Mailbag: How can the UFC be as fun as Eddie Hall vs. Mariusz Pudzianowski? Plus, UFC Kansas City

Yesterday at 04:00 PM

Howdy, folks!

This past weekend was a big one in MMA. Ian Machado Garry put on a masterclass against Carlos Prates in the main event of UFC Kansas City (and then held on for dear life for the final seven minutes), Anthony Smith made the walk for the final time, and, most importantly, Eddie Hall and Mariusz Pudzianowski gave us the literal biggest fight of the year so far. So let's talk about all of it.

Eddie Hall vs. Mariusz Pudzianowski

"What possible matchup in the UFC, any weight class, would have even a slight chance of being as fun as Mariusz Pudzianowski x Eddie Hall?"

Fun answer: none. Real answer: only a handful.

I don't know if I was the first person to suggest it (probably not), but from the moment Eddie Hall annihilated two dudes at once in an MMA fight, I became the loudest proponent of Hall vs. Pudzianowski. I have a deep love and affinity for freakshow fights, and this was the best one to come around in years. And though it was short, I would say the fight lived up to the hype. At least, I've yet to see a single person who paid the $20 to watch it complain. It was 30 seconds of very silly, wonderful nonsense, the kind this sport is in desperate need of.

And unfortunately, silly nonsense isn't the UFC's business. The UFC is currently walking the terrible tightrope of being a "respectable" sport, while also being transparently un-meritocratic when it suits them. I'm not saying the UFC should go full Fight Circus, but embracing a little anarchy once in a while wouldn't hurt them. Alas, that's not to be, and since we know that won't happen, that ties our hands for fantasy UFC matchmaking. Yes, Tom Aspinall vs. Brandon Moreno and Brandon Royval would be spectacularly fun, but it also has a snowball's chance in Hell of happening. Here are some fights that could happen though, and possibly will.

• Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall (I maintain this will never happen)
• Islam Makhachev vs. Ilia Topuria
• Basically any champ-champ fight (even if I would, personally, hate this)
• Dricus du Plessis vs. Jiri Prochazka
• Any fight involving Justin Gaethje, Dustin Poirier, Charles Oliveira, or Max Holloway
• Khamzat Chimaev vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov
• Joel Alvarez vs. Benoit Saint-Denis (OH MY GOD I CANNOT WAIT)

There are probably a few others that I'm missing in there because there are a good chunk of fun and exciting fighters in the UFC, but you get the idea. You don't want to have freakshow fights every weekend, but mixing one in every couple of months makes them appointment viewing. And at this point, there's very little appointment viewing going on in the UFC.

Ian Machado Garry

"Does Garry get a title eliminator after this fight? Also, Jack Della Maddalena vs. Garry next would be fun. We need Shavkat vs. Belal Muhammad next. (I expect Belal to dominate JDM)."

Here's the thing: the welterweight title picture is as clear as mud right now.

Under normal circumstances, Garry, coming off that great performance against Prates, would be one fight away from a title shot. He's already highly ranked, he gave the No. 1 contender hell on short notice, and he just looks great against the new hotness at 170. But these aren't normal times. In fact, everything is completely jacked up right now.

Maddalena is probably the fifth most-deserving guy for a title shot right now, and yet he's facing Muhammad next Saturday because timing was on his side. But depending on how that fight goes, everything can get thrown into chaos. If JDM wins, Islam Makhachev is all but a certainty to get the first crack at him, leaving Shavkat out in the cold. And if Belal wins, Shavkat might still be a victim of circumstance, because so much is taking place while he's on ice. Garry is now surging and going to be a backup fighter, Joaquin Buckley has an opportunity to knockout Kamaru Usman, and Sean Brady just obliterated Leon Edwards. Contenders are piling up at 170 pounds right now.

If I had to guess, I'd say Shavkat still has the inside track for a title shot (assuming Belal beats JDM), meaning Garry will get a No. 1 contender bout against either Brady or Buckley. But if Kamaru Usman beats Buckley, all bets are off. There's nothing the current UFC loves more than giving undeserved title shots to former champions (see O'Malley, Sean).

