Best Matches Seen April 2019 |
UFC Fight Night 150 4/27/19: Mike Perry vs. Alex Oliveira 3R. This was Oliveira's first fight since his Christmas present of getting grenaded at his friendly neighborhood gas station. It's hard to call anything a war after that, but this is at least the kind of war he's paid to be involved in. Perry will bang mindlessly with anyone, but has focused more on his wrestling since Winklejohn began taking his money, and Oliveira was trying not to just match power for power with him. Oliveira's strategy was to stay on the outside circling, landing the leg and any other kicks. Though Oliveira looked good in the 1st, utilizing his length, he was expending a ton more energy than Perry was. Other than kicks, Oliveira was landing the right hand, and opened up a cut Perry on the left cheek of Perry. Perry landed a few bombs on the inside, but generally was fighting at Oliveira's distance. Perry was just standing in front of Oliveira rather than circling away from his right hand as his corner instructed, and Oliveira seemed to take over with a flurry early in the 2nd, but went down from a short left hook. This was a retreat to the ground rather than a knockdown, but it was hard to tell if Oliveira was hurt or knew he was too close to back away from the expected big follow up. Oliveira wasn't moving as much when he got back up, and though Perry stumbled going for a double leg, he still got in on the legs, hoisted Oliveira, and just dropped him on his shoulder rather than doing a more useful slam that would result in him getting on top. Oliveira was giving Perry different looks in the 2nd, trying to come in behind the jab to land the big right or using a side stance and attacking the knee, but Perry eventually got under a right & took him down. Oliveira wasn't doing much to defend or get back to his feet, and Perry was nailing him with left hands from half guard. The fight was even going into the 3rd, but the problem for Oliveira wasn't so much that Perry was gaining momentum as that he broke his toe throwing a front kick at the very end & the thing was flapping around. This wasn't as bad as Paul Felder breaking his arm early against Perry, but that's the kind of thing it takes for Perry to beat a good fighter, and this was definitely a significant advantage given Oliveira's whole strategy was based on his movement. Oliveira was doing his best to suck it up in the 3rd, but you could see he was having trouble with his balance when the right foot hit the canvas and thus wasn't as fast or focused with his footwork. Oliveira's connect percentage dropped from 47% in the 2nd to just 27% in the 3rd. A big difference is Oliveira wasn't really kicking now, and was now either fighting defensively, trying to move enough just that Perry wouldn't connect with a bomb, or trying to keep Perry honest by throwing a punch or two but no longer having the speed & mobility to get out before Perry countered. A little after a collision of heads the ref missed, Oliveira just stood against the cage & did some nonsensical rope-a-dope where Perry held his right hand with his left & just clubbed him with right hooks. Perry did take a breather more or less for the rest of the fight, but it didn't matter because he could see Oliveria's shots coming a mile away, he just wasn't bothering to counter it anymore because he knew he was ahead. Perry won a unanimous decision 29-28. Good match.
ONE 88: Hero's Ascent 1/25/19
Kickboxing: Hiroki Akimoto vs. Josh Tonna 3R. An incredibly high paced, action packed competitive contest that never slowed down or had a dull moment. Tonna is an aggressive, high pressure fighter to begin with, but because Atsushi Onari called a standing knockdown 45 seconds in after Akimoto landed two liver kicks, he was forced to push even more because he felt he was always fighting from behind. That may not actually have been the case because 2 minutes in, Tonna knocked Akimoto down momentarily, countering the liver kick with an overhand right. Though Tonna pressed for the last minute, Akimoto immediately wobbled him, and probably took the round though it could have been scored even. Regardless of the scoring, Tonna had press & press because Akimoto had a huge edge in the kicking department, and would pick him apart at range if given the opportunity. Tonna wasn't going to make it easy for Akimoto no matter how much punishment he withstood in the process. Though he was in Akimoto's face most of the 2nd, Akimoto could seemingly land kicks no matter how close Tonna was, and was still able to work over his midsection. Akimoto did a great job of beating Tonna's arms up with middle kicks while he was coming in, and even when Tonna was in range, he wasn't having that much success because Akimoto's reflexes were so quick he was able to dodge most of Tonna's short range punches. Tonna showed some better strategy early in the 3rd, working over Akimoto's liver with the step knee & body hook and using these to try to set up the big overhand right. Akimoto reestablished distance though, and things truly went awry for Tonna as Akimoto began working the right low kick, offbalancing Tonna when he tried to check it. This opened up the right middle kick, with Akimoto getting another knockdown midway through the round. Tonna was still okay, but he was forced to defend the body more, and Akimoto was able to back him into the cage following each head punch with one to the body then catch Tonna off guard with a high kick for the 3rd knockdown. Akimoto tried for the finish, but Tonna remarkably still wasn't slowing down or going anywhere, so he had to settle for the unanimous decision. Excellent match.
Flyweight World Grand Prix Qualifier: Danny Kingad vs. Tatsumitsu Wada 3R UD. An extremely close contest where both had their moments in each round, and generally the fighter who won the first half of the round then lost the second half. Wada is the better grappler & Kingad is the better striker, but in round 1 Wada got the better of the striking, while Kingad got the better of the grappling. After that, the fight reverted more to what you'd expect, and I feel like the scoring comes down to how much you value the ground strikes because Kingad landed the more flashy shots on his feet, but I felt Wada's knees & elbows on the ground were much more damaging shots. Granted, Wada got a yellow card for elbows to the theoretical mohawk, which doesn't cost him a point since they don't use a points system but may have negated the whole lot from the judges consideration. Wada did a nice job of blasting the lead leg & moving early, but he really wasn't able to sustain this tactic moving forward because Kingad made some nice adjustments, using side kicks to extend the distance. Wada got inside with a punch combo & dropped into a takedown, taking Kingad's back, but Kingad managed to roll Wada when he was throwing a knee. Though Kingad didn't do any real damage, he advanced position & was in control for half the round with the crowd going nuts for their countryman. After that, Wada had almost all the control on the ground, but Kingad always kept himself out of real trouble and managed to take the top or escape eventually. Kingad definitely controlled the standup in the 2nd & 3rd rounds, pretty much forcing Wada to come forward with punches to get in on the body. Wada eventually got it to the ground in the 2nd after eating a bunch of hooks on the inside, and was able to land several punishing knees before taking Kingad's back. The third round was by far the closest. Again, Kingad was winning early in standup, but Wada got it to the ground. I thought Wada did enough in the grappling to slightly edge the decision, mainly because his ground strikes were more punishing than Kingad's standing strikes, but the hometown fighter got the nod on all the cards. Good match.
