UFC 290 was one of the best cards in UFC history ... here's why
To say that UFC 290 was spectacular would not do it justice. It truly captured the essence of UFC International Fight Week, a culmination of everything we love about MMA. UFC 290 was one of the best cards in recent memory. And as stacked as UFC 291's card is, it will have a hard time trying to follow up 290.
Out of 13 fights, only four went to the scorecards, all barnburners. The prelims were not to be missed. Denise Gomes' 20-second knockout of Yazmin Jauregui had fans on their feet. And the featured prelim saw UFC legend Robbie Lawler's storybook career ending after his Hall of Fame induction.
In true "Ruthless" fashion, Lawler knocked Niko Price out 38 seconds after the opening bell and walked off into the sunset. That alone could have done the job, but that was nowhere near what waited in the main card.
UFC 290's main card answered many questions
Bo Nickal must have seen Lawler's swansong and felt a charge. The super prospect finished Val Woodburn in 38 seconds with his fists. While known for his grappling, Nickal showed us more of his arsenal.
As one star rises, one reascends. Dan Hooker has been in many wars in his career, including fights with Michael Chandler and Dustin Poirier. His comeback effort against Jalin Turner was a trademark performance. Exhaling through his mouth with his bleached hair turned crimson, Hooker swung for the fences. It was a statement win that could potentially lead to another title route.
Speaking of title routes, Dricus Du Plessis can no longer be denied. His title-eliminator bout against former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker was competitive on paper, and that's how it started out. But Du Plessis sealed his fate with a second-round finish, hitting the refresh button on the division. Middleweight champion Israel Adesanya just closed out his rivalry against Alex Pereira. Adesanya has beaten Whittaker twice, so Du Plessis' rise to the title bout presents a new challenge for the dominant champion. Let's hope the fight is as good as the faceoff was cringe-worthy.
Du Plessis will hope to do what Alexandre Pantoja did in the fight of the night. After scoring his third win over Brandon Moreno, Pantoja did more than snatch gold, he broke the cycle that clogged the UFC flyweight division's bottleneck. You just had to watch the fight to feel it, even then, it would not hit the same as watching it as it happened. It defined modern-day gladiators. A rematch is warranted, but it would also be fair to let the rest of the division get their opportunities.
The main event was the cherry on top of the sundae. There is not much to say other than who can beat Alexander Volkanovski in the featherweight division. He has once again showcased his superiority above all the others. Yair Rodriguez was and still is easily the biggest threat to the champion, but Volkanovski made him look like basic math. A dominant champion proving his greatness.
The perfect ending to the perfect card.
How does UFC 290 compare to previous cards?
We first need to look at where the bar sits. There have been plenty of stacked cards in UFC history, especially in recent years. The best ones tend to have the same formula; an uprising prospect, title eliminators, and one or two championship bouts.
Take UFC 189 in 2015 for example. The main card saw nothing but finishes. Thomas Almeida, Gunnar Nelson, and Jeremy Stephens scored a knockout, rear-naked choke, and flying knee, respectively. This was topped off with Robbie Lawler and Rory McDonald's Hall of Fame fight and Conor McGregor capturing gold for the first time against Chad Mendes-- both ended with punches.
If we want to take it further, let's add UFC 217 in 2017. This is pretty similar to 290 if we went fight-per-fight. Paulo Costa, before getting his title opportunity, finished Johnny Hendricks in the second round. Stephen Thompson got a decision over Jorge Masvidal. Rose Namajunas dethroned Joanna Jedrzejaczyk from strawweight supremacy. TJ Dillashaw made Cody Garbrandt look human after being crowned in a god-like performance. And to top things off, Georges St. Pierre returned to the octagon and became the middleweight champion after submitting Michael Bisping.
The difference, aside from the aforementioned narratives is the quality of the fights themselves. From the bottom to the top, they were four-to-five-star meetings. While Pantoja and Moreno were unanimously the torchbearers of the show, it's hard to pick from the rest. Some were close, others were one-sided. They all could have stood on their own, but it is the fact that they all happened in one night, with no weak links.
UFC 290 took the bar and stuck it at a higher place. Whether or not it is the peak is yet to be determined, but it's definitely as high up as we've seen.
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