UFC 185: Pettis vs Dos Anjos for the World Lightweight Championship - March 14

[Mark Hammer]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/10/UFC_185_event_poster.jpg

UFC Lightweight Title Bout
Anthony Pettis(c) vs Raphael Dos Anjos

UFC Women's Straweight Title Bout
Carla Esparza(c) vs Joanna Jedrzejczyk

Johny Hendricks vs Matt Brown

Roy Nelson vs Alistair Overeem

Chris Cariaso vs Henry Cejudo

[Mark Hammer]

A nice little card.

[Seanny One Ball]

I feel like Matt Brown could go the distance but I am a little worried he's getting sparked out because he's fearless and Johny likes that left hand.
Nelson/Overeem should be interesting...Overeem will dominate the striking technically but he's chinny and Nelson throws haymakers....I'm going to say if Overeem doesn't win this by TKO then it's because he was fighting sensibly and cruising because I cannot see Roy landing that overhand unless Overeem gets careless ala Bigfoot.

[Eddie Brock]

I think Overeem is going to take this. Part of me feels like he's going to do what he did against Frank Mir. It's not too entertaining for most people, but I actually enjoyed watching it, because it really impressed me to see him fight smart. Big Country is a gatekeeper and will allow him to gain ground in the rankings.

That said, I liked the matchup with Arlovski better. I like when matchups are even in every way, and this would be one of them.

[Fanny Batter]

This is a great little card, deep too. Little Pettis and Conor Conqueror Joe Duffy on the Fight Pass prelims says it all really. Some good scraps here. 2 title fights, one being a genuine world class fight between at the very least the 1st and 3rd best lightweights on the planet (I'd still rank Khabib over RDA due to their fight, but it's close). The strawweight division will take a while to get cooking, like the male flyweight division has due to minimal national exposure, but giving them a slot on this card helps as there will be eyeballs on it and they don't have to be relied on to sell the PPV. Then Hendricks vs. Brown is a great fight, Brown has the chin and cardio to give Johny a fight at least. If Hendricks sparks someone like Matt Brown then he's very much back. Reem vs. Nelson is another Reem fight where he should win but his flaws are there to be exposed. Cejedo could be a star if he can make weight, his stand up looks great and he's the best wrestler in the sport based on resume. Facing a former title challenger early is a good test, regardless of how average Cariaso actually is. Then Pearson/Stout and Dariush/Cruickshank are good action fights with the former being between guys who have probably hit their glass ceiling and the latter matching up two lads with borderline top 15 potential. Throw in the gradual building of Elias the handsome bastard and you've got a very solid card.

[Seanny One Ball]

I honestly think Matt Brown has been given the toughest fights working his way up in that division over the last few years.
Johny Hendricks might just be the last stop at the top before the tumble back down.

[Fanny Batter]

So Rafael dos Anjos can fight, right? What a performance. Exposed Pettis' frailties in a gigantic way, with constant pressure and putting leather on his chin regularly. Pettis is superb to watch because his finishing instincts are second to none, but I think we probably all overrated him based on results and style points - let's not forget, Melendez took a round off him, Stephens took a round off him, Benson was doing alright before the body kicks. He always showed weaknesses, but he was so spectacular in reversing the fortunes that we forgot. RDA is the better fighter. As a long time fan who remembers seeing dos Anjos get leveled by the aforementioned Stephens and toiling away in prelims for years and years, it's always great to see a guy come good. Seems a tremendous bloke as well. Khabib's the uncrowned king though I feel, and have for a while. It'll take somebody with static movement to beat that guy, a bigger Frankie Edgar. I don't think RDA gets it done in their rematch, assuming Khabib see's off Cowboy.

Double J vs. Esparza was a strange, kinda early 2000's vibe fight. One girl was inadequate in one area, couldn't get it to the ground and got lit up embarrassingly. It's a new division and I feel the turnover of champions may be quite high.

Boring, boring Hendricks. Fought a good fight, a smart fight, can't fault him for exposing an opponent's weakness over and over again. But all those one punch knockouts, knowing what he's capable of, makes these kind of fights massively frustrating to watch. Still, he's a handful for everyone, and in that shape is probably the uncrowned king.