WKA 1/26/80 WKA World Welterweight Title: Yoshimitsu Tamashiro vs. Howard Jackson 10R. The late California Flash is mostly known today for his association with Chuck Norris, originally a member of his fighting team then working as his bodyguard & personal trainer & having bit parts in several of Norris' 80's movies, but Jackson was also a very significant figure in the barely documented early days of US foot fighting, the first African American to be ranked #1 in karate where he was champion in both semi & full contact and fighter of the year in 1973 & 1974, moving on to world titles in kickboxing & Muay Thai after returning from a debilitating knee injury that robbed him of 2 years. He was even a sparring partner for Joe Lewis, and eventually peaked at #6 in the WBA boxing rankings. Boxing was the big difference in this fight, as Tamashiro tried to savage Jackson's legs with low kicks to take away his speed, but Jackson would get inside & work the body and head with his punch combos. Early on, Tamashiro used knees on the inside to make Jackson pay for this, but as the fight progressed it was all about beating up the knee Jackson had surgery on. These guys fought at such a remarkably high pace & so aggressively for the first 3 rounds I had to keep reminding myself this wasn't the usual 3 rounder we get today. It felt like a brawl because both were just throwing & throwing, almost seeming without regard to what the other was doing. This definitely was not the style we are used to seeing where one fighter throws and the other fighter defends then counters. The fight felt a bit sloppy because they were just machine gunning each other, but the action and workrate were fantastic. Jackson had to somewhat break from the kamikaze style in the 4th because his lead leg had taken so much damage it was buckling on impact & he was beginning to hobble around. He was a lot more reactive going forward and it started looking more like a conventional modern fight with Jackson trying to time Tamashiro & react to him by either stepping back to avoid or stepping in to eat it but land the left hand. The more damage Jackson took to the leg, the less he kicked, to the point the second half of the fight was basically Jackson's punches against Tamashiro's low kicks. It was a very close, tough to score fight in my opinion. Jackson clearly had more athletic ability & talent, but as the fight progressed his athletic ability was severely compromised and Tamashiro started taking rounds on my card. Tamashiro was definitely hurt by never being able to use the low kicks to open up the high kicks or any other part of his offense despite his best attempts, but he did the one thing that was having success so well that Jackson could barely stand in the later rounds, and thus ha a far more difficult time fighting on his terms. American judges were likely to prefer the boxing of Jackson, which was flashier & looked more impactful, but in the 9th Tamashiro had a great run where he'd land 1 low kick after another because Jackson's leg would buckle from the 1st so he wouldn't be able to do anything quick enough to keep Tamashiro from just landing the second and the third. Jackson managed to stay on his feet though, and did a better job of walking Tamashiro down in the 10th despite the low kicks. Jackson won a unanimous decision 87-84, 90-76, 89-83. The first few half was off the charts with their frantic chaotic action then it got more tactical by necessity, but this was still quite entertaining as well. Excellent match.
PROGRESS Chapter 13 Unbelievable Jeff 5/18/14: Prince Devitt vs. Zack Sabre Jr. 12:51. Right at the end of Devitt's serious career, he met up with the wrestler who would take over for him as Europe's best export. It started out as the typical Devitt sprint, and while it was more Devitt's style than Sabre's overall, Sabre was able to work his technical wrestling into the contest in a manner that made Devitt look better & more diverse. Devitt has always been about speed, but in a running & jumping kind of way, we rarely saw it meaningfully extended to scrambly quick mat transitions as we did here even though he still impressed. Devitt's style also pulled good things out of Sabre, by pushing him into a faster paced more junior style match it forced him to step up his athleticism and be even more reactive with his setups and counters. Devitt's matches are good on the short side because there isn't a ton of depth to them, but this match really wanted to be longer because it was so impressive in all aspects, and Sabre was capable of developing things a lot whole further than he had time to. There was less high flying here as Devitt was into his Joker stage, but all the high pace stuff was impressive, as was the stiff striking and the slick matwork. The crowd was great as well since Devitt was on his farewell tour. All in all, this had all the makings of a classic except for it was less than 13 minutes as compared to the 25 Havoc & Andrews got in the main event that followed, which kept the near finishes down and kind of settled things into that impressive but not outstanding level. Devitt controlled much of the match with brutal chops & big moves, but his constant selling of his injured arm made it seemed more even than it actually was. I liked the spot where they were exchanging strikes until Zach ducked into a really fast half nelson suplex then hit the penalty kick and spun into an armbar when Devitt kicked out. Sabre also countered Devitt's running elbow into a flying armbar. The finish where Sabre tried to step over and take Devitt down into an armbar, but Devitt pulled his arm free & hit a tornado enzuigiri into his bloody sunday was fine, I just wish it came a little later. While I really enjoyed this match, I was also left with a "that's it?" feeling at the end. ***1/2
FCP Project Tokyo 1/7/19: Chihiro Hashimoto & Mika Iwata vs. DASH Chisako & Millie McKenzie 11:49. Iwata has improved tremendously in the past 6-8 months & and while she's still nowhere near the exceptional level of the other 3, she can hold her own & contribute now. She showed a lot of fire, and had a great elbow exchange with DASH where she was trying to stand up to her in spite of getting clubbed back mercilessly. The best segments of the match were still DASH sprinting with Hashimoto, which is no surprise given those are the best segments in Senjo in general. Millie did a few interesting things with Hashimoto, winning a vertical suplex battle after Chihiro straight up stuffed her spear. There was some comedy where DASH was sacrificing Millie for the good of the team, superplexing her onto Hashimoto and hitting her diving footstomp to Hashimoto with Millie underneath. McKenzie didn't get any German suplexes in, which I think is a first in a match I've seen. She took two from Hashimoto though, getting pinned in the 2nd, which was kind of humiliating. Although they could surely do something twice as good if they really had time & were being featured, this was an entertaining little sprint. It was great that, for once, DASH didn't have to do everything for her team, but it would have been nice to see more of Millie's style & personality. She really just seemed to be going along with the others, who were fine with another good worker, but weren't doing anything to bring out her intensity or persona. ***
Pancrase 304 4/14/19: Yojiro Uchimura vs. Shinsuke Kamei 3R UD. Kamei delivered one of the most recklessly violent performances I've seen here, whether he didn't comprehending the notion of caution or have other options in his game, he just charging forward unleashing full power right hands with no thought beyond knocking Uchimura into next week. Kamei won last year's NEO BLOOD tournament, but now the 4-0 prospect was taking on a gatekeeper that's 12 years older & has over 30 pro fights. Kamei did have a 9" reach advantage to somewhat even things out, but his lack of weapons hampered him, as it seemed more that he had to keep going back to the same few tactics, and while that made for a classic war, it also got him into a lot of trouble as the veteran was able to time his aggression as the fight progressed. They eased into the battle with Kamei stepping forward & using the right straight to back Uchimura then going for the right high kick. Once Kamei finally gambled to close the distance, Kamei threw a clinch knee then chased after Uchimura with crazy violent rights hands trying scare him off from every trying this tactic again. Kamei mostly missed, but still Uchimura had limited options against the cage, and when Kamei was able to back Uchimura again, he unleashed such furious right hands that Uchimura slipped trying to avoid them & angle off the cage. Uchimura did get up before Kamei dropped to many bombs & hammerfists on him, but still this was a good round for the youngster. Uchimura came out aggressively in the second, spinning on a kick fake then jumping forward & switching to a superman punch that leveled Kamei. Kamei refused to back down, coming forward behind big right hands and doing his best to steal the round back. With 20 seconds left, I would have said he succeeded, but Uchimura came over the top of Kamei's right straight with a left to drop him again. Uchimura got so lost trying to flurry for the win he didn't realize the 10 second clapper wasn't the end of the round, and just turned his back on Kamei & started walking to his corner, nearly taking a right hook he didn't expect. Once Uchimura was informed the fight was still on, he managed to get a high kick in before the round ended for real. The second round was really great, and it's a testament to both how good it was and how bad judges are that it wasn't unanimous for Uchimura despite Kamei hitting the canvas twice. Kamei didn't let the fact that Uchimura was now able to counter his right straight deter him from throwing it in the 3rd, still coming at Uchimura with as much vigor & recklessness as ever. Uchimura wobbled Kamei with the counter a few minutes in, but Kamei came right back trying flying knees, eating a right hook for his trouble. There was an odd sequence late in the 3rd where Kamei rolled out of the clinch into a kneebar, but he was too low and Uchimura was able to stand & literally run away. Kamei chased him all the way across the ring, almost taking a spinning backfist & stumbling, but finally getting a bodylock against the cage. The fight was still up for grabs in the last minute, but Uchimura was able to land a few more overhand lefts. This round was super close, and the overhands probably just swung things in Uchimura's favor as he managed to get the unanimous decision. Excellent match.
