FB TW IG YT VK TH
Search
MORE FROM OUR CHANNELS

Wrestlezone
FB TW IG YT VK TH

Instant Reaction: UFC 185

Please refresh your browser as often as possible to see the latest content, as item is updated in real time.

Want to take part? Reader comments are active below, and may be integrated into instant reaction based on merit.


Related: UFC 185 Play-by-Play


1:13 a.m. ET Jordan Breen: Your scorecards are 50-45 across the board for your new UFC lightweight champion, Rafael dos Anjos.

Advertisement
With UFC interim heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum at Kings MMA too, it's hard to overlook the overwhelming long-term improvements both fighters have made under trainer Rafael Cordeiro. Both Werdum and dos Anjos refute the idea of not being able to teach old dogs new tricks and both also buck the trend of improvements petering out over time. Both fighters show incremental technical and tactical improvements each time out. It's marvellous and it's how dos Anjos, the flawless executor, got it done round after round tonight. An authoritative and brilliant title capture by the first ever Brazilian UFC lightweight champion. As wacky as that is.

1:07 a.m. ET Jordan Breen: This is over and I can't imagine that any of these judges have given Anthony Pettis a round. If any of these scorecards aren't 50-45, it's only because they gave dos Anjos a 10-8 round somewhere. Absolutely beautiful stuff from a man who has built his rep on flawless execution. He came in to the UFC losing to a Mortal Kombat uppercut, but that is a flawless victory.

Rafael dos Anjos will be your new UFC lightweight champion in mere moments time.

12:51 a.m. ET Jordan Breen: After 10 minutes, it's all Rafael dos Anjos. Through two rounds, he's nicely showcased exactly what got him here: well-rounded variety. He established predatory striking that got Pettis worried and in round two, segued into heavy top position ground-and-pounding. Pettis will certainly need to sweep the rounds to win a decision now, or at least turn in some 10-8 rounds.

Either we're about to witness a championship comeback from the ages by Anthony Pettis or Rafael dos Anjos is going to unseat Robbie Lawler as the most storybook-ish UFC champion in history, Matt Serra notwithstanding. If dos Anjos pulls this off, he just might be the most improved fighter I've ever seen. Rafeal Cordeiro truly is a maestro.

12:43 a.m. ET Jordan Breen: It's a clear Rafael dos Anjos opening round. He didn't “dominate” per se, but he's been better than Pettis everywhere so far. Pettis is going back to the fence, which trainer Duke Roufus is now actively warning him against. Rafael Cordeiro beseeching dos Anjos to keep up the left kick to the body. It's clearly 10-9 dos Anjos after five minutes in a suddenly engrossing title fight.

12:43 a.m. ET Jeff Sherwood: Pettis is having issues with that eye: I wonder if that's going to have an effect on the outcome of this fight. Round one was much closer then the commentary projected. 12:37 a.m. ET Jordan Breen: We are three minutes into the first round and two things are clear: Rafael dos Anjos has a damn good left hand and if he goes down, he'll go down swinging. The Brazilian challenger has shown no fear of the champion so far, pushing him back to the fence and pressuring with a great combination of two-handed punching and body kicks.

12:26 a.m. ET Jordan Breen: Main event time, folks. It's the second defense of Anthony Pettis' UFC lightweight strap and he takes on Rafael dos Anjos, winner of eight of his last nine and a testament to the immeasurable good of dedication to your craft.

Rafael dos Anjos, the man who needed a wack decision to beat C-level Japanese bantamweight Takafumi Otsuka to get to the UFC, the man who got uppercutted to another planet in his Octagon debut against Jeremy Stephens, has turned into a well-rounded technician and has earned this shot the old-fashioned way. Yet, in spite of dos Anjos being an elite fighter in MMA's best weight class, he still seems to stack up as yet another victim for MMA's foremost sniper in “Pretty Tony” Pettis.

12:21 a.m. ET Jeff Sherwood: What a one-sided beatdown. That was a classic example of a wrestler not being able to takedown a better striker. #ouch

12:17 a.m. ET Jordan Breen: I thought Jedrzejczyk would win, but this was a title capture for this ages. This was a one-sided beating. Jedrzejczyk shut down all of Esparza's takedown and demolished her with repeated, pinpoint right hands until finally putting her down for good at 4:17 of the second round.

