Most Valuable Promotions’ first MMA card is getting mixed
reactions from fans and pundits.
While Jon
Jones called it better than the
UFC, the card failed to impress fellow UFC veterans Daniel
Cormier and Ben Askren.
Askren found the card full of lopsided matchups. While Askren
understands the importance of highlight reels, the former Bellator
MMA and ONE
Championship champion believes competitive fights are what
matchmakers should aim for.
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“Incredibly one-sided is the biggest thing that comes to mind,”
Askren said on a podcast with Cormier. “You know, there wasn’t a
singular fight that was moderately competitive on the card. And,
you know, we need the highlights, we need the knockouts, we need
these spectacular things, but the best thing we can get is a
back-and-forth fight.”
No Star Building
Cormier noted that one-sided matchups don’t work for MMA unlike
boxing, where stars are built by letting them walk through a
plethora of underskilled opponents. Cormier also noted there was
essentially no star-building on the card.
“It’s not boxing, right? In boxing you build athletes by crushing
people that aren’t on their level necessarily,” Cormier said. “So
many of the fighters on that card were already established
fighters. They were on the backend of their careers. So there was
no star-building.”
Only the first three of the 10 total matchups on the MVP card went
to the judges’ scorecards. While Phumi Nkuta
vs. Adriano
Moraes was probably the most competitive matchup, the fight
ended in a controversial submission loss for Nkuta, with Moraes
holding on to the choke after the bell. Meanwhile, the three main
fights featuring massive stars were completely lopsided. Francis
Ngannou knocked out Philipe
Lins in the first round; Mike Perry
turned Nate Diaz into
a bloody mess, forcing his corner to throw in the towel after the
second round. Meanwhile, Ronda
Rousey made Gina Carano
tap with an armbar just 17 seconds into the main event.