EVE Maybe Wrestling Will Help 9/8/18, Non Title Match: Charlie Morgan vs. Millie McKenzie 9:45. Normally with any kind of an impromptu match, the wrestler actually comes out to answer the open challenge because otherwise how does anyone know they are interested? Since wrestlers somehow have a subconscious psychokinetic link to every arena's PA system though, they just played Millie's music and she "made the champion wait", which was supposed to be some brilliant mind game. Luckily, both meant business once this non-title match that would earn Millie the next challenge on 9/29 if she won finally started. As with pretty much every McKenzie match, it was an intense sprint where they went at it aggressively from start to finish. Other than the big show classic against Sammii Jayne, this is the most engaged Morgan has been all year, and it showed the kind of talent she could be in a regular setting if she so chose. The match was built around their big moves, Millie's German suplex & Morgan's superkick, which they teased several times. Morgan was showing McKenzie up including surprising her with a springboard plancha, but McKenzie hit her new Diamond cutter out of nowhere to get into the match. I liked the sequence where Morgan countered the German suplex by kicking her feet during the deadlift & got them over the top rope, but Millie pulled her back through the middle rope to try again only to have Morgan elbow her way out. McKenzie finally got the German suplex and 3 more when Morgan pissed her off by going for it herself. This match was excellent while it lasted, but as with many Morgan matches, it literally just ended when she randomly hit a finisher. At least the match built to the superkick being a big deal, but Millie was on a big run and then just up and lost to what's not even Charlie's regular coup de grace. It's annoying that wrestling booking is normally so predictable, but I'd take predictable putting the phenom who is already their 2nd best wrestler into a big title match than sticking us with some silly 4 way with dreadful Rhia O'Reilly any day (though at least putting 2 other actual workers in it gave it potential over the original Morgan/Rhia). ***1/2
UFC 236 4/13/19
Interim UFC Middleweight Title: Israel Adesanya vs. Kelvin Gastelum 5R. For the last few years, most of the good UFC matches have been on the undercard of the PPVs while the title matches have been snoozers with Woodley, Cormier, Khabib, not to mention those disgraceful Cyborg squashes of the Invicta little girls. Tonight the undercard was pretty lame, but both of the title matches, while not great, where two of the most interesting and competitive we've seen in quite a while. I was less sure about Gastelum's ability to hang in there, as while he's a great power puncher and the better grappler of the two, Adesanya is the much more diverse striker and this was the middleweight divisions version of David vs. Goliath with Adesanya having a 7" height & 8.5" reach advantage. Gastelum had to get inside for 25 minutes to have a chance, and while his cardio has been good at 185 now that he's not draining his body so badly, that's still a tall order against such a dangerous well trained striker. Gastelum didn't quite do that, instead conserving some energy by staying so far away when he wasn't coming that he could back away from most of Adesanya's shots and instead trying to slide in and use his quick hands to land the jab and maybe follow with the left. Gastelum had a good first round, knocking Adesanya down with a right hook when he finally made a really aggressive push forward midway through the 1st. Adesanya retreated into his shell for the rest of the round, just avoiding Gastelum's bombs while he tried to recover and figure out his timing and patterns. Even though Gastelum won the first, I didn't think he could win with this strategy long term because Adesanya is too much better technically (beyond his other advantages) for him to just kind of exchange with regardless of the distance, but this allowed him to get into the fight without setting himself up to start strong & fade late. Adesanya did a much better job in the 2nd, landing the middle kick when Gastelum was at range to force Gastelum's hand more. Gastelum stuck to his strategy of sliding forward with the right jab then trying to follow with the big left though, and it was working well until he stumbled while stepping in with the jab, perhaps tripping on Adesanya's foot, and Adesanya dropped him with a big right hook. Now Adesanya was finally willing to pressure a compromised Gastelum, and he nailed him with a great spinning back elbow. Adesanya was looking much better when he came forward, and now Gastelum in recovery mode so he wasn't winging such huge bombs to scare Israel off. While Gastelum did a good job of either being outside or getting inside so he wasn't just getting stuck standing in range, Adesanya had the timing to land the right hand counters to Gastelum's jabs, and was increasingly making Gastelum pay for reaching or throwing wide power punches. Gastelum had a flash takedown late in the 3rd, and finally became more aggressive in the 4th, pushing forward & then having the option to go for the takedown when he'd worked his way inside or generally just making it a brawl where his power might win out over Adesanya's technique. The fighter coming forward was the one winning the rounds, so Adesanya was at least trying to hold his ground more & time the right hand counter, but Gastelum bloodied him with his jab. Late in the 4th, Gastelum landed the right jab but this time faked the left hook and instead brought up the high kick, which Adesanya wasn't in position to defend. Gastelum saw he was hurt from the kick to the neck & followed with a big left straight. Adesanya was almost dropped again, perhaps the cage kept him up, but with Gastelum winning the 1st & 4th the title was presumably going to whoever stepped up in the 5th. There were some great moments in the fight, but being back & forth and dramatic was the biggest thing it had going for it because you genuinely didn't know who was leaving with the belt even well into the 5th round. Gastelum came out looking like he was going to continue to apply big pressure to start the 5th, but it was quickly apparent he didn't have the energy to sustain that style, and Adesanya got back in the fight because Gastelum wasn't moving enough. There wasn't much grappling in this fight, but there was one exciting exchange where Gastelum tried for a single leg, but Adesanya countered with a standing guillotine. Gastelum spun out, and Adesanya surprisingly pursued him right to the ground trying to take his back, but again Gastelum spun and took the top, though Adesanya threw up a triangle. Gastelum slipped out while Adesanya was trying to roll into mount, but Adesanya was more looking for the sweep anyways, and scrambled back to his feet. Gastelum was clearly winded, and while he was throwing big, the problem is he was now standing in front of Adesanya after these misses, and Adesanya was making him pay. Adesanya snapped Gastelum's neck back with a short right and now was just waiting for Gastelum to miss so he could land the right hand counter. Adesanya put a few of these rights together, and Gastelum crumbled to his butt with just over a minute left. Gastelum was bleeding from the nose now, and after Adesanya defended his takedown attempt, he put him down again with a few more rights then dropped a couple elbows on the ground. Gastelum got back up & was throwing wildly, getting dropped again with a left hook with seconds left. Rogan kept calling for Goddard to stop the fight for some reason even though Gastelum was doing what he could to stay in the fight, and you never want to stop a fight that late when the fighter is still wanting to be there. Adesanya really came up big down the stretch, turning a round that as up for grabs into a 10-8 round to take the unanimous decision 48-46. Excellent match.
