MMA

What the hell happened at UFC 247?!

SadowolfFebruary 11, 2020, 8:30 pm

Greetings, fight fans! UFC 247 is in the books, and it’ll probably be remembered more for the judging than the actual fights that occurred, which is unfortunate because all in all they were pretty damn good. We had two title fights that ran the risk of being dominant, but tepid affairs, and both fights avoided that label, albeit in different ways. The card underneath them was decidedly weak, as is becoming the case with most UFC pay per view offerings, but the rest of the card was pretty entertaining overall. The judging was unfortunately an ongoing problem, and the UFC just can’t seem to avoid commission-related blunders when they come to Texas. Without further ado, let’s get down to what the hell happened at UFC 247!

The Main Card

Jones scrapes by again, denies a game Reyes

UFC Light Heavyweight Championship

Jon Jones (c) def. #4 Dominick Reyes by unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 49-46)

Two fights in a row I’ve emphatically outlined the positive chances Jones’ opponents opponents had at dethroning him before still resigning to pick him because I don’t really go against champions; and twice I have picked those fights correctly despite scoring them for the challenger. I’m not on the ‘robbery bandwagon’; both this and his fight with Thiago Santos were close enough to make a Jones win feasible, perhaps even more so with the latter. However, despite the UFC’s rather aggressive efforts to extol his greatness, you have to admit Jones’ last few fights have taken some sheen off his aura of dominance. This isn’t to say that he’s looked bad; he continues to show why he’s so decorated, but it seems his opponents have risen to the occasion and employed some tools and tactics that Jones isn’t exactly used to from prior opponents.

I felt relatively on point with my breakdown of this fight, which outlined how Reyes had a solid probability of winning the fight, but that Jones’ experience and veteran savvy could be the difference maker. Whether you think he indeed did edge it out or that he got some help from the judges, Jones seems to know just what to do to get the judges in his favor, whether it’s opportune takedowns, increased pressure, landing strikes that are more attention-grabbing than devastating, and having the durability to eat shots without looking affected. The man just knows how to win close fights. My pre-fight assessment of Reyes was somewhat similar to that of Santos when he fought Jones, and as such they did give Jones a lot of the same complications. Both men worked a heavy kicking game that initially threw him off, found success with combination punching as Jones backed away in exchanges, and stayed moving so as not to give Jones a stationary target that he could style on. Reyes did perform decidedly better than Santos, who was pretty badly injured pretty early in the fight, and actually became the first man in the UFC to outstrike Jones, outlanding him 116 to 104 across 25 minutes. Stats obviously don’t tell the whole story, but they support my take on the fight: that Reyes got the better of the first two rounds, Jones got the better of the last two, and while Reyes did land more in round three, it was close enough to potentially go either way. Jones still does remain one of the few fighters I can think of that can be outlanded everywhere but in leg strikes, and still win the round.

As mentioned, the fight itself was what is becoming a typical challenging fight for Jones. His opponent comes out pushing the pace and doing well while he paces himself and all but takes the first couple rounds off to figure out his range and timing. Around the midpoint of the fight, Jones starts to turn it up; he throws strikes with more conviction and works his wrestling more if he needs to. Then in the championship rounds while his opponent has likely flagged a bit, he’s still relatively fresh and runs away with the late portions of the fight. The opening round saw Reyes have great success pressuring and moving Jones into left hands and left body kicks, while Jones mainly kicked at his legs and body when he had space. Round two saw Reyes enjoying continued success, though not as one-sided as round one as Jones began finding his range with punches. Reyes showed great pressure by continuing to attack Jones as he turned to circle away where many opponents just sort of let him off the hook; but I felt he also did himself a disservice by continuing to chase after and exert a lot of energy flurrying but not really landing much once Jones had his defenses up. This could’ve been instrumental in Reyes slowing down midway through the fight.

Reyes brought the heat early.

The third round was probably the most competitive, and as mentioned it was likely the swing round. I thought Reyes was the more efficient striker and landed the better shots, but they both landed at a solid clip and it was in this round that Jones started to up his pressure. Jones started to take over in the championship rounds, pressuring a clearly tired Reyes and persistently working his wrestling. Reyes dug deep and still managed to land pretty well regardless. I don’t think it’s out of line at all to say that in terms of effective offense Reyes’ early rounds were probably more dominant than Jones’ late rounds. Jones’ cardio looked fantastic and he showed a lot of cage generalship in his pressure, but similar to the controversial third round of Marlon Moraes vs Jose Aldo, the man moving backward and being defensive was still landing quite a bit. In fact, Reyes still outlanded Jones in head strikes in the final round. Reyes has plenty reason to be bummed about the decision, but he definitely shouldn’t hang his head about his performance. He looked elite out there, and I haven’t seen anyone be able to get angles on Jones so consistently since the first Gustafsson fight. I’ve heard people say he needs to improve his cardio, but I don’t think his cardio is a problem. His cardio was great; his pacing was the issue. And even with that said, he still moved constantly for all five rounds.

