She came out a bit later and said she wouldn't fight Cyborg because Cyborg was a PED user. What happened then? Randamie copped to a hand injury after the fact, hinting she wouldn't fight Cyborg. We don't live in an alternate universe, we live in a current reality and SO de Randamie beat Holm on points to become champ. She won the first three rounds in my estimation, lost the final two and in a fair and just world, probably loses the fight with points deducted for repeated shots after the bell in rounds 1 and 2. After pulling out of fights on and off for three straight years (and with wins over Anna Elmose and Larissa Pacheco of all people), Germaine was ushered into a fight with Holly Holm in a makeshift main event. Germaine de Randamie's title shot was somewhat circumstantial at best but be it by hook or by crook, she DID win the UFC's first ever featherweight title. Maybe it's because GDR could either be Amanda Nunes' next opponent or the ultimate 'Whatever happened to?" story. Maybe it's just the "it's coming to get excited!" aspect of an approaching card or what but I'm genuinely excited by this main event. In a vacuum, I'd rather see two top 5 fighters at strawweight headline an event than two big doughy guys at LHW or HW just because we're afraid the audience might not like it.Ģ- At the same time I have zero problems admitting GDR vs Aspen Ladd as a main event wasn't making me want to rush out and buy a ticket if it was in my town. With less of an expectation to do a one off rating (Ladd vs GDR probably would've been the lowest rated show on FS1) then I hope we see more credible WMMA main events. We get a little bit of everything and I'm glad Ladd vs GDR occupies a part of that. It's kinda cool that in a span of four weeks, we've gotten a massive HW fight, a big UFC PPV, this show with a credible WMMA main event and then a pretty solid San Antonio main event with RDA vs Leon Edwards. The scheduling and the assembly line of "See UFC product, get UFC product" on ESPN+ allows you to be a bit more flexible. Part of this is clearly an ESPN design you give them four shows a month more or less and you're less concerned about popping a number on a digital platform. The UFC is clearly giving us more WMMA main events and taking some chances in the process. We currently have on the calendar four WMMA main events and rumors of a 5th (I've heard some rumblings about Rose vs Nina Ansaroff in the late Fall) is out there. Either way we got thirteen fights to talk about so let's just get on with it.ġ- It's only fair to start with what can only be described as an experiment of sorts by the UFC. It's a pseudo #1 contender fight with a former champion and a rising prospect. On the other hand if one had the ability to view both fighters objectively, this is a pretty damn good fight. Aspen Ladd to my knowledge has never been on a main card and GDR has had one fight in two years. MMA fans work in doses and drips and so foistering this main event upon the audience even years after the rise of WMMA requires some understanding that there's a chunk of fans who won't see this as a quality headliner. WMMA title fights are acceptable main and co-main events but convincing MMA's audience that there's quality outside of the title fights is often met with chuckles, snickers and some derisiveness. I can kind of see the two sides at play here. Fights 2-13 are your usual garden variety Fight Night mix of intriguing and irrelevant but the main event, a clash between Germaine de Randamie and Aspen Ladd, will likely determine whether it's the worst thing ever or a totally acceptable main event. This year's card after Vegas is either good or bad depending almost solely on how you feel about the main event. Last year, the UFC gave us Blagoy Ivanov vs JDS and Sage Northcutt vs Zak Ottow after Miocic vs DC. In 2017, the UFC loaded up their July PPV slate and gave us Gunnar Nelson vs Santiago Ponzinibbio the week after an injury (and sinus infection) cursed card from Vegas. In 2016, injuries took us from Michael Chiesa vs Tony Ferguson to John Lineker vs Michael McDonald (two guys no longer in the org). The show AFTER the big July PPV always tends to have some sort of bad vibes attached to it and I guess this one isn't any different.
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