April - 2015
SCRAPP! FIGHT MAGAZINE
28
Davis’ List
5. Carla Esparza vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk- UFC 185
4. Junior Dos Santos vs. Cain Velasquez II -UFC 155
3. Anthony Pettis vs. Rafael Dos Anjos- UFC 185
2. T.J. Dillashaw vs. Renan Barao – UFC 173
Carla Esparza is a legitimate champion. She has
a well rounded skill set and she is going to be a
contender in the division for a long time. That
said, some fighters just have your number. Joan-
na Jedrzejczyk had Esparza’s number and it was
immediately clear. It’s very rare that you will see
a defending champion look terrified. As though
there is absolutely nothing that they can do to
their opponent. At UFC 185, Esparza looked like
a deer in headlights until the fight was finally
stopped.
After losing his belt to Junior Dos Santos in their
first outing, Cain Velasquez absolutely punished
Dos Santos for it in their second outing. It wasn’t
the most surprising outcome though. Velasquez
only has one loss on his record and it was the
flash knock out that he suffered to Dos Santos.
Later, the rumor mill was distributing informa-
tion about injuries that Velasquez carried into
that first fight. Having healed up and also de-
stroyed Antonio Silva one fight before, it wasn’t
shocking to see Velasquez regain his title.
Prediction’s of Anthony Pettis being a long
time champion were plentiful. The only ques-
tion mark was Khabib Nurmagomedov. No one
really thought Rafael Dos Anjos had a chance
at beating Pettis. Well, except Nurmagomedov
who predicted Dos Anjos would dominantly de-
feat Pettis. Sure enough, Showtime Pettis was
never able to find his groove after suffering an
orbital fracture in the early moments of round
one. From there it was all RDA. Dos Anjos beat
Pettis in every aspect of MMA and made him
look like he didn’t belong in the same cage as
him. It still seems strange that Dos Anjos is the
champion in the most talented division in the
UFC. That is the state of the division though.
Now the question is if Dos Anjos can hold on to
it when he faces the winner of Nurmagomedov
vs. Donald Cerrone?
Just two fights before Dillashaw’s fight against
Renan Barao he dropped a split decision to Ra-
phael Assuncao. It was a semi controversial split
decision, as they usually are, but nobody really
thought he was ready for a title shot just yet. He
was considered a great athlete, and he trained
with the best at Team Alpha Male. No doubt he
had potential, but the general feeling was he
wasn’t quite championship material. He silenced
the doubters when he dropped Barao in the first
round, and continued to beat him down until he
eventually finished him in the fifth round. It was
as though Dillashaw was three steps ahead of
Barrao the entire fight.
