It was a rare week off for the UFC last weekend, but that didn’t mean there weren’t fights. Over at Misfits Boxing 22, Luke Rockhold got blown up by Darren Till. Badly. It was the latest in a string of tough outcomes for the former UFC champion and begs the question, What happened? So let’s talk about that plus whatever else is on y’all’s minds.
Luke Rockhold. What happened to this massively talented man in his career?
Once upon a time, Rockhold was one of the best pound-for-pound fighters on the planet. After he beat the soul out of Chris Weidman to win the UFC middleweight title, most smart people envisioned either a long reign for Rockhold or a back-and-forth rivalry with Weidman that would define the division for a generation. Instead, it all came crumbling down almost immediately, and now he’s (maybe?) retired from combat sports.
Rockhold famously got knocked out by Michael Bisping in one of the biggest upsets in UFC history, and then lost three of his next four UFC fights, leaving the sport. From there, he tried his hand at BKFC, failing spectacularly against Mike Perry, before getting a win in Karate Combat over Joe Schilling. Now, he’s been brutally knocked out again in the most stereotypical Rockhold fashion: a dude winging a hard left hand at him.
For those of us who thought Rockhold was the Next Great Middleweight, his ignominious fall has been wild to watch. I mean, this dude absolutely dummied great fighters like Lyoto Machida and Chris Weidman, but then it all fell apart the first time someone threw a left hook at him. But that sort of speaks to an unsung aspect of MMA: the structure of the sport means that fighters can climb the mountain while still having huge holes that have yet to be exploited.
Rockhold is immensely talented (I maintain that he may be the best fighter I’ve ever seen once he’s on top of someone), and that talent carried him to a UFC title. But he also doesn’t have a great chin, and more importantly, he never developed the tools to hide this weakness. Maybe it’s hubris, maybe it’s just a pure inability to learn, but Rockhold’s chin, and specifically his penchant for getting blasted by left hooks, is a massive failing, and in his entire career, he’s done almost nothing to mitigate it. And that’s how someone so talented can fall so quickly. Because in other sports, a fatal flaw like that usually gets exposed earlier, but as MMA is still pretty nascent, a guy like Rockhold can make it to the top before it becomes a problem.
It is yet another reason why I put so much stock in title defenses as a measure of greatness. Because we’ve seen plenty of impressive runs up a division happen, and plenty of those fighters flame out like a bottle rocket, but the ones who can stay at the top year after year, that’s special.
Why do bookmakers see Valentina as almost even with Weili? She is definitely bigger, and Zhang has been taken down even by Rose. I don’t think Valentina would be at a disadvantage in striking either, so I’d expect her to be around -200. What am I missing?
In case you missed it, the UFC 322 title fight pitting flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko vs. former strawweight champion Zhang Weili had opening odds drop, and the bout is a near pick’em.
Personally, I’m with e-gnat here. I expected Shevchenko to open up as a small but clear favorite over Zhang. After all, Shevchenko is arguably the greatest female fighter of all time, and she’s defending against a woman moving up in weight. But the fact that the odds are this way speaks to how great a matchup this one is.
First off, I’m not sure we’ve ever had a matchup of the top two pound-for-pound women on the planet. The only other one that might have been so was Amanda Nunes vs. Cris Cyborg, but I’m not even sure that was, given that women’s featherweight has never been a great division. So we are making history with this matchup. Moreover, these are the two premier women’s divisions in the sport at this moment in time, as opposed to one pseudo-fake division like featherweight.
But it’s not just that these are the current best pound-for-pound fighters in the world; it’s that they’re the historic GOATs of their divisions. Shevchenko is the unanimous best flyweight ever, and while there are arguments for others above Zhang at strawweight, she’s probably taken that top spot now. This is historic matchmaking, with all-time GOAT implications.
As for why the odds are this way, I think it’s all momentum. Both women are on the older side for MMA (Shevchenko is 37 and Zhang is 36), but while Shevchenko has shown some of that age recently (the trilogy with Alexa Grasso), Zhang has aged like wine. Zhang’s best performances have been her most recent ones, and that momentum has oddsmakers believing that she’s peaking while Shevchenko is trying to hold on for as long as possible.
