Making the Grade: Passes/Fails for UFC 185: Pettis vs. dos Anjos
UFC 185 will go down as one of the most shocking night of fights in all 2015 after two champions were dethroned and an undercard that featured seven fights with finishes in every single bout.
Rafael dos Anjos made mincemeat out of Anthony Pettis over the course of five rounds to become the new UFC lightweight champion while Joanna Jedrzejczyk needed less than 10 minutes to put Carla Esparza away to claim the UFC women's strawweight title.
Less than 24 hours later, we dig a little deeper into the card and see who made the grade at UFC 185 as we hand out a few passes and fails from a night full of upsets in Dallas.
PASSES:
The Immaculate Rebirth of Rafael dos Anjos
It was a point hammered home by just about every reporter at UFC 185 (myself included) that at one time Rafael dos Anjos was 4-4 in the UFC and his biggest accomplishment was landing on a highlight reel after Jeremy Stephens used his jaw as a punching bag in his second fight inside the Octagon. The Brazilian lightweight was a good mid-card filler and a fighter that would likely stick around for years to come with plenty of ebbs and flows in his career.
But dos Anjos had other plans.
He went on an incredible 8-1 run through the UFC's lightweight division, picking up wins over notable names like Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone and former champion Benson Henderson, but still walked into UFC 185 as a considerable underdog to Anthony Pettis.
Like a man on a mission, dos Anjos shattered the odds and Pettis' dream of consecutive title defenses as he took it took the flashy superstar with a devastating boxing game combined with a slew of takedowns to win by a landslide on the judges' scorecards to become the new UFC lightweight champion.
Everybody loves a good redemption story, but dos Anjos' career isn't marred by personal tragedy or vices that led him down the wrong path. His journey to the title was that much more spectacular because dos Anjos just worked hard, trained harder and got better. He didn't just get better -- he became the best lightweight on the planet over the course of 10 fights.
It's not an easy blueprint to follow, but dos Anjos proved it can be done.
Prelim finishers
It's never easy to tell how a preliminary card is going to go at any UFC show, whether it's a pay-per-view or a show airing on UFC Fight Pass. There's no perfect formula to make an exciting fight or guarantee a finish.
But the preliminary fighters at UFC 185 were determined to put on a show for the Dallas faithful, and put on a show they did, as all seven fights on the undercard ended in either a knockout or submission.
Ross Pearson capped things off with a left hook from hell that put Sam Stout down and out on the canvas, and former Ultimate Fighter winner Elias Theodorou not only finished Roger Narvaez by strikes, but also broke his arm in the process with a series of high kicks.
Beneil Dariush looked outstanding on the feet and on the ground as he dismantled Daron Cruickshank, and who can forget Joseph Duffy -- you know, the last guy who beat Conor McGregor -- coming out and starching Jake Lindsey in less than two minutes.
It was one of the best preliminary cards in recent memory, and the fighters deserve extra credit for getting the night started right for the folks in Dallas.
'Eagles suck'
When it comes to boobirds in an arena, there are always going to be tough crowds. A momentary lapse in action can sometimes result in the crowd losing its collective mind and raining down a chorus of a thousand jeers on the fighters standing front and center in the Octagon.
Sometimes it seems unnecessary and other times it just seems premature, but on Saturday night the Dallas crowd picked the exact right moment and the exact right guy.
UFC uber-fan DeMarco Murray made an appearance cage-side for the fight card, and six weeks ago he would have been showered with cheers, but for those who don't follow professional football: He just recently exited the Dallas Cowboys to join their division rival Philadelphia Eagles.
So the moment he was shown on screen, the Dallas fans began chanting in unison "Eagles suck!" and let Murray know they didn't appreciate his jumping ship. Murray's showing up in Dallas just days after flying the coop for Philly was just rubbing salt in the wounds, and Cowboys Nation let him have it. Good on you, Dallas.
FAILS:
Roy Nelson is feeling it today
Groin shots are just part of the game if you decide to do MMA. Without fail, an inside leg kick will almost always go awry at some point during a card, the replay will air in an arena and there will immediately be a collective "ooh!" as everyone cringes when foot connects with cup and some poor guy crumbles like a Drake's coffee cake.
UFC 185 presented an entirely new level of pain, as Alistair Overeem threw a jumping knee strike at the same time Roy Nelson was trying to jump into him. What resulted was an epic shot to the baby maker that could only be described as "holy ouch!"
Nelson was stunned for a moment, but like the gladiator he is, the former Ultimate Fighter winner shook it off and kept going just seconds later. Chances are once the adrenaline wore off, Nelson wasn't feeling too spry.
Kick his ass - just not after the bell
Ryan Benoit pulled off one of the biggest upsets at UFC 185 -- and that's really saying something considering two titles changed hands -- when he knocked out Sergio Pettis with a crushing punch in the second round of their flyweight matchup on the undercard.
Benoit was getting handled throughout the first half of the fight, but he finally found an opening in Pettis' defense and cracked the Milwaukee native with a picture perfect punch that put him on the mat. Benoit followed up with a flurry of shots until the referee finally stepped in to stop the carnage.
Unfortunately, Benoit wasn't quite finished yet, because even after the referee stopped it, he gave one more kick to Pettis' backside when the fight was clearly over.
Following the fight, Benoit apologized profusely for the error and promised it was just something that happened in the heat of the moment. I can buy that. UFC president Dana White did as well when he said Benoit wouldn't face any punishment for the infraction.
What it did cost Benoit most likely was a $50,000 "Performance of the Night" bonus. He seemed like a shoo-in given the finish and how it came about during the fight, but that one-second lapse in judgment probably forced the UFC's hand and took some serious money away from Benoit in the process.
It's a harsh lesson, but there's little chance Benoit will ever do anything of the sort again in his UFC career.
EPIC FAIL:
Walkout Song Police
It's clear somebody at the UFC is not a fan of the metalcore band Hatebreed or their lead singer Jamey Jasta, and it has to change.
Jasta fronts the band founded in Connecticut in 1994 and it seems because the group has the world "hate" in their name, the UFC won't allow any of the fighters to walk to the Octagon with their music.
A couple of years back, Jasta -- who is a huge UFC fan and big supporter of the sport -- sponsored middleweight fighter Chris Camozzi for one of his fights, but the powers-that-be wouldn't allow him to walk to the Octagon with a song from the singer. Even with Jasta now fronting his own solo project simply called Jasta, the UFC once again nixed a track from him that was specifically recorded for UFC 185 fighter Matt Brown.
"I Am the Immortal' was written and produced by Jasta -- for free -- and handed over to Brown so he could use the song as his signature tune whenever he walked to the Octagon. Jasta asked for no money and no recognition; he just wanted to write a song for a friend that captured his spirit as he got ready for one of the biggest fights of his career. And UFC officials once again turned it away with no reason given.
Listen, Hatebreed might sound like a band with some anger issues, but the fact is it's just a name. That's all.
Meanwhile, UFC fighters routinely walk to the Octagon using hip-hop artist Eminem, whose lyrics often take aim at the gay and lesbian community with any number of slurs, while threatening violence and even murder to women throughout a huge list of his tracks over the years. There's also DMX, who has come under fire for homophobic slurs being used in his music. Or how about Rick Ross, who has joked about date rape in some of his lyrics in the past?
The point here isn't to get other artists banned from being played on UFC broadcasts, but if a music group can simply get outlawed for having a name like Hatebreed, maybe the folks in charge of approving future songs might want to do a little research before making decisions on what can be played when a fighter walks to the Octagon.