Then there were the scorecards. When the two 48-47 scores were announced I felt that was understandable either way, but when I heard 49-46 I thought we might have a new champ. It was not to be and that’s fine, but that 49-46 does bother me. Let it be known that all three of the judges on assignment for this fight are not particularly great, but it was not a good night for Joe Soliz, the owner of that scorecard (more on him later). I feel for Reyes because he really did fight a good fight and came so close to being a champion, but it’s clear now that you have to really put a stamp on things to take that title away from Jones. According to MMA Decisions 14 of 21 media outlets and over 78% of users thought Reyes did enough to win, but it’s the judges you need to impress, and it’s no secret that can be a complicated thing to do.

So what’s next? Jones has begun to stack up desired rematches in the eyes of fans, to the point that it seems people are less excited for a potential move to heavyweight or a bout with middleweight king Israel Adesanya now. Even Dana White said he scored the fight for Reyes, so it’s no surprise that he may be targeting a rematch. On top of that, people are still waiting for Santos to heal up to rematch Jones, and we also have the Corey Anderson vs Jan Blachowicz fight coming up which will surely propel the winner into the title conversation. I think any of those options are fine, honestly. If Reyes doesn’t get the opportunity to run it back he should fight the winner of Anthony Smith vs Glover Teixeira or the loser of the aforementioned Anderson vs Blachowicz fight.

Shevchenko does Shevchenko things. Again.

UFC Women’s Flyweight Championship

Valentina Shevchenko (c) def. #1 Katlyn Chookagian by TKO via strikes (1:03, R3)

I said in my breakdown that this fight had a lot of potential to be a high-level staring contest, but a slick finish saved us from such an affair. Not that the fight was bad until then; it was just very typical Shevchenko. She’s just so much better than everyone else, she essentially chips away at her opponent however she wants. She essentially put on a perfect performance both offensively and defensively. Both women spent the early going looking to find their ranges, with Chookagian using a lot of lateral movement to look for angles and Shevchenko stalking and waiting for openings. When Chookagian attacked her lead leg, she’d usually respond with a 3-2 combination and/or a low kick. As usual her distance management was top-notch, and Chookagian was unable to have success really anywhere outside of kicking the lead leg. Simply put, she’s one of the best technical fighters in the sport, regardless of gender. She throw everything with tight technique, little to no wind up, and with good timing and placement. There’s really no one in the division that measures up at this point, which is both great and harrowing for the flyweights at the same time.

Following the feeling out process, Shevchenko found a lot of success countering Chookagian’s kicks with punches up top, and once Chookagian decided to open up with a body kick, her leg was caught and she was tripped to the mat. Not too much significant happened until Shevchenko sliced her open with a perfectly-placed elbow seconds before the round ended. Round two was much of the same, but with Shevchenko opening up a bit more, most notably in the form of a picture-perfect wheel kick that smacked Chookagian dead on the jaw, which was followed by an hard axe kick that just missed her head and caught her in the chest. This was an example of how Shevchenko’s technical proficiency often comes at the expense of power, since she tends to make contact and pull back to re-chamber for defense. The wheel kick landed right on the money, but if she had followed through more and landed with the heel we might have gotten an insane finish. From there she managed another takedown, and shut down Chookagian’s grappling game until the horn.

Valentina made her one elbow count.

Shevchenko went right upside her head.

In the conclusive third round, Chookagian actually looked like she started to gain more confidence, firing off a hard body kick and then a low kick. Then she stutter-stepped into a knee to Shevchenko’s body, which was a nice strike but ended up spelling her demise. Shevchenko again caught her leg, and Chookagian briefly jumped guard before dismounting back to her feet, then being tripped to the ground anyway, right into side control. From there Shevchenko immediately advanced to a topside crucifix, where she rained down punches and elbows until the referee eventually stepped in. Chookagian wasn’t taking a ton of damage, but it was just over a minute into the round and it didn’t look like she was getting away anytime soon, so it was a justified stoppage.

Gotta see that again. So purty.