Interim UFC Lightweight Title: Dustin Poirier vs. Max Holloway 5R. A really intriguing fight because you didn't know if Poirier could hold up to Holloway's relentless pressure or Holloway could hold up to Poirier's far superior punching power. The bigger question was how would Max do in his first fight in this division. While Poirier used to fight at 145, and that's the weight that he won their first meeting at, he's become so big in the shoulders that it's now a hard cut to lightweight, while Holloway still looked about the same as he always does on fight night because he just came up for one fight rather than actually changing his body to stay here for the long haul. Early on, it looked like the bigger stronger Poirier would rule the day because his power was actually sort of managing to keep Holloway from pressuring him too much early on. Holloway didn't stop doing his thing, but the more he got in Poirier's face, the more he got the worse of the exchanges, and you can only pressure so much when you're regularly getting rocked. One problem for Holloway is Poirier was fine employing a style where he just waited for the openings to counter punch because he was okay taking a few more shots as long as he landed the more significant ones. The first round was great as both clipped each other early, leading to good flurries. Poirier came back with a left straight followed by a big overhand right Max couldn't back away from that almost knocked him down, and then was already pressing for the finish. Holloway was firing back all the way, but Poirier caught him again following the left with the overhand right which obviously isn't the normal combo out of the southpaw stance. Holloway suffered some damage to his eye, and was blinking often and seemingly having trouble seeing some of Poirier's strikes coming. Then Poirier made it worse with a straight to the right eye. This is where Holloway's pressure style wasn't serving him because he didn't have any way to stall to recover, he just kept trying to fire back, and while he'd land some shots, Poirier's just had so much more on them that Poirier would get him in trouble again. The first round certainly could have been a 10-8 round for Poirier, but you usually don't see 10-8 rounds scored in a standup round without any knockdowns or near finishes, and Holloway did land 30 shots & hurt Poirier early, so it wasn't one way traffic even if Poirier hurt him a handful of times. As impressive as Poirier's power was, he already took the first few minutes of the 2nd round off, and this was the case throughout the rest of the fight, as he just blew harder & harder. Holloway got his body punching going to slow him down further. This was looking like an easy round for Holloway just chipping away at an opponent who couldn't keep up with his pace until Poirier finally did something in the last minute. Though Holloway has a great chin, Poirier just hits so hard that he was able to steal the round with a couple of big punches, which would have lead to a knockdown had the cage not held Holloway up. Poirier wobbled Holloway again with a short right hook to the nose to secure the round. The third round was similar to the 2nd except while Poirier still landed the handful of best shots, he wasn't able to stun Holloway enough to slow him down or get a flurry going, and Holloway just outvolumed him. Poirier looked like he needed an oxygen mask for most of the last two rounds, and once Holloway got up from his early takedown he was landing a lot more often & cleanly to the head. Poirier wanted to take a break, but Holloway just kept punching him, forcing Poirier to expend more energy than he wanted to fighting back. Poirier did bust Holloway's nose up badly with a knee late in the round, and a left hook to the nose opened the cut up a lot further, but he really did little else in the round beyond suck wind. As with the previous title fight, I had this 2 rounds a piece going into the final round. The really amazing thing about this fight is that for all the punishment Holloway took early, he was still going full speed throughout whereas Poirier was never even close to the same after failing to finish in the 1st. Poirier landed some sharp counters in the 5th, but as usual it was Holloway who was dictating & landing more often, while Poirier was the one who was bobbling Max's head. Round 5 was the closest of the fight, really tough to call. It was definitely in Poirier's favor that he wasn't bleeding at all, whereas Holloway was leaking blood from the bridge of his nose all the way down his chest. Holloway was the one going forward in this round because he was the one who still had energy, and in this fight the fighter going forward was the one who was landing. I think Poirier won the fight scored as a whole, but I thought Holloway won the 5th round barely because he just had so much more energy left. It's reasonable to have scored this 48-47 either way or 47-47 draw, I suppose 48-46 Poirier if you really want to give him all the edges, but all the judges came up with 49-46 Poirier, which I thought was patently ridiculous in a fight where Holloway executed his game plan from start to finish (even though or despite getting clipped a number of times) and the opponent got worse with each round because of that. Excellent match.
ONE 82: Pursuit of Greatness 10/26/18
Kickboxing: Josh Tonna vs. Joseph Lasiri 3R. Lasiri really just wanted to clinch, so he'd press forward aggressively behind a punch combo then grab Tonna & throw the knee. Lasiri wasn't really beating Tonna up in the 1st round, but Tonna wasn't doing anything to punish him for coming in so hard, and was just fighting off his back foot the whole time. Tonna made some good adjustments between rounds though, and was now intercepting Lasiri with the front or middle kick. Tonna was able to land the left hand once he was able to hold his ground, which happened a lot more often now. There was still a lot of inside fighting in this round, though not all initiated by Lasiri. The last minute was particularly good with big exchanges. The fight was presumably even going into the 3rd, which would seem to give an edge to Tonna because Lasiri's style requires a lot of energy & Tonna now knew he had the tools to slow him down. Lasiri was able to fight most of this round on his terms, now using the flying switch knee to get inside, but he was having a lot of trouble actually connecting with anything. Tonna wasn't as active, but he managed to land some solid left kicks to the liver in between avoiding a lot of kicks & knees. Again, there were some big exchanges toward the end of the round, and this time Tonna was cut over the left eye by one of Lasiri's short punches during the inside exchanging. They were just machine gunning punches on the inside after the doctor checked Tonna out to finish strong, and Tonna caught Lasiri with a big right to greatly aid his cause in stealing the fight on the cards. This round was very close and both fighters had a good claim to the decision, but Tonna's defense was really the difference because he didn't really land that much in the 3rd, but Lasiri seemed to miss with everything except when they were just trading punch for punch on the inside. Good match.
Ye Thway Ne vs. Mite Yine 3R UD. The first round of this fight was excellent with Yine constantly coming forward behind the sweeping low kick then quickly closing the distance with punches & staying in Ne's face as long as possible. Though Ne was able to circle away at the outset, Yine wouldn't relent, and they wound up simply exchanging power shots on the inside for most of the time. Yine would pick up the aggression even more whenever he got a damaging shot in, but after his initial surge, Ne began to get his offense going, using the initial punch whether it be the jab or the right hook to set up the body shots. Combined with the crazy pace Yine was trying to keep, the body work resulted in Yine slowing down quite a bit by round 2. Though Yine did make a big push at the end of the 1st round, in general, just staying in the pocket like Gaethje was a real disadvantage as Ne was very good at covering up then landing his own combo back, whereas Yine didn't defend all that well and wasn't wearing Ne out by forcing him to keep answering because Ne's answers were too damaging. Ne's jab was doing work in the 2nd, busting Yine open on the bridge of the nose. Yine wasn't moving much in the 2nd, and that made him rather predictable, allowing Ne to step off & land his counters. Yine was moving even less in the third. Though he still threw a lot of strikes, it was Ne coming to him, and now just having too much speed & footwork. The fight was still up for grabs, and Yine finally got another wind in the final 2 minutes, but Ne blocked his high kick with his forearm & landed a few good right hooks to stop Yine's aggression. Despite being a lethwei fighter, Ne really only used boxing, but his conditioning is what won him the fight. Very good match.
Kickboxing: Tarik Khbabez vs. Ibrahim El Bouni R3 2:26. This wasn't the most technical or skilled match, but these two are both big KO artists, and it's easy to see why with all the huge violent power shots they were throwing. El Bouni had the reach advantage, so Khbabez had to keep getting inside and bringing the heat so El Bouni couldn't just pick him apart with kicks and the jab. Khbabez wasn't just plowing forward, he'd look to either duck or lean back to avoid the jab then come right in behind his counter attack. The first round was the best because El Bouni was enacting his strategy as well, and the exchanges were more thoughtful & competitive. The problem is Khbabez hit so damn hard & applied so much pressure that it wasn't long before El Bouni became very hesitant of his counter attacks and started backing up and just hoping to stick and move or intercept him with a jab. Khbabez would cut him off against the cage sooner or later though, and he rocked El Bouni with a huge left hook late in the 1st then nearly dropped him with an uppercut but El Bouni grabbed a single leg even though it's illegal to stay on his feet and get a second to recover while the ref broke things up. Early in the 2nd, Khbabez buckled El Bouni with a liver hook then cracked him with an uppercut, but El Bouni spit his mouthpiece out Diego Corrales style to get a cheap rest. Even after the ref's warning, El Bouni was still so damaged he basically just collapsed from nothing. Khbabez went right back to the liver for a 2nd knockdown, and the fight should have been called there. Although Khbabez swarmed El Bouni against the cage & really worked over the body for the rest of the round, somehow Atsushi Onari just kept letting this continue even though El Bouni's liver was clearly shut down & it was all one-way traffic for the entire round. I kept waiting for Khbabez to slow down, but he really impressed me with the amount of volume he was able to put out, especially given he's a light heavyweight & all these shots were full power. El Bouni conveniently lost his mouthpiece again early in the 3rd. This round was also fought with El Bouni's back against the cage, and El Bouni really had no answers at this range when he was fresh, much less now that he was too battered to even get himself off the cage. That being said, when he did eventually circle off, Khbabez would just walk him down & the pressure of his attack would back El Bouni into the cage again. After the mouthpiece came out the 3rd time, Onari finally stopped the match when Khbabez unleashed yet another flurry against the cage. Good match.
