mma / Columns

411 Fact or Fiction MMA: Did Henry Cejudo Deserve to Win at UFC 227?

August 8, 2018 | Posted by Lorenzo Vasquez

Welcome back to another edition of 411 Fact or Fiction MMA! I’m your host, Lorenzo Vasquez III, and it’s my pleasure to bring you another round of Fact or Fiction MMA. It’s been some time but we’re back. This week, heavy hitting, Mark Radulich locks horns with the always witty, Evan Zivin. They will tangle over Demetrious Johnson losing his title, Darren Till getting the next welterweight title shot, Joanna Champ failing to recognize her losses to Thug Rose, and much more! Grab some grub and strap in because it’s time for another round of, 411 Fact or Fiction MMA!

TALE OF THE TAPE
RED CORNER
Evan “White Tiger” Zivin
Contributor, 411 MMA Zone
7-7-1

VS

BLUE CORNER
Mark “Headshrinker” Radulich
Supreme Overlord,
Radulich in Broadcasting Network
6-11-1

Demetrious Johnson’s loss against Henry Cejudo at UFC 227 was nothing short of a robbery.

Evan Zivin: FICTION The FightMetric stats give the impression that it was a robbery but it didn’t feel like one watching it live. I’ve never claimed to be that good at judging fights while they’re happening but there are a good number of media who scored the fight for Cejudo, who had some of the more visually impressive offense via his clinch work and takedowns, even if Demetrious nullified a lot of that groundwork and won the striking battle. The problem for Demetrious was not winning the striking battle in a convincing enough fashion, or at least not enough to make the takedowns not come across as more significant than they really were. Still, you would hope the judges would know the differences between effective striking and grappling, considering those are the foundation of the entire criteria they are supposed to be using to judge fights. Either way, enough people scored the fight for Henry that it doesn’t make sense to call it a robbery, just like it doesn’t make sense to say I know what I’m talking about when I analyze fights.

Mark Radulich: FICTION This was a close fight. This wasn’t a lopsided victory judged by 3 blind mice or Cecil Peeples. DJ landed a lot of leg and body kicks but he also was pressed on by Cejudo as well as taken down enough such that one could award certain rounds to him. The unfortunate reality of combat sports is that they are at the mercy of human judgment and therefore human error. One judge inflates the efficacy of takedowns while the other views strikes as the more dominant attack. Even though there are guidelines for the judges to follow, one cannot totally remove prejudice from one’s ability to score a fight. It’s easy when there’s a clear and dominant winner. It becomes a matter of inches or thoughts when it’s as close as this fight was. I remember the Kampman-Sanchez fight where Sanchez scored 1.1 million ineffective takedowns and Kampman bloodied him good, but couldn’t get a decisive blow. I scored that one for Sanchez, I sympathize with judges in the heat of the moment make bad calls. These things happen. Either way, the question above isn’t about who should have won, it deals with whether it was a robbery or not and it simply wasn’t.

Since we’re in the era of double champions, Henry Cejudo vs. TJ Dillashaw, for whichever belt, isn’t such a bad idea.

Evan Zivin: FACT Oh sure it’s a bad idea. TJ has defended his title once since reclaiming it, while Henry has been champion for all of 4 days. I’m sure UFC is more inclined now to book champion vs. champion fights, even though Miocic vs. Cormier proved that just the appeal alone isn’t enough to sell Payperviews, but they aren’t going to book TJ vs. Cejudo. They only liked the idea of TJ vs. Mighty Mouse because of Demetrious’ accomplishments (and complaining) and that it was the biggest fight they could put together for him (in theory). If they do TJ vs. Henry, it’d only be because there’s no one better available for TJ to fight, which I’m sure would make Marlon Moraes and Raphael Assuncao happy.

Mark Radulich: FACT I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, everybody (except Robert Winfree) loves a circus. Many would argue that before this Cejudo and DJ should have a rubber match. However, the UFC is in the business of selling fights and marketing fighters. For whatever reasons they hold, they clearly do not find DJ marketable and the fact is, his fights don’t draw the numbers this company must earn. The fact of the matter is, the UFC must create novelty events in order to widen their market share to people who don’t actually watch combat sports do indulge in a good crapulence circus. This leads us to Bantamweight. Raphael Assuncao is a great fighter but he has the marketability of a television test pattern. He might deserve a shot but he isn’t getting one unless he becomes the Tom Cruise of MMA. Then there’s Marlon Moraes. He’s awesome but nobody has watched the cards he’s fought on and thus his visibility is a rabbit in a snowstorm. Lastly, there’s Dominick Cruz. He’s coming off yet another injury and a recent loss so that’s probably not going to happen. So if you are the UFC and your options are between slim and painful, why not create a cash-grab that hopefully draws a buy or two on PPV. It will still draw miserably but they can pretend there’s the prestige of champion vs champion and pat themselves on the back for a job well done.

Cody Garbrandt may not have a chin, but he certainly didn’t fight the fight he fought against Dominick Cruz, which may be because the bad blood with TJ Dillashaw simply does not allow him to stay composed, adjust, and avoid errors.

Evan Zivin: FACT I can buy into that, although it didn’t help that TJ is actually willing to engage with Cody. Cruz lost because he was too slow to make his counterstriking style work in his favor. It’s not like Cody wasn’t being an idiot in that fight, with how much he was showboating throughout it. Cruz just wasn’t willing to make him pay for it. TJ was and, without getting dropped like he did when they first fought, he managed to do it much more effectively this time out.

