Proving Their Worth
UFC 231 was a card almost lost among the shuffle with little talk regarding the fights that were in the middle of a long run of fights every week and the return of Jon Jones.
The talk has surrounded so much more than the fight at hand and yet the card featured two of the best fights of the year, at least on paper.
Leading up to any fight there is always some hype but for some reason, the card at UFC 231 never received the same hype.
Yet the main event and the co-main event were set to be true displays of what was best about the UFC.
In the co-main event, two of the greatest female fighters on the roster were going to face-off in a true super fight.
Joanna Jędrzejczyk came into the UFC a relatively unknown fighter who wasn’t even a part of the strawweight TUF tournament.
Yet she made easy work of the strawweight division going through all of the best fighters to become a champion.
She reigned for years becoming the most dominant women’s champion in the UFC only to begin suffering from the weight cut.
That could have been part of the reason why she lost the title to Rose Namajunas although Namajunas is also a rising star in women’s MMA.
The struggles in the weight cut had her moving to the Flyweight division where her weight is of no concern bringing a lot of potential to the new division.
That new division was largely created to highlight one of the most accomplished women on the roster in Valentina Shevchenko.
A former kickboxing and Muay Thai champion, Shevchenko has been to the top of almost every promotion she has entered.
She struggled to beat a much bigger fighter in Amanda Nunes but the Bantamweight champion is the only woman to which she has lost a fight.
When the Flyweight division was created it was widely considered that Shevchenko was going to move down to take over.
The title was almost a given for Shevchenko but with her fight against Nicco Montano cancelled her chance at that belt slipped away.
They gave her a chance after vacated the belt as she was set to take on Jędrzejczyk to become the Flyweight champion and take over her own division.
Lining up it was going to be a matchup of two of the best and most accomplished female fighters in MMA but in practice, one took over.
Shevchenko showed why she had won so much before her time in MMA and during her time in MMA.
She was by far the more dominant fighter taking the fight to the ground easily throughout the fight and landing the more significant strikes.
It was a clinical finish for Shevchenko who proved why many thought the division was created for her.
She took the decision win to earn the title as she now begins her reign as the best flyweight in the world with contenders lining up.
In the main event, was one of the best matchups that could have been made in the UFC as it featured two stars entering their prime.
Brian Ortega was the holder of a 6-fight win streak, never losing in his MMA career with a background in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
His BJJ ability is among the best in the division and going through the UFC he was beginning to show a well-rounded game that put him into the title picture.
Eventually, he had run through so many names it was impossible to deny him a shot at the title.
The problem was that the title shot was going to come against another young superstar in Holloway who had put together 12-straight wins including two title defences against a former champion.
Holloway had all of the makings of a champion with a long future at the top if it weren’t for weight cut issues.
These two were among the best young stars in the UFC and they were set to face off in their prime.
Much like the co-main event, this was a clinic as the champion showed exactly why he was a champion.
Holloway picked apart Ortega on the feet landing jabs and hooks without getting much back from Ortega.
Ortega tried to take the fight to the ground but Holloway had the ability to stop the takedown or get right back up.
Eventually, after taking four rounds of punishment, the doctor was forced to stop the fight with Ortega’s eye closed to the point of danger.
Holloway took the win and proved that he was truly the best fighting a contender at the perfect time and dominating.
Both Holloway and Shevchenko came out on top in these great fights proving just how good both were.
The Sport Addiction 