This is up there with Georges St. Pierre taking the 170-pound crown from Matt Hughes and Cain Velasquez hammering Brock Lesnar into a breakdancing routine. What a coming out party for the undisputed strawweight queen of the world, Joanna Jedrzejczyk. Sorry, Jessica Aguilar.

12:15 a.m. ET Jordan Breen: I don't usually correct staffers in this article, but Brian Knapp, sir, you put this in the “2015 Year End Awards” category, and you might as well have just put it here to illuminate the readers.

bknapp52635
12:14 AM
Beatdown of the Year: Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs. Carla Esparza UFC 185

11:59 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: On the other hand, numbers:



11:54 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Jedrzeczyk is the fifth European to challenge for a UFC championship and should she win, she'll join Bas Rutten and Andrei Arlovski as the third UFC champion from the Old Country.

11:53 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: In December, Carla Esparza won the 20th season of “The Ultimate Fighter” and the inaugural UFC strawweight championship. Now she defends it for the first time against unbeaten Polish hitter Joanna Jedrzeczyk. Esparza is a -160 favorite, but I think this is just about a pick 'em fight. I narrowly favor Jedrzeczyk to take the title home to Poland in a scrappy decision.

Esparza is a great wrestler and top position grappler, but she doesn't necessarily control her opponents well. I think Jedrzeczyk can get back to her feet when necessary, abate any major punishment and in turn, land harder strikes on the feet.

Jedrzeczyk's is a problem. You saw her power when she nearly finished Claudia Gadelha last time out and the Brazilian was saved by the bell, but it's more than the power. She throws it at different angles, disguises it and lands it with accuracy. She's a classic boxer-puncher and while she's not the most well-rounded offensively, she's rock solid defensively and always finds a way to get her licks in.

Even still, the winner of this is guaranteed nothing. The 115-pound division is young, volatile and in flux. This is just the start of the drama.

11:53 p.m. ET Jeff Sherwood: Apparently he doesn't listen to his boss Jordan.

11:49 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Hendricks, who has gone to decision in seven of his last nine bouts, laments his lack of a finish and says he feels like he's got to go back to the drawing board and figure out why he can't activate that left hand as he has in the past. I'd say Matt Brown being Matt Brown factors in heavily tonight.

11:46 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: 30-27 Hendricks. As usual and as best exhibited in his bout last year with Robbie Lawler, Matt Brown never gave up, but Hendricks' wrestling was just too much and he was able to control him, wear him out and earn himself the inevitable decision. As I mentioned, this fight is strangely pro forma in the sense that a loss doesn't distract us from what's beautiful and essential about Matt Brown at 170, and we expected this sort of performance from Hendricks.

Hendricks takes the unanimous decision with a 30-27 clean sweep on the cards. The real question is whether or not we'll see him in action again in the coming months, or if he will wait for the winner of the Robbie Lawler-Rory MacDonald rematch on July 11.

11:39 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: It's 20-18 Hendricks on my scorecard after two, with the former champ gaining steam. Still, Brown could feasibly get the first on a scorecard and anything could happen yet. With that in mind, some brain fodder from the always lovely MMADecisions.com:



11:24 p.m. ET Chris Nelson: Two tough dudes with huge power -- this is not the fight I want to see Kerry Hatley reffing.

11:21 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: It's time for Johny Hendricks-Matt Brown. Naturally, the pre-fight focus has been on Hendricks' transformed diet and noticeable abdominal muscles, after he showed up fat for his first UFC welterweight title defense and got dethroned by rival Robbie Lawler in December.

Haven't seen too many folks calling for a Brown upset, as Hendricks is generally a close quarters striker anyhow, he's adept where Brown excels and has the massive wrestling advantage he can draw on, repeatedly and successfully. But, Brown is MMA's most beloved blood-and-guts battler for a reason and as usual, I'm thrilled to see if he can find a way to take two rounds from the former champ. Even if it doesn't, it hardly makes a difference, as everyone subconsciously knows what Brown is. He's here to bring the violence, not win titles. If he loses tonight, it doesn't stop us from finally seeming him and Carlos Condit get nasty in a few months.

11:10 p.m. ET Jeff Sherwood: It appears the kicks took any steam Nelson had away especially when Big Country went for takedowns after hitting Overeem.

11:10 p.m. ET Jeff Sherwood: It appears the kicks took any steam Nelson had away especially when Nelson went for takedowns after hitting Overeem.

