UFC Atlantic City: Five Things We Learned
UFC Atlantic City was a strange night of fights. The event was riddled with questionable stoppages, uncalled fouls, and weird fights. Still, a few fights went off without a hitch and provided some important results. Here are five things we learned during UFC Atlantic City.
Manon Fiorot needs to fight for the title
In the UFC Atlantic City main event, Manon Fiorot looked outstanding as she defeated Erin Blanchfield. All three judges scored the fight 50-45 in Fiorot’s favor.
Fiorot had a large strength and athleticism advantage in this fight. More importantly, she perfectly used those advantages to prevent Blanchfield from entering the clinch. That stopped Blanchfield from striking out of the clinch and wearing on Fiorot.
Fiorot dominated the striking exchanges as she was the cleaner striker and efficiently landed impactful shots. That should not be a surprise considering she had a large advantage in that realm before the fight.
It would be a shame if Fiorot had to fight again before getting a title fight. Fiorot is 7-0 with wins over Erin Blanchfield, Rose Namajunas, and Katlyn Cerminara. In our UFC Atlantic City preview, it was clear that the winner of this fight should fight for the title. Not only did Fiorot win, but she won dominantly.
The only issue for Fiorot is that Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko are coaching The Ultimate Fighter. That likely means she will not fight the title for a significant time. Still, she has earned the fight and can wait for the title fight.
Erin Blanchfield is not going anywhere
The UFC Atlantic City did not go in Blanchfield’s favor. Despite struggling in this fight, Blanchfield still has a promising future.
In hindsight, this was a bad matchup for Blanchfield. Fiorot is massive for the division, has strong grappling, and does not slow down over five rounds. In the women’s flyweight division, not many fighters fall into that category. In the future, Blanchfield will be able to implore her grappling much more efficiently.
Blanchfield is also only 24 years old. That gives her plenty of time to develop and improve her game. The goal for Blanchfield should be to improve her striking defense, boxing, and takedowns. If she can grow in those areas, she will be much more dangerous.
All things considered, Blanchfield should not be cast to the side after losing a tough matchup at 24 years old.
Joaquin Buckley breaks into the welterweight rankings
In the UFC Atlantic City co-main event, Joaquin Buckley finished Vicente Luque with ground-and-pound in the second round. That win inserts Buckley into the UFC welterweight rankings.
This fight was not anything special. That said, Buckley did what he needed to do to win. That largely consisted of landing his left hand. On the outside, he was cutting angles and throwing his left from various angles. That shot landed multiple times and hurt Luque. Eventually, Luque decided to pull guard and took ground and pound shots until the referee stepped in.
This win puts Buckley in the welterweight rankings. I doubt we will see a title run from Buckley, but he does present a fresh face in the division.
Vicente Luque is not the same fighter
Luque’s loss at UFC Atlantic City was very concerning. Unfortunately, it looks like the 32-year-old is not the fighter he used to be.
Luque has taken a ton of damage in his career. That has caught up with him in recent outings. In his fight against Geoff Neal, he suffered a brain hemorrhage. In his return, he fought cautiously and picked up a decision win over Rafael dos Anjos. That same approach did not get him a win this time out. It felt like Luque did not have the durability or will to compete in a striking-based fight. That is a far cry from his prime when he engaged in fan-friendly brawls and came out on top.
I am not sure what the future for Luque should look like. I don’t necessarily want to say that he should retire. Although, if he wants to continue fighting he needs to overcome his concern in the striking realm and embrace his grappling skills.
Chris Weidman picks up a win
The UFC Atlantic City feature bout was a strange fight. Weidman picked up a victory after landing a double-eye poke that led to a knockout. The fight was eventually overturned and switched to a technical decision.
At the end of the day, Weidman left with a victory over Bruno Silva. That is massive considering he has not won a fight since 2020 and came back from a brutal broken leg.
Yes, Weidman won, but it is not time to get over-optimistic on his future. Weidman did not look great. Rather, Silva looked pretty bad. This win prolonged Weidman’s career, but he could get in trouble if he is booked against quality talent.
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