Watercooler Talk: UFC Vegas Edition

Following another action-packed night at the world-famous MGM Grand Garden Arena inside the MGM Grand Casino for UFC Fight Night: Vegas, the Octagon left us fans with some answers as newly proposed questions. Here are a few things to discuss with fellow colleagues, aficionados and analysts of the game as we ride into the month of February now that the dust has settled on the Hendricks vs. Thompson card from Las Vegas this past weekend…

Photo by Armando Romo

HAS WONDERBOY THOMPSON EVOLVED INTO A WONDER-MAN INSIDE THE OCTAGON?

The answer is an emphatic and roaring, YES. Like the same roars that the South Carolina native drew from the energetic crowd inside the arena on Saturday night. Stephen Thompson (12-1) has now cemented himself as a real threat in the prestigious welterweight division. Not only was his 1st round KO of former champion, Johny Hendricks (17-4) the reason we have become accustomed to tuning in to see the Octagon surgeon operate, its rather a pleasing reputation to have that your performances will constantly generate buzz as well as a few vicious highlights throughout the MMA community.

Former kingpin, Georges St. Pierre, ex-UFC interim champion Carlos Condit, and current 170lbs champion “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler all went the distance with Hendricks in a combined 18 rounds, none of these men coming close to stopping the Texas native but Thompson did the job and finished Hendricks at (3:31) of round 1. The blitz was a wonderful display of spinning kicks, lethal jabs, crisp counters in the pocket and body shots amidst stellar upper body movement and footwork. For those long three plus minutes Hendricks did not know what was coming next, or from what angle, and Thompson’s alertness to mix in a body kick on his foe along the cage wall then proceed to dismantle him was a thing of beauty in its showcasing of precision sniper meets KO artist.

This solid performance by Thompson has to do the three following things: get him a fight opposite Tyron Woodley for a #1 contender spot as the co-main event of the UFC 199: Rockhold vs. Weidman card, leapfrog him into the “Top 5” of the division and propel him into an immediate title shot if a worthy candidate is needed due to injury. Sure, Carlos Condit and Tyron Woodley deserve a chance at UFC gold as established names however, Thompson is red-hot right now off of his free TV performance and regardless of the outcome if he fought in a championship bout, he would undoubtedly walk away a household name himself. He reiterated that saying, “I know there’s allot of guys on the line but after a performance like that I feel like I deserve it” at the UFC Vegas post fight-press conference and with his body of work and fan friendly style, who could argue that the fighter known as “Wonderboy” has grown up in the Octagon and is ready to be a man amongst the elite division.

DID NELSON SHOOT HIMSELF IN THE FOOT WITH HIS LACKLUSTER WINNING PERFORMANCE?

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Here we have another resounding, YES. Roy “Big Country” Nelson (22-12) defeated Jared Rosholt in a glorified sparring session as the co-main event of the UFC Vegas card. Neither man threw many combinations or attempted a takedown in the double digit numbers for what was a tough to endure 15 minutes of heavyweight action. Now, the word “action” is being used very loosely here as Nelson snapped a 3-fight losing streak inside of the Octagon to keep his UFC career afloat in 2016 thanks to the mediocre outing. Rosholt on the other hand can return to the drawing board and tighten up a few things from his movement in the cage, counter punch throwing ability and punch selection. With Nelson coming in in a straight line and dropping his left hand so much, the former IFL heavyweight belt holder was wide open for a right hook and left uppercut counter from Rosholt but the strike never materialized.

Roy Nelson didn’t do himself any favors opting to keep his foot off of the gas pedal and cruising to a boring decision victory. But, if rumors are true that someone like an “Iron” Mike Tyson or Fedor Emelianenko could be competing at UFC 200 , then we can’t deny that Nelson would be game as well as a beneficiary from an opponent with an offensively exciting, come forward fighting style. The possibilities of “Nelson vs. Tyson” or “Nelson vs. Emelianenko” would immediately capture the interest of hardcore as well as casual fans. While it’s all hypothetical and it may not be one of the aforementioned ring legends that shares the cage with the Las Vegan one day, Roy Nelson needs a realistic assessment of his career and a real shot of adrenaline to the arm before he finds himself headlining the UFC Fight Pass portion of his next event.

IS LATE 30s THE NEW 20 IN THE UFC?

From active fighters riding along in their 40s or close to it, to making headlines and staying relevant, it seems like there is plenty of room for the old adage, “age is nothing but a number” in the UFC. It goes without saying that the UFC Vegas card took place on Super Bowl 50 weekend, the weekend where the Denver Broncos upset the Carolina Panthers having been led by the oldest quarterback to ever win a Super Bowl in 39-years young, Peyton Manning. The same weekend, 40-year old Mike Pyle (27-11-1) upset Sean Spencer via 3rd round TKO round and on that same card, 39-year old Roy Nelson triumphed via unanimous decision. The current UFC heavyweight champion is Fabricio Werdum and he is 38-years old while another ex-Strikeforce alum still lacing up the gloves is two-division and former two-organization champion, Dan Henderson who is 45-years old.

Time after time the cage has shown us that the body can conquer so much physically with the one simple thought of having self-belief. That endless drive to succeed, obtain and achieve defines the human spirt and is personified on a monthly basis by those guys and gals that set foot inside of the Octagon. Regardless of their age, a round of applause goes out to those that keep fighting to reach their goals and follow their dreams while laughing along the way at those foolish enough to think that age matters in a sport where will and desire don’t belong to a number of measurement.

WHERE WOULD BENAVIDEZ BE WITHOUT DEMETRIOUS JOHNSON?

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Simply put: atop of the 125-pound mountain. There is no one in that division that Joseph Benavidez (24-4) cannot outpoint, outwork and out hustle except for the one person that reigns supreme over the flyweight division, champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson (23-2-1). The former WEC bantamweight title contender and two-time UFC flyweight title contender has eliminated everyone and anyone worth mentioning on his way to the top of the ladder, with his exciting unanimous decision verdict over Zach Makovsky being no different on Saturday night.

But, the master craftsmen named, Dominick Cruz and Demetrious Johnson, both fighters that have defeated Benavidez, lurk at the top of the flyweight and bantamweight divisions respectively. The two divisions the Team Alpha Male representative has competed in only to come up short on his bids for MMA gold. Johnson defends his belt in April opposite undefeated Henry Cejudo (10-0) as the co-main event to the UFC 197: Daniel Cormier vs. Jon Jones 2 show at the MGM Grand Casino. It’s a safe bet that Benavidez will await the winner of that title bout seeing as how he has again cleaned out any possible contenders from the weight class and would rightfully be in line for his third shot at UFC gold.

There you have it fight fans, a few topics to discuss this week amongst the rest of the MMA community while we patiently await the next exciting card from the UFC. In the meantime, we will be watching and waiting on news and insight so make sure to check in with Boxeo Mundial and Combates Mundial on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for the latest in and out of the cage.

By: Armando romo junior