Best Matches Seen July 2018 |
UFC on Fox 30 7/28/18
John Makdessi vs. Ross Pearson 3R. Pearson knew he had to pressure Makdessi to keep him out of his comfort zone because Makdessi is simply too fast & accurate if you let him sit back & pick his shots, but right from the outset Makdessi was countering Pearson with the left hand when Ross would try to make his entry. Pearson just sucked it up & tried to get his combination in after eating the first punch, which is one of the reasons Pearson is fun to watch. Pearson surely isn't one of the best fighters on the roster, but his fights are always entertaining, and even though he was outgunned, the fight was mostly memorable because instead of conceding defeat & shutting it down, he took more & more risks as the fight progressed. Yes, in the end, these risks just resulted in him taking a bigger beating, but the fighters with heart & guts are the ones I want to see. Makdessi is a really interesting fighter in that you'd think of a guy who has the best striking defense in the division, and is also incredibly difficult to take down as being someone who relies primarily on their movement & probably a defense first figther, but Makdessi actually stands in front of the opponent barely moving at all & just relies on his ability to instantly identify what they're going to do & make a subtle move to stop/evade it. His whole style is very direct, relying on an economy of well balanced movement to stay out of harms way & straight shots with no windup to beat the opponents longer, more souped up power attacks. It was difficult for Pearson to find the balance here because he wasn't going to win if he was throwing a single shot & Makdessi was throwing two, but on the other hand, the advantage shifted heavily to Makdessi the longer the exchanges lasted. As Pearson began to slow down a little late in the 2nd, Makdessi began finding the home for his right hands behind the jab. Pearson wasn't defending his head well early on, and his hands only dropped as he wore down some, but man what a chin the guy has. Pearson figured he was down 2 rounds, and came out with renewed vigor, pushing the pace a lot more & finally backing Makdessi. Pearson's takedown failed, but he was beginning to find a home with his left hook as he took space away from Makdessi. Makdessi shifted from his flatfooted style based on leaning into a very bouncy, light on his feet boxing style where he'd circle left, stop momentarily to land the jab as Pearson chased him, then move again to take away Pearson's angle to counter. This actually worked a lot better than his usual style because Pearson was pressing through his fatigue & was sloppy with his footwork & defense. Makdessi saw that Pearson was just going to keep charging after him no matter what, and started taking taking some more chances & opening up trying to go for the finish, now following the jab with big right hands. Pearson was hurt from taking several clean shots, including a nasty right to the nose, and really began to bleed heavily, with a fresh cut on the lip. Pearson slipped, looked wobbly at one point, but somehow just never stopped coming LaMotta style. It was pretty crazy that Makdessi never managed a knockdown here given how many well timed shots he landed to Pearson's chin as Pearson was stepping or lunging forward. Makdessi won a unanimous decision 30-26, 29-27, 29-28. Good match.
Jose Aldo vs. Jeremy Stephens R1 4:19. This was a huge fight for Aldo in his post title career to see if he was going to be a Frankie Edgar type that only loses to the top guys or an Anthony Pettis type that only beats guys who aren't actual contenders. I found it shocking that Aldo was the underdog here as Stephens is always dangerous & any match he's involved in has a good chance to be fight of the night, but he's rarely been able to beat any of the top names. Aldo does seem a good opponent for Stephens in that his defense isn't that great & Stephens is a heavy hitter who doesn't allow you to get away with blocking too many of his punches with your chin. These two just stood in front of each other, pretty much daring each other to do their worst. It had that tentative heavyweight kind of start where they waited for the one punch knockout though. Aldo drew first blood countering Stephens with a right uppercut as he tried to close the distance, but then Stephens hurt Aldo countering the low kick with a right to the chin. Stephens tried to capitalize, but Aldo avoided most of his shots, and Aldo being Aldo, rather than taking time to recover he instead answered the challenge & just got right in Stephens face & started trading with him. Stephens was bleeding under the left eye, and began giving ground to Aldo in the exchanges. Though Stephens was taking shots at Aldo's defense leading into the fight, one of the key differences to me is Aldo had the better reflexes & was able to move his head to evade Stephens shots a lot better. Aldo was winning these phone booth exchanges because he was more accurate, but Aldo was more accurate because he dodged a lot better than Stephens. Both fighters are far more successful when they're the one pushing forward, but it was Aldo who was knocking Stephens backwards with his shots then pressing the advantage. Stephens tried to use his jab to set up his combos & push Aldo back, but Aldo just evaded & when Stephens combo finished, ripped a right to the body that Stephens blocked then a left to the liver that shut Stephens down. Stephens protested the stoppage, but his body wasn't functioning, and all he could do was go from getting pounded in a fetal position to rolling to his knees so he couldn't even see the punches coming, which isn't intelligent defense. Good match.
Dustin Poirier vs. Eddie Alvarez R2 4:05. This was for Alvarez's most violent man in the UFC title, which although an unofficial self proclaimed belt, has about as much credibility as most of UFC's real titles at this point, at least being defended against an opponent that's actually the same weight class & has won matches in this decade. Both fighters defeated Justin Gaethje in all time classics, but were more patient here without Gaethje to force the insanity. The 1st round was vey even with Alvarez winning when he was coming forward, ripping the body & landing low kicks & Poirier winning when he was at range, fighting behind his jab or just bringing the fast left straight. Alvarez was doing better in the counter puncher role than Poirier, but Poirier was able to stop his takedown attempts that were really what he was trying to set up. Early in the 2nd, Poirier countered Alvarez's takedown attempt with a guillotine, and Alvarez grabbed the cage to keep Poirier from pulling guard until Marc Goddard forced him to release. Alvarez finally got a takedown & took Poirier's back, working a neck crank with Poirier on his side throwing little punches to Eddie's face rather than trying to break the clasp. Alvarez mounted against the cage, but got in trouble for grabbing Poirier's ear then had the position taken away for landing the vaunted 12-6 elbow to the trapezius, which surely wouldn't have even broke Honky Tonk Man's balsa wood guitar. Maybe by 2025 they can ban the silly ban on this move, and then in 2060 Las Vegas can adopt the "new rules"... I loved how in explaining the decision to Alvarez, Goddard said, "Not my rule, I have to call it" basically appologizing for having to do his job when it's so nonsensical. In any case, Alvarez's coach Mark Henry fell on the knife in the aftermath for doing a sloppy signal to Alvarez that prompted him to throw the illegal move, but Alvarez still has to know better, something I feel like we've thought all to often in his matches, for instance the reason for this rematch being his illegal knee to Poirier causing a no contest. It's ambitious to say that Alvarez would have won the fight if Goddard didn't call him on his cheating, as while he was clearly in control, he hadn't managed to hurt Poirier yet, but it's hard to imagine him not winning the round given there was 1:45 left. Alvarez tried to press forward, but Poirier countered his right hand with a knee to the midsection that froze Eddie, allowing Poirier to nail him with a left straight & begin flurrying on him. Alvarez was backed to the cage, and Poirier was picking him apart as Eddie just threw a couple blind haymakers. Poirier said he didn't win the previous fight because he didn't take his time when he had Alvarez in trouble, and Alvarez caught him while he was rushing to finish the fight, but this time he did pick Alvarez apart, which was fairly easy given Alvarez didn't try to either move off the cage or grab Poirier to slow him down. The irony here is in a fight that Alvarez arguably lost because Goddard properly inforced the rules, Goddard missed a knee to the cup that set up Alvarez finally falling after short left elbow, at which point he stopped the fight. Good match.