Chookagian earned the matchup, but there’s a reason she was such a massive underdog. Shevchenko is head and shoulders above the rest of the division, but also we’ve already learned that fighting to out-point Shevchenko straight up doesn’t work, and that is pretty much the entirety of Chookagian’s game. I’ve often described her as a discount Holly Holm, and while there are definitely differences in their styles, she’s doomed to lose this type of fight for many of the same reasons Holly lost it. Finding a viable opponent for Shevchenko is a challenge, but there are two women who are coming off wins that you could make a case for: Roxanne Modafferi and Joanne Calderwood. Modafferi might be a more popular choice due to the recency and fanfare of her latest win, and the fact that she beat Shevchenko’s sister, but I think Calderwood is easily the more interesting fight (and it’s still a pretty bad matchup for her). I don’t see a clear path to victory for either woman though. It might be even more difficult to find a matchup for Chookagian; she’s fought almost everyone around her in the rankings, and while Viviane Araujo is the outlier there, I actually think a rematch with Lauren Murphy (a benefactor of the night’s judging) would make sense at this point.

The closest Shevchenko will probably come to losing her belt.

Tafa right hands spark Adams early

Justin Tafa def. Juan Adams by TKO via strikes (1:59, R1)

Of course we can’t get footage of the finish!

As it is a heavyweight fight, I couldn’t muster up a strong enough favor for either guy, so I just went with Adams because he’s big. That didn’t work out and, well…heavyweight MMA. Adams showed right off the bat that he’d clearly been training at Jackson-Wink by extending his fingers outward the entire fight. He somehow didn’t even get a warning for it. This didn’t deter Tafa, a biological Oceanic lab experiment to see what would happen if you made a person from the genes of Mark Hunt, Tai Tuivasa, and Soa Palelei, from closing the distance with leaping right hooks from his southpaw stance. He stunned him once with before firing off left hands as Adams was on his knees clinching up, and once he had that range and timing down it landed even harder the second time and got the ball rolling on the finish. As Adams staggered back to the cage, Tafa launched a huge right uppercut that folded him against the cage briefly, prompting the referee to run in, but hesitate in stopping the fight as Adams grabbed for his legs. A couple extra punches sealed the deal though, and the fight was stopped immediately. I’ve seen some calls of an early stoppage, but while Adams did have a hold of his legs, his legs appeared to be stiffened up, which is usually going to signal to a referee that you’re done.

After a disastrous debut, Tafa looked a lot more like the prospect he was pitched to be. As an unranked guy in a relatively shallow division, he could fight damn near anyone I guess. Let’s go with the Greg Hardy if he beats Yorgan De Castro, or Ben Rothwell. For Adams, I think a loser leaves town fight with Daniel Spitz may be in order.

Ige out-hustles Bektic to a decision win

Dan Ige def. Mirsad Bektic by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

This one played out more or less as I thought it would. Bektic is still very stiff and anxious on the feet, and it worked against him here as Ige consistently beat him to the punch and just appeared to be the quicker man on the feet. Ige is naturally aggressive and Bektic tends to hesitate a bit when he’s on the back foot, so it was no surprise that Ige got off in a big way in the opening round when Bektic had yet to get his timing or range down. Wrestling was the main area that gave me pause in picking Ige, and that manifested itself in round two, where Bektic came out much more aggressive. After landing a couple right hands, he timed a double leg takedown and eventually settled into side control, where he landed some hard knees to the body. He didn’t do much damage on top, but he had control for almost the whole period, passed Ige’s guard multiple times, and locked in an arm-triangle that appeared extremely tight even though he opted not to pass to side control to finish it.

With the fight all tied up, Bektic appeared to have slowed down a bit, likely from squeezing the choke for so long in the previous round. Ige, as has become customary for him, had to dig deep after losing the second round, and that’s exactly what he did. Bektic looked for takedowns early and Ige stuffed them while landing hard downward elbows. On the feet Ige got the better of the punching exchanges before Bektic was again able to clinch up and stifle further attacks for essentially the rest of the round. Although the commentary made it seem like it was a razor-thin round, I thought it pretty clearly went to Ige since he obviously landed the more damaging offense while Bektic mainly tried to gain positional advantages without doing anything with them. One judge felt Bektic did enough in that round, which isn’t the most egregious thing I’ve seen (it’s actually very tame compared to the rest of the judging) but thankfully the other two got it right. Ige has tons of options, namely anyone in the top 15. I think fights with Sodiq Yusuff and Arnold Allen would be choices, as well as Shane Burgos. Bektic has really struggled and stagnated in his prospect status. He was once arguably the hottest prospect in the division, but seems to have real trouble shoring up the holes in his game. He needs someone outside of the top 15, and I think Gabriel Benitez or Makwan Amirkhani are interesting and pretty winnable fights for him.

