UFC 231 takeaways: Holloway, Toronto bring the magic yet again

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Max Holloway leaves the Octagon after stopping out Brian Ortega during the UFC featherweight championship title bout in Toronto on Sunday, Dec. 9, 2018. (Nathan Denette/CP)

TORONTO — It seems every time the Octagon lands in Ontario there’s magic in the air.

UFC 231 marked the sixth time the UFC has held an event in Toronto and the second time featherweight champion Max “Blessed” Holloway has had his hand raised in a place the Hawaiian has dubbed the 10th Island because of his many Canadian supporters. Holloway handed Brian Ortega the first loss of his MMA career in an electrifying main event, the latest in a long line of classic UFC fights that have taken place in Toronto.

“It was one of the sickest fights I’ve ever seen,” UFC president Dana White said.

Holloway set a UFC single-fight record by landing 290 significant strikes, connecting on an absurdly high 59 per cent of the shots he threw.

Another way of looking at it is Ortega set a UFC single-fight record by absorbing 290 significant strikes.

White was “blown away” by Ortega’s determination and toughness but fully supported the cageside doctor’s decision to stop the fight after the fourth round.

“That fifth round should never have happened and I’m glad it didn’t,” White said. “The fight needed to be stopped. For all of us in here that have been in the fight game for a long time, that’s what you call too tough for your own good. I believe he could have done the fifth round. I believe he would have done the fifth round. But it should have never happened. … He’s a young talented guy and I think going into that fifth round would have been very bad for him health-wise. The fourth round wasn’t good for him health-wise.”

There’s always concern for a fighter’s wellbeing. There has to be. But when a scrap like Holloway-Ortega is happening in the moment, the spectacle of it all overshadows anyone thinking about the health risks associated with it.

Holloway isn’t merely a brilliant fighter. He’s a true showman. Multiple times early on he sarcastically applauded his opponent when Ortega would land a punch. He open-hand slapped Ortega a few times and mocked the rigidity of Ortega’s striking and movement. Not in a disrespectful way, mind you. Simply in a way that let the world know he is as comfortable in a world championship MMA fight as he is laying on the beaches of Waianae.

He pieced him up. One-two. Straight right. Slap. Lead cross. Even Holloway’s defence was entertaining.

Ortega was wearing it and when the horn sounded after the second stanza, the two men had perhaps the best in-fight staredown since Robbie Lawler’s and Rory MacDonald’s UFC 189 classic moment.

It was an excellent prizefight. Simply put, the Toronto fans were blessed yet again.

“People don’t realize what a big fight town Toronto is,” White said. “It’s a very educated market. Almost 20,000 people in there tonight, on their feet, every round going crazy, understand all the technical things that go on in these fights. This is a fun place. Cool city. Great hotels, restaurants, the whole deal.

“I love coming here and doing fights.”

Based on his company’s track record in Canada’s largest city, it’s no surprise.

In 2011, not long after the province finally legalized the sport, starved fight fans packed Rogers Centre to the rafters in what was the biggest event in UFC history at the time. Georges St-Pierre was at the top of the card, Jose Aldo and local favourite Mark Hominick gave us a five-round featherweight classic, Rory MacDonald tossed Nate Diaz around, and Lyoto Machida went full Karate Kid and ended Randy Couture’s MMA career.

The UFC’s first event at Scotiabank Arena, formerly the Air Canada Centre, happened later that year. Jon Jones let Machida’s lifeless body fall to the canvas and Frank Mir snapped Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira’s humerus bone in half that night.

Jones headlined again at UFC 152 in 2012 and was nearly submitted by Vitor Belfort on the same night Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson won the inaugural flyweight title by beating Joseph Benavidez. The following year, at UFC 165, Jones and Alexander Gustafsson competed in what’s universally considered one of the greatest fights in UFC history.

Despite all the thrilling action these cards produced, ticket sales had decreased steadily over those four events, so the UFC took a three-year hiatus from the city and didn’t return until 2016. There was little buzz surrounding that UFC 206 card but in terms of pure excitement in the cage it ended up being a card of the year contender with Cub Swanson and Doo Ho Choi delighting the crowd to the fight of the year.

Holloway headlined that event against former lightweight kingpin Anthony Pettis, beat him rather easily, and had UFC gold strapped around his waist for the first time.

Jones fought on three consecutive Toronto cards and went 3-0. Holloway is two-thirds of the way towards matching that and based on how much he loves his 10th Island, it might not be the last time he headlines north of the border.

