Best Matches Seen October 2019 |
UFC Fight Night 162 10/26/19
Rafael Fiziev vs. Alex White 3R. Fiziev was a really entertaining fighter, attacking aggressively, but displaying the speed, skill, & diversity to make that a reasonable strategy for his attributes rather than just a fan friendly one. Though the reach was actually even, Fiziev was giving up 4 inches, and certainly fought like the smaller fighter, closing the distance consistently & bombing on the inside. Fiziev really packs a wallop on his shots, and even though White was landing almost as many, that was only apparent on the stat sheet because the impact from Fiziev's shots registered, and thus those were the ones you remembered. Fiziev also hurt White early in the fight with a combination of hook counters, wobbling him back 12 feet to the octagon and doing a good job of not letting him get his back off the cage until Fiziev was finally able to grab White & land some clinch knees even though White seemingly recovered immediately from the punches. Once White survived the onslaught, he began to get himself into the fight pushing forward with the straight and trying to follow it up, but he still just conceded position, dropping back to reset rather than trying to hold the center & begin to bully the bully. White tried to use the jab setup to instead drop into a double leg, but Fiziev wasn't fooled, catching him in guillotine postion but transitioning to clinch knees. This opened up a cut on White's right eyebrow, and began to send White back into his shell even though the lead jabs were landing when he ventured forward. Though Fiziev is certainly a power fighter, his exposion is what sets him apart. He can close distance really quickly, to the point he's able to turn even wild misses into big damage by catching the opponent off guard. You just don't expect the opponent to follow the spinning right wheel kick by lunging forward with a right hook. White did his best to time Fiziev's aggression & land a counter hook or drop into a takedown, but while he did have success connecting with his punches, Fiziev walked through them & landed his bigger shots in return. It must have felt really bad for White to have Fiziev get the 1st takedown of the match early in the 3rd after Fiziev had defended a half dozen of White's attempts. With Fiziev presumably up 2 rounds, he began to switch tactics, and instead of charging into White's counters, he decided if White was going to wait on him he'd just chop his lead leg down instead. As with all Fiziev's shots, the impact on the low kicks was pretty fierce, and White was now hesitant to engage, which was reasonable in terms of not wanting to run into that kind of power, but really allowed Fiziev to pick his spots & have his way with White, whose left eye was looking bad by this point. The stats say White outlanded 14 in rounds 1 & 2 then outlanded Fiziev 27-21 in the 3rd, so he seemingly did some good things late, though it felt like he was totally out of the fight and would have been thrilled to hear the final bell. Fiziev won a unanimous decision 29–28, 30–27, 30–27. Good match.
Muslim Salikhov vs. Laureano Staropoli 3R. Pitting two of the flashiest fighters in the UFC resulted in both a spectacular contest and something of a staring match. Because both fighters wanted to land the one big blow, there wasn't a ton of action in the first as both looked to set up their spinning strikes & high kicks, but put out little to make the opponent react to. Only 14 strikes connected in the 1st, but even when there was little volume, you had to be impressed by the skill & dexterity of both individuals to pull off such high level strikes at all, much less with such ease against an opponent who is so familiar with all of them because they have more or less all the same tricks in their arsenal. Things picked up considerably in the 2nd when Salikhov landed a spinning heel kick early. Staropoli seemed to deflect much of the impact with his hand, but to be honest he probably would have been better just absorbing it with his chest because you're not going to break a bone, but Staropoli fired back with a spinning backfist to show the hand was okay and soon came close with a high kick. Salikhov began to get Staropoli's timing down midway through the 2nd, countering the right low kick with the overhand right while at the same time catching the leg to upend Staropoli & flurry while he was down. Staropoli regrouped, but Salikhov caught him with a hook as he was getting out of the pocket then hurt him with a right middle kick followed by a spinning heel kick counter to Staropoli's left. Both seemed to throw simultaneous right hands, but Salikhov ducked and changed the angle to came up with his, getting under Staropoli's overhand right and connecting with something of an uppercut of his own. If the punch itself wasn't bad enough for Staropoli, Salikhov's knuckle getting him in the eye helped buy him time to follow with a body kick and just unloaded with everything he had trying to get the finish before Staropoli recovered. Salikhov was very conscious of his cage position, holding the center, and doing his best to cut Staropoli off so he could keep him on the outskirts of the cage, but Staropoli did a much better job than White of using feints to edge his way forward, especially in the 3rd round when Staropoli knew he was down & had to make something happen. Salikhov adjusted though, and began dropping into takedowns. Staropoli had been headhunting for 2 rounds, but now began to gain traction with the lead body hook which was more difficult for Salikhov to deflect, only to have Salikhov answer with another spinning heel kick. Staropoli definitely had his moments in the 3rd, with the spinning backfist & the switch body kick, but Salikhov moved & blocked just enough that he could absorb the rest of the impact as though it were nothing, and thus Staropoli was never able to get him prone so he could follow with a big shot or flurry on Salikhov. The 3rd round was the only round where Staropoli outlanded Salikhov, and I think he did just enough with the body work to take the round. Granted, he needed a knockdown, but after being outlanded 33-9 in the 2nd, credit to Staropoli for coming back from a round many fighters wouldn't have survived and finally getting his offense going. Salikhov won a unanimous decision 30–26, 30–26, 29–28. Good match.
