Namajunas vs Jedrzejczyk rematch should be the main event.

       The rematch between Rose Namajunas and Joanna Jedrzejczyk appears to be official.  However, it's being rumored that this fight will be a co-main event to Ferguson vs. Nurmagomedov.  If this is true then I believe the UFC is making a critical mistake.   Namajunas vs Jedrzejczyk should be the main event. 

       Namajunas vs Jedrzejczyk won the upset of the year award.  Rose won the female fighter of the year award.  The obvious question is how could the rematch not possibly be the main event?  We're talking about a previously undefeated and most dominant female fighter in the division, who is only second to Ronda Rousey in terms of the most title defenses in womens UFC history, being dethroned by TKO in the first round by a fighter we all thought would be easy work for Joanna.  

       For a while Joanna was the only undefeated champion in the UFC regardless of gender.  She has the highest strike differential in UFC history and the second highest in UFC history for significant strikes per minute.  She has several more accomplishments that we have all been aware of.  It's almost an insult to both Joanna's dominance in WMMA as well as the shock of Rose' victory over such a fighter to have the rematch set for anything other than the main event.    

       If that's not compelling enough consider the story behind the fight as well.  The bad blood was real.  Joanna did not appreciate certain comments made by Rose after their first face to face meeting and it showed all throughout the build up.  Joanna didn't hold back any punches.  She accused Rose of being mentally weak in regard to her alleged inability to deal with the media.  Joanna also told Rose in a phone interview that "you're broken already".  Many people interpreted this as Joanna's way of reminding Rose of her troubled personal past as if to suggest that she is too mentally "broken" to win the fight.

       Also, lets not forget the epic fist to the face of Namajunas by Jedrzejczyk.  Did this not stir up controversy?   Lets not forget how Joanna told Rose more than once during the build up "you're never going to be a champion".  As mean as those comments were, most people agreed with Joanna that, at the very least, Rose would not take the belt from Joanna. 

       In fact, one of the reasons the upset was such an upset is because of how intense the build up was.  To see Rose totally dominate Joanna before finishing her, forcing Joanna to tap to strikes, makes the first fight like "something out of a movie".  What better story to have as a build up to a rematch?  If the UFC is serious about growing the female division, they must take advantage of the drama that occurs within it.  

       Also consider the fact that these are two great fighters.  Even in her defeat we all saw Joanna throwing her hands like she always does.  She may have lost the title but she lost it swinging.  We all know JJ is going to bring it, and we all know Rose is going to bring it.  Name a boring Namajunas fight.  Rose comes to scrap every time.  There is very little chance that this rematch will be boring.  The first fight was just the tip of the iceberg.  Joanna is very hungry and she's not going to allow the rematch to be boring. She wants her belt back and Rose is determined to keep the belt and prove that the first fight was not the result of a lucky punch.   

All the promotional drama is there.  Lets hope Dana and the UFC does the right thing.  Make this fight a main event fight.  It's the perfect opportunity to help the women's division grow.

JJ Aldrich defeats Daniel Taylor

        In my opinion, Taylor is not built for the strawweight division.  She tried to fight an outside technical match against an epic size disadvantage.  It didn't work out.  When you're that small you need top wrestling (like 5 ft 1 Carla Esparza for example) or Mike Tyson skills where you have exceptional head movement that allows you to close the distance quickly.

         She needs better muay thai and kickboxing.  When Taylor rushed in she would throw one or two punches, or one kick and get back out.  She never finished her punches with leg kicks.  So you essentially have a small boxer who is mainly a pot shotter in MMA.  Not good.  And it's too bad because she has scary athleticism.

       You have to question Taylor's team for giving her such a flawed game plan, assuming that they even had a game plan.  You can't come into MMA expecting to land that one big shot with such a huge size gap.  All Aldrich did to avoid danger was take a step back whenever Taylor came in.  That is a major red flag that you have a huge hole in your game.

        If she doesn't develop a style designed to offset huge size disadvantages she is going to lose many more fights in the same fashion she lost to JJ Aldrich.  She will continue to linger on the outside hopelessly trying to leap in with a big shot that may or may not land.  If it doesn't land she will lose the fight because her ground game and muay thai / kickboxing is under developed, and she often leaves her head stationary.

       As a small fighter, she needs better than average head movement to avoid strikes.  As is the case with many MMA fighters, when Taylor gets hit she is often getting hit flush.  She is not pulling away or rolling with shots to take the steam off.  All too often her head is standing straight up in the air.  She ate jabs all night and then some.

