What's worse than a loss? A draw. This isn't the first time a championship fight has resulted in a draw, and probably not the last time either... But what if there was a mandatory sixth round? Everybody probably has their own opinion about who won last night between Jan Błachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev so we will just skip over the details for argument's sake.
I've been saying for a while that an additional round should be an option to decide who will win the fight if it comes down to a draw (title fights only) but even more so now because there still is no official champion; carnage throughout the division.
Could either guy have done just that little bit more to edge out the initial decision? I would be intrigued to get a fighter's POV on this to see if they agree.
During the presser, Dana said that it's now going to be Glover Teixeira vs Jamahal Hill is next for the still-vacant LHW championship; imagine if this one goes to a draw too!
Final thoughts: Yes. An additional round should be introduced if a title fight goes to a draw. Why? It helps keep (or rebuild) a structure throughout the division and to keep things moving forward
What's your take on it?
It's been a while since my last post, but as always; yours truly
Luke.
Top comments (3)
Ankalaev nailed that fight, he'll need to work on his calf kick / inside shin defence for sure but everything else looked spot on, great showcase of his skills. Has hard as it is I would just get back in there, put this one down to experience, those comments he made to Joe Rogan in his pre fight interview didn't go down well at all and excluded him out of the next round for the title 🤦♂️
I think it's pretty crazy seeing people so adamantly in defence of Ank. He's a fighter that has consistently forgotten he can wrestle until he's really having issues and I think it cost him the first 3 rounds. Ankalaev showed some decent stuff on the feet but Jan's kicks were by far the most effective strikes of those rounds and I don't think Jan ever looked uncomfortable until his back was on the floor. He did some nice work with the teeps to the gut but I just think that Jan looked overall better in the striking exchanges.
I gave Jan the first 3 rounds live and Ank the last 2, with R5 as a 10-8. A draw for sure imo, although I wouldn't be mad at R1 going to either man.
As far as an extra round at the end I like it conceptually but obviously there's a lot of logistical stuff around paying the fighters more for that round, knowing whether or not to conserve your cardio for a 6th round or to let it all go in R5, whether you train for 5 or 6, all of that stuff.
That was a horrific decision, Błachowicz was responsible for a fair amount of damage but Ankalaev never stopped working, never gave up - great future champ IMO, just needs to sort out those calves 😵💫