A star is born

Joanna Jedrzejczyk made her walk to the cage with Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper belting out the wildly popular “Shallow” song from the A Star Is Born soundtrack. A star was born Saturday night. Unfortunately for Jedrzejczyk, it was her opponent.

Valentina Shevchenko is the UFC women’s flyweight champion after dominating her five-round title bout with her old Muay Thai rival. Jedrzejczyk already had a strong following from her years as strawweight champ but after Saturday’s result Shevchenko’s fan base is growing at a rapid pace.

Shevchenko was the quicker and more powerful fighter, operating a half-step ahead of Jedrzejczyk in their striking exchanges and imposing her will on the ground when she wanted to take the fight there.

Jedrzejczyk seemed to be having more fun, often grinning during the action. After each round she smiled and waved her arms to fire up the crowd even though she was losing the rounds rather clearly.

Shevchenko waited until the fight was over before she allowed herself to smile. That smile won’t be coming off her face for quite some time either.

“I am so happy to finally have this championship,” she said. “I have been waiting on this moment and it feels amazing.”

Jedrzejczyk now finds herself in no-woman’s land with two losses to current strawweight champion Rose Namajunas and now one to the flyweight champ.

“I want to thank Joanna for this fight,” Shevchenko made sure to say. “It was an honour to fight her. She is a true professional and champion.”

White said after the event he considers Jedrzejczyk a friend and wants to see her take some time off before potentially going back down to 115 pounds.

Shevchenko says she doesn’t care who her next opponent is and she means it. She wants to be an active champion, which will endear her to fans. More appearances and more wins mean more star power. She says she has unfinished business with bantamweight champ Amanda Nunes after losing a controversial split decision to her at UFC 215.

Don’t be surprised if one day Shevchenko moves back up to 135 pounds to challenge Nunes in what would now be a legitimate superfight between two champions.

In the meantime, if she can continue to avoid damage and dominate opponents like she has in her two appearances thus far at flyweight, her popularity will continue to soar.

Santos is a savage striker

Thiago Santos is just two fights into his career as a 205-pounder and he has already emerged as a title contender. Santos knocked out No. 7-ranked Jimi Manuwa in a spectacular brawl that didn’t get to the six-minute mark. The intimidating Brazilian earned a $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus for the win and, according to White, was all set for a second $50,000 cheque for Fight of the Night until Holloway and Ortega put on their show.

It was Santos’s third consecutive win and his fifth fight of 2018, the first of which was a TKO of Anthony Smith in a middleweight bout back in February. Smith moved up to the light-heavyweight division after that bout and has since picked up knockout wins over former champions Rashad Evans and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, plus a third-round submission of recent title challenger Volkan Oezdemir. Those three wins have Smith currently ranked as the No. 3 contender in the division. In theory, Santos should take Smith’s spot in the top three and when a fighter is ranked that high they’re usually only one win away from getting a crack at gold.

“I am very happy,” Santos said. “I thought the fight was amazing for the fans and I walked away with another knockout. I feel great since moving up to 205. This is my division and I will be the champion.”

Santos is not a small light-heavyweight either, so it’s mind boggling to think that he got his start in the UFC on the second season of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil competing as a welterweight. The 34-year-old is taking a page out of Anthony “Rumble” Johnson’s playbook by continuing to move up through the weight classes while retaining his KO power. Fittingly enough, Johnson was in attendance Saturday, mingling and taking photos with fans. Shout-out to Rumble.

Nelson makes triumphant return

Gunnar Nelson casually walked to the centre of the Octagon, covered in blood, and let out a roar. The blood came from his defeated opponent Alex Oliveira’s head and the roar was one of elation.

Nelson submitted Oliveira with a rear-naked choke late in the second round of their welterweight bout seconds after splitting Oliveira open with a tight elbow. It was Nelson’s first fight since his knockout loss to Santiago Ponzinibbio in July of 2017 and his first win since submitting Alan Jouban nearly two years ago.

“It feels good to be back and I want to be more active now,” the stoic Icelander said. “I haven’t told anyone but I did face a little setback with my knee. Now that the fight is over, I’m going to get that checked out and then I’ll be back as soon as it’s healed. I’ve said it before, but I will fight anyone. I just want to get out there and keep fighting as much as possible.”

Fingers crossed that his knee issue won’t keep him out of action for an extended period of time because the 170-pound division is far more interesting when he’s active.

Nelson was one of three SBG Ireland-trained fighters to leave victorious. Canadians Brad Katona and Hakeem Dawodu, both of whom have travelled to Dublin to prepare for fights, were the others.

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