UFC 222 almost didn’t happen. A mere month before showtime, the event’s future was put into doubt when the UFC featherweight championship match between Max Holloway and Frankie Edgar was scrapped due to a Holloway injury. Calls went out, offers were declined, divisions were nearly created out of thin air. It was only when Cris Cyborg — usually a negotiating nightmare for UFC brass — accepted a short-notice matchup that everything could move forward.
On Saturday, the misfortune of Holloway and the heroics of Cyborg added up to a doozy of a night, a show in which the UFC might have seen the ascension of a new crop of badly needed stars.