Lewis does just enough damage to edge Latifi

#6 Derrick Lewis def. #12 (LHW) Ilir Latifi by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

I’ll admit that while viewing this fight live I channeled the judges in attendance and didn’t pay all that close attention to the first half of it. At the end of the fight I thought there was a bit of home cooking involved in the decision. After re-watching it, I think Lewis probably deserved the win. This was a classic case of damage vs control. Latifi fought extremely conservatively, and it’s no surprise as it was a likely a bit of a shock for him to fight someone so much bigger than he’s used to. Lewis came out with his usual explosive, kick-heavy, low output game, and it was successful in spurts whenever he wasn’t tied up with Latifi or on his back. Flying knees turned out to be both a source of effective offense for Lewis and a free entry into the clinch for Latifi, where a good portion of the fight took place. A lot this could have been due to Lewis’ lack of pummeling for underhooks, something his corner actually implored him to do between the first and second rounds.

Seems like every fight we’re shocked by Lewis’ athleticism.

In the first round, Lewis avoided being taken down and landed some good shots, including a flush flying knee, while Latifi only managed to hold him against the cage and not score any real offense. The second round saw Latifi have success with his takedowns. He really didn’t do much with them until the very last seconds of the round, but he had enough control to prevent Lewis from doing much of anything. Round three seemed to be the decider, and while Latifi scored a takedown and had a good amount of control, it was Lewis who had by far the more impactful offense, and actually stunned Latifi more than once. I think his offense easily outweighs what Latifi did in the round, and it’s easy to give him both rounds one and three.

Lewis is still firmly entrenched in the top 10, and has fought many of the men ranked around him. I could see him fighting the winner of Alistair Overeem vs Walt Harris, or taking on Jarizinho Rozenstruik if he falls to Francis Ngannou. I suspected a move to heavyweight would be difficult for a fighter like Latifi, and this fight essentially showed why. When you have a wrestling base, fighting bigger, stronger men might not be the best decision. If he chooses to stay in the division he may benefit from fighting someone lower on the totem pole like Adam Wieczorek or Tanner Boser.

The Prelims

Trevin Giles def. James Krause by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

I must say, massive props to Krause for stepping in on literally a day’s notice to fight up a division, and actually put on a competitive performance and nearly won the fight. Perhaps sensing that he had a limited gas tank to work with, Krause got to work early securing a takedown and getting Giles’ back during a scramble. From there he spent most of the round working for, and very nearly getting, rear naked chokes on multiple occasions. Giles was able to reverse position and land some offense late, but Krause clearly took the round. In the next stanza Krause was clearly tired, and Giles started to come alive landing flurries of punches, though Krause did still flash some good head movement to avoid too much damage. Krause attempted to drag the figh to the ground again but was reversed, and though he threatened with a close armbar at one point, he spent the majority of the rest of the round eating hard punches on the ground.

The final round was the most competitive, but while Krause actually landed more strikes overall and had the more varied arsenal, the size difference was clearly a factor, as Giles appeared to land the heavier shots. It was a good effort from Krause and I have to say I wouldn’t have been mad if he got the decision. He did manage to get one scorecard, but the controversy was actually in (surprise!) good ol’ Joe Soliz’s card for Giles. Whereas JJ Ferraro made the sensible move of giving Giles rounds two and three, Soliz felt Krause won round three, but somehow, some way, gave the first round to Giles. Essentially, if there were an actual competent judge in his place, we might be looking at a split decision win for Krause. I see no feasible way you can give Giles the first round for spending almost the entire time nearly getting submitted. It’s disgusting, and we’re not even done with Soliz!

#7 Lauren Murphy def. #8 Andrea Lee by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)

In one of the more egregious bits of bad judging on the card, Murphy stole one away from Lee. The fight was competitive, but it seemed relatively clear that Lee got the better of the action; all 12 of the media outlets on MMA Decisions seemed to agree. Still, judge Danny Dealejandro somehow saw fit to give Murphy every single round. Every round! And this is the fight that housed the now-notorious moments of Joe Rogan and Dominic Cruz ranting about a judge who was legitimately not even watching the fight as it went on. When you couple that with the nature of the decision, Lee has grounds to appeal the result, especially if there’s footage of the fight not being watched by judges.