NJPW 7/23/17
G1 Climax 2017 Block A Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi [4] vs. Yuji Nagata [0] 14:47. Tanahashi was demoted to the 2nd match for perhaps the final chapter in the fued of his great career. It differed considerably from Nagata's previous two matches in that it wasn't all Nagata or nearly as stiff & intense, but Tanahashi's matches don't really change, so it also looked like the matches they had in their heyday, minus the crowd buzzing from the opening bell. If anything was different it was that Nagata was the semtimental favorite now to the point Tanahashi was booed when he did his pose, so Tanahashi adopted a more subtle heel role (the kind that actually works without detracting from the match by making it silly & contrived). Nagata kicked it up a gear after escaping Tanahashi's early knee work, and Tanahashi matched his fierce blows with big slaps, accidentally cutting him under the eye in their 2nd big exchange. Nagata did a few moves to Tanahashi's bad arm such as countering a lariat with the Nagata lock IV, but this wasn't a theme, with Nagata instead bringing out some of his bigger moves such as the avalanche style exploder to supplement his striking game & Tanahashi not seeming to be struggling to get around his arm injury as he had in the previous 2. Their formulaic match was obviously better a decade ago when it was a fresh battle of the top guys in the company in the big main event, thus they pulled out more stops & there was more drama to the contest & energy in the building. That being said, they were still able to perform at roughly the same level, if anything this match is sort of more impressive because it didn't have the additional factors propping it up & forcing them to push harder. ***1/4
G1 Climax 2017 Block A Match: Kota Ibushi [4] vs. Tomohiro Ishii [2] 17:14. Ibushi is one of the chameleons in the tournament who will not only do the opponent's style, but do it well & add diversity & shades to it. He brought some finesse & evasion to Ishii's slugfest, making it a lot less predictable by working more moves, sequences, and explosive counters into the beatdown in a manner that was still true to what an Ishii match is. Even though Ibushi wasn't doing his flips, his athleticism was a formidable part of the match, as it gave him ways to counteract the straight on brute force of Ishii even while staying within the context of Ishii's high impact strike oriented match. One of the more impressive spots had Ibushi poised to turn a lariat into a wakigatame, but instead of going with the momentum he just stopped it to hold Ishii prone & deck him with a huge right hand. Still, it wasn't super clear why Ibushi was able to beat Ishii at his own super physical game. The match always felt like one that should be excellent, but again the matches in this tournament just seem to lack a climax, instead feeling like they're booked on a you have X minutes mode, and when that point comes someone just randomly hits a finisher & we move on to the next contest. ***1/2
NJPW 7/22/17, G1 Climax 2017 Block B Match: Kazuchika Okada [4] vs. Michael Elgin [0] 25:49. A match that was supposed to be amazing, the effort was there and at least the announcers if not the crowd were going wild, but you had such a stark contrast between Elgin bombing away at Okada to the point you wondered if Okada was even going to survive, but still somehow doing an even match & losing to a much smaller guy who relied on strikes that he had nothing on. This wasn't the usual Okada match where he just got murdered so the match was mostly as good as the opponent, who was super fired up for their moment in the spotlight, was able to carry him to. If that were the case, the match might have been excellent, as Elgin looked about as impressive as any big man of today or even yesterday. Okada actually got a lot of his lame offense in though, regularly countering with some kind of strike that was like Diaz Brothers level if the Diaz's just threw one shot & then expected the opponent to somehow be stopped dead in their tracks. Regularly having a mammoth like Elgin be slowed down by these awkward fly swats that would make little an impact on a strawweight was tough to take. They did a pretty active match with a lot of standing sequences, but it was like, Elgin would murder Okada with a titanic powerslam, while Okada would slip out of a suplex & come back with that corny upper to the chest that Elgin should just be laughing off. As Okada was doing more, that meant he was also telegraphing the transitions even more than usual, for instance his feet were a good 5 feet apart for his supposed missile kick, so he was literally just taking a plunge off the top rope into Elgin's powerbomb from the start. This sort of sloppiness, if that's the word for it, just makes it hard to buy into the match because it feels like a performance. I know that's what wrestling is, but better wrestling allows you to ignore the cooperation. I liked the early portion of the match quite a bit, as Elgin wasn't merely overpowering Okada, he also had an answer for most of what Okada tried, using his size & strength for leverage as well as brutality. There was a nice spot out of the ring where Okada tried a running body attack over the guard rail, but Okada just wasn't budging Elgin, who easily caught him & slammed him back over the guard rail. Once they got into the body of the match, they rather predictably went back & forth in a scripted manner (Elgin countered Okada's flying move, so Okada comes back with a dropkick for Elgin's, that sort of thing) with all the highlights rather predictably coming from Elgin, who pulled out all sorts of huge throws & slams. What's good about Okada is as sketchy as everything he does is technically, the effort is always there, and this was the 1st match of the league where they were going for a match of the year candidate. If Naito gave this effort, it would have been a great match for sure, but Naito has the talent, Okada has the effort, both are unfortunately only halves. This match is hard to rate because at least 10 other guys in this tournament would have had a classic with Elgin if they gave this amount of effort over 25 minutes, they would have actually brought good things & done them well, but tryhard Okada is what we always get, and thus it's how much does the A game of the opponent outweigh the mediocrity of the man? ***1/2
Shooto Shoot the Shooto XX 4/26/98, Shoot Boxing Match: Ramon Dekkers vs. Hiroshi Yoshitaka 5R. Crazy, all action match with both fighters making great comebacks & dominating at different stages of the war. Dekkers looked badly overmatched in the early portion, as Yoshitaka was a lot quicker & was just pouring on the combos. Dekkers did a good job of blocking, but Yoshitaka was just throwing non stop & would evade Dekkers random single shots. Dekkers clearly had the big power advantage here, but with Yoshitaka being longer & much quicker, he was winning both on the inside with volume (mostly) as well as at distance with Dekkers really having a hard time touching him, coming up short time & time again. Yoshitaka doesn't hit that hard, so Dekkers wasn't in particular trouble, he was just getting outpointed badly as Yoshitaka was coming in, touching Dekkers with a handful of shots then getting out of the pocket before Dekkers could reach him. Yoshitaka hurt Dekkers late in the 2nd ducking a left hook & coming back with his own left hook, 2 right straights, & another left hook to back Dekkers into the corner, where Yoshitaka threw another of his patented flurries. Yoshitaka tired himself out pushing for the finish, and Dekkers was able to come back late then turn the fight with a left hook knockdown to start the third. Yoshitaka was still fighting his volume style, but his output wasn't as fast & his footwork was getting lazier, so he was suddenly very hittable on the inside. Though Yoshitaka was starting to be flatfooted, he made a good adjustment staying on the outside & using low kicks, but he wasn't willing to stay with this style consistently, or even just until he recovered more from the knockdown. The problem was Dekkers had such a power advantage he felt he always needed to be striking so Dekkers wasn't, but Dekkers was doing a better job of timing him coming in & filling in the gaps with his own offense as even Yoshitaka only had so much energy, and the tradeoff was to just use it offensively. There was a considerable difference in their demeanor, as Yoshitaka was hyper, always feeling the urgent necessity to be proactive while Dekkers remained totally calm, trusting his block & his ability to win the long game. Yoshitaka was gassed in the 4th, his punches increasingly being all arm, and Dekkers was now walking him down & landing at a high rate. Dekkers blocked a slow spinning backfist & floored Yoshitaka with a right hook. The fight should have been for over for all intents & purposes, as though it was 2 rounds a piece, Yoshitaka needed at least a knockdown to get the decision, and he wasn't looking like he was even remotely capable. Shockingly though, Yoshitaka found his 25th wind, and fought an excellent 5th round, completely emptying the tank with the same sort of relentless high speed combos he was throwing in the first two rounds, minus the energy to get out of harms way once he was finally done throwing. I literally don't know where this energy came from, because he was gassed even before the second knockdown, but this guy had some ridiculous willpower. Dekkers still had his moments in this round, but I thought it was a Yoshitaka round, which theoretically meant he won more rounds but still came up short on the cards. Dekkers won a unanimous decision. Great match.