       As I mentioned in the case of Carla Esparza and Michelle Waterson, I believe Taylor would also benefit greatly from an antomweight division, where some of her holes may not be as easy to exploit against fighters closer to her own size.  Taylor often looks like a real midget in the octagon.  She has great speed and power and should be able to utilize her tools without first overcoming such a big size disadvantage.  At a certain extent the viewer is being robbed of a fairly contested fight.

       As a company that prides itself on being a leader & example of MMA we have to assume that an antomweight division in the UFC, which I predict will be one of the best divisions, is already planned for the near future.  The push for the division continues.  It's the final division to complete the entire women's division of MMA in the UFC.

Paige Vanzant vs Jessica-Rose Clark

       Jessy defeated Rhiannon Thompson on July 26, 2014.  This marks the last time she has been on a 3 fight win streak.  After her victory on 07/26/2014 her next 5 fights would include 1 win, 1 no contest, and 3 losses.   She is on a 2 fight win streak, but both wins came by split decision.  In regard to JRC there are two questions that stand out.  1.) Can she win?  2.) Can she win convincingly?

        Five fights following her victory over Rhiannon Thompson appears to have marked the beginning of a bumpy 1-3-0, 1NC road for the skillful Aussie fighter, but she seems to be dealing with it well despite getting past her last two opponents by a small margin.  She stays in good spirits and sounds genuinely confident of a victory over Paige Vanzant.

       As you watch Jessica fight you get the sense that she has a lot more to offer.  We saw a 32 year old Cristiane Cyborg Justino make incredible boxing improvements over her last two fights, giving an example of how much improvement can be done despite having the same style for many years. One thing I think Jessica needs improvement on is head movement.  Many times when she gets hit she gets hit flush.  She's not pulling away from the shots or rolling with them.  Her head is standing straight up and she gets nailed.  Hopefully her trainers are dedicating hours solely on improving her head moment.

       Her other flaw is her temperament.  Her execution is great.  Unlike Cris Cyborg, who made tactical improvements, I believe Jess needs to make mental adjustments.  Her toughest opponent to date was Sarah Kaufman, who I believe is one of the best wmma fighters ever.  As highly as I rank Kaufman, I believe Jessica had the tools to be more competitive, and possibly have won that fight convincingly, had she simply been more assertive and thrown more shots.   She goes into a shell when things get rough and allows her opponents to assume the dominant role. I don't believe Paige is even remotely as talented as Jessica-Rose, but she does best when she is able to out grit her opponent.

        A boxer named Zab Judah comes to mind, who also lost to fighters that were less talented but made the most of what they had.  I don't believe Jessica is making the most of her abilities.  I believe if she opened up and asserted her will on her opponents more she would have more success.  Her balance, timing, foot speed, and hand speed are all there but she seems to either hold back or be uncertain of how to unleash her attacks.  In either case, I believe the only way Paige wins this fight is if Jessica allows her to win.

        

Carla Esparza, weight cuts, and a UFC antomweight division

       Former UFC strawweight champion Carla Esparza is one of the many fighters who interacts with fans on social media. Today she shared some interesting information about weight cuts.   

        At least to my eyes, Esparza is in a situation other fighters like Demetrius Johnson and Valentina Shevchenko are familiar with.  When you fight at a weight where you only lose 11to 13 lbs you'll likely be fighting many opponents who are naturally much bigger and use drastic weight cutting methods.  Shevchenko revealed in an interview that she had to eat more often to stay at bantamweight during training camp. 

       On Tuf 20, Carla also says she woke up at 113 for two weeks.

       In a different perspective, Joanna once needed to cut 16 lbs in 14 hours, which tells us that she currently weighed about 131 lb.  Carla also revealed that she walks around between 126 and 128.  This means she walks around 3 to 5 lbs lighter than where Joanna was after a full training camp.

       Despite being at a size disadvantage against nearly all her opponents, Carla has an impressive record. Although she has only lost 4 out of 17 fights, only two of her loses were decisive.  One of course was against the large but elite Joanna.  The other was 8 years ago via armbar against Magumi Fujii.  Her other two loses were by split decision.  This may leave some to wonder how much more dominant she could be at antomweight against fighters her size.

       The same question can be asked about former antomweight champion Michelle Waterson, another seemingly out sized fighter who had to move up to strawweight to join the UFC, and possibly other UFC strawweights.  There may be some exciting stars who would be dominant champions at antomweight, but are unable to display their full potential because of a size disadvantage at strawweight.  Hopefully an antomweight division is already a part of UFC's future plans.  With other possible competitors like Ayaka Hamasaki and Angela Lee, it would likely be one of the most exciting female weight classes.