Stevie Ray vs. Michael Johnson 3R. Johnson has the reach and the hand & foot speed, it's just a fight he should win if he stays disciplined & fights behind his jab. However, Johnson being in position to win and actually doing so are often two different things. Though Johnson is the better technical striker, Ray did a good enough job of negating his hand speed by answering as soon as Johnson moved to attack. I thought Johnson still won the 1st round. It's one of those rounds that was strike for strike to the point Johnson threw 4 more and landed 3 more, but Johnson looked considerably more fluent on his feet even though the margins of his success wound up being narrow. Johnson seemed to be the one who made the reads in the 1st round, making it a lot more difficult for Ray to get his offense in by countering Ray's naked leg kick & doubling up his own jab. Ray was forced to start throwing his own combos, and the action picked up considerably with Ray having his moments, but Johnson just being too much more active, doing the better job of using the speed & superior technique to get the 2nd and sometimes 3 shots in whether he was leading or following. Johnson was attacking the body more, and throwing in enough keeps to keep Ray honest, but it was mainly his jab that was rendering Ray's face a bloody mess. From the beginning, Ray was counting on Johnson to fade after the 1st, but Johnson came out strong again in the 3rd, and it was Ray who was looking deteriorated, or at least battered & bloodied. Ray still wasn't even coming close on the takedowns, and Johnson was really moving & flowing well in general. Though it's possible the fight was a round a piece, 2 minutes into the round I was thinking only Michael Johnson or Sarah McMann could find a way to blow a fight they had such a clear & easy path to victory in, and right on cue Ray suddenly got a tired, almost slow motion fake & drop into a double leg to work. It's just amazing that Johnson got caught with this when Ray's previous takedowns, which had to have more speed & deception by default, were missing by a country mile. Johnson wound up on his left side, with Ray pounding away with the free right hand until Johnson gave his back trying to stand out. After that, Johnson didn't make many moves, certainly not anything fast that would induce a scramble, and just ate way too many punches while being unwilling to try any sort of answer. This was a borderline 10-8 round. Johnson did good work in the 1st 2 minutes where he was up 14 strikes to 8 before taking 28 unanswered on the ground, but Johnson also looked so bad on the ground he probably would have gotten finished if Ray had another minute or so. When I heard the scores 29–28, 29–28, 28–28, I assumed the judges thought Ray didn't quite do enough in the last round, but then Ray was announced as the winner. Good match.
Invicta Phoenix Rising 2 9/6/19: Kay Hansen vs. Carolina Jimenez 1R. Hansen is barely 20, but she's already one of the most exciting grapplers in MMA. It's certainly possible she'll be less exciting as she improves because she'll lose position less often, but her willingness to take chances trying to advance position & lock in submissions and the general back & forth nature of her fights, which are always intense and seem to be decided by narrowist of margins, make her the most interesting watch in Invicta these days. This fight had a bunch of reversals, as Hansen could get Jimenez down, but Jimenez was stronger & would pretty much just push her right off & take the top, only to quickly lose the position back to the superior grappler. I don't think this fight was helped at all by being 1 round, as Hansen would have pushed this pace for 3 rounds. I'm not sure if Jimenez could have kept up, she hasn't fought in a couple years & already seemed to be tiring in the final third of the round before Hansen began machine gunning lefts to try to open up the rear naked choke, but I think Hansen would have forced her to move or tap. Hansen had the rear naked choke momentarily around the 10 second mark, and then for the second fight in a row, managed to sink an armbar just before the final bell. This time not getting the last second submission didn't cost her the fight, as she took it 10-9. Good match.