ONE 81 Kingdom of Heroes 10/6/18 Muay Thai: Alaverdi Ramazanov vs. Phetmorakot Wor Sangprapai 3R UD. Lumpinee Stadium champion Phetmorakot Wor Sangprapai has never lost to a fighter who wasn't from Thailand in his 191 fights, though kickboxing & muay thai records are so incomplete it's hard to say how impressive that actually is. His wiki record verifies 8 foreign opponents, but either way, he's won 83% of almost 200 fights and held the top title in his country at both 105 & 130 pounds. Ramazanov probably hasn't fought the same level of competition, but he's definitely no slouch at a mere 57-3. He came in as the underdog, but it didn't take long to see that he was at a different level both as a athlete and especially in his ability to put together really high level striking sequences. Ramazanov fought with a great deal of confidence from the outset which only grew as the fight went on. I was extremely impressed by how fast & fluid he was, but mostly by the way he could "improvise", always setting traps where he didn't care if he missed because making the opponent defend a shot left them open to the next. Ramazanov did a great job of thwarting Phetmorakot by landing the low kick when Phetmorakot tried to throw a middle kick, which pretty much made Phetmorakot abandon his kicking game early in the 1st round, rendering ineffective except when he could use his elbows on the inside. Ramazanov had a nice front kick to keep Phetmorakot out of range, but more importantly, his success with the front kick allowed him to fake it & throw the overhand left or step in with a 2 or 3 punch combo instead. The level of Ramazanov's combos was just so far beyond what you see from normal fighters, he just kept chaining another piece of the attack together in spots where most anyone else would be getting out of the pocket or waiting to avoid the counter attack. Ramazanov didn't stay with any tactic for long, and was really difficult to read because he switched stances so often. He was so quick closing the distance behind his fakes and made the adjustment to what Phetmorakot was doing & how he was reacting quicker than Phetmorakot could do the same to him. There was a great spot where Ramazanov faked the right straight or side kick then threw the spinning backfist with the left hand and kept his upper body turning so he went right into an overhand right. Phetmorakot is a master of elbows, and he cut Ramazanov badly around his right ear a minute into the 2nd. Once the blood was in the water, Phetmorakot just wanted to get inside and land more elbows, and decided he was just going to walk through Ramazanov's attacks if that's what it took. Ramazanov didn't make it easy for Phetmorakot though, as he'd back, plant for a big punch, then scamper back quickly to try to always stay out of range. The problem for Ramazanov was even though the blood wasn't going into his eyes, the cut was just so big that there was a real threat that they'd stop the fight anyway. The more Phetmorakot just charged forward, the more he was able to make it a brawl, and the ugly fight was definitely his only chance. Ramazanov tried to reestablish his own pressure game, but the problem was Phetmorakot just wanted to grab him, so he could just hold his ground & take a shot or two to get the clinch. The 1st round was Ramazanov's, but the next two rounds were close. With a minute left in the 3rd, Ramazanov missed countering the right jab with the right elbow, but was able to follow with a spinning backfist for the knockdown. Atsushi Onari ruled it was a slip though, which I thought was a bad call because while the shot landed more as a forearm, Phetmorakot never saw it coming & still took a good deal of impact from it rather than being off balanced from the follow through. I didn't think there was much argument for Phetmorakot getting more than a round, so I wasn't too worried this was going to effect the decision, but it definitely kept Phetmorakot in the hunt. Ultimately, Ramazanov did get the unanimous decision. Very good match.
EVE Are The Weirdos, Mister 6/9/18
SHE-1 Tournament 2018 Qualifying Match: Millie McKenzie vs. Addy Starr 9:25. This was going to be hard hitting regardless, but they did a good job of making the tournament seem important by being so zoned in from the opening bell & just blasting each other back & forth so aggressively. It was a short match, but they went so hard it felt complete at this length. Starr, who didn't wrestle in 2017, was good in her 1st singles match since returning to EVE, matching McKenzie's violence & intensity. McKenzie is looking more and more confident out there she she adopted her even more aggressive attitude, and did a better job of making her strikes look as damaging as her throws. She also added a diving Diamond cutter. When she did her first German suplex, Starr popped up & responded with "like a running, standing version of that sliding D." McKenzie hit the series after countering Addy's acid drop then got the submission with a cobra clutch with a body triangle. ***1/4
Kay Lee Ray vs. Kris Wolf 10:28. They met each other half way really impressive high paced wrestling, but also quite a bit of comedy. Wolf is a good opponent for Ray because of how fast she can work, and although the match was mor than somewhat goofy, Wolf is even faster than Ray & they were able to go full speed with each other. The main comedy portion had Wolf bite Ray, so Ray bit her back. The ref broke it up & said no more biting, so they bit him. Then he scolded them & made them "shake hands, cuddle, do whatever" to make up, so they hugged & Ray patted Wolf's head, at which point she got annoyed & started the match after exclaiming, "I'm not a dog!" The match still had its share of stops & starts, but mostly resembled a High Speed title match with more stiffness & comedy. Unlike Millie vs. Starr, it didn't really feel complete at this length because a lot of the time was spent goofing. This was Wolf's last match of her UK tour, so she predictably fell to Ray's Gori bomb, then a few minutes later Hayter inexplicably came out & did Hayter things, otherwise known as a couple no technique strikes to Wolf & a lot of pointless circling. ***
EVE Slayers In Spandex 7/14/18: Kay Lee Ray vs. Killer Kelly 12:30. This was along the lines of what I was hoping for from Ray vs. Satomura, just a really aggressive, all out hard hitting affair. Satomura is certainly a better wrestler than Kelly, but these two worked hard from start to finish, doing a super intense match without any real filler. Kelly isn't the most athletic competitor, but she's thick & can make up for it by being a badass bruiser. She's a fan of Shibata, and there was a sick spot where they thudded heads with dueling Fujiwara headbutts. Ray still hits harder than Kelly even though she's a lot leaner, and was able to use her speed & athleticism to make the match more slick & dynamic than most matches you'll see in this striking exchange style. This had more of an all out big match feel than Kelly vs. Millie from 5/12/18, with Ray really standing above the other two in the quality & precision of her work. It wasn't as interesting or diverse as Ray vs. DASH, but while the scope wasn't that big, it's hard to argue against this being the most violent EVE match so far this year in terms of just blasting away at each other, and there was more to it than just that. It was kind of short & didn't tell a real story beyond who could survive the others best shots, but the level was really high & the effort was great. ***3/4
