Best and Worst from UFC Fight Night 143: Cejudo vs. Dillashaw

The UFC’s first show under the ESPN banner is in the books, and it was a pretty good one to start 2019 with. Pretty much every fight on the show delivered the goods – albeit perhaps not in the way that the UFC brass might’ve wished – and while the show might’ve posed more questions post-fight than it did answers, that’s not always a bad thing.

Here are the best and worst moments from UFC Fight Night 143: Cejudo vs. Dillashaw.

#1 Best: Cejudo steps up big time

Cejudo's win over Dillashaw was the biggest of his career

Given Henry Cejudo only won his UFC Flyweight title with a highly contentious decision over Demetrious Johnson, it was understandable that plenty of people were underestimating him going into last night’s fight with TJ Dillashaw. But the Olympic gold medallist came out with the bit between his teeth and immediately proved any doubters wrong with a resounding knockout of the UFC Bantamweight champion just seconds into the fight.

Sure, there were a couple of questions surrounding the stoppage – more on that later – but nobody can really play down what Cejudo did last night. Prior to the fight, people were talking about Dillashaw as one of the all-time greats, and yet Cejudo iced him in under a minute. He didn’t even need to use that vaunted wrestling game to win the fight.

Where Cejudo goes from here is a bit of a question mark; he’s spoken about this fight “saving” the Flyweight division from the possible cut that has been rumoured for months now, but post-fight it appeared that the talk was of a rematch with Dillashaw, but this time with TJ’s title on the line. If that happens then the future of 125lbs would immediately be questioned again, but that’s a story for another time. At any rate, nobody is going to be underestimating ‘The Messenger’ again anytime soon.

#1 Worst: Hardy’s illegal knee

Greg Hardy delivered an illegal knee and earned himself a disqualification in his UFC debut

Greg Hardy was already a controversial figure coming into his UFC debut thanks to a chequered past marred by serious accusations of domestic violence. The former NFL defensive end could’ve quieted that controversy with a big win last night over Allen Crowder, but instead, he’s walking away as an even more divisive figure. Simply put, he made one of the most questionable decisions inside the Octagon in some time.

Hardy started off strongly, stunning Crowder early on, but by the second round, it was quite clear that he’d run out of steam. Crowder was beginning to take over with his striking and even felt confident enough to taunt the big man. But when he shot in for a takedown, Hardy defended well – and then let his frustrations get the better of him by knocking Crowder silly with an illegal knee to the head.

Erroneous strikes happen in the UFC all the time, but this one, in all honesty, seemed malicious and thrown out of anger, given Hardy was losing to an opponent that was taunting him, all while the crowd were against him too. It reminded me of Michael Bisping’s equally head-scratching illegal knee against Jorge Rivera in 2011 more than anything else.

The fight was clearly ruled as a disqualification win for Crowder, and while Dana White has already suggested Hardy will be given a second chance in the UFC, you have to ask whether that’s the right call, given that he didn’t exactly look like a UFC-level fighter here and then used a nasty illegal strike to get himself out of a hole.

#2 Best: Cerrone gets back to his best

Donald Cerrone looked back to his best in his win over Alexander Hernandez

Judging by last night’s showing, any talk of Donald Cerrone being near the end of his storied career probably needs to stop now. Faced with a very dangerous opponent – the outstanding prospect Alexander Hernandez, 2-0 in the UFC – many people expected ‘Cowboy’ to fold under the pressure, particularly given a couple of bad losses in recent fights. But in the main fight of the first prelims to be shown on ESPN, Cerrone rolled back the years.

Simply put, Cerrone looked absolutely fantastic. His striking looked on-point throughout, and he busted Hernandez up in the first round before putting him away with a trademark head kick in the second. More impressively, Cerrone weathered an early storm from his younger foe and never really looked like he was on the verge of being finished.

Perhaps in hindsight, it was the issue of being a much smaller man in the Octagon that put paid to Cerrone’s run at Welterweight, rather than a downturn in his skill level or durability. Don’t forget that the last time he fought at 155lbs, he went on a pretty wild run of 8 straight wins before his loss to Rafael Dos Anjos. Judging by his performance last night, another run like that is definitely possible.

#2 Worst: Was Dillashaw stopped too early?

Was Dillashaw stopped too early in his fight with Cejudo?

While Henry Cejudo’s performance in the main event was undoubtedly fantastic, it’s unfortunate that coming out of the event, the main talking point – aside from Greg Hardy – has largely centred around the idea that the fight was stopped a little too soon. Sure, TJ Dillashaw was badly hurt and was taking a lot of shots, but he was never actually unconscious and has since claimed that he could’ve continued.

Dana White has also agreed, labelling it a “horrible stoppage”, basically suggesting that in a big-time title fight like last night’s, the fighters should be given a longer leash in terms of being allowed time to recover. I’m not sure that I agree with that – all fights should be treated equally – but I could see the argument that Dillashaw was stopped too soon.

Essentially though, would it have made a difference had the referee let the fight continue? For me, probably not – I suspect Cejudo was about to finish him regardless – but this is the kind of thing that a fighter like Dillashaw will probably be able to parlay into a rematch, rightly or wrongly. It leaves a question hanging over an amazing showing from Cejudo and in that sense, it’s a bit frustrating.

#3 Best: Gillespie takes a flawless victory

Gregor Gillespie's win over Yancy Medeiros was basically a flawless victory

The Lightweight fight between the undefeated Gregor Gillespie and the tough veteran Yancy Medeiros was flying under the radar somewhat last night – largely due to Gillespie’s avoidance of trash talk – but it was still a fascinating one. How would Gillespie and his stellar wrestling deal with an ultra-tough opponent who usually competes at 170lbs? The answer was very well indeed.

Gillespie put on a flawless performance, basically. Medeiros never had an answer for the former NCAA Division I champion’s wrestling game, and Gillespie was on him like glue from the beginning, never giving him a chance to breathe, let alone fight back. When the fight was finally stopped at the end of the second round, the post-fight stats revealed that Medeiros had landed just one strike – a truly alarming total given his usual high output.

Surely the win must put Gillespie in title contention; Medeiros wasn’t a top ten fighter coming in or anything like that but the way ‘The Gift’ dealt with him was jaw-dropping, particularly when we’d seen the likes of Donald Cerrone and Francisco Trinaldo struggle with him in the past. Gillespie has already turned 30, so it makes no sense for the UFC to continue to build him slowly. This highly exciting contender needs a highly ranked opponent, and fast.