UFC Fight Night 159 9/21/19: Brandon Moreno vs. Askar Askarov 3R. Being a notable wrestler from Dagestan is always going to draw comparisons to Khabib, and while Askarov's wrestling is top notch from a competitive standpoint, having even won the gold medal in the Asian Games last year in between defending the ACB Flyweight Title, he's a lot more interesting to watch because he's not a position first lockdown style of wrestler who is out to break you & if that results in a finish then great. Instead, Askarov is more a BJJ stylist in that he's a wrestler who is actively looking to use his grappling to tap you rather than control you, and thus will risk his position if the opportunity to win presents itself. Early in his career, Askavov was winning with the rear naked choke, but in later, more high profile bouts he's won with an anaconda, twister, and guillotine, and we saw that fighter who has a wide variety of options here with twister, triangle, and armbar attempt early, though that led to Moreno taking the top, with Askarov landing a series of elbows from the bottom in between eating Moreno's rights. Due to Askarov's style, this was a dynamic fight no matter where it took place, not one where you hoped Moreno would land a couple punches before Askarov got the takedown and the round was for all intents & purposes over. Askarov pushed Moreno off with his feet with a minute left in the round & stood in the ensuing scramble to his feet, but Moreno promptly stunned him with a left hook as he was backing away. This was a very close round, the least decisive of the fight, but I thought Moreno stole it with this late damage. Though Moreno isn't the best technical striker, he's got a really nice combination of speed & power on his punches that always makes him dangerous and makes the opponent wan to avoid engaging him in a boxing match. Moreno was turning this into a brawl in the 2nd round, escaping the clinch & landing the left hook. Askarov didn't want to get into a fire fight with him, but that made him force the takedown a lot harder. He almost threw Moreno down onto his head, but Moreno kicked Askarov back & stood when Askarov was trying to drop punches down to pass guard. The action in this round was really explosive and unpredictable, with the urgency to avoid getting hit with Moreno's aggressive power punches making him more reactive, creative, and daring. Askarov had a nice foot sweep, and a spinning backfist. Just when you thought he was beginning to time Moreno's big hooks and was ready for them to come to the body, Askarov leaned back to avoid then tried to drop down into a single leg only to have Moreno switch it up & crack him with a left high kick for a knockdown. Again, this was a round that might have gone to Askarov that Moreno stole with a big final impression. Early in the 3rd, the roles reversed with Askarov dropping down to throw the hook, but Moreno driving forward for the high takedown. Askarov kept Moreno from passing & tried to play the submission game from the bottom, but Moreno eventually took Askarov's back when his kick & scramble didn't produce the desired results and almost had a rear naked choke. This was the least interesting round, and also the only clear round for either fighter. I had Moreno 30-27, which given it was in Mexico seemed to make him a lock, but tonight was apparently avoid the hometown decision night as this was only a split draw 28–28, 28–29 (AA), 30–27 (BM) & Grasso was also jipped via majority decision to the Lay & Pray Monster. Very good match.