GLORY 55 7/22/18
Tiffany van Soest vs. Sofia Olofsson 3R. I found this fight to be closer than van Soest's previous fight with Anissa Meksen, which I thought she clearly won & was particularly surprised she didn't get the decision given you normally have to actually do something to take the title. That wasn't a good stylistic matchup for either, as their footwork & movement mostly negated each other's offense. This was a much more straightforward matchup in that Olofsson was going to pressure the whole fight to try to take van Soest's movement out of the equation. Olofsson is transitioning from muay thai & was consistently able to land the left middle kick, but that was really the only strike she was connecting with in the first two rounds. Van Soest was constantly circling, scoring with her boxing & keeping distance with the front kick now & then. She showed a lot more diversity obviously, but the round was close because she didn't do much to defend or take away Olofsson's middle kick, she just made sure she didn't have openings to follow it up. Olofsson did better in the second because she pushed forward a lot more aggressively, and now that van Soest didn't have the space to easily angle away after taking the single kick, Olofsson was able to get her hands going. Van Soest wobbled Olofsson with a left high kick midway through the 2nd though, and that was the deciding factor in a round that Olofsson outlanded van Soest in & otherwise would have won pretty handily. Van Soest changed her strategy & came forward a lot more in the 3rd, but Olofsson was still coming forward as well, so it would just end up in the clinch, though van Soest did a better job of scoring there with knees. Van Soest did a good job of mixing her punches & scoring with the overhand right, but while she showed more diversity to her attack & her strikes had more on them, she got outworked here, particularly as the fight progressed. I gave van Soest the 1st 2 rounds, and there was definitely a quality over quantity situation going on here, but Olofsson increased her output with each round, outlanding Tiffany 61-38 in the 3rd. I don't know if she could have kept this pace up for another 2 rounds had it been a title fight, but she really came on after getting wobbled in the 2nd, and definitely won the 2nd half of the fight. Van Soest won a 29-28, 28-29, 29-28 split decision. Good match.
Cedric Doumbe vs. Alan Scheinson R2 1:38. Doumbe's first 6 fights in GLORY were all decisions, but now that he's lost two out of the last 3 that went to the scorecards, he's started fighting more aggressively. His 33 second KO over Thongchai at GLORY 53 began to show this new direction, but I still certainly never expected to see Doumbe just standing in front of the opponent & making it an all out brawl. I liked Todd Grisham's description that Doumbe was fighting as though it were a 1 rounder, but even that doesn't begin to convey how offensive minded & arguably reckless this was for Doumbe. Doumbe's aggressive bend was somewhat provoked by the typically horrendous refing of Chris Wagner, who fans & fighters such as Josh Jauncey have been wanting to see fired for years because he tends to call it a knockdown anytime a fighter leaves their feet (not to mention forgetting he can't give standing 8 counts). It took 20 seconds for him to screw up this time on what very clearly was a slip, with a dumbfounded Scheinson never seeming to recover. I'm not saying this lost him the fight by any means, but between this & Doumbe surprising him fighting a high output inside fight rather than being a runner as Scheinson had followed in the footsteps of Nieky Holzken in taunting Doumbe about, Scheinson just never seemed to get his bearings & work his way into the fight. Not to take away from what Doumbe was doing, he did blitz Scheinson & consistently put him on the defensive, which isn't his strength, landing a number of solid shots while still managing to bob his head away from Scheinson's attacks. Scheinson was slipping & sliding like he was on skates, and early in the 2nd round, the same nonsense happened, though this time at least Doumbe connected with a punch before Scheinson lost his footing & went down for the second "knockdown". Bazooka Joe described it as "more of a knockdown than the other one." The more Scheinson got frustrated & felt he had to make something happen because he was down on the scorecards, the more Doumbe used his forward pressure against him, clipping him when he was trying to come in. Doumbe rocked Scheinson with an uppercut then backed him into the ropes with a couple of hooks. Scheinson wasn't in terrible shape, but he couldn't get himself out of the corner. Scheinson was still moving & trying to throw, but couldn't avoid any of Doumbe's shots up the middle, and after the 3rd knee the fight was stopped, another decision Scheinson wasn't pleased about. The stoppage was premature in the sense that Scheinson wasn't hurt super badly & was still trying to fight, but it wasn't a terrible stoppage because he wasn't having success getting out of the corner & kept taking more punishment because of that. Good match.
M-1 95 7/21/18: Oleg Popov vs. Adam Bogatirov 3R. This is one of the rare heavyweight matches that's actually even remotely interesting because they managed to a high keep a pace & show some diversity, counters, & transitions rather than defaulting into one or both of the two heavyweight tropes, plodding around waiting to win with one big punch or dry humping the opponent for the decision victory. Early on, Popov was winning at distance mixing left hand leads to set up his larger opponent for the overhand right. Bogatirov began to get aggressive 2 minutes in after Popov hit him with a couple big combinations, throwing cool right knee/right uppercut & left switch kick/right straight combos. Popov got the single leg and Bogatirov immediately rolled into an armbar attempt, but for some reason gave it up & Popov took side mount. Bogatirov kept going for submissions off his back, and Popov was just leaking blood all over him from the top. Bogatirov didn't have an answer for Popov's single leg, so the match kind of defaulted to Popov immediately taking him down, but Bogatirov answering with submission attempts. Bogatirov actually managed to roll out the back of Popov's mount early in the 2nd. Popov was landing punches from the amateur wrestling starting position, but Bogatirov rolled into a kneebar. Bogatirov was bleeding now as well, and when he locked a reverse triangle after Popov took him down with a double leg, it helped Popov slip his head out. Popov regained control, and pounded on Bogatirov from full or side mount for the rest of the round to go up 2-0. Bogatirov seems like one of those fighters who probably submits everyone in his gym, and gets bad habits from it. His biggest problem here is instead of sprawling to defend the takedown, he kept fumbling for neck control, seemingly to set up some kind of guillotine that never materialized, always just winding up on his back. He's very good off his back, but when you don't get the finish, an opponent racking up takedowns, top control time, and ground & pound is the surest way you'll find to losing a decision. Bogatirov did have a kneebar attempt in the 3rd that was so lengthy the ref eventually stood them up, but after Bogatirov got one knee in, Popov took him down yet again to seal the victory. Popov won a unanimous decision. Very good match.
