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UFC 295 is this Saturday
UFC 295 goes down this weekend at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The event was supposed to be headlined by UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones versus challenger, and former champion, Stipe Miocic. It was thought that this would be Jones’ final fight. However, things rarely go as planned in MMA.
Last week Jones suffered a pectoral injury that ruled him out of his fight. As a result, Miocic was also pulled from the card. Jiri Prochazka vs. Alex Pereira for the vacant UFC light heavyweight title, a fine fight, has been elevated to the UFC 295 main event slot. The co-main will now see Sergei Pavlovich vs. Tom Aspinall for the interim UFC heavyweight title.
Daniel Cormier thinks we’re better off now
Daniel Cormier spoke about the shuffling that has taken place at UFC 295 on the DC & RC podcast and suggested that fans might be better off without Jones vs. Miocic in the main event.
His take, which he may be contractually obligated to make hot as lava, is that we may be left with a better contest to enjoy come Saturday night. He used an analogy involving jeans to make his point.
“I don’t know if this fight is not better because sometimes, when you wanted something, remember you wanted your Jabo jeans RC?” said Cormier (ht MMA News). “You’re like ‘mama, I need some Jabo jeans bad, please mama, give me some Jabo’s’ You wanted some Jabo’s right. But, then your mom said like they got this brand called Z Cavaricci’s, they’re the same. They are the same pants but everybody’s wearing the Z, know what I’m saying, everybody wearing the Cavaricci’s but then they’re wearing the Jabo’s.”
“You want the Jabo’s so when you get the Z Cavaricci’s, you’re a little let down when in reality, it might be better. Bro, we might have fallen in love with the idea of Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic for what they’ve been to the game and we may overestimate the value of the fight because Pavlovich vs. Tom Aspinall might be a better fight.”
Ok, Jones vs. Miocic was Jabo and Pavlovich vs. Aspinall is Z Cavaricci. Got it?
Opinion: What is Cormier on about?
I appreciate Daniel Cormier taking a glass half full approach to UFC 295. But it’s simply not true that fans might be left with a better product after one of the greatest fighters of all time has been removed from the card and will no longer be facing one of the greatest heavyweights of all time.
Sergei Pavlovich vs. Tom Aspinall is an interesting and well-balanced match-up, that could produce a high-octane heavyweight title clash the likes of which we rarely see. However, what happens inside the cage is only part of the story.
Narratives are makes fights both anticipated and memorable. Every week we see two good fighters, with personalities and histories the promotion has had zero interest in sharing with us, throw down in an exciting fight. These come and go, making little impact other than the punches that landed.
What makes a big fight special, the kind that should headline or co-headline MSG, are the storylines driving each competitor to that nexus point in the cage, where storylines clash, mesh and then diverge back onto separate paths.
The storylines driving Jones vs. Miocic at UFC 295 were sensational. And the questions they spawned are what would have sold pay-per-views.
Would Jones have been able to prove to the world he could defend belts at two weight classes, further padding his record as MMA’s GOAT? Would he have put his gloves down in the center of the Octagon inside one of the world’s greatest stages?
Or would Miocic have been able to prove that heavyweight is a different game altogether, a game that is too tough for Bones to handle? Would the humble every man have his day in the sun (again) and then maybe walk off the job for good?
With this booking broken for UFC 295 and a plan to remake it seemingly not much of a priority, Jones vs. Miocic may be added to the growing scrap heap of greatest fights to never happen.
Given what we’ve lost here, Pavlovich vs. Aspinall (neither of whom will ever fight Jones or Miocic) is scant consolation, not an upgrade.
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