11:10 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Well, I thought I knew exactly what we'd see, but I was wrong. Nevermind the fact that Overeem didn't use any of his wrestling, Nelson actually hit Overeem with several good punches and couldn't stop him. Most bizarre, he rocked him once in the third round then shot a takedown instead of following up, then dropped him with a left hand in the last 30 seconds and couldn't seal the deal. In a round he was hurt twice and actually dropped late, Overeem still takes it and gets my card 30-27. Heavyweight MMA, folks!

All three judges disregard Nelson's third-round theatrics, too, and give Overeem a 30-27 clean sweep. Overeem looked pretty damn good, when he wasn't getting hit every three or four minutes by a sitting duck.

11:01 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Through 10 minutes, Roy Nelson is transforming into a giant human bruise courtesy of Overeem's constant stream of body kicks and knees. However, Nelson is still landing just enough to give you the feeling that this could turn into every other Overeem disaster we've ever seen. 20-18 Overeem, but there's five minutes left for another banana peel.

10:48 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Overeem is 3-3 in his UFC tenure and has yet to record back-to-back wins. Roy Nelson has absorbed 555 significant strikes in the UFC, the most in the history of the heavyweight division. Bring on the splatterfest, however it might manifest.

10:44 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: It's time for Alistair Overeem and Roy Nelson to do their damn thing. I won't insult you with overcontextualization; I assume if you've seen these two fight before, you understand what's at play. You understand how and why the ball is in Overeem's court, and how easily Nelson might pick that ball off, smash it off of his face and knock him unconscious.

That said, I actually expect Overeem to go into wrassler mode tonight, use his clinch takedowns and underrated ground-and-pound to minimize any chance of Nelson hitting him in the head. But, it doesn't take much at this point with Overeem, as Ben Rothwell reminded us in Connecticut last September.

10:38 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: It definitely pays to be an Olympic gold medalist. After his post-fight interview, Cejudo grabs the mic from Joe Rogan and thanks his sponsors, including a for-profit university and a hedge fund, like we're back in 2004 with the Pat Miletich crew thanking Ron's Tire Barn. Rogan just stands there and takes it.

10:35 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: I've been critical of Henry Cejudo in the past, questioning both his general dedication to MMA and overall professionalism, between dropping out of fights sporadically, beefing over contracted weights, not making weight and so on. However, he handled Dustin Kimura beautifully in his official Octagon debut and in his 125-pound return tonight, he looked fantastic in taking apart the former UFC title challenger Cariaso. He takes three easy 30-27 scorecards.

Cejudo still has some defensive holes standing, but he's willing to exchange, has quick hands, some pop and most importantly, his uptempo grinder style is a perfect compliment to his twitchy-fast speed. A lot of fighters would've simply run out of gas with what Cejudo put on Cariaso in this fight. The Olympic gold medalist is a fortunate case for the UFC, as one of the banes of the 125-pound division is the short gap from solid top-10 opposition to guys like Demetrious Johnson and Joseph Benavidez. Cejudo can potentially make that gap up.

10:23 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Cejudo looking simply bossy so far in his flyweight return. He looks physically strapped, he hit a beautiful inside trip with over-unders very quickly and landed a bevy of strikes outside and inside.

Cariaso has landed his left roundhouse kick to the body a few times, but Cejudo is a physical force, rocking him on the feet and putting him in difficult positions along the fence. Cejudo has actually dominating clinch-based striking, where Cariaso typically has a lot of success, as “Kamikaze” is clearly skittish about the overwhelming wrestling.

10:05 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Our fantastic-on-paper title doubleheader gets started at 125 pounds, where 2008 Olympic Games freestyle wrestling gold medalist Henry Cejudo returns to the flyweight division to meet recent UFC title challenger Chris Cariaso.

The real drama here might have been answered yesterday, with Cejudo actually making the flyweight limit. His weight issues and motivation have been questions, but his athletic advantages (especially speedwise) and technical wrestling superiority should carry him through in a big way against Cariaso, a stylistically preferrable matchup and a fighter who relies on volume in close quarters.

9:57 p.m. ET Chris Nelson: UFC 185 is a great example of what all pay-per-view main cards should look like: at least one title fight, potential top contender bout, a fun big boy punch ‘em up, a major prospect. For the first time in a while, I feel alright paying $60 for this.

