UFC 282 could not have backfired worse for the UFC. Amid a gambling scandal that has already done a lot of damage to the company's legitimacy, a judging scandal arose from superstar-in-waiting Paddy Pimblett being gifted a decision in the co-main event over Jared Gordon and the lacklustre main event between Jan Blachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev being considered a draw, thus keeping the UFC light-heavyweight championship vacant a little while longer.
That all boded incredibly poorly for the final UFC event of the year. If UFC 282 was supposed to end the year on a bang and ended up as a damp squib, what would happen at this week's UFC Vegas, which was already intended to be table-setting for 2023?
Most of the fights involved people who either aren't very good (Bryan Battle), have been around for a long time without making much of an impact (Bobby Green) or both (Alex Caceres) while the top two contests were designed to see who's next to the guy who's next in line. Sensing they were for the chop, everyone fought their heart out, win or lose.
The same could be said for the co-main, in which #9 Arman Tsarukyan proved he's the real deal at 155lbs by snapping #12 Damir Izmagulov's 19-fight win streak in a thrilling three-round contest.
This is where the fun came to an abrupt stop.
Sean Strickland hits Jared Cannonier with a jab. /Zuffa
While the other contenders are busy facing each other, matching the #3 Jared Cannonier and #7 Sean Strickland up to see who's the better of the duo makes a lot of sense. In Cannonier's last fight at UFC 276, he lost to then-champion Israel Adesanya by unanimous decision. At the same event, Strickland was knocked out cold by current-champion Alex Perreira.
But finding out who's the best of the runners up is a lot less interesting when their styles are taken into consideration.
Cannonier fights MMA like he's an Olympic Cuban boxer, pressuring opponents with footwork but not actually throwing anything unless he sees an opening. As a 185lb fighter who used to fight up at 220lbs, this technique generally works as he still carries heavyweight power in the middleweight division and has brought him to a 15-6 record.
However, against craftier fighters like Adesanya or Robert Whittaker who prevent him from finding openings, he ends up spending the whole fight walking in a circle.
As for Strickland, he'll take any opportunity in an interview or on social media to let the fans know he's a crazy, unhinged psycho, but then he actually fights and reveals the only insanity is in how basic his style is: standing still and spamming jabs until a gap for a straight right appears. Rinse and repeat. That's how he's a dedicated kickboxer with only three KO/TKO wins in 12 UFC victories.
When the main event began, it immediately fell into the expected rhythm. Cannonier's low output, power punching style and Strickland's one-note grind came together to make a match that closer resembled sparring than actual competition.
Jared Cannonier hits Sean Strickland with a jab of his own. /Zuffa
Towards the end of each round, Cannonier would find his groove and land a bomb or two - one eventually bloodied Strickland's nose - but to get there he would face a barrage of stiff, pumping jabs, the majority of which wouldn't even land; they were simply thrown to keep Cannonier at distance.
This happened over and over and over again without either man taking any kind of risk or developing a proper advantage. According to ufcstats.com, in terms of significant strikes, the two fighters were practically equal with the biggest differential being six in favour of Strickland in round 4, otherwise the biggest gap was only three.
When the final bell rang it brought a merciful end to 25 tedious minutes. As ring announcer Joe Martinez announced the judge's scores, Sean Strickland was visibly mad. He couldn't believe he was involved in a split decision - it got worse when the winner was announced as Jared Cannonier (49-46, 49-46, 46-49).
For Cannonier, this is the best possible result as the win keeps him in the top five. For Strickland, the manner of the loss (and the little tantrum afterwards) completely undermines the persona he’s been trying to build and will keep him out of big fights for the foreseeable future. For many fight fans, that will be a Christmas gift that keeps on giving, into 2023 and beyond.
[Header: Referee Herb Dean raises Jared Cannonier's hand following his split decision victory over Sean Strickland in the main event go UFC Vegas: Cannonier vs. Strickland at the UFC Apex facility in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. on December 17, 2022. /Zuffa]