Establishing Dominance
The UFC and MMA, in general, is all about eras and for the UFC the era that defines the company now is far more unpredictable than ever before.
When the UFC first began the eras were much more defined as at first it was all about a few superstars and for them, it didn’t really matter if they were champions or not.
Fighters like Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell led this initial era and whether or not they were fighting for championships they were the fighters to watch.
Then came the era of the champions where a few champions took hold of their respective divisions and became some of the greatest of all time.
Georges St. Pierre and Anderson Silva led the way in this era with both becoming the biggest names in the promotion.
They were almost unbeatable and everyone watched to see if they could continue their long runs as champions.
That defined the UFC for years but then the talent began to catch up and although St. Pierre never lost he decided to be put on the shelf while Silva took two devastating losses.
It was the end of the era that was defined by dominant champions and the beginning of a new era where the talent level was just different.
More fighters are coming into the promotion at a higher level and it is causing an era where dominant champions are near impossible to find.
The lightweight division might be the perfect example of what the UFC is now dealing with as they have a man that could be dominant but a lot of talent lining up.
As Khabib Nurmagomedov prepares for his September title defence against Dustin Poirier two of the best were set to face off in one of the biggest fights at UFC 238.
Tony Ferguson is one of the few fighters who might have a legitimate shot at beating Nurmagomedov with endless pace and high-class wrestling.
He was set to face off against fan-favourite and streaking Donald Cerrone who brings a different level of striking to the Octagon.
The fight came just about as advertised until the veteran Cerrone made a rookie mistake by blowing his broken nose.
It caused his eye to swell shut and the doctors were forced to end the fight as Cerrone could not see out of one eye.
This was set to be a fight that could be the title eliminator bout with the stoppage, fans could get to see two of the best face off again in their pursuit of ending a potentially great reign.
That was one of the more anticipated fights of the night but there were two champions looking to solidify their spot among those dominant champions.
For Valentina Shevchenko, UFC 238 was all about taking over her own division, one that was essentially made for her to rule.
The UFCs 125 lbs women’s division is a relatively young division but provides women too big to make strawweight and too small to be effective in bantamweight a place to fight.
That defined Shevchenko to a tee as she was a great bantamweight but just didn’t have the power to match Amanda Nunes.
Instead, she moved to Flyweight and took the title against Joanna Jędrzejczyk but looked to solidify her hold of the belt with her first title defence at UFC 238.
She was set to take on Jessica Eye who had been on a tear as of late and looked to ensure that the Flyweight division wouldn’t be taken over.
Overall she stood in there well but at the end of the day, it was the striking and kickboxing of Shevchenko that won out.
In the second round after unloading a number of body kicks, Shevchenko went to the head and connected to earn a devastating knockout for her first title defence.
The only issue for the division now is who is next as the young division still doesn’t have a lot of stars and there are no real challengers as of yet.
In the main event Henry Cejudo was looking to take another title and not only begin another reign but be one of the best ever.
The gold medalist already beat two of the best lighter fighters in the world in two Flyweight title fights and now was looking to take the vacant bantamweight title.
To do that he would have to go through Marlon Moraes who has always been considered a future UFC champion.
He looked the part at the beginning of the fight as he was easily getting through Cejudo for the entire first round.
The second round saw things flip though as Cejudo began landing some big shots and near the end looked like he had taken control.
That control continued into the third round where Cejudo was able to take over and beat Moraes for his second belt.
With a gold medal in wrestling, a flyweight belt and now a bantamweight belt, Cejudo is one of the most accomplished combat sports athletes in the world.
He looks to do what so many other fighters have failed to do and hold on to both belts and become that dominant fighter in the UFC.
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