Key Takeaways from UFC 310

[Gabe]

- Pantoja has solidified himself as the second greatest flyweight of all time (will be a while before anyone surpasses DJ if ever)

- Shavkat is human and if Garry can do that to him on the ground Belal should probably be favored

- Volkov losing to Gane will be looked back upon as possibly the biggest robbery of all time, Volkov arguably won all three rounds

- The UFC should stop putting random scrubs like Kron on the main card when plenty of other top fighters can be over him, would like to know their reasoning

- Doo ho Choi used his time off to massively improve and while he may not be champion it is clear he can tune up guys outside the top 10-15

- Weidman, Smith, and Guida have needed to retire for a while and it is somewhat sad seeing old guys past their prime continuously get slept without getting cut, just saying

 

[shunyata]

BJJ legends famous for their guard play need to learn clinch takedowns and top game if they want to win at mma.

You're not going to win many fights if you can only be dangerous from guard.

 

[DOMMA]

I agree with all of your points TS - well said.

 

[Qays Stetkevich]

- Pantoja has solidified himself as the second greatest flyweight of all time (will be a while before anyone surpasses DJ if ever)

- Shavkat is human and if Garry can do that to him on the ground Belal should probably be favored

- Volkov losing to Gane will be looked back upon as possibly the biggest robbery of all time, Volkov arguably won all three rounds

- The UFC should stop putting random scrubs like Kron on the main card when plenty of other top fighters can be over him, would like to know their reasoning

- Doo ho Choi used his time off to massively improve and while he may not be champion it is clear he can tune up guys outside the top 10-15

- Weidman, Smith, and Guida have needed to retire for a while and it is somewhat sad seeing old guys past their prime continuously get slept without getting cut, just saying

Agree with all points, except for your definition of "slept", as Neither Weidman, Smith, nor Guida went out.
But yeah, particularly Weidman and Smith getting their childhood memories beaten out of their skulls was not pleasant to watch.

 

[Edward Henry Greb]

- Pantoja has solidified himself as the second greatest flyweight of all time (will be a while before anyone surpasses DJ if ever)

- Shavkat is human and if Garry can do that to him on the ground Belal should probably be favored

- Volkov losing to Gane will be looked back upon as possibly the biggest robbery of all time, Volkov arguably won all three rounds

- The UFC should stop putting random scrubs like Kron on the main card when plenty of other top fighters can be over him, would like to know their reasoning

- Doo ho Choi used his time off to massively improve and while he may not be champion it is clear he can tune up guys outside the top 10-15

- Weidman, Smith, and Guida have needed to retire for a while and it is somewhat sad seeing old guys past their prime continuously get slept without getting cut, just saying

Agreed.

I actually was never a Shavkat believer.

Shavkat always seemed solid to me, but nothing extraordinary. Ultimately, I was more a Garry non-believer in this fight than a Rakhmonov believer.

That said, looking at Shavkat at the weigh-in, I thought he was going to go right through Garry ... but Shavkat's "mediocrity in everything" made him unable to do much in the actual fight.

Shavkat lacks almost everything "dynamic" ... he is just solid.
One thing Garry doesn't lack is self-belief.

It's weird: Shavkat was the better physical specimen, but Garry was the better mental specimen.
Both were tentative at first.

However, my take is Ian Garry gained self-confidence from this fight, while Shavkat Rakhmonov lost confidence from this fight.

I would actually favor Garry in a rematch.
.

 

[OldBoy91]

Shavkat has looked human for a while. Fight with a borderline washed Magny was more competitive than it had any right to be. Him struggling to take down 41 year old Wonderboy who had a broken foot, should have rang a few alarm bells as well. Especially given how Belal and Burns ragdolled a younger, fully healthy WB. Him also being unable to get out of the way of a headhunting Geoff Neal spamming the straight left over and over. It's funny how managing to get a finish is enough to cover all the cracks for most people.

Shavkat is not the finished article for sure and it didn't need Ian Garry to expose that.

That being said, Garry is a lot better than Sherdog gave (or is still giving) him credit for. Really good offensive grappling and had Shavkat in a really tough spot at the end of the fight. Also showed desire to finish with the ninja choke, armbar and guillotine attempts as well. Really slick grappling to swivel round and take Shavkat's back.



As for Volkov/Gane, definitely not the worst robbery of all time but certainly the worst in recent memory.

 

[Haj01]

Weidman just isn't crisp and sharp like he used to be. Feels like he doesn't have the heart he used and just gave up. When he was on his run to become champion and was living in his parents basement he had so much drive and determination to become champion. So much self belief.

These lighter weight fighters like Pantoja are such a joy to watch. They are elite at everything and don't move in slow motion. Honestly sometimes watching the heavyweights like Gane. They gas out after one round of grappling. I know physiology is different when your 200 plus pounds but an elite athlete should have more stamina.

Kron Gracie has carried over a bad habit from his BJJ competitions which is jumping and pulling guard. It may be valid in jiujitsu competitions but in mma it's not a good strategy. But the way he does it is instinctual. Like it's just wired into his body. That's why it's a bad habit a safety mechanism he's learned over the years. Great for BJJ but in mma you not gonna win any fights that way unless your competition has no ground game.

Shavkat showed some good striking actually and landed some good shots. If facing Belal they both cancel out the wrestling and it stays on the feet, Shavkat may get the better of Belal. But either way I think it will be a better fight than anybody anticipated.

 

[SSgt Dickweed]

Did Pantoja really make 3M USD? Good for him, is he that popular in the US?