Review of MMA in February
In the ever-growing sport of mixed martial arts, there’s a lot to take in. There’s almost too many names, champions, divisions, and promotions to remember. Below I will dive into the outcomes of MMA in the past month of February, keeping up to date with the changes in the sport.
UFC 284
Lightweight Championship: Makhachev v Volkanovski:
This month probably saw the best fight in MMA for the entire year, with men’s featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski moving up to lightweight to face the division’s newly crowned champion in Islam Makhachev. Leading up to this fight, I did not have high hopes for how it would play out and affect the matchmaking for these two divisions. I expected Makhachev, a grappler that hasn’t lost since 2015, to easily submit Volkanovski, a striker that has been put in tough positions on the ground before. This would leave the lightweights feeling like this was a waste of time for a division with many stars to not be fighting the champion, and featherweights believing Volkanovski is not a real champion as he was beaten so easily.
This fight ended up being truly an instant classic and extremely close. Makhachev won with a slightly questionable unanimous decision by the judges, but this sets up both divisions incredibly well. Volkanovski looks like the better fighter even with a loss, as he was able to defend himself from a clear disadvantage in the stylistic matchup. As for Makhachev, he actually looks beatable, which he surely did not before, so there will be plenty of reasons for the UFC to try and make some fights for the famous contenders of the division. Makhachev will most likely face the winner of a potential fight between former champion Charles Oliveira and Beniel Dariush, or even Rafael Fiziev if he beats former interim champion Justin Gathje this month at UFC 286.
Interim Men’s Featherweight Championship: Rodrìguez v Emmett:
For Volkanovski, the UFC gave him an immediate opponent by putting an interim title fight on the same card between contenders Yair Rodrìguez and Josh Emmett. Rodrìguez won in dominant fashion with a second round triangle choke submission, and he should be next in line for the title when Volkanovski moves back down to featherweight. However, don’t be surprised if Yair is forced to wait if there is an immediate rematch between Makhachev and Volkanovski. The matchup was a great fight, had a controversial judges’ decision, and was truthfully underpromoted the first time by the UFC even though it was between the two best fighters in the promotion.
UFC Fight Night 219
Women’s Flyweight Bout: Andrade v Blanchfield:
This fight was originally going to be former flyweight title challenger Taila Santos and Erin Blanchfield, but there were issues within the Santos team so Jessica Andrade was put in as the replacement a week before the bout. Blanchfield dominated with a rear-naked choke submission in the second round, surprising some critics with her superior striking in round one. She’s young, only 23 years old and 5 fights in the UFC. There is a lot of excitement around her having never lost in the UFC, and now having beat a former champion. She will most likely get a shot at the title with the winner of the fight between champion Valentina Shevchenko and Alexa Grasso this month at UFC 285.
Bellator 290
Heavyweight Championship: Bader v Emelianenko 2:
This second-tier MMA promotion put another fight between heavyweight champ and former UFC contender, Ryan Bader, and overall MMA legend, Fedor Emelianenko. This was announced as Emelianenko’s retirement fight, but it did not last long with a TKO loss less than three minutes into the fight. Emelianenko’s career stretched over 20 years and several promotions, most notably PRIDE in Japan, Strikeforce, and now Bellator. His fight against Mirko Cro Cop in PRIDE may still be the greatest fight in MMA history, and he fought many of the most famous heavyweights throughout his career. He will remain a controversial figure in MMA because of his political beliefs, as well as whether he is the greatest heavyweight ever, or the greatest ‘what if’ fighter as he never fought in the UFC.
This month saw two title fights and a great matchup of contenders in the UFC, as well as the retirement of an MMA legend in Bellator. There will be some exciting future title fights to be made for the men’s featherweight and lightweight divisions, as well as women’s flyweight in the UFC.