The week leading up to UFC 223 was definitely a case of the good the bad and the ugly, one of the craziest and most unpredictable weeks in MMA history.
Starting with the bad, I would put matching Max Holloway with Khabib Nurmagomedov at just 6 days notice as the bad. Holloway, of course, wanted to fight but was the correct due diligence applied.
Holloway, of course, was recovering from injury, he was not due back until around June/July.
Was Holloway asked how’s your fitness, what’s your weight like, and were his answers verified if so. We learnt as the week went on that Holloway had to cut an insane amount of weight to make 155, and remember that’s 10lbs over his normal fighting weight.
Even if Holloway had made weight, what sort of fighting condition was he actually in.
Holloway failing to make weight safely was always a possibility, but the question is should it have been allowed to go that far, they had other options.
The ugly is obvious, the disgusting and selfish behaviour of Conor McGregor. His thuggish and criminal actions, as bad as they were could have been so much worse.
Someone could have lost an eye or suffered something much worse, but even so, some fighters lost out on much-needed paydays. The UFC will pay show money, but they lose out on potential win bonuses and Reebok sponsorship money, as well as immediate career advancement.
Watching the footage a number of times what strikes me is, as McGregor and his posse flee the scene, the look/feeling of satisfaction of what he had done, not one shred of remorse, and at the time of writing this, no public apology has been issued.
There is still no word of what punishment McGregor will receive from the UFC. I seriously doubt he will be cut, although he certainly deserves to be. It would be refreshing if the UFC said despite whatever money we lose, McGregor has to go, we simply can’t tolerate behaviour like this.
Hopefully whatever punishment he does get, and hopefully he does get punished, it is not kept in-house and the punishment fits the crime. I think he will get some kind of suspension, how long that is, will tell us exactly how much control McGregor has.
McGregor will return at some point, with a new more lucrative contract, and they say crime doesn’t pay.
For me, the good is the fights we saw and the fighters themselves. With all the nonsense that went on during the week, it made me appreciate little more what went on inside the cage.
That crazy fight between Zabit Magomedsharipov and Kyle Bochniak and the sportsmanship they showed immediately after, that special bond only fighters can truly understand.
After not touching gloves to start the fight, after a few rounds, Joanna Jedrzejczyk then offered to touch gloves, as if to say to Rose Namajunas, you now have my respect, you are legit.
Respect to Al Iaquinta for stepping up, and for Khabib Nurmagomedov for letting him. Multiple opponent changes and yet he still fought. Iaquinta achieved his Rocky moment by going the distance, his stock enhanced, Khabib can now look forward to some very big fights indeed.
We now have a UFC lightweight champion who wants to fight, now there’s a novelty, call me old fashioned but isn’t that the way it should be when you are a champion.
Overall despite the good, it’s a week where lessons need to be learned and quick.
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