Four Takeaways from UFC 212

With the exception of an excellent main event, UFC 212 was rather uninspiring pay-per-view offering on paper. Bouts of much divisional consequence were scarce, and even fewer big name attractions to anchor the card.

It played out as a strong show, still without much divisional significance, but with good action and a main event that lived up to its billing. Here are four takeaways from the top three bouts at UFC 212:

Is Max Holloway set for a long title reign? We’ll see. Holloway, only 25, was extremely impressive in taking Jose Aldo’s title. That’s scary, because we didn’t even see all of his best tools at UFC 212. Even before dethroning the greatest featherweight of all-time, Holloway built an excellent resume at 145-pounds. Since his last loss – as a 21-year-old to a hobbled Conor McGregor – Holloway has taken out Cub Swanson, Jeremy Stephens, Ricardo Lamas, Anthony Pettis, and now Aldo. That means, according to UFC’s own rankings, that before making a single title defense, Holloway has defeated the #1, #3, #4, #6, and #8 featherweight contenders. In addition to Aldo, he finished Swanson and Pettis. Stephens and Lamas fell via decisive decisions. Before becoming “the guy” in the division, Holloway had just about cleared out the division.
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The glaringly absent name on Holloway’s resume – aside from a victory over a certain former featherweight champion – represents a tough style test for the newly crowned champion. Since cutting to the featherweight division four years ago, Frankie Edgar has only lost twice – both times to Jose Aldo. He’s a skilled and quick striker, but also hittable, particularly against someone as rangy and diverse as Holloway. He makes up for that with his toughness and wrestling ability, which make him a real threat to Holloway. Despite having beaten many of the division’s best fighters, Holloway has faced only two notably strong wrestlers: Dennis Bermudez, who took Holloway down four times on the way to winning a disputed decision in 2013, and Ricardo Lamas, who tried and failed to take Holloway down throughout their fight last year. Edgar is a stronger MMA wrestler than either Bermudez or Lamas and his best chance to win the fight is by putting Holloway on his back. However, if Holloway passes the Edgar test, it’s tough to see him being stopped in the near future.

In terms of talent, Jose Aldo is far from done as a fighter. Every great champion reaches a point at which they just aren’t quite what they once were. Jose Aldo dominated the featherweight division for six years, and were it not for Max Holloway, could have ruled for a few more years still. Now with an 18-fight win streak in the rear view mirror, Aldo is now a former champion that has lost two of his past three fights. Some are going to begin or already have begun to write him off as a serious challenger for the belt based on his stoppage losses to Holloway and Conor McGregor. That is shortsighted.

Aldo is less than a year removed from the finest performance of his career, a five-round master class against Frankie Edgar. He did not quite look his best on Saturday, and he didn’t take all of his tools out of his bag. However, he was still quick, explosive, and powerful. The physical tools were all still there, and while they will begin to fade at some point, now is not that point. Over the past year-and-a-half, Aldo has given the public plenty of doubts regarding his desire to fight, and maybe Saturday’s loss push him further outside the cage. However, if he wants to buckle down and get his belt back, it’s a real possibility.

Claudia Gadelha is still the best challenger for Joanna Jedrzejczyk. Rose Namajunas is likely the next challenger for Joanna Jedrzejczyk, but on paper, as with most Jedrzejczyk fights, that matchup strongly favors the champion. Of Jedrzejczyk’s eight UFC bouts, she was only seriously challenged in two of them. In both bouts, the opponent was the same: Claudia Gadelha.
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Gadelha took out Karolina Kowalkiewicz with relative ease at UFC 212, again setting herself apart as the best strawweight contender out there. Gadelha lost a close three-round decision to Jedrzejczyk in 2014, and took the first two rounds from the champion last year before gassing out. Although she has tried and failed twice to top Jedrzejczyk twice, Gadelha is the only major challenge for her in sight, and a third fight is necessary.

Vitor Belfort has little left to accomplish, but he is still an asset. Not long ago, Vitor Belfort, 40, was adamant that UFC 212 would be his last fight. Then he began to backtrack; perhaps it would only be his last fight in the UFC. By the time he finished his work on Saturday, Belfort was happy to announce he had five more UFC fights left in him. That is a man of conviction. Belfort, now training with Tristar in Montreal, is no better equipped to make a title run than he was three months ago when Kelvin Gastelum shut him down. Belfort’s physical tools eroded quickly after he failed a drug test that caused the Nevada Athletic Commission to ban testosterone replacement therapy. He doesn’t have the power or explosion he did at 36, but Belfort is fast for his age. He just slipped past Nate Marquardt on Saturday, but he won’t get past any of the division’s best fighters.

Due to his name value, Belfort will likely be matched against top up-and-comers or other big names. He’s a valuable asset to the UFC as a live headliner in Brazil and as a television headliner, and even more valuable when you consider that Bellator would have some big fights for him if he were to leave the promotion.