Best Matches Seen February 2019 |
UFC on ESPN 1 2/17/19: Vicente Luque vs. Bryan Barberena R3 4:54. Barberena is such a fun fighter to watch. He's not a great fighter or the most technically proficient, but he loves to get into these crazy high pace & output wars of attrition where his heart & toughness can really shine & he hopes his chin, willpower, & general determination to outwork & outlast the opponent will carry the day. Luque is a more conventionally skilled & talented fighter, and though they ultimately set the UFC record for significant strikes landed in a 3R welterweight fight, it wasn't looking like a great fight early on as Luque was winning the footwork game, staying outside the lead leg of the southpaw & landing the right straight down the middle. He kept the pressure on & as the 1st round progressed was beating Barbarena up against the cage. Barberena tried to get his left hand going, but Luque was timing it & landing the overhand right. Barbarena finally got going late in the round faking the jab & following the right hook with the left straight for the knockdown. Barberena got around the legs & tried to follow up taking side control, but Luque got to a knee & forced Barberena to defend the single leg, creating a scramble where he took the back & nearly choked Barbarena out. Barberena made some nice adjustments in the 2nd, and the next two rounds saw him making it ugly, forcing an inside fight where he landed a ton of quick punches & heavy elbows. Barberena isn't a strong defensive fighter, but standing right in front of Luque with his hands down lured Luque into headhunting, and Barberena's best defense is leaning out of harms way, though he never seems to care that much if he does get clipped. I thought Luque would have been better served trying to slow Barberena down by answering with body hooks, but the naked chin is just so tempting. In any case, round 2 was a classic Gaethje sort of round with Barberena just coming forward with huge volume & pressure, and still standing in front of Luque when his combos were done so Luque could try to hit him back. Luque was either tired already or just being patient at the start of the round given all the hard shots he landed in the 1st didn't seem to have much effect on the zombie. Luque still tried to push forward at times, but Barberena would hold his ground & answer with short elbows. Luque landed some huge clean shots in this round, but Barberena was willing to eat them to land a couple more shots of his own. Luque landed a few good punches at the end of the 2nd, but his knee which I thought live might have been a knockdown didn't land fully Barberena. Round 2 was closer than round 1 and a great round, but the fight should have been even going into the 3rd. Luque was landing cleanly in the third when he had space, but Barberena would make another push inside. Luque's face was getting really tenderized from all these short elbows. They continued to just trade throughout the 3rd, a round that was really close because Barberena had the numbers, but Luque was loading up & landing the harder shots. They kicked it into overdrive for the final 30 seconds trying to steal the round, and likely the fight. Luque hurt Barberena with an uppercut, and followed with another uppercut then pulled Barberena into the clinch, finishing him in the final seconds with two clinch knees & a handful of punches while Barberena was on his knees. This was really clutch because it's anyone's guess who was about to get this decision. It's also the first time Barberena had been knocked out in 20 fights, and it really came out of nowhere given Barberena had taken all these great shots like they were nothing all fight. Excellent match.
GLORY 58 9/14/18: Justin Moss vs. Paul Banasiak 3R. I haven't been overly impressed with the prelims GLORY streams free on YouTube & Facebook, not that the fighters aren't trying but they're just so inexperienced it's obviously not the highest level of fighting. This however, was one of the very best GLORY fights of the year. You had the heart but both fighters also had a game plan they were able to have success with & it was very back & forth, with both men upping their game because they had to, and ultimately just slugging it out late because they were fighting to impress rather than to win a decision. Banasiak had a 5 inch reach advantage and did a good job of using it in the early stages. He would put out a jab or kick to score on the outside, but really what he was trying to do was time Moss when he closed the distance, which he had to in order to actually do anything. Banasiak would often throw a hook when Moss took the first step into range, and even though he's not a huge hitter, using Moss' momentum against him allowed him to drop Moss with one of these late in the 1st (Moss being on one leg from landing the low kick also helped). Moss upped his pressure in the 2nd, being more consistent at taking a step forward whenever Banasiak took a step back allowed him to in punching range & thus took away Banasiak's distance game. Moss rocked Banasiak with a hook toward the end of the round, but Banasiak stayed on his feet & Moss didn't have much time to follow up. Banasiak was so woozy though that he didn't even recover much between rounds, and Moss was able to drop him at the start of the 3rd countering a slow middle kick with an overhand right. Banasiak might have gone down from getting hit while extended throwing the kick, but it was too powerful a shot to not rule a knockdown. Banasiak was now going to lose unless he got a knockdown or knockout, and you figured he would just wilt here, not from lack of desire but lack of time to clear his head. Somehow though, he answered the urgency & put up a valiant effort in the 3rd, now being more competitive even though he was still stuck in Moss' realm because Moss didn't try to sit on his lead. Moss just continued to force the inside exchanges that were to his benefit, and the way they were just standing toe to toe slugging it out toward the end, you really couldn't tell which fighter needed to do something big. One judge had it 28-27 Banasiak, but the other four had it 28-27 Moss. Very good match.
