Jon Jones must unify titles with Tom Aspinall

It’s exhausting to recall a combat in current UFC historical past that had a lot beef main in, however ended up falling so flat after we witnessed the saga between Muhammad Mokaev and Manel Kape.

Pay attention, I get. These are flyweights. They inherently aren’t a excessive knockout division and are vulnerable to longer fights which might be heavy on grappling. These two, specifically, aren’t ending specialists in their very own proper anyway. However given what we noticed within the months and weeks main into this, and within the moments within the octagon earlier than the place dozens of safety guards needed to fend them off earlier than Bruce Buffer’s announcement – I imply, come on.

Preliminary annoyances apart, I may perceive the circumstances that led to this combat not assembly expectations. Kape (19-7 MMA, 4-3 UFC) fought nearly all of the bout with a mangled toe and was fortunate he didn’t lose by harm TKO when the displacement first occurred. And for Mokaev (13-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC), he has the for much longer profession forward the place he can come again from this and was on the ultimate combat of his contract. He’s additionally making an attempt to carry onto that undefeated report, and did so with his unanimous decision.

Essentially the most fascinating query popping out of this was if Mokaev could be re-signed to the UFC, and, effectively…

UFC CEO Dana White didn’t maintain us in suspense for lengthy about Mokaev’s future. He gave the 23-year-old a “good luck” and sent him packing from the promotion, saying matchmakers didn’t wish to signal him to a brand new deal and that PFL would get “a fantastic undefeated man.”

It was harsh, however not stunning. Mokaev was a thorn within the facet of the UFC all week together with his antics, and his post-fight claims he was instructed by the UFC brass to not use takedowns in his fights will not be going to get within the good graces of the corporate – true or not.

May Mokaev and his very gifted supervisor, Tim Simpson, discover a approach to mend fences? Maybe. We’ve seen fighters come again from worse and determine issues out.

Mokaev higher hope that’s the case, truthfully, as a result of there’s no actual good flyweight choices for him outdoors the UFC at current. And even trying round at non-UFC potentialities at bantamweight, it’s not precisely a plethora of alternatives.

For all of the doubt round Paddy Pimblett coming into his combat in opposition to King Inexperienced, which on paper was his most tough so far – the polarizing Scouser made it look simple.

A critic may argue that Inexperienced set himself up for his first submission loss since January 2009 by taking pictures for an ill-time takedown. Certain. However Pimblett took the torch from there and completed the job about as brutally as one may, then he shoved it down everybody’s throat.

It’s now time for the whole lot to get actual. Pimblett signed a brand new UFC contract days earlier than the combat, and he’s seemingly going to search out himself ranked subsequent week. He referred to as out Renato Moicano, which appears acceptable whether or not he wins or loses in opposition to Benoit Saint Denis in Paris on Sept. 28.

If this was Pimblett preventing as much as the extent of his perceived competitors, then it’s about to get actual enjoyable together with his profession.

I don’t know what extra must be stated outdoors of the headline, right here, as a result of Tom Aspinall has performed the whole lot he can at this level.

I’ve been in opposition to the reserving of Jones vs. Stipe Miocic from Day 1, and am solely being confirmed extra proper as time goes on. It’s a tremendous combat in a vacuum, however an completely farcical matchup as an undisputed heavyweight championship bout within the aftermath of Aspinall (15-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC) smashing Curtis Blaydes to defend the interim belt in a mere 60 seconds.

There have been years and years the place questions on Jones needing to additional set up his legacy have been responded to with mockery and disdain. I used to be a part of that camp. But when he beats Miocic in November and retires from the game with out a unification combat in opposition to Aspinall, it will likely be a stain on his resume. I now absolutely consider that.

There’s nothing extra so as to add.

I wasn’t daring sufficient to make my official MMA Junkie employees prediction in favor of Belal Muhammad, however I might by mendacity if I stated I didn’t have a hunch he was going to dethrone Leon Edwards and claim the welterweight title.

It’s generally exhausting to see the road between confidence and false confidence. The ridiculous quantity of speak from Muhammad (24-3 MMA, 15-3 UFC) since his no contest with Edwards in March 2021 and particularly on combat week made me query that as a lot as ever. However then he got here out and obtained the job performed.

Was is the “torture” he stated he would ship on media day? No. Clearly not. Possibly just for a few of these watching. However in comparison with expectations, this wasn’t that dangerous of a combat. Muhammad did what everybody anticipated he would do if he was going to win and did it to near-perfection, and now the belt is in his possession.

We now reside in a world the place Muhammad holds gold, and there seems to be many individuals on the market who aren’t too proud of it – including UFC CEO White. However, Muhammad’s story reveals that meritocracy on this sport does nonetheless exist to a point. It’s method out of whack general, however Muhammad saved profitable till he couldn’t be denied, after which got here via. Irrespective of how you’re feeling about him, if you happen to recognize that is as an actual sport in any method, you need to respect it.

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