All things considered, three-out-of-six isn’t so bad.
Saturday night’s UFC Fight Night: Calgary card was a massive showcase for some of the top Canadian talent in the promotion.
In the end, the Canadians batted .500.
That’s probably a win, all things being equal.
The night didn’t start particularly well for fighters from the Great White North, as both Randa Markos, of Windsor, Ont., and Victoria, B.C.’s Alexis Davis dropped decisions.
Markos kept things close with strawweight contender Nina Ansaroff, but Ansaroff used a steady stream of leg kicks to narrowly edge out the win.
It wasn’t a terrible loss by any means, but it’s got to be frustrating for Markos. In her nine fight UFC career, she’s never won two in a row, and has never lost back-to-back fights either.
She’s just kind of stuck there.
It’s a similar situation for Davis, who entered Saturday night ranked No. 3 in the women’s flyweight division, but just didn’t really cause any serious damage against Katlyn Chookagian. Davis isn’t going to get cut from the UFC or anything, but a win might have earned her a title shot and that certainly isn’t happening now.
Shortly after Davis left the octagon, though, the night got a whole lot better for the heavily-partisan Canadian crowd.
First, John Makdessi, from Halifax, outlasted Ross Pearson in an absolutely electrifying fight. It probably doesn’t mean much in terms of the lightweight division’s rankings, but sometimes the point of a fight is just to deliver some action, and Makdessi and Pearson gave fans at the Saddledome a lot to cheer about.
Then, Calgary’s own Hakeem Dawodu and Lethbridge’s Jordan Mein beat Austin Arnett and Alex Morono, respectively.
Both guys were impressive, and the atmosphere in the Saddledome during Dawodu’s fight was arguably the highlight of fight week.
Hakeem Dawodu celebrates his win over Austin Arnett during UFC Fight Night at the Saddledome in Calgary on Saturday, July 28, 2018 in a preliminary match. (Jim Wells/Postmedia Network)
Finally, Olivier Aubin-Mercier dropped a unanimous decision to Alex Hernandez in a fight that’s going to keep the Montrealer out of the lightweight top-15.
It’s probably best not to draw conclusions about the state of Canadian MMA from one night. There are plenty of top talents from the Great White North who didn’t fight on Saturday, after all.
But it was a big night for the sport in Canada, and the results do matter. At some point, a Canadian is going to emerge to fill the void that’s been left by Georges St. Pierre – who isn’t retired, but doesn’t fight much – and headline big shows in Canada.
Whether that fighter competed on Saturday night in Calgary or not, the Canadians who did fight showed enough to feel optimistic about how the rest of the year will play out when there are UFC shows in both Moncton and Toronto.
Alexander Hernandez, left, fights Olivier Aubin-Mercier in a lightweight bout during UFC Fight Night at the Saddledome in Calgary on Saturday, July 28, 2018 (Jim Wells/Postmedia Network)
IT’S HAPPENING
To the surprise of absolutely nobody, UFC president Dana White told FOX Sports on Saturday that Conor McGregor and lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov are going to fight each other next.
McGregor got his legal issues stemming from his attack on a UFC bus in April cleared up this week, and that means he should be available to fight later this year.
Given that Nurmagomedov was the target of that attack, and that the Dagestani native won the 155 lbs. belt that the UFC stripped McGregor of earlier this year, it was hard to imagine the company booking anything else.
Nurmagomedov has been in Calgary this week, and spoke with reporters at the Saddledome on Saturday night about what he wants from the fight.
“I want a big drama show,” Nurmagomedov said. “A little bit (of talking) with him … I have a little bit of a plan. Make him tired, make him look bad. Strong, he’s very dangerous, everybody knows this. I know this, too.
“It you think I’m going to (stand) with him like I (stood) with (Al) Iaquinta with my Muhammad Ali jab? No way, brother, no way. I’m going to try to take him down. Even if he (can) defend my takedown, he’s going to be tired.”
As for when it might be possible for the UFC to book the blockbuster fight, there have been persistent rumours that they’ll face off in October in Las Vegas, although McGregor hasn’t fought in MMA for almost two years now and might need a little more time to get ready.
November in New York might be a possibility, and the UFC’s big end-of-year show in Vegas might be the most realistic option.
There were rumours on social media that McGregor was in Calgary on Saturday, but no photo evidence to prove it.
WIN THEM OVER
If you’re looking to get an arena full of Calgarians on your side, walking to the octagon sporting an outfit that pays tribute to Bret Hart is a pretty good way to go.
That was Ion Cutelaba’s strategy on Saturday night, and from the reaction of the fans, it worked.
Cutelaba, from Moldova, walked out to Hart’s iconic entrance music and wearing sunglasses that were reminiscent of the Calgary wrestling great’s signature look.
Ion Cutelaba not only came out to Bret Hart’s theme song, he also sported the signature hitman sunglasses. #UFCCalgary
The crowd at the Saddledome ate it up, and then got even more rile up for the light-heavyweight when he finished Gadzhimurad Antigulov with a couple vicious elbows.