Daniel Cormier and Ben Askren didn’t hold back in their assessment of MVP MMA 1, criticizing the lack of competitive fights on the promotion’s debut card at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif., this past Saturday.
Discussing the event on Cormier’s YouTube channel, the former champions pointed to a night dominated by quick finishes. Ronda Rousey submitted Gina Carano by armbar in 17 seconds, Francis Ngannou scored a first-round knockout of Philipe Lins, and Robelis Despaigne stopped Junior Dos Santos by first-round knockout. Mike Perry added a doctor-stoppage TKO after heavily damaging Nate Diaz.
"Yeah, I mean, incredibly one-sided was the biggest thing that comes to mind," Askren said. "You know, there wasn't a singular fight that was moderately competitive on the card. And, you know, we need the highlights, we need the knockouts, we need these spectacular things. But the best thing we can get is a back-to-back, like a back-and-forth fight."
Cormier questioned the matchmaking philosophy, pushing back on any comparison to boxing-style buildup. "It's not boxing, right?" he said. "In boxing, you build athletes by them kind of crushing people that aren't on their level necessarily, but so many of these fighters on that card were already established stars, right? They're on the back end of their careers so, there is no star building. So these guys and women, for me, it felt like they should have had the opportunity to fight someone in somewhat of a competitive fight."
