Hyden's Take
HYDEN BLOG: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly from UFC 173
May 28, 2014 - 11:50:27 AM HYDEN BLOG: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly from UFC 173

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By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch contributor

The UFC put on an amazing card last weekend with UFC 173 on pay-per-view. Let's get to it.

UFC 173

BAD/GOOD: Jamie Varner vs. James Krause

Varner broke his ankle early in this one. I'm glad he was wise enough to stop the fight after the first round instead of trying to fight through it. The BAD is for Varner injuring himself, those injuries always take the wind out of the sails for me. It happened so early that it's hard to say what would have happened without the injury, but a win's a win and I'm sure Krause will take it.

BAD: Takeya Mizugaki vs. Francisco Rivera

This fight was pretty boring. There wasn't a whole lot to it. It was just frustrating to watch. Mizugaki got the decision win.

GOOD: Robbie Lawler stops Jake Ellenberger

The fight itself wasn't great or anything but it was GOOD enough. I don't know what's happened to Ellenberger, but he just seems so hesitant lately. He doesn't want to pull the trigger on anything. At the same time, Lawler didn't seem to be himself at times in this fight. There's no doubt that Lawler was winning the fight, even before the stoppage, as Ellenberger laid an egg.

GOOD/BAD: Daniel Cormier submits Dan Henderson

Cormier dominated the fight, but he was fighting what appeared to be the decrepit corpse of Dan Henderson. Cormier was the much larger fighter here, but Henderson could have easily overcome that if this were 2008 instead of 2014.

I do give Cormier credit for dominating, but he really should have finished the fight earlier instead of letting it go to the third round. That's the GOOD. The BAD comes from the fact that Cormier is now going to get a title shot at the winner of the fight between UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones vs. Alexander Gustafsson. I don't think he deserves a title shot because he beat a guy who came into the cage off of a bar stool and Old Dan Henderson. I don't think that's worthy of earning a title shot, but I could get right with that if it weren't for the time issue.

The UFC is targeting the end of August for Jones-Gustafsson 2. That's about three months away. It's likely that the winner will be pretty banged up after that fight. After their first fight, Jones was out for seven months and Gustafsson was out for about five and a half months. The absolute best case scenario would be about four months until the winner could fight again. That would make for a total of seven months that Cormier would be out before getting his title shot. I couldn't complain about that, I think that's an okay time to wait for a title shot.

What happens, though, if Jones-Gustafsson 2 has to be delayed again? Or what if the winner is really banged up and needs to be out for six to eight months? What happens then? I'm not saying the UFC should sign Cormier to another fight right now, but they should at least wait until after the Jones-Gustafsson rematch before deciding who has the next title shot.

GREAT: T.J. Dillashaw stops Renan Barao

I was absolutely stunned by this fight. Dillashaw completely and totally dominated Barao. He came out and did whatever he wanted. Barao had no answer for him. This was an amazing performance from Dillashaw, just incredible. Take every superlative you can think of and apply them to Dillashaw in this fight. He thrashed Barao in this fight. I fully expect Barao to look much better the next time he fights Dillashaw, but he'll have to improve tremendously if he hopes to have a chance against him. The T.J. Dillashaw in this fight was such a badass that it's hard to imagine anyone beating him.

Renan Barao is a beast that has dominated fighters and he looked ordinary here. He looked like your average guy, and he's anything but. For Dillashaw to do what he did is beyond stunning. The act of winning this fight would have been enough of a shock, but to do it the way he did takes it to another level. This was an unbelievable performance from Dillashaw, and one that elevates him to another stratosphere. He made one of the best fighters in the world look average, and did so convincingly. This was damn impressive.

Having said all this, I want to see this rematch more than just about anything else in MMA. You have to believe that Barao will come back stronger than ever and try to recapture the belt he lost. This is the kind of stuff that makes sports great. The only thing that could be better than this rematch is if Barao comes back and dominates then finishes Dillashaw. That would set up the greatest rubber match in MMA since Chuck Liddell vs. Randy Couture 3 at UFC 57. The awesomeness of such a fight could not be overstated.


Comments and suggestions can be emailed to me at hydenfrank@gmail.com and you can follow me on Twitter at @hydenfrank