9:46 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: And not long after the second round starts, Pearson immediately heeds the advice of coach Eric del Fierro, takes his time in locating a counter left hook, and blows Sam Stout away. He followed up with a heat-seeking Robbie Lawler-style right hand to force the stoppage just 93 seconds into the round.

Two important notes: one, Eric del Fierro is a smart cat, a great trainer, but more specifically here, a shrewd cornerman who can help his fighters adapt and adjust to win and two, Sam Stout's chin is done. In his prime, Stout was a guy who was never knocked down, buckled or rattled – he always walked through the best shots other guys threw, and did so while fighting offensively gifted fighters in striking-oriented fights. I was shocked when K.J. Noons laid him out last year in Quebec City, the first knockout loss of Stout's 12-year MMA career. It looked an awful lot like this. These are the shots that Stout used to eat, grin and bear before continuing on. He can't do it any more. He might be 30 years old, but he's got way more tread off the tires. What does Stout fight for now? Might be time for a life transition.

9:27 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: It's time for our preliminary main event at 155 pounds, with “Ultimate Fighter” Season 9 lightweight winner Ross Pearson taking on Sam Stout. I don't know what blows my mind more: the fact that Sam Stout has been in the UFC for almost a decade, the fact he's only 30 years old and is coming to the end of his career or the fact he's got a half-ass half set of cornrows on top of his skull for this one. Definitely not looking like a live dog with that 'do.

9:18 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Apropos of what I said earlier, Theodorou has yet to have a great, starmaking performance in any way and this was not necessarily a great fighter. Theodorou, who tweeted out pics of him weighing 210-plus pounds after weigh-ins, looked noticeably heavier and softer than in previous fights, and looked awkward attacking. I actually thought Narvaez took the first round.

However, Theodorou was able to outlast Narvaez, wearing him down with heavy kicking offense. Looks like Narvaez might have a broken arm or wrist or something like that from blocking one of the kicks. He was just trapped in the turtle position after a series of body kicks, barely hanging on until Kerry Hatley couldn't rationally let him get hammerfisted any longer.

9:03 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: We head up to 185 pounds next, as Roger Narvaez tries to make it two upsets in a row after surprising Luke Barnatt in November. He takes on former “Ultimate Fighter Nations: Canada vs. Australia” middleweight winner Elias Theodorou, who has a clean, glossy record, but has yet to have any sort of definitive UFC performance. At least he's got that beautiful hair.

8:52 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Well, lucky for me, looks like I got some measure of clarity in my prefight question. Cruickshank came in overweight, but it's not like he was physically awful looking, until Dariush made him that way. Dominated the first round with left kicks to the liver and forced Cruickshank to wrestle in the second round. From there, Dariush tuned him up on the floor, nearly hitting an armbar from high back control before getting a nifty body triangle and sinking the rear-naked choke for the finish. The official time is 2:48 of the second stanza.

Obviously, Nijem tuning Dariush up lets us know that the right shots with the right power can put the Kings MMA fighter down, but Dariush is a legitimate prospect with prodigious offensive ability. As I said, Cruickshank is a gatekeeper, but Dariush kicked those gates open and moonwalked in.

8:40 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: As mentioned, time for more authentic, legitimate MMA entertainment at 155 pounds -- of course -- with Daron Cruickshank taking on Beneil Dariush. We know what Cruickshank brings to the table: he's an exciting gatekeeper with side-stepping, spinning, turning kicks and a mix-it-up style. Dariush is still a mystery: he's only 25, he's a great athlete, a switch-stance striker, offensively gifted and well-rounded. On the other hand, he got his face ripped off 11 months ago by Ramsey Nijem. Lightweight can be a shark tank and one misstep isn't the end of the world -- look at Rafael dos Anjos, after all -- so I'm very keen to see how he deals with the flashy offense of Cruickshank.

8:34 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: At this point in the card, courtesy of Pettis and now Rosholt, it's 1-1 for little brothers part of a sibling fighting tandem. It'll be up to Alistair Overeem later on to make it a winning night for lil bros all over the fight game.

8:30 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Rosholt turns it up, gets full mount and bashes away until referee Dan Miragliotta steps in at 3:12 of the third round. Last few shots were to the back of the head, but it was academic, and we know how back-of-the-head shots get legislated in MMA. Nonetheless, solid stuff from Rosholt, who is never going to get anyone outside the Oklahoma State Cowboy wrestling community excited with his fights, but I still think is a generally decent heavyweight with a powerful top game. On to the next fight, with half the size and twice the entertainment.

