UFC Vegas 69: Five Things We Learned
UFC Vegas 69 was far from the most star-studded card the UFC has put. Outside of an intriguing main event between Erin Blanchfield and Jessica Andrade, the card featured a lot of inexperienced and flawed fighters. On a positive note, for evaluation purposes, that gives us a lot of information on fighters that were surrounded by question marks. Here are five things we learned at UFC Vegas 69.
Erin Blanchfield is an elite fighter
At UFC Vegas 69, Blanchfield graduated from prospect status and became a title contender. Blanchfield earned the best win of her career as she submitted former champion, Andrade, with a rear-naked choke in the second round.
At just 23 years old, Blanchfield is one of the best fighters in the women’s strawweight division and is on the cusp of a title shot. It is hard to say if she will get a title shot due to the current state of the division, but that does not make her accomplishments any less impressive.
Blanchfield also showed a ton of progress in her bout with Andrade. Thus far into her career, the majority of her weaknesses have been in her striking. Against Andrade, one of the best strikers in the division, Blanchfield was able to manage range and land strikes on the outside while avoiding the shots coming back her way.
Still, Blanchfield did not pitch a perfect game by any means. She was hit hard with a few shots, but she still looked far more comfortable on the feet. Meanwhile, her grappling looked just as good as it usually does as she was able to land a takedown and find a submission.
Now, even though Blanchfield looked good on the feet, there is room for doubt when she fights other opponents inside the top five. As mentioned before, she did a good job of staying out of range while landing shots of her own. I am not sure that will be a repeatable game plan in the future. Andrade is one of the shortest fighters in the division at 5-foot-2 which gave Blanchfield a size advantage as she stands at 5-foot-4.
In the future, Blanchfield will be on the opposite side of that equation as Valentina Shevchenko, Manon Fiorot and Taila Santos will be taller than her in the octagon. That does not mean she cannot find success; rather, she will need to show she can adjust to taller competition.
Zac Pauga gets a UFC win
Pauga has a solid run on “The Ultimate Fighter Season 30” as he won two fights at heavyweight to reach the finale. The finale did not fall in his favor though, as he was knocked out by Mohammed Usman. At UFC Vegas 69, Pauga made his UFC debut and moved down to light heavyweight, his natural weight class, and picked up a decision win over Jordan Wright.
Pauga played this fight smart. Wright is a dangerous fighter that loves to create chaos in the octagon. Pauga did not fall into that trap as he controlled Wright up against the fence while landing damaging blows from the clinch. That was enough to earn a decision victory.
Pauga is an intriguing fighter at light heavyweight. He proved that he can stay composed and deal with dangerous strikers. That does not mean he will rise to the division’s top-15, but he will be able to keep a spot on the UFC roster.
Jamal Pogues is UFC-caliber
Anytime a fighter makes their debut after getting a contract on Dana White’s Contender Series (DWCS) it is always a positive to see that fighter get a win. Simply put, not all DWCS alum are UFC-caliber. Pogues showed that he is a UFC-level fighter as he picked up a decision win over Josh Parisian.
At UFC Vegas 69, Pogues gave a good showing of his skills. On the feet, he looked solid as he showed off his boxing skills. Even better, he was able to land a few solid takedowns and rack up some control time. That was great to see as he showed the ability to wrestle in his time at light heavyweight. This was his first time pulling the wrestling out of the bag at heavyweight thought.
Similarly to Pauga, Pogues’ potential does not jump off the screen, but he is a solid fighter. In fairness, Pogues is only 27 so he will have a better chance of progressing into a higher-quality fighter. Still, he should be able to hold a spot in the UFC for a minute.
Alexander Hernandez looked impressive
At UFC Vegas 69, Hernandez put on one of his best UFC performances.
Hernandez has not looked that good in several years. He was able to outbox Jim Miller with more crisp and powerful strikes which led him to a decision victory. More importantly, Hernandez was able to string a solid 15 minutes together which cannot be said for all of his UFC fights. In the past, he has gassed, or his durability let him down. Against Miller, he held up in those areas.
I am not sure what is next for Hernandez. He fought Jim Miller at lightweight on short notice. Still, he is interested in moving back down to featherweight. I have a hard time saying that he should leave lightweight after an impressive performance.
Khusein Askhabov struggled in his debut
At UFC Vegas 69, Askhabov made his highly anticipated UFC debut. Askhabov entered the UFC with a 23-0 record and four million Instagram followers. Those followers did not help Askhabov in the octagon as Jamall Emmers dismantled him.
It is safe to say that Askhabov did not live up to his 23-0 record. Throughout the fight, Emmers landed solid straight shots, and leg kicks while mixing in grappling. He looked to be the fighter with better cardio and durability too.
In fairness to Askhabov, Emmers is a tough fighter to make your UFC debut against. Emmers is not an elite fighter, but he is a quality UFC fighter that beats a lot of featherweights. With that being said, the hype that was circulating around Askhabov would make you believe he would run through a fighter of Emmers’ caliber. That was far from what happened.
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