Israel Adesanya won the interim middleweight title in April 2019, and went on to claim the undisputed title later that year. Photo / Getty Images
Christopher Reive looks at the week that was, and the weekend ahead, in combat sports.
A Kiwi history of interim belts
It was announced last weekend that Kai Kara-France's next bout will be for the interim UFC flyweight championship, in a rematch against Mexican Brandon Moreno. Kara-France will be the fourth athlete with links to New Zealand to fight for an interim title.
Israel Adesanya is the most recent of those bouts. In April 2019, Adesanya took on Kelvin Gastelum for the interim middleweight strap at UFC 236 in Atlanta. This was essentially set up earlier in the year when then-champion Robert Whittaker was forced to withdraw from a defence against Gastelum in Melbourne due to a medical issue. Adesanya ended up fighting Anderson Silva in the headline fight, called out Gastelum for walking around at the event with a title over his shoulder, and the seeds were sown.
I cannot stress enough how good this fight was. I was lucky enough to be there to watch it cageside and it was crazy. If I'm asked by someone what fight they should watch to get an idea of the sport, that's the one I point them to. This fight had everything. Both men were rocked at various stages over the five rounds, there was grappling on show and some submission attempts, and at the end of it all, Adesanya finished strong to claim the interim belt with a unanimous decision win. If you haven't seen that fight and enjoy the sport, I would recommend checking it out. Great performances on both sides.
Speaking of hectic fights for the interim middleweight title, Auckland-born Whittaker's first bout against Yoel Romero fits the bill as well. Another fight that was frantic on the feet and saw some grappling mixed in, Whittaker proved his wrestling chops by staving off 14 of 18 takedown attempts from Romero, and was never really in trouble on the ground or under fence control.
Despite appearing to have suffered a knee injury in the first round, Whittaker didn't slow down with his striking approach on the feet – which involves a lot of kicks mixed in with his punches. While Romero appeared to get the better of the opening rounds, Whittaker turned things in his favour in the third as he turned the heat up on Romero and stung him with some solid shots. All three judges saw it the same – 48-47 Whittaker, giving him the last three rounds of the fight.
Mark Hunt was the first New Zealand fighter to feature in an interim UFC title fight, taking on grappling sensation Fabricio Werdum for the heavyweight strap in 2014, in a bout that exemplified the notion that it only takes one moment to change a fight.
Hunt managed things superbly in the early going. His advantage in the matchup was in the striking department and he was finding plenty of success there, sending Werdum to the canvas a few times. Even when he scored a takedown and took the fight into Werdum's world, he maintained position well and never really let the Brazilian get a look at a possible submission before standing back up.
It was more of the same in the second round. Hunt was patient and calm when the pair were on the feet, while Werdum was looking for unorthodox attacks such as spinning kicks. But it was a change of tactic that ultimately won the fight for Werdum. He'd had no success in scoring a takedown on Hunt. Every time he shot in, Hunt was quick to get his hips back and stop the attempt. So, after another failed attempt, Werdum dropped his level as if to go for a takedown, which drew a corresponding defence from Hunt. Instead of shooting in, Werdum threw a knee up the middle, catching Hunt on the chin and sending him to the floor. He then swarmed with short shots on the ground until the referee stepped in.
Not the result Kiwi fans wanted, but it was an entertaining clash of styles which ended in a way no one would have predicted.
Blood Diamond out
Kiwi UFC welterweight contender Blood Diamond's return to the octagon has been delayed.
The 33-year-old has been forced to withdraw from his upcoming bout against American Orion Cosce scheduled for UFC 275 in Singapore next month. While the UFC is yet to confirm the news, both fighters have addressed it on social media. The withdrawal is due to an injury sustained by Diamond in training camp.
It's the second time the fight between Diamond and Cosce has been cancelled. The pair were supposed to meet for Diamond's UFC debut back in February. Cosce was forced out of that one due to Covid-19, and Diamond instead took on Jeremiah Wells, suffering a first-round submission loss.
Nyika's next opponent
The two-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist has booked his next professional bout, with the 26-year-old cruiserweight set to meet Australian Karim Maatalla (2-1) in a swing bout on the undercard of the undisputed lightweight title fight between George Kambosos Jr and Devin Haney in Melbourne early next month.
Nyika's bout will be a maximum of either four rounds or six, depending on the time allowing on the broadcast. In the release sent out by event promoter Lou DiBella, the bout was noted as a "showcase" fight for Nyika, and when I spoke with him recently he said he looked forward to living up to that expectation.
"That's what I'm designed to do; I am a fireworks display," Nyika said. "That's exactly what I train to do; I train to please, and I train to entertain. That's my job. I would be doing a disservice if I wasted people's money."
Fellow Kiwis Junior Fa (v Lucas Browne) and Hemi Ahio (v Joe Jones) will also be fighting on the June 5 card.
Canelo v GGG III
More great news for boxing fans. The trilogy many of us were hoping to see now appears to be set in stone, with Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez putting his undisputed super middleweight crown on the line against 'GGG' Gennadiy Golovkin in September.
The booking comes after Alvarez came up short in his bid to dethrone WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol in his last bout, while Golovkin added Ryota Murata's WBA middleweight title to his IBF and IBO belts.
Now, if you're not a big boxing fan you may be asking why this fight is such a big deal. Basically, these are two of the finest boxers the sport has ever seen. Alvarez holds a 57-2-2 record and has held world titles in four different weight classes. Golovkin's record stands at 42-1-1 – with his only blemishes being against Alvarez. Both fighters have more than 35 wins by stoppage.
For this fight, Alvarez will drop back a weight class while Golovkin will move up to get another shot at his Mexican foe. Both of their fights to date have been at middleweight, with the first ending in a controversial draw and the second being a majority decision for Alvarez.
This weekend
It's a rare quiet weekend on the combat sports front in terms of major promotions. However, there are always fights to be watched.
The biggest bout on this weekend comes to us from boxing, where WBA lightweight champion Gervonta Davis will put his belt on the line against Rolando Romero. The fight was originally supposed to happen last December, but Romero was pulled due to sexual assault allegations. Davis went on to defeat Isaac Cruz by unanimous decision as Romero's legal issues were getting sorted. With no charges filed the fight was back on, and now the two will duke it out this weekend. Davis is one of the sport's fastest rising stars. At 27, he already has a 26-0 record with 24 wins inside the distance. Romero, 26, has a 14-0 record with 12 wins by stoppage. You can catch that fight card on Spark Sport from 1pm.
In MMA, Australasia's top promotion, Eternal, returns on Sunday night from Perth with a couple of New Zealand fighters in action. Bantamweights Lawrence Lui and Nick Thornton, both fighting out of Auckland's City Kickboxing, will make their returns to competition on the card, which is headlined by a lightweight title defence between the champion Jack Becker and challenger Aidan Aguilera. That is available to watch via UFC Fight Pass – the UFC's online streaming service.
'What a sad watch. Whole thing was sad.'