UFC 191 Aftermath

UFC 191 has come and gone, and we will find that not really all that much changed. Some heavy favourites lost, but most of the perceived mismatches played out more or less as expected. Rumble Johnson earned another knockout, Paige VanZant overwhelmed Alex Chambers, and Demetrious Johnson put on another masterclass that was largely either booed or ignored. Just another day at the UFC office. 

Some quick prelim notes:

• Clay Collard lost a sloppy decision instead of winning one, and though the fight was close, I am officially no longer on the Clay Collard bandwagon. He hasn’t really looked impressive other than in a late replacement loss to Max Holloway, and I think I can now accept that he isn’t a UFC calibre fighter at this point in time.
• Paul Felder really needs to fight with a greater sense of urgency. The guy paid for his inactivity vs. Ross Pearson. Even though many people were saying the decision could have gone Felders way, I think Pearson looked good and deserved the win. Felder definitely should not be a 5/1 favourite in any of his next few fights, at least until he shows that he can really try to win, rather than sort of try and then look really surprised and angry when he doesn’t. 
• Raquel Pennington is a beast, and looked great against Jessica Andrade. She can officially join Matt Brown and Mark Hunt on the list of fighters who seem much better than their records, (6-5 Pennington, 20-13 Brown, 10-10-1 Hunt).
• John Lineker can put on a two minute display of ferocity like few others. The size difference between he and Rivera also looked huge while they were in the cage, but luckily Lineker either didn't notice or didn't care. Great win for Lineker, who has officially become a must watch fighter at bantamweight.

The main card had less surprises, with 4/5 favourites winning in either very convincing or not at all convincing fashions. The convincing of course being Mighty Mouse Johnson, Rumble Johnson, and Paige VanZant. The not convincing being Andrei Arlovski, who scraped by Mir in a close and fairly terrible fight. Also in the mix was Corey Anderson, who put on a ground and pound clinic versus Jan Blachowicz, who managed to gas after roughly ten seconds of fighting. 

Main card thoughts:

• Demetrious Johnson really doesn’t have anything else left to do at flyweight. He has beaten the next two guys in line twice each, and his nearest challenger is 9-0 Henry Cejudo, who without a doubt needs more time to challenge for a title. This would be true for Cejudo in any division, but against a challenger like Mighty Mouse he better pray someone else steps up quickly, because he will get wrecked by Johnson. Johnson wants to break Anderson Silvas record, but he must be getting just as bored as the rest of us. I have no doubt bantamweight is in his future, as a competitor like him must be starving for a real challenge.
• Paige VanZant is not ready to be ranked in the top five. VanZant put on a great performance against Alex Chambers, as expected, and even scored a 3^rd round armbar finish. As mildly impressive as it is beating an undersized 36 year old in such a dominant display, Paige will get wrecked by a number of people in her division. She simply doesn’t defend herself well, and if she fights Joanna Jedrzejczyk or Claudia Gadelha, I genuinely fear for her safety. 
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•  Rumble Johnson had a pretty confusing gameplan versus Jimi Manuwa. It appears that the knockouts are just too easy for Rumble Johnson, as he elected to wrestle Manuwa after having him hurt within the first minute. Whether Rumble just really respected the striking of Manuwa, or wanted to show off some other facets to his game, his takedown heavy first round was pretty unexpected and slightly bewlidering. He made up for it in Round Two with a savage knockout, so I guess all’s well that end well.

My picks: The prelims were pretty terrible for me in terms of fight picks. Being on the wrong side of close decision between Felder/Pearson, Collard/Trator and Silva/Managerie brought my prelim picks to a miserable 1-5. The Stallings/Riggs decision also cost me, as the fight was ruled a DQ win for Riggs due to damage from an illegal Stallings upkick. This should have been ruled a No Contest, as the damage appeared to be done by legal blows in round one.

The main card went better for picks, as I wound up finishing 5-0. 4/5 of these were favourites, and the Anderson/Blachowicz fight went basically how I predicted, though Anderson should probably have done enough to get the stoppage. So with a 6-5 record for the event, I will have to wait until WSOF and Bellator events on the 18^th and 19^th of this month to try and improve. 

2015 Prediction Record: 6-5