What do we want from an MMA show?
We want entertainment. We want storylines. We want superstars. We want technique. We want evenly matched contests. We want knockouts. We want submissions. We want heart. We want wars. We want beefs squashed. We want closure.
We want what UFC 202 gave us.
I remember sitting unsatisfied as Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg said their goodbyes, looking pretty damn unsatisfied themselves, as UFC 200 drew to a close six weeks ago.
UFC 200 was a fine card. It was grand. But you’d be lying if you said that it lived up to the hype showered upon it in the weeks and months that led up to that yellow mat being rolled out.
UFC 200 ended with an unignorable sense of deflation.
Miesha Tate, being nurtured as the perfect comeback fight for Ronda Rousey, lost in the first round. The behemoth that was the returning Brock Lesnar could not return to his explosive best. Daniel Cormier played it relatively safe against Anderson Silva.
The three biggest fights on supposedly the most unmissable fight card in the history of mixed martial arts were let-downs. Very expensive, overhyped let-downs. It wasn’t the fault of the fighters. It was just how it played out on that very hazy, underwhelming July night.
Disheartened and perplexed, I wrote this.
COMMENT: The trouble with UFC 200 is that it raised so many more questions than it answered https://t.co/bp0D8TTqQk
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) July 10, 2016
It was about the lack of direction and finality and any semblance of fulfilment that followed the final buzzer.
Three weeks later, UFC 201 came and went and a new champion was crowned but then came the real big one as UFC 202 arrived on our doorstep, giddy and eager to prove itself.
The UFC, lesson learned, did not overdo the hyping of the August 20 event and there actually wasn’t that much buzz surrounding the Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz rematch until fight week.
The press conference, as much as most will look down on its closing antics, was perfect in terms of its timing and impact and then Saturday night arrived, dripping with just the right level of anticipation.
And it delivered like a midwife at the top of her class.
It had everything from the team vs. team narrative to the very definitive title implications of the co-main event.
You knew where you stood.
Questions were answered and entertainment was force-fed, with not a boring fight appearing through the 12-fight, six-hour brawlathon.
The Fight Pass prelims set the table perfectly, as Lorenz Larkin enveloped Neil Magny in a hurricane of strikes after Colby Covington put on a wrestling clinic that ended with a dominant finish over Max Griffin.
The Fox Prelims took that momentum and ran with it as Cortney Casey drew the verbal tap from Randa Markos, Artem Lobov got his first UFC victory and Cody Garbrandt scored his third consecutive first round KO.
Tim Means’ striking was a beautiful sight to behold as he opened the main card, and subsequently the forehead of opponent Sabah Homasi.
Promotional newcomer Mike Perry announced himself in style with a stunning finish of Hyun Gyu Lim before Donald Cerrone’s welterweight adventure continued with another stoppage.
Anthony Johnson was Anthony Johnson and set himself up for another crack at light heavyweight gold with a 13-second knockout.
And then came a genuine candidate for fight of the year.
McGregor vs. Diaz II will go down in history as an all-time classic and we need bouts like that to close out cards.
There is a reason that Paul McCartney doesn’t open with Hey Jude! and why Penn and Teller don’t do their famous bullet trick in the first few minutes of their shows.
We, as fans, want that crescendo after a logical, easy-to-follow ebb and flow.
And the beautiful, but often frustrating, thing about MMA is that that magic cannot be manufactured or guaranteed. You can put two of the most exciting fighters in the world in a cage and they can still put on a stinker.
All promoters can do is hope for the best and the best is what we got on Saturday.
Following all the moaning about a sub-par card which was relying solely on the main event, we got one of the most entertaining shows of the year.
Here’s to hoping that no failed drug tests come back to fuck it all up.