UFC 234 2/9/19
Kyung Ho Kang vs. Teruto Ishihara R1. The first minute was mostly just figuring out the orthodox vs. southpaw matchup, but from there it was just insane. Ishihara timed Kang entering with a nice jab, but Kang seemingly was going to get one back when Ishihara slipped ducking a right uppercut while trying to disengage. Kang lept at him with a right as Ishihara got up, but Ishihara countered with a left hook out of nowhere for the knockdown. This just made Kang pressure more fiercely, and he backed Ishihara into the cage winging right hands. Kang had a flash knockdown with a clinch knee to the chin, and landed a big right as Ishihara was trying to circle off the cage to escape. Ishihara tried to slow it down with a thai clinch, but Kang just kept landing uppercuts until Ishihara released & started trying to match him haymaker for haymaker. Kang was less out of control here & landed some while Ishihara was pretty much missing everything, but they eventually both gassed themselves enough that Kang decided to take him down. Ishihara was so gassed that he offered no resistance to Kang taking his back & couldn't dump him off even though Kang had no hooks in. At that point, you figured it was about over, and even obvious cheating of grabbing the cage in desperation didn't help Ishihara, who was promply choked out. This was awfully short, but they just gave all they had for a couple minutes, may the best man win. Good match.
Israel Adesanya vs. Anderson Silva 3R. If you like Anderson Silva, you'll probably like this match, and if you don't then you won't. For me, it was a fun match seeing Anderson do his thing against a fighter who is 14 years younger who grew up idolizing him & based a lot of his game around what Anderson does, but has taken it a step further. It's sad to see Silva lose again, but he by no means embarrassed himself. Silva's problem has been facing guys with strong wrestling games who gain a lot of traction on him through the threat of the takedown. Adesanya just had a kickboxing match against him, which would be great if he wasn't a likely future champion who had height, reach, speed, and age on his side. This was the fight where, even though he's never fought this way in an MMA match, you thought Silva might have tried a takedown or two because if he has one advantage it's his BJJ, and even if he doesn't get it as Adesanya hasn't been easy to take down, the threat might help open up his strikes. Although things didn't line up well for Silva, I felt like the biggest difference might have been that Adesanya was able to get Silva to bite on his feints, while Silva really didn't feint at all, and that made it really tough to hit a much longer fighter who he couldn't just beat with his reflexes. Silva has an economy of motion, but Adesanya uses his movements more effectively to put himself into positions to score. Silva generally being a little out of range was an issue, but Adesanya won the fight because rather than being a counter puncher, he could create his own openings a lot more effectively & thus didn't have to rely or care too much about what Silva was doing. Neither landed too many shots, but Adesanya could connect with the straight of the stance switch. Adesanya's most consistent weapon was the low kick, but it didn't really serve it's purpose in that he was using it to set up the high kick, but Silva always managed to just get his head out of the way. This wasn't a high output fight, but relatively speaking both tried a lot of flashy kicks, and between the spinning kicks & the showmanship with the kung fu poses it had a bit of an exhibition feel. The only round Silva might have won was the 2nd, where he was willing to make the fight into more of a brawl by closing the distance quickly & landing short hooks. He pressed forward on other occassions, but it really only worked when Adesanya was already close to the cage so he couldn't just circle out & make Silva chase him. What was frustrating was that Silva had some success walking Adesanya down & being first, and knowing that, at best, he needed to win the 3rd to get the decision, he still quickly reverted to his same old losing strategy of standing with his back against the cage begging the opponent to hit him after a missed flying knee gave him the bright idea to just stay there. I don't get how Anderson can still think this is somehow an effective tactic when even the American Psycho was able to win that portion against him in a fight where he won no other portion, and it hasn't worked any better since. Granted Adesanya didn't actually beat Silva up here, but another minute ran off the clock & Silva was increasingly in a situation where he had to make something happen to dig himself out of his own hole. Adesanya continued to score with leg kicks then back when Silva stepped forward to respond en route to a 29-28, 30-27, 30-27 unanimous decision. Good match.