UFC on ESPN 6 10/18/19: Yair Rodríguez vs. Jeremy Stephens 3R. These two headlined against each other less than a month ago, but the fight never really got started as Stephens was forced to succumb to an accidental eye gouge 15 seconds in. With a record turnaround, they were back for more or less the bout we expected the first time, the one difference being this was only 3 rounds since they didn't demote the far less interesting Reyes vs. Weidman main event. Yair came out with a flying high kick, and the diversity of his strikes, particularly his kicks, was really the difference here. He had the speed & athleticism, and especially in this shorter fight, could expend a lot of energy mixing spins & jumps. When Yair was able to lead with his kicks, usually the side kick to the knee followed by the liver kick from the southpaw stance, and he just kept Stephens backing up so Stephens could never get his counters off or come forward to initiate his boxing or wrestling. Early in the 2nd, Yair dropped Stephens with a left middle kick followed by a right low kick, and flurried with hammerfists on the ground. Stephens kept moving and trying to secure Rodriguez's legs for a takedown, but was taking a ton of punishment and honestly the only reason this wasn't stopped from so many unanswered blows is Stephens clearly wasn't giving up despite being badly hurt. The announcers thought Yair should just disengage & try to finish with a big shot on the feet since the culmination of all the small shots on the ground wasn't getting it done, but remarkably when they returned to standup with 2 minutes left, Stephens had more left in the tank & finally came out slugging. Stephens came forward & grabbed a reverse bodylock when Yair tried a spinning kick, and controlled the rest of the round on the ground after Yair failed to get anywhere rolling to initiate a scramble. The 2nd round striking numbers were 45-3 at this point (and finished 47-16). It should go without saying that this was a 10-8 round for Rodriguez, who was close to finishing from sheer number of unanswered blows, but because Stephens was on top the final 100 seconds the judges forgot how badly he was hurt. Most of this time Stephens was in control, Yair was looking for a triangle, though Stephens did hurt him with lefts to the head & knees to the body when Yair got to his knees & stood against the cage in the final 25 seconds. In any case, this was an excellent round, and an amazing display of guts by Stephens to not only hang in there, but actually turn the fight late in the round. The idea that 5 rounds would have been to Stephens advantage was already playing out, as Stephens had more left in the 3rd and continued to pressure Rodriguez, who seemingly wore himself out pounding Stephens skull. Rodriguez wasn't looking spent, but because Stephens was coming forward rather than Rodriguez, Yair wasn't able to use his side kick & Stephens could be ready to block or catch the middle kick. Stephens got the takedown doing just that, and with his second takedown of the round was able to grind out the duration on the canvas with Yair content to block the elbows as best he could to keep from taking any major damage & go home with the decision win that for some reason was only 29–28. Very good match.
UFC Fight Night 161 10/12/19
Alex Morono vs. Max Griffin 3R. Lots of headhunting here in what was predominantly a boxing match. Griffin had the better jab, and could do damage following with the overhand right, but wasn't a strong counter puncher so Morono's coach was endlessly yelling "Every time you're first you win, Alex". Morono was doing a better & better job of being the more active fighter as the bout progressed, but Griffin began working the body to drop Morono's defenses, and soon stunned him with the overhand right. This was looking like a Griffin round, but just after Morono's corner called for the 50 second push, he caught Griffin off guard inserting a left high kick into a punching exchange just as Griffin was bringing his head back up having ducked the punch that he assumed Morono was throwing instead. The final 45 seconds when Griffin got up from this knockdown were great as Morono was going all out for the finish, landing a series of clinch knees and a sweet spinning backfist to an opponent who was already wobbly, but Griffin somehow managed to hang in there. Griffin was somehow the fresher fighter in the 3rd as Morono tired himself out failing to finish. He stuck to his body work early, but was finally able to get his wrestling going, taking Morono down several times. This was a solid, bread & butter kind for round for Griffin, but not exactly what he needed having lost the 1st two rounds. Morono won a unanimous decision 29–28, 29–27, 29–28. Good match.
Matt Frevola vs. Luis Pena 3R. Pena had the 4 inch reach advantage, but Frevola was looking to counter with the overhand right or drop into a double leg. This led to Pena being too cautious using his kicks & jab to keep Frevola off him early, resulting in Frevola instead putting out his own misdirection to come in with the overhand right. Frevola eventually transitioned from a double leg against the cage to an outside single for the slam, but Pena went for some kind of awkward arm triangle off his back & rolled him. Frevola expended a lot of energy early in the round, and was trying to take a breather late, which helped Pena get his clinch game going & ultimately land a flurry of punches at the end of the round. This should have been a Frevola round, but I thought Pena did enough in the final portion to steal it. Pena looked to capitalize on his cardio advantage by pushing the pace in the 2nd, walking Frevola down with his jab then surprising him with a flying switch knee. Frevola was cut on the left cheek, which was the perfect place for Pena, who just kept peppering Frevola there with his jabs. Pena was really on in this round, ready to back away from all Frevola's overhand rights, and countering his takedown attempts with a Kimura. However, Frevola came down on top when Pena tried to roll him with a Kimura, which was a mistake for Pena because had he just kept it in standup it most likely would have been a 10-8 round in his favor because Frevola had so little offense. Pena did attempt a couple submissions from the bottom, but Frevola landed a handful of strikes & suplexed him when he tried to get back to his feet. Still, this round was 35 strikes to 4 for Pena, and he was the one trying to finish on the ground, so a 10-8 was not out of the question. Pena didn't come out aggresive in the 3rd, and after a few minutes of a staring contest, Frevola got another wind & began landing a few big right hands then Pena slipped after Frevola's left right combo, which may have been mistaken this for a knockdown. That didn't matter as Pena really seemed to run out of gas in this round, and did nothing that would have won him the round either way. Frevola didn't have a lot of volume in round 3, but he landed cleanly when he connected, and Pena was wobbled from a short left hook with 15 seconds left. Pena probably didn't feel much urgency because he assumed he was up 2 or 3 points, but still, he left the door open for Frevola, and Frevola was happy to walk through, with the help of the blind mice, who came back with a 28–29, 29–28, 29–28 split decision for Frevola. Good match.
