I had a lot of pre-fight thoughts about the UFC 222 co-main event between Brian Ortega and Frankie Edgar, and most of the questions focused on “T-City.” Mainly, I wondered if his willingness to put himself in bad situations would cost him against a veteran like Edgar, and more importantly, I thought if Edgar got out of a submission attempt or shook off a flush strike, how would the Californian react? We never got to find out, as Ortega followed up a crisp elbow that hurt Edgar with an uppercut that ended the fight. Ortega is a scary finisher, and if he gets an opponent in trouble, he’s getting them out of there. And when you consider that he did that to Edgar, who has never been finished before, that’s an even more notable feat. Add in a great backstory, a humble attitude and the philosophy of a true martial artist, and Ortega’s breakthrough is nearly complete. All that’s missing is a world title, but he will have to go through Max Holloway to get a featherweight crown, and I can’t wait to see this one, because it has the potential to be a fight we’ll be talking about for years and years to come.
2 – Cris Cyborg
Tonya Evinger and Holly Holm, she brought back old school Chute Boxe Cyborg last weekend with a first-round blitz of Yana Kunitskaya. So, in effect, what she did was draw the fans in, and now she’ll keep them with her reputation as a destroyer more intact than ever. As for Cyborg vs Nunes, that’s THE fight to make, and it’s a SuperFight in more than name alone.
3 – Sean O’Malley
Alexander Hernandez
Mackenzie Dern
No, Mackenzie Dern is not the next coming of Ronda Rousey. But she is the first coming of Mackenzie Dern, and that’s not a bad thing at all. In fact, she has the raw potential to someday reach the top of the women’s game and become a legit superstar. That day is not today, but she did show glimpses in her hard-fought win over Ashley Yoder. Yoder was no pushover and she proved it on Saturday, but Dern stayed the course and gutted out a victory that looked to be going south at times. Yes, her striking is a work in progress, and in the UFC she’s going to be matched tough all the time, but if she keeps evolving at the MMA Lab in Arizona, she’s one to watch.