UFC Fight Night 134 7/22/18: Nasrat Haqparast vs. Marc Diakiese 3R. I found this fight to be a lot more compelling than the final scores would suggest, though I don't think they're inaccurate. It wasn't a barnburner, but it was an interesting battle of styles where Diakiese tried to work at distance & Haqparast tried to deny him space. Diakiese wanted to use his jab to keep Haqparast off. Early on when this was working, he would quickly close the distance with a strike combo & exit without taking counterfire. His activity wasn't super high because he was more worried about not getting trapped against the cage then about getting his own offense, but he landed with authority when he did connect. Haqparast's knew Diakiese would pick him apart at range, and increasingly did a better & better job of keeping Diakiese in the outer octagon so he could land a combo when Diakiese had nowhere to retreat. He had a nice series of knees in the second half of round 1 as well as some punches on the inside. Diakiese had no real answer for these because he needed space to work his magic, and would basically try to circle out of harms way only to have Haqparast cut him off again. One of Diakiese's tactics that worked early was to lead with the hook to the body, theoretically to set up the overhand follow, but Haqparast took it away landing an uppercut when Diakiese dropped down to throw the body shot, stopping Diakiese's combo in its tracks. Diakiese was the better athlete of the two, quicker & faster, but Haqparast did a great job of using superior footwork to dominate the match, always cutting Diakiese off rather than simply chasing him, which forced Diakiese to exchange with him on the inside where Haqparast was king. All that being said, the fight really came down to the fact that Diakiese lacked anything to simply make Haqparast think twice about coming forward. He used his jab often, but he didn't switch things up or land anything behind it that would strike fear in Haqparast, so Haqparast just came in behind his block, deflecting almost every jab & getting the fight into his realm. You would think a guy known as The Bonecrusher who accidentally breaks training partners arms his kicks are so fierce would be able to keep his opponent at bay, but Haqparast knew what he was going to do, and had all the answers so it either didn't work or simply wasn't effective. At the end of the 2nd, Haqparast sent Diakiese into retreat mode countering a jab with a straight to Diakiese's bloodied right eye then cut him off against the cage & dropped him with a right hook. If Haqparast had more time, he probably would have been able to finish with his hammerfists. Diakiese hadn't fully recovered when he came out for the third, but he was finally trying to change things up, throwing the right hand behind a jab & leading with an uppercut instead of the jab. He tried a level change though, and Haqparast just stuffed it & landed a series of short left hands that prompted Diakiese to go to his back, where Haqparast really began working him over, though Diakiese was able to stand pretty quickly after giving his back. Nonetheless, while Diakiese kept trying, he just couldn't put himself into a situation where he wouldn't get bullied. Haqparast won a unanimous decision 30-27, 30-27, 30-26. Good match.
Powerplay 37 5/12/18, IWKBF World Heavyweight Title: Steve McKinnon vs. Chris Bradford 5R UD. Both fighters are old enough for Bellator, but McKinnon has continued to beat everyone you never heard of since his 0-2 stint in GLORY while Bradford has been relatively inactive in the ring with a bumb ankle, though he's continued to train & run his gym. McKinnon was the big favorite here, especially since Bradford more of the Muay Thai specialist of the two, and this was under K-1 rules so no elbows were allowed. That being said, it was way more competitive than expected or the scores would lead you to believe. It was totally a kicker vs. puncher match, with McKinnon being the far more consistent fighter, keeping a high workrate with his kicks, which he mixed up well. Bradford is a huge slugger, and he landed some bombs, with virtually every big shot that connected coming from his fists. McKinnon did a nice job of mixing both middle kicks with the left inside leg kick, which landed almost every time. Bradford was badly outvolumed in the first round, and each additional, but began to walk through McKinnon's kicks in the second & punish him with powerful punches against the ropes. This should have been a Bradford round (and I still gave it to him), but the thing he lacked all fight was consistency. He just didn't have the stamina to keep attacking, so he kind of let McKinnon off the hook, backing because McKinnon went back to throwing his kicks as soon as Bradford stopped attacking with punches & failing to make any kind of late push that would have guaranteed him the round. Bradford was tired & barely threw in the 3rd until he hurt McKinnon with an overhand right counter late in the round & flurried on the ropes, landing a nice uppercut. McKinnon tried to go back to his inside leg kick, and landed low, which I don't think was intentional, but was awfully convenient given he was under fire. Bradford took a series of kicks after this, finally throwing and landing an overhand right just before the bell. Stan the Man kept calling for Bradford to throw 6 or 8 punches instead of 1 or 2, and certainly that would have won him the match if he had the stamina to keep it up, but he did manage himself well, not wasting energy & making what he threw count. You really got the feeling that Bradford didn't feel like McKinnon could hurt him, and was content to block as much as he could to the head & body, eat the low kicks, and just wait for his moment to knock him out. You also felt that McKinnon knew as long as he kept firing, & managed to stay on his feet, he was going to win this fight. Bradford had a few brief moments of offense against the ropes in the 4th, but McKinnon was throwing the whole round while Bradford barely threw anything until he had McKinnon on the ropes. Bradford hurt McKinnon with a left hook early in the 5th, but McKinnon quickly came back with a high kick. Bradford was again inactive for much of the round, trying to finish strong, but missing, while McKinnon was still able to land as much as he did in the opening round, and just kept chipping away. I had it even going into the 5th, so for me this was a fight that Bradford could have won if he could have found a little more energy. McKinnon won a unanimous decision 48-47, 49-46, 49-46. Good match.
