RE: UFC 248 Reflections
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I disagree with an immediate rematch between Zhang and Joanna, with Zhang having just defeated her twice in a row. This was a close fight, but I didn't think it was even close enough to be a split decision - the volume in strikes was relatively close, but Zhang clearly was landing with more power and doing more damage. If Rose is back into fighting, she should get the next crack at the title IMO. yes she lost to Andrade, but she was dominating that fight before making a stupid mistake of holding on while getting slammed. Rose also dominated Joanna pretty solidly, arguably winning much more convincingly than Zhang did this weekend.
What a disappointing main event though. Agreed that Israel fought smart, but I am super disappointed in Romero. You can't imagine he is going to get many more (if any) cracks at the title at 42 and with so many losses in a row now, yet he just never seemed to have any urgency at all. At some point if you are the challenger and you are down in the round count, you have to at least try... right?
Zhang has only fought Joanna once, think you mean that Rose beat her twice in a row. Agree that Rose was completely outclassing Jessica, but her reaction to her defeat was quite disappointing. Her rematch with Jessica will allow viewers to see her current mentality. I think the split decision was correct. Zhang wears damage well, but she ate a lot of solid shots that accumulated and the strikes to the legs and body favoured Joanna according to the stats. A case can also be made for who initiated the exchanges, which scores for aggression. It really could have gone the other way. But the way Joanna looked and the late push in the later rounds sticks in the memory more than the opening rounds.
you are totally right, for some reason I was thinking Zhang won the title against Joanna originally but that was obviously not the case. In any case I would think Joanna won't be cleared medically for a while (just a guess, haven't read anything about medical suspensions yet) and tbh I am kinda against the "immediate rematch" thing that the UFC seems to love to do so much when a title holder loses. It seems silly - if you lose the belt, you should have to fight at least one other contender first before a rematch. When they do the immediate rematches it leads to these stupid scenarios where then if the old champ wins the rematch, what, do you do an immediate rematch of the rematch because it is 1 - 1 now? Honestly I wish the UFC would just quit it with the immediate rematches.
They were actually both cleared medically and will be OK to compete again soon :). It depends, the champions sometimes have a rematch clause in their contract, but in this case, its just because: a) It wasn't a definitive win for the champion; and b) there just isn't any other deserving contender at this time. Carla Esparza is a former champ and riding a two fight win streak. If she can finish Michelle Waterson in their fight, then that could be the next one. But a fight also has to sell and Esparza just isn't an exciting fighter. But I agree with you too, a challenger should kind of earn another shot at the strap. People will be watching the Jessica vs. Rose fight closely.