EVE Riot, Grrrls! 8/11/18: EVE Title Match: Charlie Morgan vs. Kasey 10:08. Kasey pinned Morgan last month in the SHE-1 qualifying match, prompting this title shot. That match was fine, but while the rivalry aspects were there, they didn't wrestle to anywhere near their capability. This time things came together, with stiff, aggressive, fast paced action to back up the grudge match aspects. The action quickly spilled to the outside of the bar where Morgan did the patented double axehandle off a dumpster. Morgan was motivated to avenge her loss, and provided a lot more offense here, with Kasey working the collarbone in between. It was another short match, but they were sprinting with a lot of emotion & intensity. They executed their strikes really well, and this just generally had the feel of a match where both were going for the early knockout. Morgan survived O'Rheilly's chairshot backfiring and countered Kasey's boomerang body attack, superkicking her out of midair for the flash knockout. Kasey got right up & put a beating on Morgan until Rhia saved, but of course Morgan didn't see this part & superkicked Rhia thinking she attacked her. You never know what you are going to get from Morgan, but her level was really high here, and Kasey is still good as a heel, having no trouble matching her. There isn't enough here to rate it too highly, but it was definitely a successful short match that made you want to see a rematch. ***1/4
ONE 83 Heart of the Lion 11/9/18, ONE Featherweight Title: Kevin Belingon vs. Bibiano Fernandes 5R SD. Fernandes is one of the greatest fighters of all time and has has been on an amazing run, winning his last 14 fights going back all the way to the DREAM Bantamweight Grand Prix and then 9 ONE Bantamweight Title matches. Belingon was one of his victims, but he's progressed since they fought 2 1/2 years ago, and captured the interim title in Fernandes' absence. Fernandes is a strong boxer in his own right, but never really got his standup game going here as Belingon is a much faster & more explosive striker with superior footwork. Belingon had a much better gameplan this time, able to use his movement to stay on the outside, stepping in to work the body with a jab or a spinning heel kick. His strategy was to just keep working over the body then be ready with the uppercut or knee when Fernandes was forced to shoot, though the second part didn't materialize as Fernandes instead timed his takedown attempts well when Belingon was repositioning after a spin or trying to get out of the pocket. Fernandes was able to get several takedowns, and had a number of armbar attempts, but while Belingon had no real offense from the bottom, he defended well enough to not get submitted or pounded on too badly and was able to get back to his feet repeatedly even though he had a lot more explosion than technique. Thankfully we don't have to worry about the silly round scoring here, but the fight would have been extremely close under any scoring criteria because each round had a couple minutes of Belingon floating around & picking Fernandes apart in standup as well as a couple minutes of Fernandes in a dominant position on the canvas working toward the submission. Belingon's spinning back kick is really explosive, but even though the first was the best & Fernandez had to know it was coming he went back to it so many times I can't imagine anyone has ever thrown more in a high level MMA match, it was amazing how much success he still had with it over the course of 25 minutes. Fernandes did manage to crack him back with a right hook and take him down after taking one early in the 2nd, but otherwise Fernandes wasn't making him pay so there was no reason to stop using it. Fernandes ducked a left hand & took Belingon down late in the 2nd into rear mount, transitioning to the armbar, but his inside leg was under Belingon's neck so he couldn't keep him in place. Fernandes went for the armbar again, but Belingon took the top & pounded him for the remaining 45 seconds, though Bibiano was laughing it off while trying to set up a triangle. One thing that made the match so good is they were consistently able to answer each others threats. Belingon would land an explosive strike, but get taken down or Fernandes would go for a submission but lose the position & start getting hit again. I thought Fernandes would come on in the 2nd half because Belingon threw everything at full power & relied so heavily on his movement & explosiveness, but all the body work slowed Fernandes down as well, so they wound up tiring at a relatively equal rate & nothing really changed. Fernandes had a good run of top control late in the 3rd & continued to dominate much of the 4th, but in the final seconds of the round Belingon caught Fernandes' right leg recoiling from landing a low kick & dropped him with a right straight. This looked a lot better than it was, as Fernandes was a bit off balance trying to get his leg free & get out of the pocket quickly and got hit while he still had the kicking leg in the air. This might have been ruled a slip in kickboxing, but the judges probably didn't see it in slow motion & considered this the difference in the fight. In Belingon's defense though, he did follow up by controlling the rest of the fight. Belingon was hardly dominant in the 5th, but he managed to stay off his back, circling and landing a random inside leg kick or jab. Belingon scored the upset over the most dominant champion in ONE history via split decision to unify the titles, but then lost the rematch on 3/31/19 via DQ, so they'll likely need to have a 4th bout. Very good match.
VWS 4/11/15: Giorgio Petrosyan vs. Enriko Kehl 3R, Kehl was a hot fighter at this time having won the 2014 K-1 World MAX, while Petrosyan was at his "low point" having fought just once in the year in a half since he shockingly suffered the 1st KO & 2nd overall loss of his career to Andy Ristie, who then fell off the face of the earth around this time after losing his lightweight title challenge to Robin van Roosmalen. This was remarkably competitive for a Petrosyan fight, with Kehl actually landing quick countershots on the normally untouchable Petrosyan early on to shut down Giorgio's aggression. Petrosyan was then conscious of the need to move back quickly, so he would mostly creep forward & either land the jab or jump back out of range if Kehl attacked. As Petrosyan began to time Kehl, he was able to follow the jab with the left straight or low kick. Kehl closed distance quickly with his counters, but Petrosyan started stepping or ducking forward to get inside them. Round 1 could have gone either way, but round 2 was business as usual for the GOAT. Things didn't go as planned in round 3 though as Kehl landed a sweet spinning right backfist/left cross combo at the outset and soon Petrosyan was hurt by a low blow when both kicked at the same time. Though Petrosyan started fighting again after about 20 seconds, that was clearly a big mistake. Kehl also changed his tactics, shifting to a pressure game which he had some success with because he was quick enough to get Petrosyan against the ropes where he didn't have room to just back away from everything Kehl threw. Kehl glanced with a spinning backkick because Petrosyan bounced off the ropes then followed with a short left hand. Petrosyan landed here & there, but just couldn't stop Kehl from coming forward. With Kehl clearly taking the final round, it came down to who the judges gave round 1 to, and Giorgio got the majority decision in Milan, though that it was probably the right call. Good match.
