Making the Best of a Bad Situation

UFC 239 had many fights that fans had their eyes on in one of the most stacked cards of the year for International Fight Week. The card featured some spectacular finishes from top to bottom and left us with some controversial questions in Saturday’s main event. Although the spotlight shines on those that walked away victorious on July 6, what happens to those that came up short?

Photo creds: MMA Mania & MMANytt

There are two fighters that come to mind from Saturday’s PPV event that were handed a tough loss but didn't let it phase their personalities. Ben Askren and Thiago Santos were both promoted heavily in the lead up to the fight. Although one was handed a vicious knockout loss while the other fought tooth and nail in a five-round war, they both came out winners in the eyes of many. It is one of those rare instances where, even though a fighter loses on one of the biggest stages, they can still grow their brand and their fan base. In MMA, you sometimes have to make the best of a bad situation, win or lose.

For Ben Askren, most of us expect him to be on the wrong end of a highlight reel that will live on for the rest of time. Getting knocked out cold in five seconds, a new UFC record, in one of the more hyped up bouts of UFC 239 is not how you want to conclude your second bout within the organization. There are many reasons for a fighter like Askren to turtle up and live under a rock in hopes that people will soon forget. What stood out to the MMA community after the jaw dropping conclusion of Saturday's fight is the way Askren handled himself after the choice of celebration from Jorge Masvidal. Askren was unconscious for quite a while after taking a flying knee to the head and needed medical assistance to be helped out of the cage. Many people were concerned for his health and the severity of his injuries after the fight. Askren would eventually be cleared by doctors as having nothing more than a concussion, but the celebrations afterwards and the way Askren handled the ugly loss may have helped increase his popularity within the UFC.

An avid trash-talker, Askren was humble in defeat after suffering the first loss of his professional career. He later answered to a post from fellow MMA competitor, Heather Hardy, who stood up for Askren asking fans to give him support instead of demoralizing him for such a nasty knockout by saying “Lol it’s fine, I probably deserve it.” Askren was asked on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show about the lead-up to the fight and if the outcome was going to change the way he carries himself in future bouts and he simply said “No.” This carried a lot for Askren because many fighters handle a loss poorly and let it affect their career. Someone like Askren who was given his first blemish on his MMA record has taken this more as a learning process to mature and develop instead of sulking and letting the media get in his head. This has created plenty of buzz around the MMA community helping Ben grow his already large fan base, something many fighters don’t see after losing in a fashion like Askren did on Saturday. It’s kind of strange to say that a fighter can be on the bad end of a record-breaking knockout and still be moving up in the eyes of UFC fans.

Askren wasn’t the only fighter to see an increase in popularity from Saturday’s Pay-Per-View event. The card was headlined by arguably the top UFC star Jon Jones defending his title against Brazilian knockout artist Thiago Santos. Not many had Santos coming out victorious against one of the UFC’s all-time greats, but his gutsy performance raised the eyebrows of all those that doubted. The fight went the full distance and one judge actually had it in favor of Santos, but Jones would edge out a split decision win retaining his belt yet again in a decision that left fans and analysts wondering if Jones was the true victor. Not only did the controversy create a buzz for Thiago Santos and his performance in Saturday’s main event, but his toughness is what made fans admire his heart and determination to win.

Early in the fight, Santos clearly was having complications with his left leg. He threw a kick, landed awkwardly, and could not use his leg to its full capacity which is one of Santos’ most dangerous weapons. Even though Santos visibly had a limp, struggled throwing kicks, and had a tough time planting that leg to throw punches or use it in any aspect of a fight, he didn’t let that hold him back. We saw Santos throw numerous high kicks, leg kicks and explode in multiple punch combinations despite the leg injury. It clearly played a large factor in the fight because Santos was not able to fight his aggressive, push-the-pace style of fighting and that very well could have been the deciding factor in who wins that fight. Later reports showed that Thiago Santos suffered a torn ACL, MCL, PCL, meniscus, and a fractured tibia throughout the five-round fight, a majority of those coming in the first round when Santos landed awkwardly after throwing a kick. After hearing the significance of his knee injury, it made the fight that much more impressive to be able to nearly defeat one of the sports greats on one leg.

What made Santos more admirable is the fact that he never complained nor used this as an excuse as to why he lost. He was humble in defeat and explained to reporters that it is a part of the sport. To see how close he came to successfully dethroning the best Light Heavyweight of all-time, while severely injured, made many MMA fans, including myself, think Santos could easily state his case for a rematch. Jones has already shut down the idea of fighting Santos again, but it makes me extremely interested to know how the outcome of the fight would have been if Santos was healthy for all five rounds. Some have said Jones fights better as his opponent gets better and some have said Santos should have won, but I guess we will never get to know unless we see them meet again in the future. All I do know is Thiago Santos gained many fans by showing his skills against someone as dominate as Jon Jones and gained even more when the world found out the extent of his injuries. Regardless of a rematch or not, Santos is going to be sidelined some time due to his injury so the MMA world is going to have to wait some time to see if Santos has what it takes to beat one of the UFC greats.

A loss for any fighter always puts them a few steps back, but sometimes the performance, heart, and ability to stay humble can take them further than the victor. At the end of the day, these are athletes that strive to win. Regardless of the outcome, fighters sometimes have to make the best of a bad situation to put them a few steps closer to greatness.