Hot Takes

Merab beating Sean O'Malley twice proves pressure beats flash every single time.

Jon Jones should have fought Francis Ngannou. Everything else is excuses.

Fighters should be allowed to pick their own walkout music again. The atmosphere hasn't been the same.

Knees to a grounded opponent should be legal. The hand-on-the-mat game is the dumbest rule in the sport.

Leon Edwards' head kick on Kamaru Usman is the greatest comeback in a title fight ever.

Zhang Weili is the most complete women's fighter of this era. Striking, wrestling, cardio, all of it.

Alex Pereira is the most exciting fighter of this decade. Every fight is a coin flip that ends with someone asleep.

Tom Aspinall never lost that belt in the cage. Whatever the paperwork says, he's still the man to beat at heavyweight.

Media rankings are a popularity contest. Half the voters don't watch the prelims.

Top five UFC fighters ever: Jones, St-Pierre, Silva, Khabib, Demetrious Johnson. Fight about it.

Heavyweight should have a lower limit. Nobody needs to cut to 265 and walk around at 290.

UFC rankings should be run by independent analysts, not a media vote.

Short-notice replacements should get the full purse even when they lose. They save the card.

Kayla Harrison is the scariest women's champion since Amanda Nunes, and the whole division knows it.

Francis Ngannou leaving the UFC was the right call, and every fighter on the roster was watching.

The most dangerous place in MMA is the clinch against the cage, and fans still call it stalling.

Khabib vs. Tony Ferguson is the greatest fight we never got. Five cancellations.

Carlos Ulberg as light heavyweight champion proves the division is wide open.

Jones vs. Aspinall never happening is the biggest failure in UFC matchmaking history.

Jack Della Maddalena winning the welterweight belt was the best Australian moment since Volkanovski's first title.