All that being said, I think I like Shevchenko in this one. The last time a physical beast and former strawweight champion moved up to challenge Shevchenko, she obliterated Jessica Andrade in possibly the most dominant performance of her career. Even an aging Shevchenko still should have physical advantages over Zhang that I think favor her.
If you have a son who’s, say, 12 years old, which would you want him to grow up to be: a UFC fighter ranked in the top 5 or a golfer who’s #100 on the PGA money list?
Dude. What are you talking about?
The No. 100 golfer on the PGA money list in 2025 is Patrick Fishburn. He played 23 PGA events this year and earned $1,275,844. That does not include any money from sponsorships. There are maybe 20 UFC fighters who will earn more than that in 2025, and they will do so while suffering serious brain injury and dramatically affecting their quality of life in later years. Hell, there are Top 5 fighters right now who won’t make that in their entire career.
There is almost zero scenario where the correct choice is not PGA golfer. If they are a PGA pro, that’s better than being almost any UFC fighter, including many champions.
Ask Demetrious Johnson which he would have preferred, and I bet you Mighty Mouse would say professional golfer.
Who’s the true pound for pound best fighter? I’m not talking about the UFC criteria, I’m talking about if you could scale every UFC champ up to be at the heavyweight limit while maintaining their skill set, who’d win the 8-man (and 3-woman?) tournament and how would it play out?
You know what? I like this question, so I mathed it out. Is the premise flawed? Sure. We can’t scale fighters up, and it’s hard to say what skills might translate. But let’s do so anyway.
To figure it out, I made an eight-man bracket, randomly generating the draw. Below are the matchups and how they play out.
Jack Della Maddalena vs. Ilia Topuria
A terrific little scrap between two guys with some of the best boxing in MMA. That being said, Topuria appears to be the better of the two boxers and also has more natural pop, relative to his size. Add in that Topuria is also a very talented grappler, and “El Matador” advances to the semifinals.
Tom Aspinall vs. Khamzat Chimaev
The most difficult of the opening round matchups to predict. Aspinall is wicked quick for heavyweight and hits like a truck. Chimaev is incredibly athletic and a grappling wizard. It’s a real styles make fights matchup, but one where both champions somehow have questions about themselves still to be answered. I’ll favor Chimaev because he’s a great athlete in a division with good ones, whereas Aspinall is currently one of the only good heavyweight athletes, so he simply might be upended by meeting someone else who can physically move like he does.
Magomed Ankalaev vs. Alexander Volkanovski
Another tough matchup because Volkanovski is, frankly, old. Volk fans don’t want to hear it, but it’s true. And while that should make his win over Diego Lopes that much more impressive, it concerns me against well-rounded fighters like Ankalaev. Still, I guess I’ll side with Volk here as he has a more refined game.
Alexandre Pantoja vs. Merab Dvalishvili
This might be a matchup we get one day, and then we’d know for sure, but I have to favor Merab. His cardio is a cheat code, and while Pantoja is awesome, Merab probably Merab’s him.
Another matchup pitting striking vs. grappling, and a total coin flip for me. Because Topuria is a capable grappler in his own right, I’ll guess he can stymie Chimaev’s wrestling and win on the feet.
Volkanovski vs. Dvalishvili
Volkanovski is a horrible matchup for Dvalishvili as he’s a superior technician in most phases, has great cardio, and is an elite tactician. Merab can’t CrossFit him.
We saw this happen. Clear winner here. Ilia Topuria is the best pound-for-pound fighter in the sport.
That being said, if Islam Makhachev were in the bracket, he might not be. That matchup is sensational as they are somewhat mirrors of each other. I might slightly favor Makhachev, but man, it’s close.
As for the women, you can’t do a bracket with three people, so I’ll save you the suspense: Zhang Weili is the best woman on the planet. She checks all the boxes of a great fighter — incredible athlete, well-rounded, technically skilled, great tactician — and though Shevchenko has beaten better competition, Zhang has probably done it with more aplomb. If you want to go with Shevchenko here, that’s not wrong, but Zhang has looked flawless lately, while Shevchenko has not.
Thanks for reading and thanks to everyone who sent in tweets (Xs?)! Do you have any burning questions about things at least somewhat related to combat sports? Then you’re in luck because you can send your tweets to me, @JedKMeshew, and I will answer all the good ones! It doesn’t matter if they’re topical or insane, just so long as they are good. Thanks again, and see y’all next week.