Sometimes when I am watching the UFC pay-per-view events I end up getting a bit bored and thinking to myself that I wish the fighters would just get on with it already. While I understand the importance of grappling and wrestling, I think most people will admit that they are far more boring than a slugfest that results in a KO.
UFC 295 was a quick one to say the least and despite the fact that two titles were on the line, every single fight on the main card ended in a finish by KO. There were no decision victories or submissions at all on the main card.
I am not a fan of fights that drag on forever and will actually start to loathe any fighter whose strategy is to win by ground control time. if you read my stuff you probably are already very aware of the disdain I have for fighters who have this sort of strategy. Well, we didn't see a great deal of that and honestly, we didn't get to see much of anything other than really fast-paced action. Only 2 fights even made it to the second round and the other 3 fights on the main card lasted less than 2 minutes.
Some of this was actually quite disappointing to me because the replacement heavyweight fight, although it was a huge letdown compared to the original fight of Jones vs. Miocic, it was a great opportunity for us to see two of the fighters that have been relatively ignored in Tom Aspinall and Sergei Pavlovich. I had really high hopes for Pavlovich because although I have only ever seen him fight once before, he seemed to me to be a real up and comer for the division. Well that was all squashed in a mere 1 minute and 9 seconds when Aspinall put his lights out with a series of really heavy punches.
Aspinall was in tears as Dana White put the belt around his waist but I have this to say to Tom: Don't get too cocky or accustomed to that belt being around your waist because it isn't going to be there for very long. I don't think that Miocic will be able to be convinced to fight you for it because he wants Jon Jones and the payday that will come with it. Who knows though? Since Jones is going to be out for at least 8 months - if he even returns at all - perhaps Stipe can be convinced to come and get a paycheck. I would imagine it will all depend on the money.
The main event was originally meant to be the co-main and the first undercard with Alex Pereira and Jiri Prochazka. I've been a fan of Jiri for a while now because he has a very unusual style and a very strange haircut. I've never much cared for Pereira not because he isn't a good fighter, he clearly is, but because he was propelled to the top of the pops without putting in the groundwork that the rest of the UFC roster has simply because he was at that time the only person to have ever defeated Adesanya. This has all changed since that day of course but I don't like when fighters don't pay their dues but once again I get it ok, this sport isn't about the sport, it is about making money.
As far as the main event is concerned, I am going to jump on the bandwagon here and say that I feel as though the referee Marc Goddard stepped in too early and stopped the fight. Jiri was immediately back up to his feet after Goddard stopped the fight and the fans were booing the stoppage. It is worth noting though that even though Twitter was ablaze with angry people over the stoppage it was actually Prochazka himself that would say that he was knocked out and that Marc made the right decision. Be that as it may, I think Jiri is being a nice guy as he has a reputation for being exactly that. To protest at that point would have been pointless because it's not like they are going to be like "oh, you weren't knocked out? well let's get the gloves back on and continue!"
That being said, I have seen fighters be far more "punch drunk" than Jiri appeared to be in the past and they were able to scrap through to the end of a round and protect themselves and sometimes even come back and win the fight because their opponent used too much energy trying to finish them.
I suppose we will never now because Jiri is unlikely to get an immediate rematch since this is an interim championship anyway and as soon as Jamahal Hill is healed up from a damaged Achilles tendon he will be the first person to get a shot at the strap for sure... well, if he even wants it.
The main point of all of this is that this card was actually really exciting despite the fact that at at mere 21 minutes and 38 seconds of actual fight time, this is one of the shortest main cards of all time in UFC history... it's probably one of the quickest ones across any promotion that features a similar 5 bout main card.