ROAD FC 52 2/23/19: Michel Pereira vs. Dae Sung Kim 1:02 R2. This is only the 2nd time I've seen Pereira, but I can't think of any other match that expanded the parameters of what's possible in MMA so dramatically. It's probably as close as MMA can get to looking like both pro wrestling & a video game without actually being worked. Pereira was fighting a can who had 25 pounds on him, but was still so totally overmatched he had no reason to fear him, and his goal was definitely to make a highlight reel at his expense, mixing the best of Anthony Pettis & Sabu. Granted, Pereira would likely have won a lot quicker & easier if he wasn't doing moonsaults, but then it would have been like all those Bellator jobber matches no one cares about or remembers 5 minutes later rather than a spectacular classic. Some people are sure to hate Pereira's showmanship & wish he'd just focus on winning like everyone else because it's been engrained in us that the end result is all that's supposed to matter, but winning often isn't very entertaining, just watch any GSP or Askren match. I want to be surprised & excited, and no one can do that like Pereira. Pereira is unpredictable because he's so far outside the normal scope of what anyone is willing to try. A lot of his spectacular offense fails miserably, but he has the opponent thinking about so many things their brain becomes scrambled, and they get caught with things they'd normally defend because they are wary of his wild techniques leaping or boomeranging off the cage. What makes Pereira a special fighter beyond his flash is he's got exceptional reflexes & reaction speed. When you have a long karate stylist who darts in & then can really make fantastic adjustments on the fly to capitalize on the way you defend his daring tactics, it's really hard to avoid being nailed for long. A sequence that's indicititive of why Pereira is actually good and so dangerous rather than merely an entertaining came early on when he tried to get inside a high kick with a flying knee, but saw that wasn't going to connect in midair so he adjusted to pushing Kim down instead then dropped a big right hand as soon as he landed. Pereira then tried a standing moonsault footstomp guard pass, but Kim got his feet up & Pereira wound up stepping on his head for a warning. Pereira got a knockdown with a spinning heel kick that didn't connect properly but just offbalanced Kim as the back of the lower leg connected then tried a superman punch off the cage, but Kim got his feet up again. Unperterbed, Pereira proceeded to jump on the cage, grabbing the top for balance so he could do a moonsault footstomp off, but he overshot both Kim's feet that were trying to intercept & the rest of Kim as well. Pereira did land a jumping side kick when Kim got up that was similar to the old pro wrestling single leg dropkick except it looked like it actually did something. At this point, 1:45 in, the announcers already posed the question as to whether we were watching a video game fight. Much of the reason this fight was so entertaining was actually that Kim played into Pereira's hands quite a bit. He was giving up so much reach he had to try to close the distance quickly, but since he's not that quick or a great athlete like Pereira, he was a lot more prone when he was lunging & leaping, but still it was his only chance. Kim landed some low kicks, but Pereira mostly played matador with his slow haymakers. Kim didn't have the conditioning to keep pressing forward aggressively, and as Pereira shifted from trying to win spectacularly to trying to be more efficient & accurate, he began to intercept Kim's more methodical pushes with the long right hand. Kim knew he had to make it a brawl, and as the fight progressed & his stamina regressed, he was doing his best to force exchanges. This would be the takes one to give one mentality, except in actuality he was at least landing now instead of just eating shots. Pereira began to target the gut, which was slowing Kim down even more. He backed Kim into the cage with a front kick & was able to take him out following with a couple clinch knees. There wasn't a lot of drama here since the outcome was never in doubt, but Kim did do enough to force Pereira to fight to win after the 1st two minutes rather than just to posterize him, and this portion was still really wild & exciting action, partly because Kim was taking so many chances swinging for the fences so he'd at least go down on his shield. Excellent match.
EVE After Queendom 5/12/18: Millie McKenzie vs. Killer Kelly 11:56. Everyone was expecting killer suplexes & stiff strikes, but I liked that they held off on the obvious violence for quite a while, instead doing a technical match until tempers flared & the stakes were escalated. Even though they started off countering basic headlocks & hammerlocks, they always keep at it & their intensity is so high that they hold your attention no matter what they're doing. This lasted for the 1st half until Millie spun out of a headlock & landed an elbow. From here they tried their strikes & suplexes, but again everything was being countered or avoided so Kelly tried to go back to the technical wrestling with the cravate, only to have Millie trip her up & land some kicks to the back sending the message that she wasn't playing around anymore. The match picked up from here as McKenzie forced the more aggressive hard hitting style we expected from the outset, the biggest issue being her elbows too often don't have much impact. Kelly got the cravate again, and this time was able to land a series of essentially clinch knees. She landed the first German suplex then no sold Millie's German suplex, leading to Millie's usual series of them. Kelly came back with a high kick, but not long after Millie ducked another & finished her with a backdrop. An impressive match in general, but especially when you consider it was an opener with a 17-year-old against a wrestler who also had only been pro for two years. ***1/4
ONE 93 A New Era 3/31/19
Kickboxing: Joseph Lasiri vs. Hiroki Akimoto 3R MD. A really high level, razor close contest between world champions in other foot fighting disciplines. Muay thai world champion Lasiri has had a little tougher time making the transition to kickboxing than kyokushin karate world champion Akimoto, who is 20-0, because Lasiri really likes to use the clinch & work dirty boxing, but he only has 3 seconds under these rules. Though Lasiri was clearly the underdog against the Japanese phenom in Tokyo, he had a good game plan closing the distance aggressively & taking Akimoto's space to try to shut down his kicking game as much as possible. Lasiri pressured coming forward with a front or middle kick trying to set up following with the overhand right. Midway through the 1st, Lasiri faked the jab to set up pressing forward with the big right, and while Akimoto was able to avoid that, he couldn't back as quickly as Lasiri could move forward, so Lasiri was able to drop him with the subsequent left hook across the chin. Lasiri spent the rest of the round pouring it on, but while Akimoto developed a nasty bubble over his right eye, he was able to withstand the onslaught. Akimoto has been known to step it up after getting hurt, and he certainly had no time to spare giving up a 10-8 1st round. He came out determined in the 2nd, doing his best to be the fighter who was coming forward, which allowed him to find his rhythm & get his roundhouse kicks going. Lasiri wasn't gassed or ready to roll over though, and he still made some aggressive pushes forward, but now Akimoto was doing a much better job timing Lasiri's 1st step & throwing as soon as Lasiri tried to come in, which was keeping Lasiri at bay to some extent. It turned into something of a battle of wills with Lasiri doing some good work with hooks on the inside, but for the most part Akimoto dictated the 2nd and was the more consistent fighter, bloodying Lasiri's nose. As good as the 2nd round was, the 3rd was even better with Lasiri making the adjustment of forcing his own presses forward less & instead deciding if Akimoto was going to come at him, he was going to make it ugly by holding his ground or stepping in to force the inside fight. Neither fighter was really looking to counter or willing to back up in this round, and they pretty much exchanged combos in a phone booth. When Akimoto did create some space, Lasiri didn't come in behind a punch combo as he did early, but would instead just recklessly leap forward with a flying knee to force more short range fighting. I was leaning toward Lasiri getting the 3rd, but Akimoto gave it all he had in the final minute to make the round almost too close to call. The fight could very reasonably be scored 28-28, but there has to be a winner in ONE, so it was right that Lasiri got the majority decision. Very good match.
Flyweight World Grand Prix Quarterfinal: Danny Kingad vs. Senzo Ikeda 3R. I don't know what got into the Japanese fans tonight, but they were tearing the house down for the natives rather than waiting for something exciting to happen, screaming "Sen-zo" much of the match. Ikeda is an easy fighter to get behind, with dynamic style darting in from the outside and also more heart & charisma than skill. That being said, after starting off 3-4, he's turned himself into a fighter to be reckoned with and is the current Pancrase Flyweight champion, though he was at a disadvantage here stepping in for Andrew Leone on short notice. Kingad looked to slow him down with leg kicks, and early on knocked Ikeda off his feet with one & followed with a flying knee. Kingad had a decided advantage in the grappling & would come in behind the leg kick and involve himself in a wild exchange hoping to find the opening to duck into a double leg takedown, threatening with the rear naked choke once he got Ikeda down, but Ikeda was difficult to lay on & was able to gain advantages or get back to his feet out of scrambles. Kingad was determined to figure out Ikeda's timing & crack him coming in, but Ikeda kept mixing up his entries, and still managed to do a good job sneaking the overhand right in. While Ikeda also landed a fair amount of left straights, his offense always tended to be one or the other, & he wasn't really able to find his combinations or any consistent offense. Kingad finally got a double leg in the 2nd when Ikeda got so overaggressive he was literally charging after him throwing haymakers, but they reversed back & forth before returning to their feet. Kingad wasn't able to gain traction with his second takedown of the round either, and if they were scoring by rounds, it would have come down to whether you prefered Ikeda's punches or Kingad's low kicks. Ikeda really wanted to brawl in the 3rd, but it was apparent from the start that Kingad's low kicks were effecting his ability to blitz and the short notice was also taking its toll. Kingad had a takedown midway through the 3rd, but Ikeda stood right up & took his back only to get shaken off as he was looking to secure the 2nd hook. Kingad seemed like he should be running away with this fight, but I felt like the fight was up for grabs all the way to the end, especially because the crowd was so excited for anything Ikeda did. Ikeda looked bad in the 3rd round because he was physically compromised, but in actuality neither really managed anything decisive until Ikeda got inside a spinning backfist and took Kingad's back, hooking a standing rear naked choke in the final seconds. If Ikeda had a little more time he might have got the submission, but in the end Kingad got the unanimous decision for being the better grappler & less compromised fighter. Good match.
