The real winners and losers from UFC 189.
UFC 189 is in the books and what an event it was. Some people won, some people lost, and I’m here to tell you who those people were.
Winner - Dana White
Dana White banked a lot of money on Conor McGregor this past Saturday. The UFC spent more money than ever in marketing McGregor vs. Jose Aldo, and when Aldo pulled out of the fight, they could’ve salvaged most of that money by simply pushing the fight back. Instead they kept McGregor on the card to face Chad Mendes. A McGregor loss would’ve flushed his fight against Aldo and all the marketing down the drain. But McGregor stepped up and turned in his best performance to date, not only putting all the marketing behind this event to good use, but making the eventual fight with Aldo that much bigger.
Loser - Rory MacDonald’s Nose
That thing will never been the same.
Winner - UFC Production
The UFC made this event feel bigger and better than your typical PPV with new graphics and production. Having McGregor and Mendes come out to live music made this event feel special and different. The new graphics are here to stay, but I doubt who knows when we’ll see the Octagon overlays prior to the two title fights and live performances again. Hopefully not for awhile.
Loser - Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan
When the UFC makes events feel special and different, it becomes that much more apparent how bad Rogan and Goldberg are at their job. Whether they’re incorrectly calling the action, using tired phrases like, “So you wanna be a Mixed Martial Artist?” or stepping on each other’s toes; Rogan and Goldberg still can’t seem to get it right.
Winner - Blood
It got plenty of TV time on Saturday.
Loser - UFC Celebrities
Goldberg tried to tell us that the stars were out for this event as the camera cut to the guy from the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Fez, two men who are at just about every single UFC event. Arnold Schwarzenegger was there, but otherwise it was the same people, even less than usual, that you usually see at UFC PPVs in Vegas. UFC 189 was the biggest card of the year thus far and yet the celebrities were at a minimum. When boxing puts on a big event, they spent 30 minutes panning to various actors, musicians, and athletes. UFC couldn’t even get Georges St. Pierre there as his protege was fighting for the title.
Winner - Robbie Lawler
It’s still tough for me to wrap my head around Robbie Lawler being a UFC champion in 2015, but his welterweight run has been something special. He’s not only a completely different fighter than he was three years ago when he was losing to Lorenz Larkin, but he’s a completely different person. He actually has a personality now.
Loser - UFC Demographic Appeal
As mentioned above, I loved the live entrances for McGregor and Mendes, however, they couldn’t find anyone better than Sinead O’Connor and Aaron Lewis? Neither has been relevant for at least 15 years. They’re lucky Aldo pulled out of the fight because there’s no way they could’ve afforded Jay-Z, Kanye West, and Rihanna to perform a live version of Run This Town.
Winner - Conor McGregor on the Ground
McGregor’s wrestling will continue to be a question mark moving forward as Mendes did have a lot of success putting him on his back. Of course this is Chad Mendes, arguably the best wrestling in the division, we’re talking about. It’s what McGregor did when he was on his back that really impressed me. He looked very composed, kept a solid defensive guard, and didn’t lose in the scrambles. He’s still a work in progress on the ground, but he proved that he can hang with the elite on Saturday.
Loser - Rory MacDonald
If there’s anything that took a worse beating that MacDonald’s nose, it was MacDonald himself. MacDonald showed once again that, when the going gets tough, he gets going. Some fighters stand up to the pressure and still find a way to win. For the third time in as many loses, MacDonald somehow found a way to lose a fight in the final round that he should’ve won. He’s only 25, so there’s still plenty of time for him to win a title, but all Georges St. Pierre comparisons that should’ve been dead need to now be buried. We should’ve known Rory was in trouble on Saturday when he struggled to get his Reebok gear off before entering the cage. AND YOUR T-SHIRTS ARE TOO TIGHT TO, DANA!
Winner - The Octagon
Did you see all those sponsors?
Loser - Fighter Shorts
Did you see the lack of sponsors? I’m fine with a more uniform look, but the lack of creativity left me dumbfounded. You can either have black shorts with white trim or white shorts with black trim. At least the champions get cool gold shorts. Those are going to be more valuable than the belt in the future.
Draw - Chad Mendes
On one hand, he lost his third straight title fight. On the other hand, he would’ve been up 20-18 if he didn’t go for an ill-advised guillotine and took the fight on two weeks notice. Mendes might stay in shape year round, but he doesn’t stay in fight shape year round. Give Mendes a full training camp and who knows how well he does against McGregor. Maybe we’ll find out down the line.
Winner - The Fans
I’m often harsh on the UFC, but they put together a great event this past Saturday. The organization stepped their game up with some great marketing and production, but together a well-booked card, and the fighters did their part and delivered. Not every card is going to be this great and it’s still a shame that so many fights fall through due to injury, but the UFC needed a home run on Saturday and got a grand slam. When that happens, no one benefits more than the fans.
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