Overeem played it smart and got it done. Again, a frustrating watch because we know what Reem can do, but can't fault him for not getting dragged into a brawl. Roy Nelson is effectively just a glorified Toughman at this point, he's not grappled in half a decade.

Cejudo has a lot of talent. Cariaso had nothing for him. He'll be an exciting watch when he moves up a level.

Ross Pearson has developed into a great kill or be killed action fighter over the last couple of years. Great knockout. Elsewhere on the prelims, Joe Duffee looked awesome, Sergio Pettis showed again he's just not got the fighting instinct of his brother, Elias Theodoro stunk it up again and more non-top 10 heavyweights showed they belong nowhere near television.

[Mik]

Agree with all that. Dos Anjos was absolutely dominant, but I cant see him getting past Khabib. Amazed that fight didnt come out with any 10-8 rounds.

The disparity in class in the women's title fight was embarrassing. But Double J was incredibly impressive.

Hendricks just isnt improving his faults. He can take people down, but isnt active at all on the ground and his conditioning still isnt good. He took more damage on the ground than he gave and I think that Robbie Lawler is wise to it. Hendricks takes people down and stalls, does nothing with them. He needs to be more aggressive on the floor.

Overeem has all the attacking tools, but when you come forward on him he covers up and thats it. He still has a poor fight IQ.

[Eddie Brock]

Couldn't have been more wrong, Dos Anjos destroyed him. Too big, too fit. Didn't see that coming.

Good card overall, thought Hendricks looked back to his old self, and Overeem showed glimpses of the old Overeem.

[Mark Hammer]

Most improved fighter on the UFC roster, hands down. I remember when RDA was getting worked by the likes of Jeremy Stephens and Clay Guida like it was yesterday.

Also Joanna Jokdfospdojsfpodj beat the piss out of Carla. It was a bit embarrassing really but I may have been more inclined to feel pity had Carla not gone the "run my mouth and whine constantly before losing my belt on the first defense" Hendricks route as champion.

Speaking of Hendricks, he looked good physically but he's still the same boring-as-piss rassler if the fight goes past a minute that he always was

Did anyone else think Pettis looked a bit "soft"? He's never been shredded on fight night but I think he could easily make 145, and I'm not just saying that because RDA whooped him.

[Mark Hammer]

Agree with all that. Dos Anjos was absolutely dominant, but I cant see him getting past Khabib. Amazed that fight didnt come out with any 10-8 rounds.

The disparity in class in the women's title fight was embarrassing. But Double J was incredibly impressive.

Hendricks just isnt improving his faults. He can take people down, but isnt active at all on the ground and his conditioning still isnt good. He took more damage on the ground than he gave and I think that Robbie Lawler is wise to it. Hendricks takes people down and stalls, does nothing with them. He needs to be more aggressive on the floor.

Overeem has all the attacking tools, but when you come forward on him he covers up and thats it. He still has a poor fight IQ.

I personally scored Pettis/RDA 50-43, don't remember which two rounds it was but yeah, judges need to be re-educated as a whole and stop being so terrified of issuing 10-8 rounds where they are warranted.

[Mik]

I cant see how some of those rounds werent 10-8.

RDA showed Hendricks all about being active when in control on the ground too.

[Nash Diesel]

It's crazy to think RDA went from being simply a highlight reel KO for Jeremy Stephens to dominating IMO the best 155er since prime BJ Penn in Anthony Pettis. But every great has their Chael Sonnen so to speak. Definitely agree with Rashad and Florian post-fight saying Pettis and Carla came in looking like they didn't even want to be there and they couldn't flip that switch like they normally can. RDA is a beast now, improved greatly, and it showed. I'm not one bit familiar with who beat Carla, couldn't even spell her name if you offered me a million lol.

Figured Brown-Hendricks would go that route. Surprised Nelson didn't crack Overeem and finish him BUT it was an alright fight, watching Big Roy take those kind of shots though and not fall, scarier than getting knocked out IMO. He just takes a lot of beatings I guess.