8:18 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: As usual, Marc Laimon with strong corner advice for Jared Rosholt, telling him honestly that Copeland landed the best shot, actually hurt Rosholt and to simply imagine that Copeland took the round. Pathologically lying and delusional cornermen are everywhere in MMA and in most cases, a technician with insightful honesty can take you further. Still, Rosholt has to actually get him on the ground and not rely on trading big right hands. It's still Copeland's style of fight two minutes into the second.

8:15 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: If only Rosholt had a knockout punch like his WWE counterpart.

Copeland actually has plans to train at Team Takedown in Texas following this fight. What happens if he rips Rosholt's face off? MMA is such a strange world sometimes. Copeland is stuck on the fence early in round one, but he's still stuffing the takedown and landing short elbows.

8:14 p.m. ET C.J. Tuttle: Jared "The Big Show" Rosholt joins Paul Wight as another big dude with the same nickname who I hate watching compete.

8:03 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Our televised prelims begin on former UFC broadcast darling FX, since I imagine Fox Sports 1 is knee-deep in college hoops. The madness!

We get started at heavyweight, with Jared Rosholt taking on Josh Copeland. Given its place on FX, we joked on the UFC 185 roundtable that FX should've billed this as “American Horror Story: MMA Heavyweights.” But seriously, I'm not sure Copeland should be advertising his proclivities with a nickname like “Cuddly Bear.” You don't wanna tell Jared Rosholt you're pro-cuddling. He very well may take you up on it.

On the topic of brother tandems, at least Jared is playing with house money in that regard. His brother, three-time NCAA D1 wrestling champion Jake Rosholt, is one of the more surprising busts in recent MMA memory. After all, it was Rosholt, not necessarily Johny Hendricks, that was supposed to be the initial focal point of Team Takedown. Jared Rosholt is a rock solid wrestler and I think he gets a bad rap as a lay-and-prayer, when he actually keeps a decent workrate up on top. Not everyone can be Cain Velasquez. Still, his chin looks like it's an issue after the Alexey Oleinik starching and Copeland could potentially crack it.

8:03 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Our televised prelims begin on former UFC broadcast darling FX, since I imagine Fox Sports 1 is knee-deep in college hoops. The madness!

We get started at heavyweight, with Jared Rosholt taking on Josh Copeland. Given its place on FX, we joked on the UFC 185 roundtable that FX should've billed this as “American Horror Story: MMA Heavyweights.” But seriously, I'm not sure Copeland should be advertising his proclivities with a nickname like “Cuddly Bear.” You don't wanna tell Jared Rosholt you're pro-cuddling. He very well may take you up on it.

On the topic of brother tandems, at least Jared is playing with house money in that regard. His brother, three-time NCAA D1 wrestling champion Jake Rosholt, is one of the more surprising busts in recent MMA memory. After all, it was Rosholt, not necessarily Johny Hendricks, that was supposed to be the initial focal point of Team Takedown. Jared Rosholt is a rock solid wrestler and I think he gets a bad rap as a lay-and-prayer, when he actually keeps a decent workrate up on top. Not everyone can be Cain Velasquez. Still, his chin looks like it's an issue after the Alexey Oleinik starching and Copeland could potentially crack it.

8:02 p.m. ET Mike Fridley: Sergio is a future pro bowler, Jordan, but he's no Eli Manning.

7:55 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Also, any thoughts here on Pettis' potential going forward? He slipped up against Alex Caceres and it looked like it was too much too soon, and that he needed to be at 125 pounds. Now, he slipped on a banana peel against a massive underdog and combined with his scare against Matt Hobar, his chin looks like a definite issue. Every notable sibling tandem has to have a weaker link, but how pronounced is this one going to be?



7:44 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Just as I was writing about how Pettis nearly turned in a 10-8 round in the first, pulled off a beautiful half guard sweep and generally kicked Ryan Benoit's ass, Benoit landed one left hand, kicked Pettis' apple cart over and set it on fire. Tons of unnecessary ground-and-pound shots allowed by the always-iffy Kerry Hatley, but the worst bit of the ending was actually Benoit kicking Pettis in the ass for some reason after the fight and causing a fracas. Classless and senseless thing to do after getting the biggest win of your MMA career.

