Like your standard ‘matches to make next’, but with an emphasis on fantasy and a disregard for probability. Basically, fights that should happen, but probably won’t.
Mickey Gall: Congrats on the win, welcome to RFA etc.
So Mickey Gall did what anyone with a fucking brain knew he would: he beat the guy that wasn’t an MMA fighter.
Gall is hardly the seasoned vet himself, moving to just 3-0 with his soul destroying drubbing of CM ‘Phil Brooks’ Punk. And that’s the problem here, isn’t it? Gall is clearly a talented young man, one that was likely destined for the biggest stage in MMA, albeit further down the line. He’s undeniably ahead of the curve but he’s still got some way to go, and learning your trade inside the Octagon is akin to passing your Biology GSCE and jumping straight into thoracic surgery.
Pick a welterweight on the UFC roster, any welterweight. Now see how they stack up against a guy who’s 3-0, with two of those wins coming over debutants. Unless we’re going to see a revolving door of opposition signed for the sole purpose of losing to Gall, this just isn’t going to work.
The most sensible option would be to ‘loan’ Gall out to a Fight Pass friendly regional promotion, allow him to grow into his career as he should have done, but remain under UFC employ. I’ve long championed the idea of a genuine UFC branded feeder league, one recognised in name and stature. If you clearly state a product as a breeding ground for talent, you can likely avoid the endless whinging endured when Fight Night shows such as the one headlined by Rodriguez vs. Caceres are aired on Fox Sports. Imagine having a place to nurture talent, while building their profile under a UFC branded product? Somewhere for fighters to drop down to when they hit a poor patch of form, rather than casting them asunder?
Well, that place doesn’t exist, but RFA and the like do. It may seem like scant reward for a flawless performance, but it could well be the best thing that happens to Mickey Gall.
CM Punk: Two pumps and a squirt
All that build up, all that waiting, then nothing.
Not that we expected much, but we expected something. Anything. A punch. Just SOMETHING! It’s not Mickey Gall’s fault that he beat the shit out of a former pro wrestler, but I can’t help but feel like he basically robbed us of an answer to all those questions we had.
Admittedly, he answered the most important one: Can CM Punk beat Mickey Gall? No, was the emphatic answer. But I still need to see more, even if it’s as bad as The Evolution Of Punk made it look. I wanted to see CM Punk throw a combination, attempt some footwork, maybe even throw out some spinning shit. Instead, I was treated to just over two minutes of how it might look if I ever found myself in the cage. Just to be clear, I’d have tapped whilst the takedown happening…
Don’t make this another James Toney. If this really was one man’s quest to transition into MMA having had no previous experience in actual fighting, then this needs to be another episode of the documented journey, not the end. If we’re really saying it was win or you’re done, then this truly was a waste of everybody’s time.
Maybe he shouldn’t fight in the UFC again, but he should fight. The opponent isn’t important, their level of experience is.
Stipe Miocic: The greatest heavyweight of all time
Despite having only captured the heavyweight title in May of this year, Stipe Miocic is already just one fight away from equalling the record for most consecutive heavyweight title defences.
Miocic had some scary moments, getting dropped by Alistair Overeem and fending off a trademark guillotine choke attempt. Had he pulled the submission off, it would have been Overeem’s tenth victory by way of guillotine choke – the man has form.
As it was, Miocic DEFINITELY DID NOT TAP, and ended pounding the Dutchman’s head (repeatedly and mostly unnecessarily) into the canvas to retain the belt.
The obvious fight to make seems to be a rematch with Brazilian lunatic, Fabricio Werdum, who decisioned Travis Browne in the night’s co-main event. Never has there been a fight that started so explosively, only to descend so rapidly into pure batshit craziness. From Werdum rushing out of the gates with one of the coolest flying head kicks you’ll ever see from a massive heavyweight, to booting MMA villain/coach Edmond Tarverdyan in the guts after the fight had finished, this fight fell off a cliff.
The thing is, rematches aren’t always blockbuster, record breaking successes, and the first encounter between Miocic and Werdum didn’t leave us with any particular narrative that needs picking up. Granted, it’s a shallow division, but it do we really need to see the rerun already?
In a perfect world, Miocic would be booked to face former conquerer Junior dos Santos, only for JDS to pull out and be replaced by crowd pleaser, Derrick Lewis. In fact, forget the JDS bit, let’s go straight to the pudding.
