Women’s MMA Crying Out For A New Star
Ronda Rousey broke down the doors of the UFC for female fighters in 2013 and, alongside Conor McGregor and Brock Lesnar, spearheaded a charge which brought the sport kicking and screaming into the mainstream. Her star was extinguished just two-and-a-half years later by the shinbone of Holly Holm, but by that point fight fans had become accustomed to seeing women compete at the top of a UFC PPV card. Amanda Nunes and Valentina Shevchenko grabbed the baton laid down by Rousey and ran with it, becoming seemingly invincible in their respective divisions for a time.
Nunes has since ridden off into the sunset after surpassing Rousey’s achievements by dominating two weight classes and Shevchenko, although she recently fumbled her way back to the top at 125lbs, has the look of a champion on the decline.
Saturday’s bantamweight title fight between Raquel Pennington and Julianna Pena (scoring controversy aside) turned out to be exactly the fight we all expected – a full 25 minutes of sub-standard quality. We questioned last week whether the winner of this fight would merely be acting as a placeholder for the division’s newest high-profile addition Kayla Harrison, and nothing we witnessed in Saturday’s co-main event dispelled that theory.
Harrison’s showing earlier on the main card, however, raised as many questions as it gave answers. The two-time Olympic gold medallist stuttered through three rounds against No. 2-ranked Ketlen Vieira and her struggles will have provided the naysayers and doubters (Julianna Pena chief among them) with enough ammunition to continue with their assertion that the former PFL champion is unproven at the highest level.
Across its three weight classes, the female portion of the UFC roster is in desperate need of someone to take control of their division, to step up and become the exciting name that the promotion can hang its hat on.
“Poatan” Reaches New Level Of Stardom
When Alex Pereira stepped into the Octagon for the featured preliminary bout at UFC 268 just shy of three years ago, few in attendance at Madison Square Garden that night could have foreseen what the future had in store for the former Glory Kickboxing champion.
Not only has “Poatan” has picked up nine victories in his first ten UFC appearances (six of those coming against world champions), his move up to the light-heavyweight division has seen him become the A-side on all of the promotion’s flagship events over the past twelve months. When the so-called biggest stars in the sport (Jon Jones and Conor McGregor) were unable to make the walk, the UFC turned to Pereira. When UFC 300 needed a headline act, they turned to Pereira. Every single time he’s called upon, he answers with a breathtaking performance and a violent finish.
Pereira has now seemingly reached a point where he can top a PPV card against anybody and fans will tune in en masse to watch him fight. This is territory previously occupied by legends like Anderson Silva and Conor McGregor. Regardless of who is fighting out of the blue corner, all eyes are on the main event when “Poatan” makes the walk.
Respect Earned By “The War Horse”
Khalil Rountree Jr. arrived in Salt Lake City almost as an afterthought. The No. 8-ranked fighter at 205lbs was never mentioned as a possible next opponent for Pereira after the champion flatlined Jiri Prochazka for the second time last June, and there were plenty of fans and media members alike collectively scratching their heads once “The War Horse” received the call.
Khalil’s performance inside the Staple Centre stunned everybody. Many expected him to bring the fight to Pereira and he duly obliged, but few outside of his inner circle would have expected him to cause the champion so many problems. The challenger out-struck Pereira over the opening 10 minutes and even forced the Brazilian to take a knee after cuffing him with a looping overhand right.
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Even when the tide began to turn, Rountree Jr. battled bravely against the overwhelming force of nature that stood before him, and the 34-year-old earned the respect of UFC fans the world over. His magnanimous attitude during his post-fight interview was warmly received by the thousands of fans who had stayed behind to listen, and his message to Pereira and all of his supporters on Instagram after the dust had settled was a lesson to others in how to act in defeat.
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