7:27 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Now, our “Fight Pass main event” so to speak, 21-year-old Sergio Pettis returns to the 125-pound division against Ryan Benoit. Pettis has had the overwhelming burden of being compared to older brother Anthony and the fact that he came into pro MMA as a teenager, so the expectations of him blooming into a superstar are diecast. That's hard to live up to, especially when your older brother seems supernaturally skilled in a way that few could approximate or challenge.

Still, I don't think the younger Pettis is a Frank Stallone or an Ozzie Canseco. Benoit is a good offensive fighter, but struggles when folks throw offense back at him. If Pettis avoids a big haymaker, he can have this fight any way he wants, but obviously, folks are going to want to see a submission from the brother of “Showtime.”

7:15 p.m. ET Chris Nelson: UFC Fight Pass just flashed a graphic saying Sergio Pettis and Ryan Benoit will be “coming up in 15 minutes.” They’re not usually so specific on the stream, but as someone spending the better part of today in an office chair, I gotta say, I appreciate the heads up.

7:11 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: It takes all of 107 seconds for Joseph Duffy to mix his strikes up, head kick Jake Lindsey then crush him with a hook to the liver. Sensational UFC debut for “Irish Joe,” who will get some major preferential treatment from the company. He's got the complexion to make the connection being from Ireland, and any time the UFC is ever desperate for a main event, Conor McGregor moving up 10 pounds to fight him is always in the cards.

7:00 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: And it's now time for Irish lightweight Joseph Duffy to make his UFC debut, taking on deserved +600 underdog Jake Lindsey. Duffy, who is 2-0 since returning from three years of undefeated pro boxing (albeit against cans), is a well-rounded talent and WAIT, OH MY GOD, HE BEAT Conor McGregor IN UNDER A MINUTE?!?!111 Expect the UFC to belabor this point worse than the company reminding us all Renato Sobral beat Mauricio Shogun over a decade ago.

6:59 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: And that maybe was the tipping point. That, or Pacheco is just that green and will need another slate of softballs in Brazil to get ready for a second UFC return. De Randamie takes her apart on the feet before polishing her off with hyper-accurate punching, especially that right hand. “The Iron Lady” seemed more comfortable, which is good, but Pacheco's obvious lack of defense was still the biggest factor here.

6:57 p.m. ET Chris Nelson : Germaine de Randamie gets a second punch on her UFC Women's Bantamweight Winners Club card. Three more and she gets a free armbar.

6:37 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Our night gets started with a three-fight portion on Fight Pass. The UFC clearly trying to push their online platform with a slightly more robust prelim showing and with slightly more interesting fights than usual. There's a reason the Jared Rosholt-Josh Copeland heavyweight fight, which could turn into a brutal sight to behold, is actually on the televised portion of the prelims.

Up first, at 135 pounds, 20-year-old Brazilian upstart Larissa Pacheco takes on all-world striker Germaine de Randamie. Pacheco was overmatched in her UFC debut against Jessica Andrade, but has a lot of upside. De Randamie is one of the very best and most accomplished female kickfighters ever, but her adaptation to MMA has been slower than expected for such a great hitter and such a strong athlete. Maybe this is the tipping point, or maybe Pacheco proves that her performance against Andrade was just the ol' Octagon jitters. Something's gotta give here.

6:13 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Welcome to another night of reacting instantaneously, sports fans.

For UFC 185 and its title doubleheader, the UFC big top returns to Texas, a state that has always been the recepient of quality or notable Zuffa events, going right back to the first, UFC 69 in Houston, where Matt Serra pulled off the biggest upset in MMA history and won the UFC welterweight title and Roger Huerta ended up on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Last time this year when they hit this same venue, Johny Hendricks and Robbie Lawler turned in the “Fight of the Year.”

Don't want to jinx anything, but with a pretty damn deep line-up that is reflective of the UFC's desperate to make PPV cash and get their credit rating up, we could be in for a wonderful night of the fights in the Lone Star State.

Related Articles

Subscribe to our Newsletter

* indicates required
Latest News

POLL

Who is MMA's top P4P fighter?

FIGHT FINDER


FIGHTER OF THE WEEK

Brendan Loughnane

TOP TRENDING FIGHTERS


+ FIND MORE