Five Biggest Takeaways From UFC 211

Last night’s (Sat. May 13, 2017) UFC 211 pay-per-view (PPV) from the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas produced some of the best fights of the year thus far.

From a monstrous lightweight clash on the prelims, a featherweight legend reminding the world he’s still here, the solidification of a title contender, and two successful title defenses, fight night in Dallas didn’t let us down one bit.

Here are the five biggest takeaways from UFC 211……

5. Eddie Alvarez and Dustin Poirier Need To Rematch

One fight that had fight fans on the edge of their seats was the 155-pound clash between former lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez and “The Diamond” Dustin Poirier. The pair are two of the most game fighters on the UFC’s roster today, and their brawl didn’t disappoint.

Alvarez came in off of his second round knockout loss to Conor McGregor at UFC 205 last November, in which he dropped the lightweight title, and pushed the pace against Poirier early. Eventually “The Underground King” paid for it after he was struck with some nice shots from Poirier that had him rocked bad.

The former 155-pound champ was able to retaliate and rock “The Diamond” right back, however, once he got him to the ground he threw some illegal knees that forced a stop to the action, and the ref waived the fight off.

Both men put on an extraordinary match, and showed great respect and understanding towards one another after the fight. This is one that mixed martial arts (MMA) fans want to see run back once again.

4. Frankie Edgar Is Still The Man

Frankie Edgar is still at the top of the list when it comes to challengers for the featherweight title, and he doesn’t want you to forget it.

Yesterday Edgar shared the Octagon opposite rising Mexican star Yair Rodriguez, who came off of the biggest win of his career after knocking out UFC Hall Of Famer BJ Penn in the second round of their January meeting. Unfortunately for “El Pantera”, he wasn’t able to replicate that success against “The Answer.”

Although Edgar may have had two unsuccessful attempt at becoming the 145-pound champion of the world before, his recent two-fight win streak against Jeremy Stephens and Rodriguez makes it tough to deny the former lightweight champ a third crack at the throne.

The fashion in which Edgar dominated one of the youngest, most dynamic strikers of today was utterly dominant, and it should be interesting to see who lands opposite the New Jersey native next.

3. Someone Give Demian Maia A Title Shot Already

If seven straight wins against the UFC’s most elite 170 pounders isn’t enough for a shot at the title, I don’t know what is.

Demian Maia solidified his case as the No. 1-contender for Tyron Woodley‘s welterweight throne last night when he edged out Jorge Masvidal in a three round thriller. Now the Brazilian has earned wins over the likes of Neil Magny, Gunnar Nelson, Matt Brown, Carlos Condit, and now Masvidal.

Maia arguably could’ve sat back and waited for Woodley after his dominant win over former interim welterweight champ Carlos Condit, but decided to get back in the Octagon and further prove his case for title contendership.

After his seventh straight win under the UFC banner, it’s time to give the former middleweight title challenger a shot at becoming the king of 170 pounds.

2. Joanna Jędrzejczyk Is The Top Female Fighter In The World:

Five women have stepped up, and five women have been sent back down as it pertains to those who have dared to challenge dominant strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk for the title.

“Joanna Champion” remains undefeated in her MMA career, after having won the strawweight title from inaugural champ Carla Esparza back in 2015 with a vicious second round knockout. Now the Polish knockout artist has five successful title defenses under her belt against Jessica Penne, Valerie Letourneau, Claudia Gadelha, Karolina Kowalkiewicz, and now Jessica Andrade.

Jedrzejczyk defeated Andrade in the co-main event of last night’s UFC 211 PPV, and she did it in completely dominant fashion. Jedrzejczyk looked extremely slick for the 25 minutes she was inside the Octagon against the Brazilian, and looked better than ever in her championship performance.

Next on tap for the champ is most likely a clash with “Thug” Rose Namajunas, who comes off of a win over Michelle Waterson. If Jedrzejczyk is able to get past the 24-year-old challenger, she would have essentially cleaned out her division.

1. Stipe Miocic May Just Beat The Streak

No heavyweight champion in the history of the UFC has ever been able to defend the title more than twice, but Stipe Miocic may just beat that streak.

After his performance in the main event of last night’s UFC 211 PPV, obliterating former champ Junior dos Santos in the first round, it’s looking more and more like Miocic could be on the verge of becoming the greatest heavyweight champion of all time.

It’s still unclear as to who will challenge Cleveland’s finest for the moniker of “Baddest Man On The Planet” next, but names such as Francis Ngannou, Cain Velasquez, and Fabricio Werdum come to mind. Any of the three would be a tough challenge for Miocic’s third title defense, but the fight most MMA fans want to see is a bout between the Croatian and former heavyweight kingpin Cain Velasquez.

Both men are incredibly similar in style, build, and toughness. The pairing of the two has the potential to be one of the greatest heavyweight tile fights of our time. Regardless of what’s next for Miocic, it will be interesting to see if he’s the one who can finally beat the streak, and become the first fighter in UFC history to have defended the heavyweight crown more than twice.