WLC 4 Bare-Knuckle King 2018 2/17/18, Light Welterweight Myanmar National Championship Tournament Semifinal: Ba Htoo Maung vs. Kyaw Zin Latt R3 2:07. All combat sports are brutal in many ways, but Lethwei or Burmese Boxing as it used to be called, surely takes the cake as the most brutal sport on the planet. In theory, it's probably most similar to muay thai, but apart from fighting with taped fists rather than gloves, the huge difference in the 9th limb, the headbutt. If you think Shibata was nasty, these guys will literally charge in with a combo that includes an all out noggin knocker, as Latt displayed here. Elbows are very popular here since it saves your gauzed fists, but Latt literally leads with the head with the same ferocity he leads with the elbow. The ref has a ton of leeway when you go down, ruling knockdowns far more conservatively than in GLORY or elsewhere, starting with Maung dropping Latt momentarily with both an elbow & a left hand counter that didn't elicit a count. Just before the end of the 1st, Maung did score a knockdown catching Latt off guard with a left jab. Latt came back strong in the 2nd, doing a nice job of mixing middle kicks or step knees with overhand rights. Latt dropped Maung with a left hook counter & then a big knee to the midsection, but somehow with Maung being put down twice within 10 seconds neither were scored knockdowns. Another reason Lethwei is known for its savagery is even the vaunted 12-6 elbows are legal, and not only did no one die from them, when Latt put Maung down with them just before the end of the 2nd, he still didn't even get credited with a knockdown! One of the reasons Latt was able to turn this fight around is Maung was just loading up too much, particularly with the right hand, while Latt was fighting a lot more fluidly, and recognizing when his opponent was going to swing big. Maung got his knees going in the 3rd, and began to take over, but Latt just fired up & started headbutting like a billy goat until he scored the KO. Good match.
Jd' 9/15/01, Sumie Sakai vs. Hiromi Yagi 15:14. Jd' was theoretically a good fit for Yagi, as the stars they had left - Sakai, Yabushita, & Bloody - were relatively the same size & from the same generation, so there wasn't the issue of being half the size of Devil & Kansai. Unfortunately, they'd given up on trying to compete with the other leagues via traditional methods & shifted their focus from developing high quality workers to just being an idol league that would give some exposure & experience to women who would theoretically cross over into the Z grade schlock of the owners entertainment company in a few years. Sakai eventually gave up & decided even the US divas scene was more promising than this nonsense, but this isn't the Sakai we saw in the US, this version is motivated, in great shape, & looking to test herself. In any case, while this era of Jd' is difficult to sit through whole shows of, it's worth wading through the darkness to find these really good battles of the judo girls. This one follows an odd, almost reverse junior heavyweight structure where it starts out really fast with the German suplexes, ipponzeoi off the 2nd, quebrada, etc, but once they soften each other up with the flashy moves they went back to their real sports base & started fighting hard to finish with the armbar. When that didn't work, they went back to flying around with Yagi hitting a plancha & Sakai a quebrada on the outside this time, but Yagi stuck to trying to finish with the armbar while Sakai moved on to her pro wrestling finishers. Though the moves were impressive, the general speed which they were able to work at was what set it apart. This is a match that never slowed down, but beyond just keeping a high pace, they did the individual spots & sequences so fast that Sakai made an occasional mistake just trying to push herself harder & keep up with what they were trying to do. The athleticism was really high, and nice bumps abound. Yagi found so many ways to transition from pro wrestling spots to the armbar, swinging into it after a Northern Lights suplex, countering a lariat with a flying armbar (though this spot was bungled, the diving body attack into the wakigatame was pretty sweet), even countering the fisherman buster with a small package then transitioning into the armbar before the 1 count. When even Yagi's patented bite to break the clasp doesn't get work, Yagi mounted & they do an awful finish where Sakai countered into a rolling clutch for a finish that would already be among the most contrived ever if Sakai didn't fail to get her left leg over Yagi's right shoulder (Sakai's leg is actually keeping the shoulder from being down until they adjust after the one count) & the timekeeper didn't screw up & ring the bell at the 1 count. I really enjoyed this match, but can't rate it too highly given some overall sloppiness on top of a sloppy lame finish. That being said, these two worked really hard & delivered a fun match. While there was still some kinks to be worked out given Yagi had just started working in Jd' so it was a new match, they showed tremendous potential together. ***1/4
WGP Kickboxing 44 2/23/18, WGP Light Middleweight Title: Bruno Gazani vs. Marcelo Dionisio 5R. I can't believe this fight went the distance, as Gazani just threw an obscene amount of strikes, and while his output would please any volume puncher, he is pretty strong & had good pop on them as well. Gazani's advantage was boxing, while Dionisio's was kicking, but Gazani was so aggressive with his boxing that he took Dionisio's space away & didn't allow him to get his offense going. Gazani had Dionisio down midway through the first with non stop punch combos. He was able to mix some knees in effectively, finishing with knees to the midsection when Dionisio's only answer to his latest punching barrage was to cover up, which led to the second knockdown 20 seconds later. You knew Gazani couldn't keep this pace up for 5 rounds, but with Dionisio literally out on his feet for the last minute of the 1st, it didn't seem like he had to worry about that. Dionisio may have lost this fight, but to not only survive, but at least be competitive in the remaining rounds was quite impressive. Gazani did slow down considerably in the second round, but he didn't gas himself, he simply stopped to take some breaths. Though Gazani still won the round, for the rest of the fight, Dionisio was at least able to insert his offense when Gazani stopped throwing. Dionisio was now able to extend the distance with a front kick or close it with a step knee, though he wasn't consistent enough with either, or really any particular tactic even though it was pretty obvious what Gazani was going to do. Dionisioi probably won the 3rd, but Gazani came back with a huge barrage against the ropes early in the 4th. Dionisio was able to weather it, and land a few good kicks, including a side kick that knocked Gazani off his feet (not a knockdown), but it was still a Gazani round. Dionisio had his moments with the middle kick, but they were just too few & far between, and Gazani was always able to come back with another flurry once he took a few seconds off. Gazani won a unanimous decision. Very good match.
UFC 226 7/7/18
Paulo Costa vs. Uriah Hall R2 2:38. This was a good fight, but I'm getting really sick of so many fights that come down to fouls that don't get penalized turning the fight & leading to a stoppage. Just on this one show you had Hall controlling the match with his quick jab, but Costa nailing him in the balls time & time again until he finally took over with his full on power. Then, in the main event, Cormier adopted the tried & true strategy of his rivals Jon Jones & Alexander Gustafsson & kept leading with his open hand until he predictably blinded his opponent, who had to continue almost immediately because being visionless doesn't even warrant a 5 minute break, and thus Miocic went from winning when he could see to getting KO'd very quickly, with another possible gouge right before the finishing blow (I couldn't really tell if the fingers dug into the eye socket or not there). Hall had a 7.5" reach advantage, and was trying to avoid backing up, but Costa was dedicated to throwing nothing but fastballs & never really allowed Hall to press forward. Early on though, while Costa held the center, Hall was able to circle around him & land his really quick jab. Hall was the faster fighter & was getting off first, partially because he wasn't loading up & Costa was. Costa refused to change his strategy though, believing he'd eventually connect with his huge power, and that was all it would take to turn the fight. Costa front kicked Hall in the groin midway through the 1st, and though Hall obviously stopped fighting grabbing his cup & putting his hand out in a hold on motion, Costa threw a combo because Mark Smith was incredibly late calling the foul. Hall recovered pretty well, countering Costa's left hook with a spinning heel kick. Hall started lighting Costa up with his jabs again, until Costa backed him into the cage & landed two right hooks to the cup that Smith somehow managed to miss. Hall was now hurt & distracted, and Costa was able to land some huge shots against the cage. Hall's left eye was getting more & more swollen, and Costa started doing a better job of cutting Hall off to keep him against the cage where he had the time to load up his shots against a much more stationary target. Just before the end of the round, Costa landed a big overhand right & finished the combo with yet another punch to the cup. Despite 4 groin shots in a single round in addition to the usual leading with the finger nonsense, Smith still just gave Costa a warning. I'm not into revenge, but at this point, you really start to understand why fighters like Dustin Poirier just take vengeance. Costa continued working the body, and even if these were legal shots, they were surely adding to the illegal damage that was already done. Costa also made a good adjustment of using his own jab, which made it much more difficult for Hall to just jab & move, though Hall still managed to bloody his nose. Hall was nearly backed into the cage by a big Costa combo, but managed to drop him to his knees with an overhand right counter. Costa tried to shake it off, but he was looking winded now as he blowed hard through his bloody mouth. Hall was tired though, and as soon as he stopped jabbing, Costa fired back with an uppercut that was well below the belt. It was probably just above the actual cup, but at this point it's hard to know if Hall didn't stop & complain because it was legalish or because he knew the ref was inept & Costa was going to clock him if he let his guard down. Costa began unleashing haymakers, and connected with 3 good overhand rights. Hall tried to fire back, but got nailed with a big left hook counter & finished off with a right to the body. The second round in particular was really entertaining, but it's hard to even focus on that when the fight has so many aggregious infractions that it looks like a 1980's B direct to video & you're almost waiting for the big finish to come on the old salt in the eyes trick. Good match.