[Mark Hammer]

I have to agree with Dr. Batter regarding one point. I think it's fair to say that every one of us over-rated Pettis simply due to his flare for style and finishing fights. But he's got GLARING weaknesses, which were first exploited by Clay Guida a few years ago. Benson could have beaten him imo if he'd chosen to employ a grapple-heavy, lnp style instead.

[Mik]

I think that there is definitely an element of truth to that. I think that people assumed considering how high level he is and the fact that he's been training with Ben Askren that his wrestling and takedown defence had improved more than it has.


I think that the most frightening thing about Roy Nelson is his inability to score his own fights. Has there ever been an absolute beatdown that he has taken that he didnt think he won?

[OD50]

Shit, I was sitting on needles during Overeem/Nelson. Reem looked great, but we all know that the breeze from Nerlson's right could knock him out these days. When he got dropped with 30 seconds or so left in the third I was thinking "Fuck here we go again..'' thinking back to Big Foot/Browne.

Dana said he wants Reem/JDS next.

[Mark Hammer]

Lol JDS would absolutely murder him. In the first round.

[Mark Hammer]

I think that there is definitely an element of truth to that. I think that people assumed considering how high level he is and the fact that he's been training with Ben Askren that his wrestling and takedown defence had improved more than it has.

I'd like to see footage of them sparring together. I have to imagine Askren could take him down at will.



I think that the most frightening thing about Roy Nelson is his inability to score his own fights. Has there ever been an absolute beatdown that he has taken that he didnt think he won?

He also thought he beat Werdum, lol. I remember one of those vlog things where they were backstage at Condit/Diaz... Nick and his crew were in a room with Nelson, of course Diaz and his entourage was bitching that they thought Diaz won and all Condit had were his baby leg kicks, cue Nelson trying to involve himself in the conversation with a "yeah and I definitely felt I beat Werdum, what were the judges thinking tonight?". I couldn't help but laugh because while there is an argument that Diaz beat Condit (I don't agree with it) there isn't an argument whatsoever that Nelson beat Werdum. Or one that he beat Overeem.

[OD50]

Lol JDS would absolutely murder him. In the first round.
Definitely a bad stylistic fight for Reem. You have to think the way he went into complete defensive ("ear muff) mode against Nelson would get him in serious trouble against JDS, or pretty much anyone capable of throwing uppercuts.

[Fanny Batter]

dos Santos is a faded fighter though. Reem would be mad not to give that match-up a go. Those beatings that he took from Cain were absolutely career altering, add on top another 100 or so absorbed strikes against Miocic and more surgery afterwards and he looks very much on the decline. You'd still favour JDS because he has found a way to recover somehow during tornadoes of violence and Reem can't take a breeze, but he's ripe for the picking I feel.

[Mark Hammer]

Definitely a bad stylistic fight for Reem. You have to think the way he went into complete defensive ("ear muff) mode against Nelson would get him in serious trouble against JDS, or pretty much anyone capable of throwing uppercuts.

That's exactly the image I had in mind when I posted that. Can you imagine had that been JDS and not Roy Nelson when Reem put up his earmuffs?

[Mark Hammer]

dos Santos is a faded fighter though. Reem would be mad not to give that match-up a go. Those beatings that he took from Cain were absolutely career altering, add on top another 100 or so absorbed strikes against Miocic and more surgery afterwards and he looks very much on the decline. You'd still favour JDS because he has found a way to recover somehow during tornadoes of violence and Reem can't take a breeze, but he's ripe for the picking I feel.

True, but even in JDS' faded state what exactly does Reem have to threaten him? JDS has a skull made of concrete and is probably the most durable HW on the UFC roster (plus those hands). Reem has a skull made of paper mache and resilience of a newborn puppy. I think Reem would have to be insane to accept the fight but I'm sure he will.

[Nash Diesel]

I'd like to see JDS v. Overeem just because it was such a different fight to make 3-4 years ago with the hype surrounding Overeem at the time and obviously pre-Cain V rematches for Dos Santos that like FB alluded to seemingly took some years off JDS' MMA career. Now you have JDS trying to still maintain his status as a top 3 HW and Overeem more than likely winding down his career with dreams of one last run toward the title. Not a great deal of depth but that's also a bonus because you could string together a win over Struve, Neslon, and obviously a win over Dos Santos is gigantic and boom, title shot.