Anthony Smith

"Look, I like Anthony Smith and he seems like a good dude but when dud he become a UFC legend?"

About the time he refused to quit against Jon Jones, essentially throwing away his chance to be world champion and continuing the Jones mythology, I guess.

I have a lot of respect for Anthony Smith. He's a guy who is not especially talented and stumbled a lot early in his career, but through sheer force of will, crafted a solid UFC run and parlayed that into a media career. That is genuinely impressive and inspiring, and worthy of commendation. But hol-y were they laying it on thick on the broadcast on Saturday. If you didn't follow MMA, you'd have thought some all-time great was retiring, and that's not remotely the case.

We can all be honest about what level of fighter Anthony Smith was: he was good but not great, and he benefited massively from competing in two bad weight classes. Go check out his CV and tell me what is his best win? Washed Alexander Gustafsson? Washed Shogun Rua? Washed Rashad Evans? Honest to God, it's probably Volkan Oezdemir, which is a good win, but we're not out here saying Nikita Krylov might be a Hall of Famer. Anthony Smith should be commended for what he was able to accomplish and for a better career than most, but we can pump the brakes on the hagiography.

That being said, I do wish the UFC did more things like they did on Saturday. No, Smith isn't an all-time great fighter (or even a one-time great fighter, really), but he hung around long enough and giving him a sendoff was a nice hat tip to one of the sport's great overachievers.

And also, credit to Smith. I loved his attitude all fight week and on fight night. "Lionheart" was committed to his retirement throughout, went out giving a young guy a shot to move up, and wasn't bitter or grasping about anything. Smith clearly was at peace with his decision to walk away and approached everything with the right mentality. Very, very few fighters have that level of self-awareness, and I was happy to see him so happy while making the walk for the final time.

Zhang Mingyang

"Do we actually know if Zhang is a good fighter? Or is he a product of light heavyweight being terrible? Both? I like him a lot but kinda think he might actually just not be that good. Also, god, I want to see Zhang fight Johnny Walker because no one dies better than Johnny Walker."

It's probably a bit of both, but we really don't have any idea. Light heavyweight is a dumpster fire, and so it takes very little talent to crack into the Top 15. What we do know is Zhang hits hard, and he's not a total idiot, but time will tell how good he actually is.

And yes, I've said many times that Johnny Walker is one of the best die-ers in the sport. This is perfect matchmaking.

UFC 317

"Which is more ridiculous, that we still don't have a headliner for UFC 317 International Fight Week or that they are gonna let this Jon Jones debacle drag on for another year?"

Neither is good, but the Jones situation is dramatically worse.

At least with the International Fight Week, we know who is probably headlining. It's going to be Islam Makhachev vs. Ilia Topuria, unless Jack Della Maddalena upsets Belal Muhammad. Then it's going to be Topuria vs. Charles Oliveira for the vacant/interim lightweight belt. So basically, we will know what's going to happen in two weeks, one way or the other.

As for the Jones stuff, it's genuinely indefensible. The truth is, it's been indefensible this entire time. The Stipe Miocic fight was a farce; everyone knew it was a farce, and they did it anyway. If you're a champion, you defend against the No. 1 contender, and an interim champion is always the No. 1 contender. By any rational measure, Jon Jones's heavyweight title run is a sham, and every day the UFC allows it to continue is a slap in the face to Tom Aspinall and to you, the fans.

God willing, one day soon they will put an end to this nonsense and Jones will either fight Tom or give up the belt and we can all move on.

Thanks for reading and thanks to everyone who sent in tweets (Xs?)! Do you have any burning questions about things at least somewhat related to combat sports? Then you're in luck because you can send your tweets to me, @JedKMeshew, and I will answer all the good ones! It doesn't matter if they're topical or insane, just so long as they are good. Thanks again, and see y'all next week.