What We Learned at UFC 271

Israel Adesanya, Jared Cannonier and Tai Tuivasa each earned compelling wins to extend their individual pursuits

UFC 271 saw Israel Adesanya successfully defend his middleweight title, Jared Cannonier take his place as the new top contender, and Tai Tuivasa deliver a major upset by knocking out Derrick Lewis.

This did not quite match last month’s UFC card, with no fight on the same level as the Deiveson Figueiredo-Brandon Moreno bout. There was also nothing with the same type of animosity that will be on display in next month’s meeting of Jorge Masvidal and Colby Covington. But 271 was carried by its main event, which saw Adesanya overcome a tough test from Robert Whittaker, as well as received considerable momentum from the Tuivasa and Cannonier victories.

Missing from the 271 broadcast team was Joe Rogan, but there was plenty of action in and around the Octagon this past Saturday night.

Here is what we learned at UFC 271:

Adesanya continues long chase of the great Anderson Silva

Following his second victory against Robert Whittaker, there is no doubt that Adesanya is taking steps toward becoming the greatest middleweight of all time–but he still has a long way to go before catching Anderson Silva.

That robust GOAT post still belongs to the sole possession of Silva, who very well may be the greatest to ever step in the cage. Silva holds the longest win streak in UFC history at 16, most wins in middleweight title fights with 11, and most successful middleweight title defenses at 10.

Adesanya can take strides toward rewriting that narrative if he continues winning. If Adesanya can reach the double-digit mark in title defenses, which will take six more wins, then he will edge the gap considerably. And if he beats Jared Cannonier next, who’s to say Adesanya can’t pull it off?

It is nearly impossible to debate fighters from different eras and definitively choose who would win a dream fight. Adesanya did defeat Silva in their one meeting, but that was three years ago when Silva was 43.

The next five years will help determine whether Adesanya can elevate himself past Silva as the greatest middleweight ever.

Joe Rogan missing in action at 271

Joe Rogan was not part of the UFC 271 broadcast team, which was comprised of Jon Anik, Daniel Cormier, and Michael Bisping.

Initially, it was reported that Rogan would miss 271 due to a scheduling conflict. During his customary post-show press conference, UFC President Dana White told the press that it was Rogan’s call to miss the show.

There has been nonstop controversy surrounding Rogan over the past couple of weeks stemming from his podcast. There are plenty of guests that share an anti-vaccination stance, and Rogan has clearly irritated people in power with some of his views. After a compilation video surfaced of Rogan using racial slurs, he issued an apology last week.

It was no accident that Rogan didn’t don a headset on Saturday. Call it whatever you’d like–a scheduling conflict or that Rogan made the choice himself to sit this one out, but there was simply no way executives at ESPN were willing to risk bringing a tidal wave of negative attention to their broadcast. Barring any major controversy, Rogan is expected back next month for UFC 272.

Rogan’s name was mentioned on the air during the 271 broadcast by Anik, who noted that Rogan texted to question whether Adesanya had injured his right hand during the fight against Robert Whittaker. Replacing Rogan is no easy task, but Bisping did solid work in that role.

Tai Tuivasa takes step toward proving he is a top heavyweight contender

Does anyone else get the feeling that Tai Tuivasa is playing with house money?

Tuivasa knocked out Derrick Lewis on Saturday, putting him to sleep with a vicious right elbow across the face. But even if Tuivasa is ranked in the top three, can he really compete with the likes of Francis Ngannou and Stipe Miocic? Or Ciryl Gane or Curtis Blaydes?

Upcoming fights will be the judge of whether a market correction will occur on Tuivasa. He looked beatable during his three-fight losing streak that started in 2018, losing to Junior dos Santos, Blagoy Ivanov, and Sergey Spivak. But since then, Tuivasa has won five in a row, including the upset against Lewis, whose nightmarish run of fighting in Houston continues.

A Gane-Tuivasa matchup would be a great clash of styles, and could tell us a lot about both fighters.

Scorecard issues from the 271 prelims highlight a larger problem

There was a judging controversy during the 271 prelims, which came into immediate focus as soon as Casey O’Neill was announced the winner via split decision against Roxanne Modafferi.

This was Modafferi’s final fight, and she went out with grace and class, but O’Neill clearly won. She landed more strikes every round, and Modafferi never put her in any real danger. So it was a surprise when judge Robert Alexander scored the fight, 29-28, in favor of Modafferi, leading to a split decision victory for O’Neill.

Another issue with a judge’s scorecards occurred in the very next fight, when Andrei Arlovski was ruled the winner–via split decision–against Jared Vanderaa. This was by no means as egregious as the O’Neill/Modafferi scorecard, but Arlovski certainly appeared to have won two of those three rounds. Naturally, the one judge to score the fight for Vanderaa was Alexander, the same judge who scored the previous fight for Modafferi.

The UFC is well within its rights to tell a commission that a certain person is unfit to judge (which has also happened with refs, most notably four years ago when Dana White said Mario Yamasaki would never ref again in the Octagon). But some commissions are just not great, with New York coming to mind, a place where fighters know not to let the decision ever go to the judges.

Incredibly, there still aren’t true MMA judges in a lot of states. Too often, boxing judges are used, many of whom do not understand the nuance of what they’re watching. Some kind of training needs to be required for judges. Of course, that leads to the next problem–how would the training be enforced throughout different states?

There are some states doing a particularly good job, while others are not. This is a far bigger issue than what we saw at 271, and it is ultimately unfair to the fighters to have to roll the dice when going to a judges’ scorecard.

Israel Adesanya finds new tag team partner in Booker T

One of the highlights of UFC 271 fight week was Israel Adesanya’s unfiltered reaction when he saw wrestling icon Booker T.

Adesanya lost his train of thought during a 271 press conference after seeing the two-time WWE Hall of Famer, and immediately began sharing his excitement and admiration for Booker T. The two later shared words and expressed their mutual respect for one another.

“You never expect that, but when it happens, it’s always cool,” said Booker Huffman. “Israel Adesanya looked up to me as a kid and respected what I did and how I entertained, and that doesn’t happen unless you make people feel a certain way. And he makes me feel a certain way when I watch the way he fights and conducts himself as a champion.”

Booker T’s last singles match in WWE took place a decade ago in 2012, but he has remained relevant throughout the pro wrestling industry, and even more so in the mainstream. The wildly popular Bad Bunny has a “Booker T” song that came out last year, and Booker T also made a video for Fox during last fall’s American League Championship Series. His calling card of being a “five-time” champion is a beloved hallmark of his legendary career, and it will be worth watching to see if Adesanya will do a Booker T-inspired Spinaroonie if he defeats Jared Cannonier in his fifth defense of the middleweight title.

Covering UFC 271 for ESPN 97.5 Houston, Booker has been with the station for the past five years. Yet this was the first time he stepped into the media room to ask questions, which is where he caught Adesanya’s attention.

“I was so excited to be there,” said Booker T. “It made me think of Frank Sinatra being at Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier fight as a photographer. He was so enthralled and just wanted to be part of the action. That’s who I am now, I respect these guys so much.”

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While he still makes occasional appearances for WWE, Booker T is busy running his own pro wrestling promotion, Reality of Wrestling. He shared that Adesanya is welcome at any of his shows.

“We’d love for him to throw a few people around,” said Booker T, sharing a laugh. “I’m so proud to have him in my corner. He went out and had a classic with Whittaker, showing again he is a once-in-a-generation fighter.”

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Justin Barrasso can be reached at JBarrasso@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @JustinBarrasso.

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