The Remix, Vol. 20: Has it ever been better than this?

E. Spencer Kyte

The  Remix, Vol. 20: Has it ever been better than this? image
Every week, we’ll release a new MMA mix tape entitled “The Remix” that looks back at not only the biggest stories of the last seven days, but some of the ones that aren’t getting enough attention too, with some weekly awards and a prospect to watch going forward added in for good measure.

Gaethje ends nine-week run in style

Justin Gaethje capped the UFC’s nine-week run with an event every weekend in trademark style, pressing forward against Edson Barboza in the main event of Saturday’s fight card in Philadelphia, inviting punishment in order to dole out a little damage of his own.

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When the two started swinging for the fences and trading shots along the cage, you knew it wasn’t going to end well for the Brazilian and it most certainly did not:

 

 

Gaethje punctuating this stretch with a blistering knockout and backflip off the top of the cage just felt right because while people often get down about the “constant slog” of events, these last nine weeks in the Octagon have been pretty damn awesome. Here’s a quick reminder:

Week One: Moraes, Aldo, Walker all shine in Fortaleza
Week Two: Israel Adesanya keeps rolling
Week Three: Ngannou crumples Cain Velasquez
Week Four: Thiago Santos earns a title shot
Week Five: UFC 235 delivers across the board
Week Six: “Dangerous Dos Santos Brothers” close out a fun night in Wichita
Week Seven: Three Piece and a Soda
Week Eight: Showtime Superman
Week Nine: Gaethje Violence

Every one of these events produced memorable finishes, breakthrough efforts and plenty to get excited about and it ended with Gaethje doing what Gaethje does.

Tell me again how this isn’t the best time ever to be an MMA fan

Not only did the UFC just wrap up nine straight weeks of entertaining action inside the Octagon, but this weekend made it abundantly clear that there has never been a better time to be a fan of mixed martial arts than right now.

You can make your “back in the day” arguments about trading grainy VHS tapes and “stacked UFC PPVs” or how “TUF Noobs” and “Conor Fans” have ruined things, but this weekend featured a solid LFA card, a quality Bellator event, UFC Philadelphia and ONE Championship’s debut in Tokyo and you’re going to try and tell me that there was a time when it was better than this?

Sure, you could get more hyped for an event because you had to wait three, four or five weeks before the next pay-per-view and fans were more invested in a greater number of competitors than they are now, but in terms of the sheer volume of awesomeness available at the moment is second-to-none.

Never have fight fans had access to so many fun cards and quality fights and if that makes you lament the shifting definition of what it means to be “UFC caliber” or how many cards the promotion delivers, I just don’t know what to say to you because the upper echelon of talent has never been better and the amount of talent competing around the globe is outstanding.

Daniel Straus’ incredible comeback

It wasn’t the most high profile fight of the weekend, nor was it the most impressive stoppage from the heavy slate of action that transpired, but Daniel Straus returning to the Bellator MMA cage and securing a first-round submission win over Shane Kruchten was arguably the best moment of the entire weekend.

 

 

Straus had to learn how to walk again following his horrific motorcycle accident on December 17, 2017. Doctors told him he probably wouldn’t fight again. The former featherweight champ set out to prove them wrong and Friday night, he closed the latest chapter in his career by stinging Kruchten on the feet and squeezing out a finish before the opening five minutes had expired.

We spend a lot of time talking about gossip and drama and nonsense in this sport, fixating on the biggest names at the expense of some of the best stories, and it’s unfortunate that Straus’ return to both the cage and the win column came on such a hectic weekend because his comeback story deserved even more attention than it received and is the type of thing we need to wrote about more.

Fight of the Weekend: Xiong Jing Nan def.  Angela Lee by TKO (strikes) at ONE Championship: A New Era

For much of the fight, it looked like Lee was going to continue her unbeaten run and become the first female two-weight titleholder under the ONE Championship banner. She started quickly and damn-near snapped Xiong’s right arm in half at one point with an armbar reminiscent of Rousey-Tate I:

 

 


But “The Panda” persisted and as Lee tired, the strawweight champ got after her, securing the improbable come-from-behind finish early in the fifth round.

 

 

Rallying to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat is always impressive. Doing so in a fight where it seemed like you were seconds away from getting tapped and having your arm torn off ups the ante and pulling off the comeback in the fifth round of a “Champion vs. Champion” tilt where you’ve got five minutes to find a finish or else lose your belt is some serious next level, 'Y’all better remember this performance when you’re voting for Fight of the Year in nine months' stuff.

Lee was gassed and Xiong did exactly what she needed to do in order to secure the comeback win. What a terrific performance from the now 14-1 standout.

Submission of the Weekend: Paul Craig def. Kennedy Nzechukwu by triangle choke at UFC Philadelphia

Shout out to Demetrious Johnson for his second-round submission win over Yuya Wakamatsu in his ONE Championship debut and Jack Hermansson for locking up his trademark off-center guillotine choke against David Branch, but Craig’s last minute finish was the best of the weekend in my books.

A big part of this for me is that Craig is constantly active off his back, no matter if it’s the start of the fight or the final minute, like it was here or in his fight with Magomed Ankalaev last year. He doesn’t just hold guys in guard and look to for standups; he’s shifting his hips and looking to set up sweeps or create opportunities to attack submissions.

But the other part of it is just the way he actually secured this finish because he went back to the well two times in order to finally secure the hold.

Nzechukwu was under a minute away from securing his first UFC victory and did a good job to slip out of the first triangle choke attempt, stuffing both arms in and forcing Craig and reset. And he did, attacking with the same setup, quickly throwing his right leg over the shoulders and getting the Texas-based neophyte trapped with no escape.

This was a terrific finish from a guy who never stops hunting for opportunities.

Knockout of the Weekend: Josh Emmett def. Michael Johnson at UFC Philadelphia

Justin Gaethje’s finish of Edson Barboza was savage, but the right hand that Emmett landed to sleep Johnson was a better singular shot, plus he needed it more than Gaethje.

Emmett was down on 20-18 on two of three cards heading into the final round and had a tough time finding Johnson, who was doing a good job minding his Ps and Qs and avoiding the risky spots that had always been his downfall. But the Sacramento-based fighter did a good job of getting after Johnson in the third and finding a home for a few more shots, pulling him in closer, getting him out of his rhythm and drawing a little more carelessness out of him as the round advanced.

Then, he uncorked a right hand that literally knocked all the wetness inside Johnson’s mouth into Row 17 at  Wells Fargo Center and brought the fight to an instant end.

This was the comeback version of the right hand Emmett landed on Ricardo Lamas a couple years back and what makes him such a risky matchup in the lower half of the featherweight Top 15.

It was also the best knockout of the weekend in my books.

Prospect to Watch: Joey Davis

A few years ago, Bellator went out and signed a bunch of talented collegiate wrestlers who were keen on transitioning to the cage, betting that out of the group, there were bound to be a few who put it together and evolved into “top of the food chain” talents down the line.

Davis went 133-0 in college, competing at the Division II level. Since transitioning into the cage, “Black Ice” has gone 5-0, picking up another first-round stoppage win on Friday night at Bellator 219 by sleeping Marcus Anthony with a clean right hand over the top.

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Wrestling is still the best base for young athletes to me, as having proven takedown abilities and the athleticism it takes to dominate on the mats automatically puts some hesitation in the minds of opponents who because they’ve got to avoid getting put on the canvas. That opens up lanes for landing big punches and Davis did that on Friday.

Between his wrestling pedigree, the fact that he’s 25 and working with the crew at Bodyshop MMA, there are a lot of reasons to be high on Davis’ potential inside the cage.

E. Spencer Kyte