I've seen a friend of mine get stimulant psychosis when he was addicted to it. Saw blue lights everywhere. Had a fixed paranoia about police following him. He was stroking a cat that wasn't there before. It can drive you quite literally insane.
I don't think anyone has mentioned it and I just thought if it while reading your post. Is it possible that AJ had an adrenaline dump in the first fight? Dropping Ruiz in the 3rd, in the US for the first time. Maybe his adrenaline spiked with the KD. That would explain how exhausted he was after that. Still think Ruiz would have won. AJ didn't have the right strategy.
I just watched it with the sound on for the third time and for the third time I fell asleep. It's that uneventful.
Good post. And very honest of you to say you wasn't much of an AJ fan but appreciate and acknowledge the improvements he made in such a short amount of time. I respect your honesty. I'd like to add Rob McCracken deserves a lot of praise too, he was being slaughtered after the first and people were demanding he be fired but he prepared AJ and if it was all his fault in the first then it must be his influence and preparation in the second,