However, Lee did do herself a disservice by insisting on striking in the pocket when she had the clear advantage on the outside with her height and reach. It made the fight closer than it could’ve been, but it still doesn’t excuse bad judging. Murphy also secured some opportune late round takedowns, and probably got points despite doing absolutely nothing with them. It’s tough to even be too surprised at the bad judigng given how bad the Texas commission is, but it’s still a bummer that it affects fighters’ careers so much. Lee has now dropped two straight and has fallen further back in terms of contendership status, and Murphy wants a fight with Modafferi that I’m not all that opposed to, other than thinking she didn’t earn it.

Khaos Williams def. Alex Morono by KO via strikes (0:27, R1)

It was not a good homecoming for Morono, and the newly-named “Khaos” (formerly Kalinn) Williams lived up to said name. Just after eating a right hand he cracked Morono with a left hook that had him staggering backwards, at which point he exploded forward with punches and overwhelmed Morono, who tried to tie up but was dropped with a huge uppercut and finished off with additional punches. The fight didn’t really teach us much about Williams other than that he has some major killer instinct and isn’t afraid to get wild when he smells blood, but it’s also impressive that he put away someone as notoriously durable as Morono with that amount of ease.

Mario Bautista def. Miles Johns by TKO via strikes (1:41, R2)

This fight was a lesson in why you should listen to your corner. From the start Bautista was dead set on catching Johns with a flying knee, and for good reason since Johns repeatedly ducked in before throwing his right hand. He did actually land some good rights, but Bautista just got closer and closer with the timing of his knees as the first round drew to a close. Between rounds, Johns’ corner told him to stop ducking in and be careful of the knees, but he persisted anyway until Bautista finally timed one correctly. It hit Johns right on the chin and sent dropped him on his backside, where he covered up and ate shots until being rescued by the referee.

Journey Newson def. Domingo Pilarte by TKO via strikes (0:38, R1)

Another quick one, and this was over in a flash. Pilarte came out hot, landing a big high kick and a knee to the body. Then just as things appeared to be starting off well for Pilarte, Newson feinted the jab and came over the top with a thunderous right hand that dropped him like a sack of potatoes. Newson dove all over him and Pilarte rolled to all fours in an attempt to get up, but the onslaught was too much and the referee had to intervene.

Andre Ewell def. Jonathan Martinez by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)

And here it is, the fight that started it all when it came to lackluster judging for the night. And once again Joe Soliz is front and center, with an asinine 30-27 Ewell scorecard in a fight that he appeared to lose (MMA Decisions was 12 to 1 in favor of Martinez). Ewell was hurt to the body by kicks on more than one occasion, but that didn’t seem to trump all the body shots he landed, which were very nice but didn’t affect Martinez nearly as much. Much like the other controversial decisions on the card, it isn’t as if the fight wasn’t competitive; it’s when you dive deeper into how the rounds were scored that things get really screwy. Ewell did well for a good portion of round two, but I believe Martinez definitely stole the round by visibly hurting him on two occasions later in the round. Judging aside, it was a very entertaining fight, especially as both men chose to end rounds one and three by standing in the center and throwing down.

Youssef Zalal def. Austin Lingo by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Here was one fight the judges couldn’t screw up! Zalal used wrestling, good footwork, and a diverse striking game to leave no doubt as to who won every round of the fight. Lingo looked every bit the Contender Series alum who isn’t used to not knocking his opponents out early, while Zalal actually looked like a very solid prospect. I look forward to seeing how he fares in future bouts.

And that does it for UFC 247! The event was quite good, but marred by a torrent of bad judging; so bad that it really needs to be an impetus to affect change when it comes to MMA judging. It has always been something that was just accepted, but cards like this are so unfortunate because a lot of peoples’ lives were affected by people who can’t do their jobs correctly. And even though it isn’t a fix, the UFC should avoid doing big fights in places with commissions that are lacking. This is not the first time Texas has been the setting for judging controversy, and tonight seemed especially bad. There needs to be accountability when it comes to judging; Joe Soliz judged three fights at this event, and was responsible for the 49-46 Jones card, giving Giles the first round in his fight, and the 30-27 Ewell card. This man should not be judging MMA fights; he literally didn’t do anything right. Events shouldn’t be remembered more for the judging than they are for the fights, and unfortunately that’s the case with UFC 247. Hopefully the next one can remove the bad taste from our mouths, and at least we can be confident that Ngannou and Rozenstruik won’t be seeing the scorecards next week! Until then, sado out!

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SadowolfFebruary 11, 2020, 8:30 pm

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