[Mark Hammer]

Oh Reem would most certainly get his UFC title shot with a win over JDS. I simply don't see it happening though.

Shame he had to piss hot back when he was supposed to fight for the belt the first time. Cain would have wrecked him regardless I think, steroids or not.

[Mik]

I think that if Reem can fight at distance (which is something that he doesnt tend to do well enough) and could develop a defence that doesnt involve standing against the cage with his earmuffs up, he would give JDS a good fight. JDS clearly has conditioning issues carrying too much muscle on his frame, moreso of late. He also relies almost entirely on boxing meaning that you should be able to fight him at length. He isnt lightning fast and doesnt shoot in for takedowns...which means that he shouldnt wear Reem out straight away like Cain would. So if he fought smart and ripped some body work to JDS who knows what could happen. I think that some of Reem's knees and kicks could take a lot of wind out of JDS.

The problem is that Reem isnt a smart fighter, as soon as you get close and start throwing leather at him he reverts to form. I cant see how JDS doesnt knock him out. Cain would do his exact JDS tactics though, fight at length and attempt take downs until he's tired and then destroy Reem either standing or on the ground.

[Mark Hammer]

When you say "fight at length" you mean outside of boxing range? Because Cain was all up in JDS' face both times he wrecked him.

[Mik]

The first time he wore him down from attempting take downs in the first round before he got up in his grill though.

[Mark Hammer]

So I just watched the post-fight press conference and apparently RDA came into the fight with a blown ACL.

[Mark Hammer]

Also Overeem went into depth about how dangerous Roy Nelson is; how he's never seen anything like him with regards to how he ate all of his offense and never backed down and being in disbelief at how his kicks to Nelson's body were hurting his feet. Incredible.

[Mik]

I heard it was a blown MCL a couple of weeks before the fight. So realistically it could've healed in time.

[Mark Hammer]

You're right, it was his MCL. Much different story from injuring your ACL (I have personal experience with that and it is horrible). My mistake.

[Mark Hammer]

“Let me point this fact our for you real quick. I think he hurt his MCL or ACL two weeks before the fight, who does that and still goes into the fight, fights their a*s off, kicks and knees and punches like no problem?”
“This guys got super better. His cardio’s gotten better, his chin’s gotten better and like everything, something’s going on. Did you hear Anthony [Pettis]? He was like ‘I don’t know what happened, I don’t know what went wrong, I thought everything was great. Camp went great, I can’t figure out what I did wrong.’ You didn’t do nothing wrong Ant, you didn’t do nothing wrong, you just don’t know what happened because you got bamboozled, you got played. You got played bro. That’s the way it is. Look at him, look at your body look at his body.”

“You’ve got to look at the writing on the wall for some of these guys. Look at their bodies. This guy goes five rounds non-stop, takes every shot like nothing, come on now.”

“I sparred with him personally, I felt it. I was like there’s something here. I felt it, I was like ok, there’s something a little bit different here. I knew what was going to happen to Ant, I knew what was going to happen.”

“I’m not even attacking him, I’m just going got let it be known that he’s a great fighter, I saw his talents, I saw him coming. But the point is that it looks a little funny to me, that’s all I’m saying.”

“It’s [like] how Barry Bonds started hitting home runs.”

Source Bjpenn.com

[Nash Diesel]

I was reading some comments on Sherdog and FB about this situation and someone was talking about Green using the "eye test" instead of the drug test and then they posted a picture of Pettis from like 3-4 years ago versus how he looks today and basically said the same thing Green was implying about RDA toward Pettis...but then followed it up with "But we like Pettis...he's a nice guy...." being real tongue-in-cheek about it. So Idk, take Green's comments for what it's worth. On one hand I fully see where he's coming from, on the other, if that dude hasn't pissed hot there's really no proof.