ONE Women's Strawweight Title: Jing Nan Xiong vs. Angela Lee 1:37 R5. Lee managed to clean out the atomweight division in just 7 fights, but this was just her 2nd fight in the last two years, both of which were pushed back, first due to falling asleep at the wheel & now due to a herniated disc in her back. Even though she was coming up a weight class to face a more experienced champion with just one loss, she's the more talented fighter & diverse, the question was how much these setbacks would even things out or whether they would even shift things in the favor of the Punching Panda. Xiong's strategy was to test Lee physically, drag her into the deep waters & see whether the time she's lost in training would catch up to her. Xiong spent most of the fight letting Lee come to her, looking to counter punch but not rushing or forcing anything. This worked to an extent since she's the better boxer, but Lee did a good job of cutting off the ring, and it was too easy for her to get the clinch. Still, that most grueling aspect of MMA that Joe Rogan has talked about on 200 PPVs was going to test Lee in exactly the ways Xiong wanted to test her even though she'd obviously rather just be smashing face. The 1st 2 rounds weren't particularly decisive or entertaining. Lee probably would have got the rounds if they were scoring that way, but she wasn't having the kind of success with her takedown game that she wanted. The fight got good in the 3rd with Lee having better luck getting takedowns, but Xiong getting back to her feet when Lee tried to get her ground offense going. Xiong picked up her pace in the 2nd half of the round after sort of landing a spinning back kick (it caught the wrist), finally beginning to press forward & let her hands go. Xiong's technique is kind of awkward, but when she finally got in Lee's face & kept swinging she was landing because Lee would get trapped against the cage rather than angling off or circling away. Xiong finished this round strongly enough to pull ahead in the fight, but you felt she should just be doing this because Lee really didn't have the footwork or boxing technique to stop Xiong from just swarming on her. Lee got the trip to start the 4th, and went for an armbar or reverse triangle when Xiong gave her back to get to her knees & try to stand. Lee was finally able to straighten the arm with 90 seconds left, though they were against the cage & she never had the ideal leg position as her right thight was over Xiong, but her foot was at Xiong's waist. Still, the arm was at one point bent back about 10 degrees past the joint, so it was pretty gross looking even though without her legs securing Xiong, Lee couldn't really stop Xiong from rolling, bridging, or even bending the elbow with the joint. The triangle kept Xiong from escaping, and Lee landed some punches to soften her up before going belly down. Now the arm was straight, but Xiong was lying on her stomach on top of Lee, who was on her stomach, and with no cross position Lee was doing her best to manipulate an arm that wasn't in a much different position than it would normally hang at. This minute and a half until the bell was the only near finish so far, and quite dramatic. You figured this would propel Lee forward, she'd come out in the 5th and make a big push for the early takedown. Instead, Xiong got the adrenaline rush from surviving the armbar, and came out determined in the 5th while Lee seemed exhausted from expending so much trying to finish. Lee really wasn't doing anything in this round but waiting, and once she started standing against the cage, Xiong began taking her last bits of energy with body shots. Lee got off the cage after Xiong wobbled her, but just seemed to have no energy to go for a takedown, tie Xiong up, or even just stay away. It was really amazing how dramatically she'd faded in between rounds. Lee threw a punch here and there, but looked exhausted to the point of illness & could barely keep her hands up. Xiong finally landed a right straight to the midsection that buckled Lee and while to the opposite side of the liver, she shut down similarly & looked like she was on the verge of vomiting. From there it was just a matter of getting the ref to step in, and with a couple kicks to the same area Lee basically stopped fighting so the ref was forced to call it. Good match.
M-1 Challenge 100 1/26/19: Vazha Tsiptauri vs. Rafael Dias 3R. Tsiptauri was definitely the more accomplished kickboxer of the two, doing a nice job mixing aggressive kicks into his combos that he would close the distance with. Tsiptauri's striking was pretty dynamic because he started on the outside & closed so rapidly with heavy strikes. Dias fought this style early because he had to, but certainly preferred to fight on the ground when he could get it there. He got a takedown midway through the 1st catching Tsiptauri's kick, and when Tsiptauri set up a side sweep, Dias countered with an armbar. Tsiptauri just kept spiking him until he released it. It took 6 slams to finally get Dias to let go, and it was almost comical seeing him bouncing back & forth like the ring was a trampoline. Tsiptauri got top position when Dias finally released the submission, but for some reason threw a headbutt to the upper chest, which Dias sold as being to the chin for a yellow card. Early in the 2nd, Dias tried to come in behind a big right, but Tsiptauri countered with a liver kick then caught him clean on the chin with a right hook that I thought would drop Dias. Tsiptauri managed to get another liver kick in as Dias was struggling with his balance while trying to get out of range then chased after him with wide hooks, but Dias essentially ducked into his guard. Tsiptauri kept swinging wildly, but Dias was pretty amazing here both in somehow managing to not get dropped & then in how quickly he recovered. Tsiptauri was just lunging at Dias with reckless abandon, going all out for the finish & not fearing how prone he was leaving himself because Dias wasn't firing back yet & really just wanted to grapple until he recovered. Dias didn't have much success with this until the final 30 seconds when Tsiptauri stopped his double leg against the ropes, and also his single leg, but Dias scooped Tsiptauri up in the fireman's carry & wobbled all the way to the center with Tsiptauri kicking his legs then fell into a Death Valley bomb. Tsiptauri won the 1st two rounds, but with the point deduction it was still anyone's fight. The first two rounds were really good, but t he 3rd was pretty lackluster as Dias got an early takedown & held the top without doing much for almost the whole round until Tsiptauri swept with 45 seconds left. Tsiptauri was a lot more active from the top than Dias was, but couldn't do enough to steal the round, so it wound up being a majority draw. Good match.
DEEP JEWELS 22 12/1/18, DEEP JEWELS Atomweight Title Match: Mina Kurobe vs. Tomo Maesawa 3R SD. Highly competitive, back & forth fight that was really too tough to call. Pretty much every round could have gone either way, as one fighter would win the early portion only to have their opponent take over late. Maesawa was the smaller, quicker fighter. She tried to get in range and keep the pressure on Kurobe, backing her against the ropes. Once they got there though, Kurobe would use her leverage to win the clinch battles even with her back against the ropes, throwing a ton of knees, many of which Maesawa avoided, but still it wasn't the most comfortable position. Kurobe saw this was working, and looked to rush in & get the clinch with Maesawa against the ropes if she could, but Maesawa got a trip early in the 2nd & nearly took her back. Kurobe stabilized & went back to her kneeing, the threat of these forcing Maesawa out of her pressure game and into a more in & out style. Kurobe might have won the round had she not walked into a Maesawa superman punch in the final minute. Both had a lot of energy left for the 3rd. Kurobe's nose was bleeding from taking too many jabs, but her knees were the best weapon of the fight, and she landed a number in this round. Again, Kurobe was winning the round, but Maesawa came on late with her punches & had a takedown in the final 30 seconds. Maesawa winning the 2nd was the easiest round to call, but it was definitely a fight where both fighters had a strong case for winning & one was going to be very dissatisfied with the decision. Maesawa wound up getting the decision 30-27, 28-29, 29-28 to take the title. Good match.
