Mar 18, 2015
Upsets are a marvelous thing. In fact, you could say that unexpected upsets are what keep combat sports interesting. Particularly upsets of the kind that we witnessed in the main and co-main events of UFC 185, in which the favored fighters not only suffered defeat, but were proven to be vastly, utterly inferior to their underdog opponents.
Anthony Pettis was expected to be the Anderson Silva of this era, but Rafael Dos Anjos is no Chael Sonnen. The Brazilian fighter and Rafael Cordeiro product took Pettis to the woodshed for five rounds, eating plenty of shots but landing more of his own, and scoring takedowns that, for once, Pettis couldn't deter with his dangerous guard. In fact, Dos Anjos sliced right through that guard with ease.
In the co-main, Polish kickboxer Joanna Jedrzejczyk beat strawweight champion Carla Esparza in even more convincing fashion, capping off a week of talking with nine minutes of very impressive walking. Jedrzejczyk, who we've decided to call "Lady Golovkin" to save ourselves the embarassment of mispronouncing her name, beat Esparza to a pulp and seemed to undo all of the improvements made to Esparza's striking in just a matter of minutes, turning her fight with the former champion into nothing but target practice.
Our episode kicks off with a question from a fan about the nature of upsets, which almost always seem predictable in retrospect, and the discussion flows from there. Enjoy the show, folks.