Cub Swanson vs. Kron Gracie 3R unanimous decision 30–27. Having lost 4 in a row, Cub is down to the gatekeeper role, but he's actually a bad matchup for Rickson's undefeated son because he's such a fluid mover. Kron isn't a bad striker, but his striking is a means to an end, walking the opponent down & trying to distract them with jabs & knee kicks to open up the takedown. What makes Kron a successful standup fighter is his grappling game is so fantastic that the opponent usually becomes so concerned with keeping him from using his standup misdirection to drag them down that they fight too defensively & thus don't really take advantage of the time when they are at the advantage (or at least lesser disadvantage), but Cub was flowing as always and was fighting a smart defense to offense fight, moving to avoid & find the angles to counter Gracie's pursuit & aggression. This wasn't a high volume fight for Cub when he had energy, but he had the lateral movement to make Gracie keep chasing him without allowing Kron to trap him against the cage & get into a clinch. Swanson did a nice job of inserting his offense into all of Gracie's lulls, when Gracie wouldn't force him to move he'd often rip the body with the right hook or the middle kick if it was there. The first round was competitive, but Gracie wasn't showing any ability to change things up, and the more he gave Cub the same look, the better Cub avoided & countered. By the beginning of round 2, Gracie just seemed to be plodding forward & reaching with the jab for an opponent who was nowhere to be found. As Swanson's confidence rose, he was more willing to stand & exchange with Gracie, which allowed Gracie to flirt with the possibility of grappling, for instance trying to jump guard. One one hand, Cub was seemingly doing a lot of damage in these exchanges without taking much in return, but on the other hand Gracie was walking through Cubs shots & getting a half clinch. Though Gracie's shots were now easier to avoid because he'd slowed down, Cub was looking winded, and it seemed like much of the reason he wasn't circling away as he had in round 1 was fatigue & perhaps a false sense of comfort. For the most part, Cub was now racking up the numbers, but this style gave Gracie a legitimate chance to come up with something that could lead to him winning, whereas Cub riding his bike presented almost certain victory, albeit in a less entertaining fashion. After the 2nd, Cub's corner told him to dig deep, move his feet & don't stand in front of him. Despite fighting with a broken hand & presumably being far enough ahead on the scorecards he didn't need to do anything in the 3rd, Cub ignored their advice completely, and the 3rd round was even better than the 2nd, with both guys just standing toe to toe & slugging it out. Gracie was still failing at his guard pulls, but was now landing the up kick when he hit the canvas. It seemed like Cub was way ahead in strikes, but when they gave the stats early in the 3rd, they claimed 79 each. I don't know how Kron managed to do it, but he just didn't seem to feel or react to all the punishment Cub inflicted. You'd think all the body shots would have paid off for Cub, but while they won him the decision, they somehow didn't seem to serve their intended purpose of slowing Gracie down. In the final 45 seconds, Gracie finally had his chance on the ground, as Cub went into Gracie's guard after defending Gracie's single leg. This amounted to nothing, and Cub was quickly back up, but the fight was definitely better live because even though Kron was mostly taking a beating, after winning his first 5 fights by submission, you respected the threat of his ability to turn the fight & still win enough that the intensity remained high throughout. Swanson won a unanimous 30-27 decision, but in typical whiny Gracie fashion, Kron later tweeted "I won that fight." Very good match.
