Henry Cejudo Stops TJ Dillashaw in 32 Seconds

Henry Cejudo Stops TJ Dillashaw in 32 Seconds

The UFC began a New Year and a new TV deal in Brooklyn, New York and we saw a mixture of controversy and stand out performances to begin the ESPN era.

Henry Cejudo defended his UFC flyweight title against TJ Dillashaw and may well have saved the entire division. Cejudo blew the reigning bantamweight champion away and stopped Dillashaw in just 32 seconds of the opening round.

Cejudo dropped his man and was relentless before the referee waved the fight off before it had really begun.

Dillashaw complained bitterly about the stoppage, and while he was undoubtedly hurt, looked as though he was still in the fight and defending himself. Without taking anything away from Cejudo, I tend to agree the stoppage was premature and Dillashaw wasn’t afforded the time to recover he probably deserved.

Both want the rematch, Cejudo at bantamweight, Dillashaw at flyweight, and with Dana White agreeing the stoppage was early, a rematch looks a certainty, at what weight is anything but.

Cejudo has now, in back to back fights beaten Demetrious Johnson and now TJ Dillashaw, arguably the two best fighters at their respective weights. It’s a pity with the flyweight roster now depleted and the entire division facing an uncertain future, Cejudo still finds himself treading water somewhat, he deserves better.

Dillashaw drops to 16-4 while Cejudo improves his record to 14-2.

Greg Hardy should have been nowhere near the co-main event, that is based on his experience and not the controversy around him, although that controversy was almost certainly why he was in such a lofty position on the card.

The former NHL star should not have been on the same card as Rachel Ostovich. An accused domestic abuser and an alleged victim of the same crime on the same show, it was insensitive but also predictable.

Hardy was quite rightly thrown out for the illegal knee of a downed opponent, for which he apologised for at the post-fight press conference, but far more experienced fighters have done exactly the same.

We can have our views on Hardy even being in the UFC, but others on the roster have their own controversial past and have received a free pass, and in regards to Hardy we need to be consistent in our opinions, Hardy should be treated the same as the rest.

Hardy is raw, being in the sport for only a little over 2 years it would hardly be any different. There is plenty to work on, but there are skills, his problem is he will be doing it on the biggest platform there is. There is nowhere to hide, often exposure comes with then being exposed. Ideally, he needs to learn his trade elsewhere, but at the very least he needs time to develop.

Donald Cerrone reintroduced himself to the lightweight division, Alex Hernandez was favoured to beat Cerrone but was largely dominated before being stopped in the 2nd round. Cerrone in victory might have earned himself a money fight with Conor McGregor.

If McGregor does end up facing Cerrone, I think I it tells us where McGregor is now. There are higher ranked contenders who McGregor should fight if he is serious about another title run, is he now in the ‘fun fights’ stage of his career. Cerrone might be 35 and with plenty of miles on the clock. But as he proved against Hernandez he is still highly dangerous, and for McGregor, Cerrone represents high risk with little reward.