Glory 63 2/1/19: Wensheng Zhang vs. Lorawnt-t Nelson 3R. A really good fight for 2 rounds that was still entertaining in the 3rd, though all one way traffic for the guy trying to dig himself out of the whole. Nelson had an 8 inch reach advantage, but wanted to pressure & counter Zhang's counters, which allowed the southpaw Zhang to use his angles to get inside where he dominated with knees & short hooks. Nelson started strong when he was using his kicks & staying long, but as the round progressed Zhang was winning the battle of foot position, moving to the right, landing his right hand then getting in where he had the advantage. Early in the 2nd, Nelson brought up the right leg but planted & threw a right hand only to have Zhang beat him to the punch with a right then again with the left as Nelson was starting to throw a knee. Both of Zhang's punches landed solidly, and it was ruled a knockdown much to Nelson's dismay, but with the benefit of replay you can see Nelson absorbs the left then looses his balance after missing with his knee. Zhang did a good job of capitalizing, getting inside with a step knee then letting his hands go. Nelson tried to come back with a switch knee, but Zhang clocked him with a left hook while he was in midair. Nelson came out fast in the 3rd knowing in the best case scenario, winning the round would result in a draw. He was scoring well with clinch knees, and Zhang was slowing down to the point of very little output, either being injured or just having the wind knocked out of him. In any case, Nelson began landing clean punches to the chin, and Zhang was really just holding on for the entire round. The problem was because of the knockdown call, that's really all Zhang needed to do. Nelson pushed Zhang down after a knee to the body with 15 seconds left, which rightfully wasn't scored a knockdown. I like that kickboxing has the automatic 10-8 round for the knockdown, my problem with their scoring is they won't score a round like the 3rd that's total domination as a 10-8 round. Even if Zhang's knockdown was legit, the best round of the fight was pretty clearly Nelson's 3rd round where he outlanded Zhang 68-10 (especially since even in round 2 he outlanded Zhang 43-21 by GLORY's stats though that doesn't seem accurate). Zhang won a split decision 29-27, 27-28, 29-27. Good match.