Mike Perry vs. Paul Felder 3R. Felder, who hasn't fought all year due to McNugget's criminal mischief, stepped up a weight class for this short notice fight when Yancy Medeiros injured his rib at the end of June. This seemed pretty easy, but turned into an out & out disaster. Surely a revelation to all, having coaches that actually know something about training fighters in your corner (Jackson & Winklejohn) is better than having your girlfriend screaming like a banshee to "kick the knee" and "break the leg", probably because those tactics worked for the Cobra Kai or something. With actual instruction, Perry seemed more like a real mixed martial artist who tried to incorporate multiple aspects rather than a bar room brawler. He was using his wrestling more here instead of just slugging it out, and was even having success with it, though mainly after Felder broke his arm late in the 1st & couldn't really use it to fight hands. Being a total badass, Felder not only fought 2/3 of the fight with the injury, but continued to throw his right hand enough that his genius opponent didn't seem to pick up on the injury. The first round was close, as all the rounds were, but Felder just had more going on when he was whole. He could chop at the lead leg, which Perry has never defended, and set up his high kicks & spinning strikes. Both fighters were cut less than 15 seconds into the fight when their heads collided. Midway through the 1st, Felder tried to counter a low kick with a spinning backfist, but the distance wasn't right & his forearm wound up connecting with Perry's head. Felder was expecting Perry to grit his teeth & plow forward like he always does, but he was okay with him not doing that, as although Perry landed the harder shots when he landed, Felder has a lot more diversity to his arsenal and the ability to put that together in combination, so he found more openings to land. Perry wasn't getting takedowns with his wrestling, but he would land a big elbow on the break. At the end of the 1st round, both fighters landed spinning forearms to their opponents heads. You could see that as soon as Felder sat down, he started pointing to his forearm telling his corner it wasn't right. Felder still threw a couple right hands early in the 2nd, but was mostly trying to kick, and didn't even try to fight for an underhook when Perry grabbed him, leading to an absolute massive slam where Perry stood straight up hoisted Felder to max height before depositing him on his side & the bad arm. Felder was up quickly, but again since he couldn't really use his arm to battle for position, there wasn't much opposition to Perry's clinch elbow. Felder started relying on the jab in the 2nd, and this really didn't work because boxing is what Perry understands, and if he can't wait to counter the jab, he doesn't mind just walking through it to land the harder shot. Perry cut Felder badly just outside the right eye late in the round, resulting in Marc Goddard immediately having the doctor check it out. The same left hook also caused a big blister on Felder's forehead. Perry cracked Felder with another elbow on the break then slipped behind & hit something of a German suplex. Felder managed to cut Perry with an elbow at the end of the round, but the whole right side of Felder's face was covered in blood. Duke Roufus tried to get Felder to pepper Perry & move, calling for volume over power. Felder did better in the 3rd because he was keeping space, landing a nice short elbow counter, a reverse spinning middle kick, & a step knee when Perry came forward. Felder actually even landed the spinning forearm with the broken arm, with Dominick Cruz suggested was out of habit. Felder's volume decreased drastically midway through the round though, and Perry began to land some big shots because Felder wasn't doing enough to hold him off. Felder was winning the round because Perry had gotten away from his wrestling, but once Perry finally locked him up he took some knees because he offered no resistence to the clinch. Perry didn't get Felder down in spite of this, and both threw aggressively for the final 30 seconds after the break. While the 1st 2 rounds were easy to score, this 3rd round was incredibly even, 25 strikes to 24 for Felder, & honestly the fight should have been a draw. Perry doing his work later in the round & having the clasping time was apparently the difference, as he won a split decision 29-28, 28-29, 29-28. To cap off Felder's disaster of a night, 3 hours after he fought he was still sitting around in the hospital dripping blood as his wounds had yet to be attended to. It's possible he was rushed to the hospital due to the arm injury, but even on bush league combat sports shows there's someone at the venue stiching the injured fighters up after their bouts. Good match.
UFC The Ultimate Fighter 27 Finale 7/6/18
Gerald Meerschaert vs. Oscar Piechota R2 4:55. Round 1 & 2 were essentially different fights, or to some extent the same fight but with a different fighter scoring the takedown & choke. Piechota got off to a great start, taking Meerschaert down with an outside trip & controlling for much of the round. After a questionable standup about 4 minutes in, Piechota dropped Meerschaert with right hand counter & went into a deep rear naked choke. For some reason, Piechota seemed to be trying to turn Meerschaert when he had the choke in, releasing one of his hooks, and then quickly losing all body control so he had no choice but to just give up on the submission. Round 1 might have been a 10-8 round for Piechota under the year & a half old rules that will seemingly never be adopted, and Piechota was maintaining his advantage, winning the early portion of round 2 with his kickboxing. That being said, Piechota was already slowing down, having expended a lot of energy going for the finish, and Meerschaert was finally starting to wake up. Meerschaert got the takedown 2 minutes in, & they exchanged guillotine attempts then Meerschaert transitioned into an anaconda. None of these really went anywhere, but Meerschaert regained control in the scramble & really took over bombing on Piechota, who opted to stand against the cage rather than protect himself. This worked to the extent that he got back to his feet, but Meerschaert landed some big knees & elbows against the cage as soon as he was up, and now Piechota was probably concussed & no longer had his legs, so he was unable to get himself off the cage. It turned into one of those matches where the ref should have stopped it, & probably would have if he could ever find the place, but Piechota just wasn't quitting or falling so the moment never came. Piechota would miss a random weak shot or two then eat some more huge ones. Finally, Meerschaert dragged him down & worked him over from behind until the choke opened up. This took so long though that Piechota almost managed to survive the round. Even though Piechota lost, I'm almost more impressed with his guts in nearly making it out of the 2nd despite being all but out on his feet with 75 seconds left. Good match.
