Hyden's Take
HYDEN BLOG: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly from UFC 177 "Dillashaw vs. Soto"
Sep 3, 2014 - 12:25:53 PM HYDEN BLOG: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly from UFC 177 "Dillashaw vs. Soto"

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By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch contributor

UFC 177 took place last Saturday night, despite the loss of one half of the advertised main event. Let's break it down.


UFC 177

GOOD: Yancy Medeiros submits Damon Jackson

The fight itself was fine. There was some good action, but the real highlight was the reverse guillotine submission Medeiros pulled off. It was really slick, and Jackson had no chance to escape as Medeiros choked him out quick. If you haven't seen it, check it out. I liked it quite a lot.

GOOD: Carlos Diego Ferreira stops Ramsey Nijem

This started as Nijem's fight, but Ferreira made some adjustments and ended things with some nice strikes. Ferreira is looking to make some waves in the division. He hasn't lost a fight, and he's looked pretty good so far in his UFC career. He still has a ways to go, of course, but if he keeps stringing wins together he'll move up the division quick.

GOOD: Bethe Corriea stops Shayna Baszler

Baszler looked like the better fighter early, but Correia battled back in the second round. She started unloading strikes on Baszler and just completely took over. Correia was punching Baszler like she was a hunk of meat in the butcher's shop. Baszler provided about as much resistance as that hunk of meat, too, as she just stayed up on the cage and took it. Finally the ref had to step in and stop the fight.

BAD: Tony Ferguson vs. Danny Castillo

I agreed with the decision here, as I thought Ferguson did more on his back than Castillo did on top. Castillo just laid on Ferguson like a blanket and didn't do much of anything. I give Ferguson credit for his effort off his back, but the fight was still pretty bad. It was just so dull that it felt like it took thirty minutes instead of fifteen.

GOOD: T.J. Dillashaw stops Joe Soto

Dillashaw was put into a horrible spot, as his original opponent had to pull out a day before the fight. Renan Barao had a bad weight cut and passed out. Joe Soto took the fight on 24-hours notice so he had nothing to lose. Dillashaw had everything to lose, and he fought a very smart fight early. He had to be cautious as he hadn't trained for Soto. Even after that, Dillashaw controlled the first four rounds and got the finish in the fifth. That's very impressive. We've all seen numerous fighters who would coast to victory in such a situation.

It's unfortunate that Dillashaw has been placed in this position. He's already one of the countless victims of the horrid job the UFC does promoting their fighters. He also has to deal with the ignorance of some fans who think that lighter fighters aren't interesting or good enough compared to the trainwrecks that most heavyweight fights are. Then, on top of all that, his opponent pulls out one day before their fight. Still, Dillashaw fought through this and delivered a very good main event. I'm very impressed that he kept going for the finish, that tells you a lot about who he is as a fighter.

UGLY: Dana White acts like a buffoon (again)

Where to begin here? His interview on Fox Sports 1 where he ripped the media for telling people to not buy UFC 177 is just laughable. First off, there may have been a few places I saw telling people to not buy the event, but I personally haven't seen any of them.

That aside, Dana White himself has engaged with some Twitter beefs with guys and told them to not buy the event if they want. He told them to go rent The Notebook instead. That's just absolutely ridiculous. It's hypocritical to rail against "The Media" for telling people to not buy an event when you turn around and do the exact same thing.

Secondly, this is behavior so unbecoming a man in his position that it's absurd. Do you see Roger Goodell (NFL) or Adam Silver (NBA) acting like this? Of course, there are issues each of them have in other areas, but at least they have the decency to act like adults. He's calling out guys on Twitter who are complaining about UFC 177 being a weak card and the overall dilution of the UFC events in general. I'll repeat that, so no one thinks that's a typo. One of the heads of a multi-million dollar organization is berating Joe from Wichita for complaining that a pay-per-view isn't worth sixty dollars. You can't make this stuff up, folks. The fact that he's done this numerous times in the past few days makes it even more surreal.

There's no question that it's refreshing to have the head of a company not acting like a robot, but there's a big difference between having a personality and acting like a deranged lunatic. To bristle at people pointing out that your product is watered down shows that they understand that it is. If the product wasn't watered down, then Dana could actually point to ratings or buyrates or ticket sales as proof that things are strong. Lashing out at those speaking truth is indicative that they're right.

One final thing, I would have thought that one of the first things Dana White should have learned in business is to not give voice to detractors. His favorite retort to haters is to rag on them for their lack of followers. However, by doing this, he gives voice to their complaints. Not just to the couple million people who follow Dana on Twitter, but to the media and fans elsewhere. I don't see too many "Man attacks Dana White on Twitter" headlines but I can sure see some "Dana White attacks haters on Twitter" stories coming.

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