The Great Divide: the best fight on Fight Island

The Great Divide is a recurring feature here at MMA Fighting where two of our staff debate a topic in the MMA world, whether it’s news, a fight, something crazy that someone did, something crazy that someone didn’t do, or something moral dilemma that threatens the foundations of sport, and tries to find a resolution. We’d love for you to join the discussion in the comments below.

With the first “Fight Island” event a week away and four cards slated to take place in 23 days, we ask a simple question: What’s the fight in July that you can’t miss?

With so many amazing fighters about to compete, there are no wrong answers, but Jed Meshew and Alexander K. Lee will do their best to convince you why their choices are absolutely, unequivocally correct.

A GREAT OF ALL TIMES IS IN ACTION

Mesh: First let me start by saying what a disappointment “Fight Island” turned out to be. Once again, the UFC had a wonderful gift-wrapped opportunity for them and they turned it into … a completely normal series of events taking place in a place they’ve been to multiple times before. “UFSea?” More like UFSee-how-creative-moribund-we-lucky-we-ever-escape-the-Affliction-shirt-days. (Editor’s Note: Catchy!)

But I digress. Despite UFC’s complete lack of promotional chutzpah, they still managed to fill these four events with a series of excellent fights. However, only two of them could be considered “not to be missed” action and sadly one of those fights, Kamaru Usman against Gilbert Burns, has just been wiped out by Gilbert Burns testing positive for COVID-19. Regardless, Usman-Burns would still have paled in comparison to the historical excellence he expects on the UFC 251 undercard.

In the second title fight of the debut event “Fight Island”, José Aldo has the opportunity to join the two-division UFC champions club when he faces Petr Yan. Do you deserve this opportunity? On his merits in the division, of course not. But Do you deserve this opportunity? You are absolutely right, it does.

Aldo is one of the top five fighters of all time and, despite Joe Rogan’s relentless and absurd proclamations, he is the greatest featherweight of all time. The only reason Aldo doesn’t get as much shine as it should is because the UFC never let him go up to lightweight to eliminate Anthony Pettis, which you can bet on your sweet ass he would have; instead, Aldo is getting a questionable title shot in one of the deepest divisions in the sport, and luckily for him, Yan is probably the most favorable matchup for him among the top bantamweight contenders.

Yan is not as fast as other 135ers, he is more predictable and much less proven than, say, Aljamain Sterling. Aldo may have lost some speed with his fastball, but he is still one of the world’s most technically skilled fighters and has a real chance to further cement his legacy. That is the unmissable television.

On top of that, Aldo is just a fighter who should always be thrilled to see him compete. He is the best defensive fighter in MMA history and it is a pleasure to see him work. There aren’t many fighters who can stop, slip, deflect, and throw each hit in a five-hit combo, and then make you pay with a clean counter. Aldo is one of them. Plus, it’s one of the few smaller ones that can completely tweak their style as needed to accommodate the confrontations that don’t suit them. In short, even beyond his prime, Aldo is playing around with a bigger toy box than most people in the sport, and watching him do it is something I will never miss.

Honorable Mention: Fabricio Werdum against Alexander Gustafsson. Gus at heavyweight! Werdum, potentially less fat and terrible than his last time out! Strange heavyweight matches that would have seemed crazy four years ago! It’s fun for the whole family!

YOU WERE MY CURIOSITY, NOW YOU HAVE MY ATTENTION

Leeward: For my choice, I’m leaning towards a fight that I saw as mere rarity when it was first announced, but which I now see as one that could have high entertainment value and intrigue as to what it could mean for every man. race.

I’m talking about the middleweight showdown between former UFC champion Robert Whittaker and Darren Till.

For many fans, this reservation made perfect sense, given that Whittaker needed an opponent name for his first fight since losing his title to Israel Adesanya. Guys like Jared Cannonier (who was supposed to face Whittaker in March), Jack Hermansson and Kelvin Gastelum did not meet the requirements and beyond that it is a group of untested prospects and guardians in the ranking. An Adesanya rematch was felt too soon, especially with a worthy challenger in Paulo Costa waiting in the wings, and while Yoel Romero is always a fun name to pitch, no man should have to fight Romero three times.

Then out of nowhere came Till, the popular Scouser who made a strong statement in his middleweight debut by getting a divided nod over Gastelum. Here’s a boy with a name, a style that blends well with Whittaker’s, and someone who can sell a fight. Even better, both Whittaker and Till are essentially 185-pound weight-reducing fighters, so there won’t be a noticeable size difference when the two meet in the main event on July 25.

Whittaker is a highly respected and sympathetic fighter, it is actually positive that there is no need to force junk conversations between him and Till. If anything, Till has done an excellent job developing his own brand with his unconventional humor and his willingness to say almost anything on social media, even at his own expense. There’s a buzz in this fight, even if it’s not your typical “I’m going to cheat on you, suck!” type of heat in which the UFC is fixed.

These two are unlikely to be involved in a fight, so there could be breaks in the action, but Whittaker is so good at adapting and putting pressure on his opponents that he will force Till into some fun exchanges. And Till should be eager to find his first ending in almost three years.

A loss shouldn’t hurt either side too much, as Whittaker’s more than four-year unbeaten streak is still fresh on people’s minds and Till will get credit just for facing a former champion in just his second fight in a new division. A victory puts either man in a position to challenge Adesanya by the end of the year, and Till has already planted the seeds for that showdown.

If “Fight Island” is supposed to be a showcase for international fighters, then Whittaker and Till are the perfect match to demonstrate that notion.

Honorable Mention: Calvin Kattar vs. Dan Ige. The featherweight division is on fire right now, and right after the efforts of Josh Emmett and Shane Burgos in the Fight of the Year, we have another 145-pound matchup that is outright on paper. Really, you could take almost two names from the top 15 featherweight and combine them and you get something spectacular.

In this case, they are two of the most promising current contenders. Kattar has won three of his last four, while Ige has won six in a row, and the winner could be the next for anyone to come out of the Alexander Volkanovski-Max Holloway rematch with the title. Regardless of those bets, sign me up for five rounds of Kattar and Ige working every day.