Alex Caceres vs. Martin Bravo 3R. A great matchup for Bruce Leroy, as he had all the advantages - size, reach, quickness, athleticism, diversity, movement etc. - and an opponent who would keep coming to give him opportunities to show his creativity. Bravo had a lot of heart & guts, and there was no relenting, just constantly pressuring whether it was working or not. The problem is Caceres was the one who was actually threatening. He landed kicks when he had space, and left hand counters that Bravo had no answer for. The left hand was really key here, as Bravo would try to come in with his left jab, but being a southpaw, Caceres was able to counter it with a harder left of his own time & time again. Bravo had some brief takedowns in the 1st, but Caceres was trying to drop into the guillotine or throwing up a triangle or just getting back to his feet without taking damage. Caceres dropped Bravo early in the 2nd with a lead left straight, but basically tried to jump on his back & take him down into a rear naked choke, but Bravo wasn't quite that out of it & predictably shook him off. Caceres continued to try to grapple his way into a submission rather than just press his advantage on his feet, which was his big advantage in the fight to begin with, and this just gave Bravo time to recover. Still, this was a big round for Caceres, who bloodied Bravo & had a lot of success with his counter punching game once they were back on their feet. Though Bravo took a lot of punishment, his persistence really began to pay off in the 3rd, as Caceres' style is high exertion, and he's been prone to slowing down in the past. Bravo eventually consolidated a double leg early in the 3rd, and was finally able to land a few punches before Bruce got back to his feet. Caceres footwork wasn't good in this round, and now he was getting hit as he was circling sideways, and wasn't getting off the center quickly enough or hitting his angles to counter with his left hand. Bravo knocked Caceres' mouthpiece out with a right hand, and Caceres failed on a desperation takedown once they put it back in. This round was basically slugging it out, as Caceres' defense had completely broken down. Caceres landed a good shot here & there, but round 3 was a big round for Caceres, beating Caceres in standup because he just had more in the tank. Round 2 was clearly Caceres & round 3 was clearly Bravo, but I was afraid Bravo might get the decision because judges put way too much weight on takedowns that go nowhere. Caceres won the split decision 29-28, 28-29, 29-28. Good match.
NJPW 7/21/17
G1 Climax 2017 Block A Match: Hirooki Goto [4] vs. Yuji Nagata [0] 15:02. A Block is pretty stacked, but if there were blue, or hell, any kind of justice in the world, these guys wouldn't be on first when you have stiffs like Makabe, Fale, & YOSHI-HASHI kicking around. Surely Tanahashi was going to take the night off after doing a real match against Sabre, and Naito pretty much does that regardless, but what's important is these guys proved their worth to anyone who was paying attention. The match followed a similar formula to Nagata vs. YOSHI-HASHI in that the younger wrestler pulled the fight out of the older one by underestimating him. The difference is that Goto commands to be taken seriously, so there's a different vibe to him running over you. Nagata fired up in both cases, & really brought the heat on his strikes, but this was more that he had to up his game against a top wrestler who has become one of the more underrated in the promotion as nonsense has increasingly become valued over no nonsense, than trying to make sure a guy who never amounted to anything didn't suddenly do so at his expense. The early portion was rather routine, but the match really picked up when Nagata got going after Goto woke him up chopping him on top of his head. This was much more violent than Goto vs. Ishii, as Nagata was just brutal to the point that Goto's strikes looked mediocre in comparison. Goto is generally a better striker than this, so I suspect he may have been going a little "easy" on Nagata while giving Nagata the green light to do his worst. In any case, Nagata's intensity was really resonating, and he was super over, with the fans really pulling for him & reacting to everything they did. This may not have been the most skilled or original match, but you had to love all the extra effort these guys put into it. It felt special because Nagata was busting his ass, and delivering a match that not only felt as though it was from the pre Tanahashi era of New Japan, not only stylistically but even quality wise was more toward what we saw from him at the height of his powers. Once it got going, they match never slowed down & really felt urgent. It was basically a 10 minute burst that came to a halt with Goto's GTR. There weren't a lot of amazing counters or any deep story, they just did a great job of beating the hell out of each other. ***1/2
G1 Climax 2017 Block A Match: Kota Ibushi [2] vs. Zack Sabre Jr. [2] 15:51. A rare opportunity in NJ for Ibushi to do a technical match rather than just be a spot merchant. Sabre was clearly the star in what was more toward his style, but Ibushi has a lot of ability here that isn't consistently fleshed out, and their skills meshed well. They were able to deliver a dynamic match that showcased their strengths & talents well. Sabre was just contorting & manipulating Ibushi's body every which way until he could find a submission, making Kota work harder here in the slowest minute than he did in Naito's entire 25 minute cartoon stallfest on day 1. What's so great about Sabre's style is while others mostly use submissions to rest, grabbling an appendage with little resistance & just holding the position for at least 45 seconds after the opponent would have tapped in real life (assuming they're using a move that actually has merit), he's just getting started when he gets hold of you, and is always tweaking or advancing to something better that requires a different answer. As soon as Ibushi began to shut one lock down, if not even before, Sabre had already made the adjustment & moved on. Sabre controlled the early portion, as while Ibushi was hanging with him on the mat, Sabre had the counter to his counter, & was simple a step ahead. Kota's strength in the Hard Hit style wasn't his submissions though, and once he got his striking going that gave him a decided advantage because Sabre's strength lies in his ability to progress through the possiblities & chain them together until he finds something, but he can't do that unless he already has a hold of you. The match was constantly evolving, but they came back to a couple spots. One was Ibushi's standing moonsault, which Sabre turned it into a triangle early, a key spot for him here. Sabre continued to counter Kota anytime he tried running or jumping, including getting an ankle lock off a later standing moonsault attack. Ibushi, in turn, had mutliple counters for Sabre's European uppercut, turning it into a sweet released German suplex & setting up the finish by getting a backslide position off it but holding on to Sabre's arms so when he escaped the pin he could level him with a knee. What made the match so good is it wasn't about setting up or countering a few big spots, but rather that it was always fluidly flowing & moving through the various possibilities, expanding rather than getting stuck. It was unpredictable, and a lot more than the sum of its parts, which were quite good on their own. The match seemed to be building up to be a classic, but as with the majority of the G1 matches so far, rather than a spectacular near finish laden climax or even something that just felt like a conclusive ending, they just wrapped it up when someone hit a finisher around the 15 minute mark. It wasn't quite that bad because Sabre's triangle had been something of a theme, so when Sabre stopped Ibush's last ride powerbomb & hit a flying triangle there was something real going on there, and Ibushi was able to overcome it by powering out & smashing him with the last ride he'd just countered for the win. This was the best match thusfar in the tournament, but it probably only scratched the surface of the great potential these two have together. ***3/4
NJPW 7/20/17