Basically his first comment about RDA going in with a hurt MCL or ACL is null and void because I know both Conor McGregor and Chuck Liddell have fought with those injuries. And neither ever pissed hot to my knowledge. I mean, I"m not looking at Robbie Lawler going "Oh he must be on something because he used to be pretty subpar now he's the champion". RDA isn't like Overeem where you see him 2 years ago and now he's fighting at 170 looking gigantic. He's still at 155, he looks shredded but compared to when? 5 years ago?

[Mark Hammer]

Does Pettis look any different than he did a few years ago? He's always been thin and not particularly muscled.

[Nash Diesel]

Basically a guy posted a pic of RDA from like the Jeremy Stephens fight and then showed a pic of RDA at the weigh-ins for the Pettis fight trying to use the "eye test" as confirmation of what Green was implying. Then someone else jokingly posted a pic of Pettis when he fought Guida and then a pic of him at the weigh ins for the RDA fight. Pettis looked slightly different, shredded, a little more muscle, but again it was just someone being a smart ass because the eye test doesn't always mean much, you could look like a flabby bitch and still fail a piss test for various drugs, we've seen it happen.

[Mik]

I was reading some comments on Sherdog and FB about this situation and someone was talking about Green using the "eye test" instead of the drug test and then they posted a picture of Pettis from like 3-4 years ago versus how he looks today and basically said the same thing Green was implying about RDA toward Pettis...but then followed it up with "But we like Pettis...he's a nice guy...." being real tongue-in-cheek about it. So Idk, take Green's comments for what it's worth. On one hand I fully see where he's coming from, on the other, if that dude hasn't pissed hot there's really no proof.

Basically his first comment about RDA going in with a hurt MCL or ACL is null and void because I know both Conor McGregor and Chuck Liddell have fought with those injuries. And neither ever pissed hot to my knowledge. I mean, I"m not looking at Robbie Lawler going "Oh he must be on something because he used to be pretty subpar now he's the champion". RDA isn't like Overeem where you see him 2 years ago and now he's fighting at 170 looking gigantic. He's still at 155, he looks shredded but compared to when? 5 years ago?

I think that the case with RDA is similar to the case with Belfort. Suddenly he seems to be so much stronger and have such better cardio and he has clearly packed on muscle and got more shredded. Now, that doesn't necessarily mean that he's on peds...but I wouldn't be surprised if he had. I think a rematch with Khabib would be interesting to see whether his game has progressed or whether his attributes that could be enhanced by peds have. It's very different to lawler who always had big power and a great chin and all the potential in the world, but just hadn't developed his skills and his smarts and hadn't settled down into the sport and dedicated himself to it the way that he now clearly has...and even that was without really blowing people away (with the exception of Kos, how it now seems clear he fought right at the point of Josh's descent).

[Nash Diesel]

I think that the case with RDA is similar to the case with Belfort. Suddenly he seems to be so much stronger and have such better cardio and he has clearly packed on muscle and got more shredded. Now, that doesn't necessarily mean that he's on peds...but I wouldn't be surprised if he had. I think a rematch with Khabib would be interesting to see whether his game has progressed or whether his attributes that could be enhanced by peds have. It's very different to lawler who always had big power and a great chin and all the potential in the world, but just hadn't developed his skills and his smarts and hadn't settled down into the sport and dedicated himself to it the way that he now clearly has...and even that was without really blowing people away (with the exception of Kos, how it now seems clear he fought right at the point of Josh's descent).

Vitor's always been suspect though because he's failed multiple times over his 15-20 year career whereas RDA has never failed.

I used Lawler mainly because here was a guy who 3 years ago if you told me he'd be a top WW AND the champion of one of if not the deepest division in all of MMA, I would've straight up laughed myself to death. Next thing you know he goes from losing to Lorenz Larkin beating some of the top guys, not to mention some really good grapplers which seemed to be his kyrptonite there for a while. So I definitely think it's possible that RDA climbed the ladder and just got the better of talent that people assumed were indestructible. Guys like Benson and Pettis rarely lose so it's understandable if a guy like RDA for some odd reason wasn't taken as serious, especially after knocking out Benson, that was really when I was like holy shit this dude is getting much better. It happens, people could've wrote off Pettis when Guida handled him and he barely won a decision against Jeremy Stephens and then boom, he's killing dudes left and right.