I don’t know if I’d say Cody doesn’t have a chin, though. TJ has heavy hands and is accurate with his punches. Maybe Cody is able to walk through everyone except TJ. Time will tell on that one.

Mark Radulich: FICTION It’s a little premature to go around doubting the chin of Cody Garbrandt. I mean he’s not Brock Lesnar after all (da dut, rim shot). Regarding his game-planning, that might be a fair criticism but I think the bigger issue is the coaching shake-up at Team Alpha Douche. For another example see also Benavidez vs Pettis. The reality is Cody will bounce back from this but when against Dillashaw he’ll always have an up-hill battle on his hands.

SWITCH!

Tyron Woodley vs. Darren Till is much more intriguing than Tyron Woodley vs. Colby Covington.

Mark Radulich: FACT I actually have no bloody clue who either Darren Till is or Colby Covington is so I’m tagging in the Bret Hart to my Jim Neidhart, Robert Winfree. Winfree says, “Colby Covington is a blight on MMA. And the drama surrounding Till’s weight cut is ultimately more entertaining than both of these fights put together.” OK, I’m back and might I suggest Woodley vs Till over a shark tank!

Evan Zivin: FICTION I’d agree with that statement completely if Till’s fight with Stephen Thompson never happened or played out differently. Till certainly offers the promise of a more exciting match than Covington but that doesn’t mean he’ll deliver one. If he approaches the Woodley fight the same as he did the Thompson fight and performs the same way, which is very possible against another highly dangerous opponent, he may be in for a long 25 minutes. Colby isn’t the most exciting fighter, and there’s about a zero chance of a knockout happening (unless it’s Colby on the receiving end) but Colby knows how to stay active. He stayed busy in his fights against Demian Maia and Rafael dos Anjos so it’s definitely interesting to ponder how well he can maintain that pace against Woodley. Plus, there’s no heat between Woodley and Till, whereas Woodley and Covington are almost nuclear. I hope Woodley beats Till just because I still want to see him fight Colby. I can only hope this decision to pass over him only serves to make the fight even bigger when it does happen.

Otherwise, I’ll take Till vs. Convington for the title. I already predicted it happening. Let’s go, boys.

Tony Fergusson may very well be out of a title shot until sometime into mid, late 2019 with Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier vs. Nate Daiz lined up and the winners likely fighting each other in early 2019.

Mark Radulich: FACT First of all Conor McGregor seems to only fight when the muse strikes him so even if he reclaims the title he might not defend it until the DC Cinematic Universe produces a watchable Batman movie. Then you have Khabib; and here’s my issue. They’ve tried to make Ferguson vs Khabib more times then there’s been Police Academy sequels and somebody either breaks their GLAVIN or contracts projectile leprosy. This fight is cursed and isn’t going to happen ever. The point about the winner of Poirier vs Diaz is just the cherry on top. The reality is that if Ferguson doesn’t want to remain inactive for all of 2019 he’s going to have to fight at least once and there’s the possibility he’ll lose. He’s only getting older.

Evan Zivin: FACT I would think Ferguson should still have an advantage when it comes to determining the next challenger after Khabib and Conor fight but his inactivity certainly isn’t doing him any favors. I could easily see Dustin or Nate getting the fight if they have a strong performance at UFC 230 (assuming the fight is still taking place…). Hell, it wouldn’t have shocked me if they had announced Nate getting the next shot if Conor wasn’t available. A lot of what happens next will depend on who wins at UFC 229 and how quickly they’ll look to turn around and fight again. With Khabib and Conor’s track records, it may be mid-late next year before anybody gets a title shot. If that’s the case, Tony may be waiting a while. Amazing what an errant TV cable can do for someone’s career, right?

You have to agree, Pat Berry’s analysis of Joanna Jedrzejczyk is spot on, the former strawweight champion is only setting herself up for failure by not accepting defeat.

Mark Radulich: FACT Joanna Champion, though awesome, has lost her marbles. Pat Barry may be a toaster oven but in this case, unbelievably he’s got a point. Angling for a 3rd fight when you’ve been soundly defeated twice enters into Monty Python Black Knight territory. She should save herself some embarrassment and move on to other, possibly even more lucrative fights in the flyweight division. A belt is nice, but as I said earlier, the object is to make money and that doesn’t always mean fighting for a championship. Go knock another girl’s block off Joanna and make that cheddar.

Evan Zivin: FACT I don’t see how that can be argued. Joanna is delusional in thinking she’s still the best in the world when Rose has beaten her twice. If that helps keep her motivated, then fine but there are things to learn from a loss and if she didn’t learn anything or didn’t find anything to improve on, it may very well inhibit her growth (and her ability to become champion again). The Tecia Torres fight makes it seem like the losses haven’t affected her. Let’s hope that’s true. If not, then who knows what might happen if she loses again.

So who won? You’ve got until midnight eastern on Tuesday to vote, so make sure you make your voice heard!

And that’s it for today but, as always, we’ll be back next week with another contest! And please, be sure to vote!

Do you have comments and questions you’d like to get to me, or statements you’d like to see on 411 Fact or Fiction MMA, shoot me an email at:
[email protected]

Also, follow 411’s various and sundry zones on Twitter for your daily 411 fix!

411 Wrestling Zone Twitter
411 Movies/TV Zone Twitter
411 Music Zone Twitter
411 Games Zone Twitter
411 MMA Zone Twitter

More Trending Stories

article topics :

411 Fact or Fiction (MMA), Darren Till, Henry Cejudo, UFC 227, Lorenzo Vasquez

More Stories

loading