UFC Fight Night 144 2/2/19
Rogerio Bontorin vs. Magomed Bibulatov 3R. Bibulatov had the more evolved standing game, he was quicker, more powerful, a lot more diverse, and just seemed to have more reps so he was able to create & ready to pounce on the openings there. However, his strategy instead seemed to be to get the fight to the canvas, and while his throws were impressive, his clinch wasn't yielding much fruit, and more importantly Bontorin seemed to be the better grappler & would take over with his BJJ if they did hit the mat. Bibulatov was a really fun fighter to watch because he's so versatile. He showed a wide variety of flashy, high level techniques including judo throws and spinning kicks, but one thing that made the match so good is they did a great job of reacting to one another & seizing the opportunities. Bontorin was definitely a lot more effective on the ground, but his moments in standup came when he forced himself to be extra aggressive. Bontorin had the only lengthy segment of control in the 1st when Bibulatov caught his kick & swept him to the canvas only to have Bontorin immediately take the top out of the scramble & work his way into a lengthy rear naked choke attempt. Bontorin tried to press forward more in the 2nd, but Bibulatov was able to time him stepping forward with some nice shots. Bibulatov had a takedown late, and while he did land a few punches this time, Bontorin again was quick to throw up a submission & Bibulatov thus let him get off his back. Bibulatov landed a sweet hook kick late, but Bontorin answered with a nice right cross. Bibulatov landed another spinning kick just before the round ended. It was seemingly a round a piece, but Bibulatov seemed to have more left in the tank, which was understandable given most of his powerful shots were to the body. Bontorin continued to be the fighter who moved forward, but he wasn't really committing to the attack. In fact, he was generally coming up short because he was out of range, and it was Bibulatov who would score by holding his ground or darting in when he needed to. Bontorin finally got more aggressive after Bibulatov landed a big step knee, walking Bibulatov down more aggressively so he was in range to follow his left hands with a big right. Bibulatov was doing more good, if a bit sporadic work to the body, but again allowed the fight to get bogged down in failed takedown attempts. Time was slipping away, and while I had Bibulatov ahead, it was certainly too close a round to be comfortable with being the road fighter. Bibulatov tried to drive from the clinch to finally get the takedown against the cage, but Bontorin side stepped & used the momentum against Bibulatov to get him down to a knee then step over his back. They spent the last 35 seconds sitting against the cage with Bontorin looking for the choke, finally getting some extension in the last 10 with Bibulatov on his side, though there still wasn't much pressure. This was enough of an excuse for the judges to give the fight to Bontorin. He definitely wasn't the better fighter over the course of 15 minutes, but I could see his choke attempts being enough to get him rounds 1 & 3. Bontorin won a 29-28 split decision. Good match.
Thiago Alves vs. Max Griffin 3R. Though Alves hasn't been that relevant since GSP defended against him at UFC 100 7/11/09, winning just 5 of his next 12, he's always been an entertaining banger, and he's somehow only 35 despite debuting in 2001. He's to the point of contemplating retirement, and up and comer Griffin was happy to send him there. Griffin got off to a big start, stunning Alves with a combo where it seemed Alves may have gotten a punch or finger in his eye that allowed Griffin to take advantage & put another combo on him. Griffin didn't seem to have great conditioning even early on as he already let Alves off the hook, but that being said he had a 6 inch reach advantage, and his gameplan was to fight behind his jab & close the distance to land the right hand or get the clinch/takedown when he wanted. There was only so much Alves could do when Griffin was taking the initiative & fighting intelligently, which he mostly was in the 1st. Griffin was moving & keeping Alves guessing while chipping away, and the fact Alves was rarely willing to step forward & apply the pressure he needed to be successful seemed to lull Griffin into a deserved sense of dominance that proved false because the judges are looking to give every advantage to the Brazilian, and Alves had the double advantage of even being born in Fontaleza. Griffin wanted a 10-8 round here, partly because Alves fell just before the bell though neither was scored a knockdown in the official UFC stats, but basically Griffin had a big start & was pretty consistent, though he let Alves into the fight late in the round then made a big push in the last 10 seconds waking up to answer Alves' high kick & right cross. Alves could have given up after Griffin answered this push by putting him down, but he instead focused on the progress he made before that, and gave us a great round in the 2nd. Alves did a much better job of controlling the distance now, stepping forward into his own punching range & answering Griffin's kicks & knees with punches. His big problem is Griffin was totally ready for his feared low kicks, and would answer them with the right hand, so Alves was never really able to make them anywhere near the weapon we've come to expect them to be for Alves. This round was very close in strikes landed, but Alves consistently walked Griffin