6 biggest takeaways from UFC on ESPN 36: Blachowicz’s title hopes, Rakic’s injury, Kelley’s cornering

What mattered most at UFC on ESPN 36 in Las Vegas? Here are a few post-fight musings…

1. Jan Blachowicz shouldn't care how he won

I can say with a large degree of certainty that when [autotag]Jan Blachowicz[/autotag] and his team were gameplanning for the main event with Aleksandar Rakic, winning as the result of an injury stoppage wasn’t part of the conversation.

The fight game is crazy and unpredictable, though, and Blachowicz (29-9 MMA, 12-6 UFC) got his hand raised after his opponent crumbled to the canvas with a knee injury after an awkward backward step. It was anticlimactic, but didn’t take away from the significance of the moment for Blachowicz, who absolutely needed this win if he wants to sniff the UFC title again.

Blachowicz’s first run to the UFC title was magical. He scored some epic knockouts en route to gold, then defended it by derailing Israel Adesanya’s perfect record and champ-champ aspirations. But then in a rare fight, he was actually favored to win against Glover Teixeira at UFC 267 in October, was submitted and lost the belt.

Blachowicz admitted post-fight that the clash with Rakic was all about answering personal questions. He wanted to know if he could still be the version of himself who won the title, rather than the one who lost it. A totally conclusive ending would’ve helped his confidence even more, but Blachowicz should feel good about what he was doing prior to the injury.

The win puts Blachowicz back in good pole position at 205 pounds. With Teixeira less than three weeks from putting the title up for grabs against Jiri Prochazka at UFC 275, Blachowicz has – at the very least – put himself in the running to get the belt back.

2. Aleksandar Rakic poised for a big comeback

As happy as we might feel for Blachowicz, it’s hard not to feel bad for [autotag]Aleksandar Rakic[/autotag] after an injury derailed his chances of a breakthrough moment that would validate him as a title contender.

It’s impossible to say what would’ve happened in the fight had Rakic (14-3 MMA, 6-2 UFC) not gotten injured. All three judges had the fight scored 19-19 after two rounds, and the third was relatively even before Rakic went down. Maybe he would’ve won, or maybe he would’ve lost. Regardless, Rakic was handling himself well and should be pleased he was able to hang in there with a former champion like Blachowicz.

The unfortunate thing, though, is that he’ll seemingly have a lot of time to think about the what-ifs. The exact extent of Rakic’s injury is still undetermined, but the scene of him being on the mat holding his knee in agony is one that’s all too familiar. I’ve watched enough sports to know it’s not a good sign, and we can only hope Rakic makes a quick comeback.

If and when he’s ready to go again, there’s no doubt Rakic belongs in the octagon with the very best at 205 pounds. He belongs at that tier, and as long as this injury doesn’t hinder or limit his skillset, we should expect him to continue hovering around the title conversation for years to come.

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3. Ryan Spann got out of his own way

[autotag]Ryan Spann[/autotag] was a broken record in the lead-up to his co-main event fight with Ion Cutelaba. He said the only key to victory was to “get out of my own way,” which he described as the primary issue behind all of his losses, including a main event setback to Anthony Smith in September.

What exactly does that quote mean? Spann (20-7 MMA, 6-2 UFC) was unwilling to divulge, but he said it so many times before the fight, there’s obviously a deep meaning to him. Then he went into the octagon and violently submitted Cutelaba in just over two minutes, and you can’t help but think he’s onto something.

It might not be crystal clear to the rest of us, but if that’s what Spann getting out of his own way looks like in a fight, then he needs to duplicate that mentality every time. “Superman” clearly has a lot of talent and physical gifts. He’s got an extremely good team with Fortis MMA and coach Sayif Saud behind him, so if Spann can keep things together, there’s reason to believe he can make noise at 205 pounds.

4. Tony Kelley's controversial corner work

[autotag]Tony Kelley[/autotag] is rightfully coming under fire for his corner work with girlfriend [autotag]Andrea Lee[/autotag] in between the first and second rounds of a decision loss to Viviane Araujo in a women’s flyweight bout.

By now, you’ve probably seen the clip. It’s gone viral. Kelley disparaged the country of Brazil and played up the notion that athletes from the country cheat in various ways, but did it was a tone and venom that came across as hateful.

Some will call it racist (though Brazilians aren’t a race), others will label it as absurdly tone-deaf, or even xenophobic. Either way, it was a terrible look in a situation where the world could hear Kelley’s audio and see him on camera. And his defense of his actions, and blaming “cancel culture,” did nothing to help any perceptions that he misspoke or was caught in an out-of-character moment.

If you’ve seen enough corners work fights, you know what Kelly was going for. He was trying to fire up his athlete however he could, but there are better ways to achieve that goal that doesn’t paint Kelley – and thus by association Lee (13-6 MMA, 5-4 UFC) – in a bad light.

Kelley can point to “cancel culture” all he wants as far as the backlash, but I can’t say I expect any real repercussions for him outside of a hit on how certain people portray him. He’s unlikely to be pulled from his June 18 fight with Adrian Yanez, his corner license almost surely won’t be suspended, and there’s no precedent that would indicate he’ll be fined or penalized.

Is that right? Who am I to say? But what I do know is that, even in the heat of the moment, there’s no place for the language Kelley used in the corner.

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5. Michael Johnson shows a pulse

[autotag]Michael Johnson[/autotag] is one of the most unusual stories in UFC history. His streakiness (if that’s a word), is almost unrivaled in a sport where wins and losses are commonplace for a lot of fighters. “The Menace,” however, has some of the biggest highs and harshest lows of any notable resume out there.

Coming into this event, Johnson (20-17 MMA, 12-13 UFC) was in a deep slump. He’d lost four straight fights prior to stepping in the octagon with Alan Patrick, and it looked dicey in Round 1 when he got wobbled with a hard shot. Johnson showed his character, though, and dug deep for a spectacular knockout in the second round of the lightweight bout, giving him his first win since October 2018.

Johnson has victories over Tony Ferguson, Dustin Poirier and Edson Barboza on his resume, but the plethora of losses on his resume have put those wins far in the distant past. At 35, Johnson said post-fight that he thinks he can still make another run to the top.

I’m not here to say he can’t do it, but it’s going to be immensely difficult. Knocking out a 38-year-old Patrick, who hasn’t won in more than four years himself, tells us nothing about Johnson’s ability to compete with top-15 talent right now. The lightweight division is significantly deeper than when Johnson was ranked years ago.

Any success Johnson finds at this point of his career is admirable and will be a feel-good story. The history of the fight game indicates, however, that this particular kind of moment could be fleeting.

6. A dubious footnote for Alliance MMA

I’m not trying to throw any shade here, but as the resident MMA media “facts guy,” I did come across an interesting nugget as I combed through the results of this event, particularly after [autotag]Angela Hill[/autotag] suffered a unanimous decision defeat to Virna Jandiroba on the prelims.

Hill’s (13-12 MMA, 8-12 UFC) defeat made her the first female in UFC history to succumb to 12 losses inside the octagon. The first male to reach that dubious benchmark? Hill’s longtime Alliance MMA teammate Jeremy Stephens, who currently holds the record for most overall losses in UFC history with 18.

What does this mean? Not much. It’s more of a coincidence Hill and Stephens come from the same gym, and hardly an indictment on the team’s overall success. To put it into better context, Hill came into the UFC as a 1-0 fighter and had to take all her lumps on the big stage. Stephens, meanwhile, joined the UFC roster at 21, and spent almost 14 years fighting killer after killer.

No shame for either person, here. Just a curious stat.

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