UFC 213 Recap

By Muk

This weekend was an awesome weekend for the UFC, even after taking a big blow at the last minute.

Friday night, we had the Ultimate Fighter Finale, where Jesse Taylor defeated Dheigo Lima, earning himself a second chance at a UFC contract, almost 10 years after his original UFC shot. This TUF season was all about Redemption, and Jesse Taylor has just about the greatest "Redemption" story of anyone, and it was awesome to see him get himself back onto the biggest stage.

The Main Event for Friday night was absolutely incredible. Michael Johnson welcomed Justin Gaethje, the undefeated former World Series of Fighting (WSOF) Lightweight Champion, to the UFC. The fight had a lot of hype, with the two talking a lot of trash to each other in the weeks leading up to the fight, and boy did the fight deliver. Michael Johnson and Justin Gaethje put on a no-dobut, Fight of the Year candidate fight, with Gaethje coming out on top with a second-round KO.

Then, Saturday night, UFC 213 had a ton of hype going into it, but at the 11th hour, Amanda Nunes dropped out of her Bantamweight Title Fight with Valentina Shevchenko, citing an "illness". However, almost everyone around the UFC, including the big boss Dana White, called bullshit on that excuse. 

"Is (Amanda Nunes) medically cleared to fight? She's medically cleared to fight. But she doesn't feel right" - Dana https://t.co/oulJrNjQ1s

— FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) July 8, 2017

Dana White called Nunes withdrawal “90 percent mental and maybe 10 percent physical”. #UFC213

— MMA News (@BestMMAnews) July 9, 2017

Amanda Nunes basically just pulled herself from the fight, for zero legitimate reasoning, and this fight will be moved to September, so we will still have to wait and see what happens.

Although the original main event was pulled, we had an epic new main event, with Robert Whittaker and Yoel Romero facing off for the Interim Middleweight Title. First off, Michael Bisping is genuinely a coward, who is still begging for a fight with GSP, when his division is overflowing with worthy contenders.

​But as far as Saturday's fight, Robert Whittaker left no doubt that he is no joke and is here to stay. After losing round 1 and 2 closely, Whittaker came out for round 3, 4, and 5, dominant and ruthless, burying Yoel Romero and leaving no doubt as to who the Interim Middleweight Champion was. 

Of course, after the fight, Michael Bisping had to do his usual pathetic tactics, trying to belittle everyone, meanwhile he's a joke, with one title defense and more career loses than any of the top contenders, so I cannot wait for Robert Whittaker to dominate him, and for this 185-pound division to get back on track with a true champion.