The Weekly Rounds 1: Volk, Islam, Paddy and more
What’s good FB family?!
This is the first edition of the Weekly Rounds, where I will give some thoughts on some topics around the world of MMA. The opinions are all mine, would love a good debate!
By: Will Brewer
Ok. Glove touch. HERE. WE. GO!
Round 1: Alexander Volkanovski defeats Diego Lopes; retains title at UFC 325
I had to start this off by giving all the respect to the great Alexander Volkanovski. It was an incredible performance against Diego Lopes at UFC 325. Volk is at a point in his career where many people would say the age, the recent knockouts, and all the wars he’s had would start to add up. At 37 years old, he is still fighting at a championship level, and turning back the young, emerging stars.
Volk’s first fight with Lopes was a clear victory for the former champion, as he regained the vacant title. While the result was not in question, the fight was a war. The rematch was quite the opposite. Volk adjusted and left no doubt on the who better fighter is. Now we look to what’s next, and the clear next guy is the winner of Lerone Murphy/Movsar Evolev. The champ has already called out both of those guys, wanting to stay active.
The greatest featherweight of all-time was Jose Aldo for years. Max Holloway has a strong case, Ilia Topuria and Conor McGregor can be put into the conservation, but the greatest featherweight champion of all-time is Alexander Volkanovski. We need to acknowledge this man’s greatness and give him his flowers.
Round 2: What’s next for Paddy Pimblett?!
Now I’ll admit that I was not on the Paddy Pimblett hype train going into UFC 324. I thought that victories over Michael Chandler, Bobby Green, and Tony Ferguson shouldn’t warrant a title shot when there’s an Arman out there. I wanted to see more from Paddy against elite oppostiton before a title shot. However, Paddy proved that he could hang with the top guys at lightweight.
Paddy showed massive amounts of toughness against Gaethje. He survived being dropped multiple times, withstood multiple eye pokes, and rarely attempted to grapple when that is where he had the biggest advantage. I was most impressed by all the skills Paddy showed in his striking. There were many occasions during the fight that I thought Justin was in trouble. Paddy continues to grow as a fighter, and he gets better with each fight.
The question now is, what is next for Paddy? He has shown that he can hang with the elite, after a title shot he must fight around that level. The first matchup that comes to mind is Dan Hooker. Paddy and Hooker have been going back and forth on social media, both are coming off losses, both are fan favorites, and most importantly both could use some time off. The timing could work for a fall matchup between these two and I would love to see it.
Round 3: The Welterweight Title Picture
Islam Makhachev won the Welterweight Title in dominant fashion over Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 322, but now everybody is wondering who the first title defense will be against. There is no shortage of worthy, deserving contenders. The division is probably as good as it has ever been. I love it when there are these young, hungry, elite contenders plus the veterans, former champions who are still elite. I think 170 possibly is the best division in the UFC right now.
At the top there is Michael Morales, Carlos Prates, Ian Machado Garry, former champions Kamaru Usman, Jack Della Maddalena, Belal Muhammad, and Leon Edwards. There are some major names listed here, but how do we find the guy that stands out over the rest? In my opinion, the name that I would have given is Shavkat Rakhmonov. He was the guy who had a title fight booked before his injury, but now he has re-injured his knee. If not Shavkat, it comes down to two guys.
Ian Machado Garry is undefeated outside of a close decision loss to Shavkat, since then he has won two in a row. He has the skills to compete with Islam, and he would do a great job selling the fight. The other name is Michael Morales; he is a bit of a wildcard to me. There is still a lot that we don’t know about him. We know he’s big, hits hard, and seems hard to take down. There is a possibility that it is too soon for Morales, I would like to see him fight one more.
I wouldn’t mind seeing Kamaru Usman get the title shot, now here me out. I see it as more of a legacy fight for both guys. I know he only has one win in his last four fights but add context to it. He dominated Leon for 4.5 rounds before the head kick, the trilogy fight was a majority decision, he fights Khamzat on a week’s notice and then he dominates Buckley. I haven’t seen anything in Usman’s last 4 fights that tells me he is not elite anymore. He is still hard to take down, has championship experience, has a championship gas tank, and he’s solid on the feet. He could give Islam a good fight.
I don’t know how this all plays out, but the welterweight title picture is very interesting!
THANK YOU FOR READING!
