UFC 193 takes place in Melbourne Australia this Saturday November 14. It’s one of the rare cards with two belts on the line but this time the main and co-main events feature the womens' divisions. Not only that but it will be held in Etihad stadium which can host 70,000 people. Both Ronda Rousey and Joanna Jedrzejczyk are undefeated and competed at UFC 184 and UFC 185 respectively.
UFC 184: Rousey vs Zingano
The Card
I had the pleasure of attending this card as my first live event in Los Angelas this February. There was no doubt that the star of Fight Week was Ronda Rousey. It was a notable card in that it was the first PPV event where women were the main and co-main event. It was a time where people were wondering who would fill the PPV void left by GSP, and Anderson Silva.
GSP had vacated his title as the Welterweight Champion after getting the judges nod over Johny Hendricks; Anderson Silva and Nick Diaz had failed drug tests come to the public’s attention leading into UFC 184; for steroids and marijuana respectively. Other divisions were on hold for a significant time due to injuries which cooled fan interest at bantamweight, lightweight, welterweight, middleweight, and heavyweight.
Hindsight
The question going into this riddled card was, “can Ronda Rousey successfully draw on her own?” The early indications were there and the actual buys were impressive. It didn’t hurt with a performance that lasted 14 seconds against an opponent who this writer believed to be the first physical force equal to the champion. There was no other personality on that card who could have affected the buys like her and it served to show how far-reaching her brand is. She brought in casual fans familiar with her acting roles in Enterouge, Furious 7, and the Expendables. Fans that neither GSP or Jones or Anderson Silva didn’t have access to in their long runs.
Though UFC 184 was low on drawing power it was also high on finishes. Only Holm and Pennington went the distance but it was still an entertaining bout on a card showcasing the Women’s Bantamweight division in the two feature bouts. With the arrival of Rousey the question becomes, “who is capable of replacing the void she leaves when she’s done with WMMA competition?”
UFC 185: Pettis vs dos Anjos
The Card
Anthony Pettis was fighting for the second time in less than 4 months, and after 2 long layoffs from 2012-2014 fans were finally going to see ‘Showtime’ begin his reign as an exciting champion. Coming in he was riding the momentum of a five fight winstreak and the last four were finishes (two knockouts and two submissions). His Wheaties endorsement was a boon to the UFC as much as himself. It showed that his brand was marketable to major sponsors; that MMA was being viewed as a legitimate sport with outstanding role models; and the UFC salivated over his potential as the biggest star south of welterweight since BJ Penn.
Ronda Rousey proved to be a PPV star in the making with her success in February. This card was going to establish Pettis as a dominant champion supported by Carla Esparza’s first defense as the UFC’s newest champion. Both had outstanding momentum going in with finishes over Gilbert Melendez and Rose Namajunas respectively. On a card that was deep in title contenders in multiple divisions it wasn’t deep in drawing power, but was bolstered with enough talent to make hardcore fans squeal in delight.
Hindsight
At 310k buys, UFC 185 did less not meet expectations. The dos Anjos win was a setback to the division as he opted to take some time off to heal a torn MCL and hasn’t competed since. Pettis hasn’t been back yet either and the lightweight division won’t continue until December rolls around when Donald Cerrone gets a chance to avenge a loss to the champ.
But in the annals of history the card was notable for those two title changes. I believe it was UFC 92 when the last time there were two titles on the line and two new champions emerged. Both challengers were major underdogs at the betting lines, too.
Rafael dos Anjos fought four times in 2014 going 3-1 with the lone loss to grappling standout Khabib Nurmagomedov in April to start the year. He quietly built up an impressive streak with finishes over Jason High, and former champion Benson Henderson, and a one-sided wolloping of Nate Diaz In hindsight it wasn’t a surprise that dos Anjos was capable of dominating Pettis in grappling. The only person to beat dos Anjos in grappling was the injured Khabib and Pettis’ prior loss was because of a wrestling deficiency to Clay Guida. The data was there, but his four prior fights told us otherwise.
Not only that but UFC’s newest division was getting some excellent attention from the striking phenom Joanna Jedrzejczyk. During fight week she exuded unerring confidence and showed no respect to the newly crowned champion, Carla Esparza. This was mirrored in the fight when the challenger put the pressure on immediately and displayed outstanding improvement in her wrestling defense. She backed it up with a seamless flow to her outstanding striking offense.
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