down, and by keeping Griffin out of his comfort zone was able to land pretty much all the important, damaging blows. The fans began going nuts when Griffin slipped midway through the round, and Alves really started chasing Griffin down & opening up in the 2nd half. These two were just slugging it out now, but Alves landed a couple big body kicks then started to connect with his punches now that he had Griffin against the cage. Griffin tried to grapple, but while he was able to slow it down for a while, he was gassed in the final minute & when he was standing against the cage rather than moving his feet & using his jab, Alves would land big shots. It felt like whoever had the most energy left would take the 3rd round, and thus the fight, because the first two rounds had been about who was going to use their feet to dictate the distance the bout was contested at. Alves came forward right from the start, and the fans were really urging him on. Alves had Griffin on the defensive, but surprisingly went to the clinch when he backed Griffin into the cage, which had been his most successful punching position in the 2nd as Griffin isn't an avoid with the upper body type, he's a circle out & pump the jab to keep the opponent off him type. Alves landed a big spinning elbow on the break, but Griffin absorbed it & drove forward for a flash double leg takedown. Griffin had another double leg into the mount, but didn't even get to throw a punch as Alves just kept trying to escape, getting half guard then almost standing when Griffin tried to take his back in the scramble, only to have Griffin pull his thigh to get him back to his back. This only served to delay Alves from actually getting to his feet for another 10 seconds, and then he still had to work for another 30 seconds to break the clinch. I know this sort of grappling usually gets big points, but honestly Griffin did absolutely no damage with the takedown or after the takedown, so I'm all for giving it little credence on the scorecards. The problem here is Alves was even more gassed than Griffin by the time he broke free, and he basically just tried to grapple as well, getting the top momentarily when Griffin tried to drop into a Kimura sweep that he did enough with to sneak out the back & end up with a few more seconds of meaningless control before the round ended. The only real offense in the round was Alves' striking at the very outset. Griffin literally did nothing but make Alves waste energy getting back to his feet, but there was a lot more of this failed effort to maintain positions than there was of Alves banging Griffin. I can see why Griffin was shocked & dismayed by Alves winning a 29-28 split decision because hugging almost always wins fights, and Griffin did more of that than most guys who have gotten the nod in nothing rounds, especially given all his lack of offense came after Alves' brief strong start. I don't think an emphasis on control is the way we should have been scoring MMA since the dawn of time, but what makes this not really a good case for change is the reason Alves got what to me was a draw is he's the hometown fighter, not that he did some damage in the 3rd while Griffin didn't. The win seemingly prolonges the career of Alves, who has 2 fights left on his UFC contract, so there's that. Good match.
Charles Oliveira vs. David Teymur R2 0:55. A wild fight, as Oliveira was dragged into Teymur's standup battle mostly due to getting riled up from Teymur accidentally gouging him twice in the first 35 seconds. The first poke came when Teymur tried to push off to avoid the clinch after Oliveira somewhat caught his high kick late into the recoil. Even though I was rooting for Teymur, I liked that Jerin Valel took a point on the first infraction because it was a really deep, potentially fight changing gouge off the illegal Jon Jones finger position (now let's see them do this to Jones or Gustafsson). The second one wasn't particularly bad, but came right after the restart, with Oliveira calling his own timeout before the ref could make a ruling, which he did again later in the round. Oliveira responded with a sweet front switch kick & urged Teymur to bring it on. Oliveira was fighting really emotionally, and walked into Teymur's right jab/left straight combo for a knockdown. Teymur tried to ground & pound him, but Oliveira is such a great submission fighter that Teymur just got back to his feet as soon as he saw Oliveira was with it enough to throw up an armbar attempt. Oliveira got pounded going for leglocks, but even though Teymur wanted to use his movement & time his counters, Oliveira didn't allow the knockdown to stop him from pressing the action. Oliveira was now making real progress in standup by keeping so much pressure on Teymur he had to just keep moving to keep his back off cage where Oliveira could grab him that he didn't have time for many counters. Teymur's right eye was sliced up, & he was really looking to withstand the storm & then regain his foothold once Oliveira slowed a little, but Oliveira landed a nice flying switch knee & was opening up with spinning strikes. Oliveira began to tire late in the 1st, but came out strong again in the 2nd, hurting Teymur stepping in with an up elbow. Teymur's orbital was either broke there or with the follow up combo, and he turned his back & stopped fighting because he was injured. Valel inexplicably let it go, and after a series of unanswered hooks, Oliveira dragged Teymur down into an anaconda choke to extend his submission record to 13. Good match.
