still, mathematically the fight was his just as long as he made it to the final horn. And he came sooooo close.
Of course, another way of looking at it is that Jairzinho Rozenstruik came so close to losing this fight — and not just on the scorecards. After his right hand took out a chunk of Overeem’s mouth, what did he do? He turned and walked away, striking one of those iconic walk-off knockout poses. Meanwhile, behind him, Overeem got back to his feet with almost superhuman quickness.
Had Overeem not stumbled face-first into the fence right after that, had he instead managed a mangled poker face just like enough to satisfy Miragliotta (putting his hands up to hide the horrific wound to his lip would have been a good start), who had moved in for a close look, maybe those final four seconds tick away in the ensuing confusion.
That’s the series of what-ifs we find ourselves wondering about, which is natural. But a controversy? No, I wouldn’t say that. I don’t think there’s anyone looking at pictures of Overeem’s mug today and deciding that this is the face of the rightful winner.
Let’s get gnarly. Where does Overeem’s lip injury rank on the all-time list of gross stuff to happen in MMA? – Bill L.
If we’re restricting ourselves to the grossness that we can actually see with our own eyes — in other words, no groin shots (more on that in a moment) — my list looks something like this:
- “Cyborg” Santos broken skull
- Anderson Silva’s broken leg
- (tie) Robbie Lawler’s lip and Rory Macdonald’s nose, from the same fight
- Alistair Overeem’s lip
- Mike Perry’s broken nose
- Mark Hominick’s hemotoma
- Leslie Smith’s ear
- Marvin Eastman’s forehead wound
- Jon Jones’ toe
- Mizuto Hirota’s arm
If you’re unfamiliar with any of the above, well, there’s always Google. But I don’t recommend it.
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Jair v. Francis—Penny for your thoughts? – Bran K.
Would I watch the absolute hell out of a fight between Rozenstruik and Francis Ngannou? Yes I would. Would I do so while wondering what ever happened to the title shot Ngannou was supposed to get after he obliterated Junior Dos Santos in the first round this past summer? Yep, that too.
Dan Miragliotta pressuring Struve into continuing the fight after taking those crotch kicks by saying Struve probably won two rounds seems like a problem right? Didn’t seem like Dan was concerned about Struve’s well-being, just wanted to continue the fight… – Joshua E.
My perhaps overly generous reading is that Miragliotta maybe was concerned about Struve’s well-being in a way, but he still overstepped there.
As I’ve heard “Big” John McCarthy say many times over the years, the conversation that takes place between fighter and referee in those situations should be restricted to one simple question: Can you continue? It’s a yes-or-no question, and it should ideally be determined by how the fighter feels — not what he hears from the ref about what will or won’t happen with each option.
I think Miragliotta’s heart was probably in the right place. I suspect he didn’t want to see Struve get screwed out of money or opportunities all because he had the misfortune to get kicked in the balls twice. That’s still not the referee’s concern, and he shouldn’t be having the conversation in the first place.
Barao has finally been given his walking papers. What do you believe was behind his precipitous and shocking decline? Do you think he will have any trouble getting picked up by another major promotion at this point? – Joshua B.
Two hard fights ending in TKO losses against a man who was later found to be doping with EPO probably didn’t help. But no, I’m not going to attribute it to any one cause. Renan Barao was really good for a really long time. He went nearly a decade without a loss. He won nine straight in the UFC and WEC combined. Then he got beat by T.J. Dillashaw, and things started to unravel.
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Maybe it was his confidence that never quite recovered. Maybe he just didn’t keep growing and changing the way he needed to. Maybe everyone else got better. Most likely it was a combination of all that and more. This sport can be cruel that way. Some people climb to a high point and then coast gently down the other side. Others fall right off a cliff.
Where does Song Yadong go from here? – Richard L.
To Mt. Xyience, where he must sacrifice some BMF wings to the MMA gods as thanks for bad judging. He should feel extremely fortunate that he got out of there with a draw instead of a decision loss. And Cody Stamann has every right to be pissed off about it.
How did you enjoy watching Tito vs Alberto 😂? – N S.
Is it just me or does the buzz for UFC 245 seem kinda light? Seems weird with three titles on the line. – Billy N.
It is not just you. Seems like maybe the UFC is hoping this one will sell itself just on the strength of the card? And it should. It really is a good fight card. Also seems like it’s the promoter’s job to make that case before the event.
Has anyone ever been promoted on 2 seperate fight poster at the same time other than currently Frankie Edgar? Granted I don’t believe even he thinks he’s making the 2nd fight. – Law C.
If they have, I can’t recall it. But maybe that’s because most organizations wouldn’t do it that way even if that was the most optimistic version of their current plan. It feels a little dishonest to me to go around selling tickets to the event in Raleigh, N.C., with Frankie Edgar’s face on the poster when the UFC is willfully and knowingly jeopardizing his participation in that event by also slotting him into another fight a month earlier. I know, I know. “Fight card subject to change,” and all that. But does that mean the advertisements can be one step away from pure fantasy?
(Top photo of Alistair Overeem: Jeff Bottari / Zuffa)
