{"id":38403,"date":"2026-05-18T15:28:01","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T15:28:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sherdog.com\/news\/news\/Daniel-Cormier-Ben-Askren-not-impressed-with-MVP-Rousey-vs-Carano-201229"},"modified":"2026-05-18T15:28:01","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T15:28:01","slug":"daniel-cormier-ben-askren-not-impressed-with-mvp-rousey-vs-carano","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/daniel-cormier-ben-askren-not-impressed-with-mvp-rousey-vs-carano\/","title":{"rendered":"Daniel Cormier, Ben Askren not impressed with MVP ‘Rousey vs. Carano’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\nMost Valuable Promotions<\/a>\u2019 first MMA card is getting mixed
\nreactions from fans and pundits. <\/p>\n

While Jon
\nJones<\/a> called it better than the
\nUFC<\/a>, the card failed to impress fellow UFC veterans Daniel
\nCormier<\/a> and Ben Askren<\/a>.
\nAskren found the card full of lopsided matchups. While Askren
\nunderstands the importance of highlight reels, the former Bellator
\nMMA<\/a> and ONE
\nChampionship<\/a> champion believes competitive fights are what
\nmatchmakers should aim for.<\/p>\n

\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cIncredibly one-sided is the biggest thing that comes to mind,\u201d
\nAskren said on a podcast<\/a> with Cormier. \u201cYou know, there wasn’t a
\nsingular fight that was moderately competitive on the card. And,
\nyou know, we need the highlights, we need the knockouts, we need
\nthese spectacular things, but the best thing we can get is a
\nback-and-forth fight.\u201d <\/p>\n

No Star Building<\/h2>\n

Cormier noted that one-sided matchups don\u2019t work for MMA unlike
\nboxing, where stars are built by letting them walk through a
\nplethora of underskilled opponents. Cormier also noted there was
\nessentially no star-building on the card.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not boxing, right? In boxing you build athletes by crushing
\npeople that aren\u2019t on their level necessarily,\u201d Cormier said. \u201cSo
\nmany of the fighters on that card were already established
\nfighters. They were on the backend of their careers. So there was
\nno star-building.\u201d <\/p>\n

Only the first three of the 10 total matchups on the MVP card went
\nto the judges\u2019 scorecards. While Phumi Nkuta<\/a>
\nvs. Adriano
\nMoraes<\/a> was probably the most competitive matchup, the fight
\nended in a controversial submission loss for Nkuta, with Moraes
\nholding on to the choke after the bell. Meanwhile, the three main
\nfights featuring massive stars were completely lopsided. Francis
\nNgannou<\/a> knocked out Philipe
\nLins<\/a> in the first round; Mike Perry<\/a>
\nturned Nate Diaz<\/a> into
\na bloody mess, forcing his corner to throw in the towel after the
\nsecond round. Meanwhile, Ronda
\nRousey<\/a> made Gina Carano<\/a>
\ntap with an armbar just 17 seconds into the main event. <\/p>\n