LAS VEGAS — Saturday’s UFC 303 card didn’t come collectively simply. Not solely did the cardboard’s authentic predominant and co-main event each fall by, however the substitute co-main event fell aside and was pieced again collectively in the course of the event’s broadcast.
Despite the rocky highway, UFC officers managed to save the International Fight Week event, even when the cardboard is not going to go down in historical past among the many most entertaining nights in UFC historical past.
What will go down in historical past, nevertheless, is mild heavyweight champion Alex Pereira’s second-round knockout win in his predominant event rematch with former champ Jiri Prochazka. Pereira continued to construct on a brief resume that has already produced Hall of Fame outcomes and even hinted at a possible transfer to heavyweight earlier than his profession is over.
Pereira’s potential transfer is simply one of many greatest takeaways from Saturday evening’s motion. Let’s check out all of the tales price speaking about after UFC 303.
Is it time for Alex Pereira to head to heavyweight and cement his legacy?
It is, frankly, mind-blowing what Pereira has managed to accomplish in simply 13 fights as an expert combined martial artist. Pereira has gained championship gold at middleweight and lightweight heavyweight and his resume already includes a who’s who of the elite of the game. In reality, apart from Andreas Michailidis and Bruno Silva in his first two fights, everybody Pereira has fought within the UFC, thus everybody he has defeated, was on the time both a former, present or future UFC champion.
After defeating Prochazka on Saturday, Pereira was requested level clean what his subsequent transfer can be, together with if he can be serious about shifting to heavyweight and try to make historical past as the primary fighter to ever maintain UFC gold in three weight lessons in a profession.
“I think [moving to heavyweight is] in my future,” Pereira mentioned. “I said that the last time I was here. There didn’t seem to be too much interest from the organization but I’m here.”
There are different fights for Pereira at mild heavyweight, positive, however none that can generate the curiosity of mystique of a soar to the game’s greatest division and the pursuit of a 3rd belt. (*303*) weeks away from his thirty seventh birthday, Pereira has already mentioned he’s working on restricted time. With a full kickboxing profession and a baker’s dozen MMA bouts on his physique, the top of Pereira’s profession might come prior to anybody would really like to admit.
For that cause, it is time for the UFC to discover curiosity within the thought. Pereira is likely one of the promotion’s high stars, most entertaining fighters and brightest personalities. Failure to encourage a fighter with these qualities to stamp their identify within the document e-book quantities to promotional malpractice.
What every week (plus)
Once upon a time, the cardboard was scheduled to have former mild heavyweight champion Jamahal Hill dealing with Khalil Rountree within the co-main event slot. Rountree withdrew from the event due to an unintentional violation of the UFC’s anti-doping program and was changed by Carlos Ulberg. At the identical time Dana White introduced Conor McGregor had been pressured out of the primary event, he revealed Hill was additionally injured and out of his combat with Ulberg. Ulberg was then booked to face Anthony Smith and the combat was demoted from the co-main slot. Of course, Ulberg would undergo his personal damage and Smith was left to face short-notice opponent Roman Dolidze.
As the combat modified again and again, the UFC was left to discover a new co-main event, developing with a unbelievable late-notice featherweight combat between Diego Lopes and Brian Ortega. By the early hours of Friday morning, Lopes’ telephone was ringing as Ortega’s camp wanted the combat to be modified to a light-weight bout as their man could not make weight. Come Saturday evening, as fights have been actively going down within the Octagon, the whispers began. Dan Ige had gotten a name and was en route to T-Mobile Arena to change Ortega on a couple of hours’ discover.
All credit score to Ige for taking one of many (if not the) wildest possibilities in UFC historical past, however how did we arrive at a spot the place an International Fight Week card is held collectively by string and bailing wire? There’s an outdated joke about IFW playing cards being cursed, however the UFC hinged your complete enchantment of the event on McGregor’s return to begin. It was a minor miracle that they managed to salvage the cardboard in any respect by getting Pereira and Prochazka on board and even including Ortega vs. Lopes to the cardboard within the course of. But issues went sideways once more and it took getting Ige to come actually off the sofa and thru Las Vegas visitors to stop the co-main event of an IFW card from being Anthony Smith vs. Roman Dolidze.
What occurred to the UFC megacards of only a few years in the past? Has the weekly churn of content material to merely fulfill a profitable rights settlement produced such a cynical strategy to matchmaking and card construction that even the largest weekends of the yr can nearly crumble on the breaking of a pinky toe? Let’s hope the UFC realized a lesson from how shut they came to catastrophe on so many events with UFC 303.
Ige could have scored the best ethical victory in UFC historical past
For all of the speak above in regards to the a number of scrambles to maintain the cardboard collectively, all credit score wants to be given to the lads who stepped up regardless of how brief the discover. And no one stepped up extra or on shorter discover than Dan Ige. Ige’s determination to reply the UFC’s name on a couple of hours’ discover was one factor, however to ship the trouble he did was one thing else totally.
Ige was the stronger, more energizing man when the combat came to a detailed, profitable the third spherical on all three official scorecards in opposition to Lopes, who was purple sizzling coming into UFC 303 and favored over a two-time former title challenger in Brian Ortega. Ige took a number of flurries of massive pictures from Lopes, who was using the momentum of three consecutive sub-100-second victories, however by no means appeared shut to being stopped, nor was he panicked when Lopes had his again and was looking for the submission.
Instead, Ige saved coming till Lopes light and started to crumble. Time finally ran out on Ige and Lopes acquired his hand raised after three official scorecards learn 29-28. But it is Ige who took the chance and who walked away from UFC 303 having constructed his legend.
“This is an opportunity to become a legend,” Ige mentioned of his determination to take a threat few would. “This is a story I will tell my grandkids.”
Ian Machado Garry wins however fails to impress the group, once more
When Garry came to the UFC, the promotion could not wait to push the narrative that Garry may very well be the second coming of McGregor. It was a simple sufficient thought to push. Garry and McGregor each made their first journeys to the Octagon as brash Irishmen with talent to spare. On Saturday, Garry picked up a win over Michael “Venom” Page, working his UFC document to 8-0 (and profession document to 15-0). It was an enormous win over a well-liked and pretty achieved fighter, however Garry acquired the win by sucking nearly each little bit of leisure out of the combat.
There’s nothing inherently unsuitable with preventing within the smartest method that can get you the victory, particularly once you’re younger and undefeated. But Garry has misplaced steam as a rising famous person. For back-to-back fights, Garry has had his hand raised whereas the group showered him with boos. And, prior to these two fights, Garry discovered himself dragged down into the mud of an unsightly outside-the-cage rivalry with Colby Covington that began to flip the tide of public opinion.
Whatever Garry does subsequent, it wants to be one thing that shifts the narrative. He could not entice Covington right into a combat at UFC 303, although not for lack of attempting. Pushing that combat, and getting a win over an enormous identify like Covington, may very well be one thing to put some wind again in Garry’s sails and get followers invested in his journey towards a world championship.