G1 Climax 2017 Block B Match: SANADA [2] vs. EVIL [0] 15:48. SANADA has always been a guy who seems to possess the tools to be a standout, but rarely puts it together for an entire match. He can be good, as he was here, and when you see this kind of match you might once again think he's ready to break into the top tear, only to probably have him go back to his usual skating by on his natural ability rather than finally harnessing it to greatness. EVIL doesn't have the luxuries that SANADA does, he's a lot less impressive than most guys on this roster when he's doing the usual half speed tags because he's not an amazing athlete & is rather straightforward & methodical, if not outright bland & lumbering, but he was willing to grind it out tonight. This was EVIL's match done at EVIL's pace, a steady contest that was built around a couple crazy spots, as well as the tempo changes when SANADA used his athleticism for his bursts of offense. Despite being in the same heel stable, SANADA is actually quite a nice opponent for EVIL because his explosions were a perfect counterbalance to EVIL's consistency, and they just fought an actual hard fought straight match that put the cartoon schlock their lazy leader delivered on day 1 to shame. There was some early brawling on the outside with one of the key spots being EVIL injuring SANADA's neck swinging a chair to send the chair that was around SANADA's neck flying off into the cameraman, but rather than fighting friendly then devolving to brawling as most matches would, this was more to establish right off the bat that EVIL wasn't going to let up on SANADA just because they were pals. EVIL came off as better prepared & more a student of the game, but SANADA has a lot more ability to just use his athleticism to adjust. SANADA has a much easier time impressing because he's such a good athlete that performing the maneuvers comes easy, while EVIL can even struggle to even get anything behind his strikes. These guys fought really hard though, and one of the best qualities of the match was that they really made you believe they were going all out for the victory. The highlight was definitely SANADA hitting an Ace crusher off the apron with EVIL was on the middle rope. The finish was a bit anticlimactic as SANADA's skull end was so sloppily applied EVIL's head was essentially not even involved in the move until SANADA realized & reapplied, but the moonsault looked nice. I feel like I was more impressed with this match than the matches from day 1, but I think it's because my expectations were low & the match definitely overachieved, whereas matches such as Sabre/Tanahashi & Goto/Ishii sounded a lot better on paper, and while good, were hardly at the optimal level. The main drawback to SANADA/EVIL is it had the feel of a match that wanted to go 20 minutes that just kind of came to a conclusion because it's just the start of a long, hard tournament, but I'm definitely a lot more pleased that they actually fought the whole time they were out there than worried whether the finish seemed conclusive enough. ***
G1 Climax 2017 Block B Match: Kenny Omega [2] vs. Minoru Suzuki [0] 21:24. The best match so far, but more because you had great talents who did enough well to overcome the goofiness than because it was firing on all cylinders. It was a lot more Suzuki's match than Omega's, as Suzuki was able to eliminate much of Omega's ability to perform his stunts by destroying his knee. They started off with a striking base, but would explode into a big move or submission to keep things lively & moving until they got into the main story, which they stuck to very well outside of one nonsensical diversion. Omega stopped Suzuki's whip into the guard rail, but when he tried to counter with a moonsault off the rail, Suzuki kicked him off & injured his knee with an ankle lock around the bar & some chair work. Omega's selling was both brilliant & terrible as he lacks subtlety, but while his spasm after Suzuki's strikes early on was comical, once he got into his method acting with his limping, he had a lot more to work with & was able to add nice touches rather than generic convulsions. Omega wasn't straightening the knee & even did his moonsault off 1 leg after the knee didn't hold up to the landing on his crucifix roll. Just when I was really getting into a nice story match where we were going to see whether Kenny could overcome his knee injury, they totally lost the plot with the EWW nonsense of Red Shoes getting taken out when Suzuki pulled him in front to shield him from Omega's v-trigger, then all the dead weight flooded the ring & Omega eventually took out the 3 stooges with a swandive plancha. Suzuki just held Red Shoes endlessly until Omega was finally back to the top rope & seemed to walk right into his flying move, but at least countered it with an Achilles' tendon hold to try to regain the actual plot. Suzuki then spent the next several minutes chaining submissions to destroy the knee some more & beating him up with his strike combinations, which just made the runins more pointless, as everything Suzuki did on his own served the purpose of making Kenny a well supported underdog. The way the match was worked, Kenny really should have lost, and this one just ending would actually have worked quite well. For instance, when Suzuki countered katayoku no tenshi with an ankle hold, but Omega increasingly has the Okada superhuman booking where his mere presence means he'll survive everything & eventually win, just because. And that's just what he did, eventually coming back with an enzuigiri & hitting a couple v-triggers & the katayoku no tenshi for the win. I'm not complaining Omega won, he's the guy that needs to be in the finals, especially out of this weak block, but the favorite getting destroyed the whole match then hitting a couple moves for the win isn't one of the better scripts, though their injury focus was a done a lot better than usual. ***1/2
Fight Nights Global 73 9/4/17, Shamil Amirov vs. Rousimar Palhares 3R. I like FNG's handling of UFC rejects much more than Bellator's, putting them against young, hungry fighters looking to make a name for themselves rather than having a middleweight vs. a light heavyweight if they were in shape in a heavyweight tournament & Chael beats Rampage by virtue of still training at a gym rather than at McDonalds. At least in this case, when the veterans are the hasbeens we know them to be, they lose & that makes a new star. Palhares isn't actually washed up though, as he's instead been banished down to FNG for being in competition for the #2 spot on the list of shadiest fighters of all time behind Gerard Gordeau. Amirov should have been totally overmatched here as the 21-year-old had just 3 MMA fights against nobody you ever heard of compared to Palhares 28 including wins over fighters such as Fitch, Shields, & Branch, but he was able to stay on his feet & land now & then. Amirov was mostly focused on staying on his bike to gas the overly muscled Palhares by making him constantly pursue, but he was also accurate with his blows. Amirov wasn't afraid to take the submission master down either, though he pretty much just let Palhares up to avoid getting caught. Palhares spent the fight pursuing with middle kicks because that's about all he could touch Amirov with, while Amirov landed side kicks to keep Palhares away & jabs when he could connect then escape. The first two rounds were more interesting than entertaining, as they were very competitive but without many highlights. The match was definitely dramatic because this little known hometown prospect was arguably beating a fighter who didn't actually lose the WSOF title in the ring. Palhares opened up in the 3rd, throwing a bunch of wide power punches, and this was a genuinely exciting round even though Palhares was running out of gas by the time he hurt Amirov a few minutes in & couldn't fully capitalize. Nonetheless, Palhares had a decent Kimura attempt & went after the heel hook when the arm slipped out. Later, he swept with the Kimura & had a near submission. Both guys just willed themselves to continue in the last minute, with Amirov making a big final push, landing punches against the cage with a slouching Palhares no longer having the energy to keep his hands up, but still dodging some of them. Palhares won the 3rd despite Amirov's strong finish, but the first two rounds could have gone either way depending on which style you value more . Amirov was originally awarded a split decision, but the result was overturned to a draw by Russian MMA Union. Good match.
