UFC 329 is in the books.
Saturday’s main event saw Conor McGregor’s highly-anticipated return to the Octagon, as he rematched Max Holloway after thirteen years. Meanwhile, Paddy Pimblett looked to rebound from a title fight loss against Benoi Saint-Denis, while the prelims saw the highly-touted Gable Steveson make his promotional debut.
In the aftermath, here are four lessons learned from the event.
Roster churn happens all the time in the UFC. Fighters who fail to win are the likeliest to be cut, an they often are. There have, however, been recent instances when not even being ranked could save a fighter from unemployment.
Jailton Almeida and Ketlen Vieira are the biggest examples of this, and Tracy Cortez could be the next one. In her first fight since leaving Fight Ready in Arizona, she suffered her second straight loss in the prelims, being outlanded by Cong Wang.
Cortez has long faced scrutiny for her allegedly unexciting “point-fighting” style that has led to decisions in nearly all her UFC fights. Now, Dana White may have even more of an argument to drop her from the roster.
Cody Garbrandt’s downfall is one of the steepest in UFC history.
At the end of 2016, “No Love” was standing high as the bantamweight champion, having avenged his mentor Urijah Faber by dethroning Dominick Cruz. At only 25 years of age, he looked destined to have a long reign ahead of him.
Then came 2017. A shoulder injury sidelined Garbrandt for most of the year, and he lost the title to TJ Dillashaw in his first defense. He then lost the rematch, then the fight after that, and proceeded to lose his contendership.
While Garbrandt has last more times than won since his title reign, Saturday’s TKO defeat to Adrian Yanez should send a message: it is over. There will be no career resurrection, however hard he tries. If he recognizes it, he will be better for it.
Cory Sandhagen has been a mainstay of the UFC’s bantamweight division since joining in 2018. Throughout that time, he has competed for the title twice and established himself as a perenially ranked contender.
A loss to Mario Bautista on Saturday, however, has put Sandhagen at a crossroads. At 33 years of age, and with the Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili, who have beaten him, still on top, he has few to no paths towards another title shot.
With that, a move to featherweight may be what Sandhagen needs to remain an elite fighter. It has worked wonders for his old foe Aljamain Sterling, so it will be interesting to see how his move pans out.
The main event of UFC 329 proved to be an anti-climactic shocker, as McGregor seemingly reinjured his knee just over a minute in, prompting a TKO stoppage.
The mere fact that this fight was even happening had raised serious questions about McGregor’s chances of victory. Now, new questions have emerged: should he fight again or retire for the sake of his health and reputation? If he decides to continue fighting, who should be his opponent?
Either way, there will be no closure until “The Notorious” himself speaks…
UFC 329 can be seen as a foil to Freedom 250 nearly a month ago.
When the card of Freedom 250 was announced, this writer was among those who derided its quality. Instead, it proved spectacular, with all seven fights ending in (T)KO.
329, meanwhile, was supposed to be the flagpole, led by MMA’s last remaining megastar, desperate to prove that he still belonged. Instead, fans got the equivalent of a tire sputtering not even a lap into a car race – a poor memory that they will want to forget…
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