Bellator 229 10/4/19: Lorenz Larkin vs. Andrey Koreshkov 3R. An intense back & forth fight that had some big moments, though it was a rather grindy contest as a whole with Koreshkov trying to keep Larkin on his back foot by pressuring with his wrestling. The 1st two rounds had knockdowns, though Larkin's 2nd round was way more convincing than Koreshkov's 1st, and then the 3rd round was one of those stalemate's where Koreshkov was clearly outgrappling Larkin but had no actual offense because Larkin forced him to keep trying to maintain his controlling position. Though grappling was Koreshkov's strategy throughout, midway through the 1st he landed a left body kick that helped set up flooring Larkin with a left spinning high kick. Koreshkov tried to flurry, but Larkin recovered quickly. Larkin had a nice calf kick & a short left hook, but generally was creeping backwards most of the round because Koreshkov was looking for the takedown & would only back up momentarily to avoid a strike. Larkin was ready for the spinning kick in the 2nd, and stepped inside it, leading to Koreshkov winning the 1st half of the round by pinning Larkin against the cage in the clinch, but Koreshkov had no real offense & Larkin quickly nullified Koreshkov's grindy advantage when he started coming forward in the 2nd half of the round. Larkin didn't start landing until the final 75 seconds, but was the more impressive of the two when he was pushing forward because he was a lot more aggressive, though that almost bit him as Koreshkov nearly timed him coming in with a spinning elbow. Larkin dropped Koreshkov with a clinch knee, and while Koreshkov was able to get up after a brief flurry, he clearly had not recovered. Koreshkov was so wobbly he would have gone down on his own trying to throw a left hook counter if Larkin didn't catch him then drop him with another knee, but this second time down wasn't a slip but rather the result of Larkin landing a nice short right hand Larkin that lead to a delayed knockdown. Mike Goldberg was asking about the possibility of a 10-7 2nd round for Larkin, which was even more clueless than the usual stuff that comes out of Goldberg's mouth when he's not reading or using one of his tired cliches. Under the old scoring, this is a 10-9 round for Larkin, with the 2017 scoring it's probably marginally a 10-8 round as Larkin wasn't consistent & frankly only had a brief window of dominance, but obviously had Koreshkov in bad shape because the second knockdown was totally predictated on Koreshkov being compromised from the 1st. I figured Larkin was going to be pushing forward again in the 3rd, and Koreshkov was still going to be in bad shape at the outset, but neither were the case. In terms of what Koreshkov's gameplan was, round 3 was actually his best round. Larkin did want to pressure, but Koreshkov was constantly putting his jab out to keep Larkin at bay. Larkin tried to take the kicks that were available to him from the outside, but Koreshkov caught his leg & went for a single, with Larkin jumping guard for a guillotine that he couldn't get leverage on. Koreshkov spent all his energy trying to keep Larkin down, with Larkin wall walking after defending the Khabib leg lace. Larkin couldn't break the body lock though, and was eating knees when he had his back to Koreshkov. Larkin landed a back elbow trying to fend off a single leg, but that was literally Larkin's only legit offense during the final 3 minutes of the round. I'm all for not giving rounds to guys who are just trying to control with grappling, but I literally have no clue how this round doesn't go to Koreshkov. All Larkin did in this round was land 1 low kick, give up position on a brief guillotine attempt that wasn't even remotely tight, land a back elbow, and land 3 little elbows failing to fight off a takedown. Nonetheless, for me this fight was a 28-28 draw. None of the judges scored a 10-8 round, but somehow Larkin still got the split decision 28-29, 29-28, 29-28. Good match.
PFL 7 10/11/19: David Michaud vs. Glaico Franca 3R. Franca had the 7 inch reach advantage, and tried to be long and active, working the jab & low kick. Michaud wasn't throwing as many kicks, but his calf kicks were more effective early, though it was surprising he didn't stick with them given how important movement & drive was to Franca's game. Eventually, Michaud pulled Franca into an overhand right counter, and went on the offensive with a series of punches. Though Franca quickly stabilized, and slightly outlanded Michaud for the round, Michaud definitely took it on damage. Michaud was able to establish a closer distance & get his jab going, but this forced Franca to shift to wrestling, and he got a takedown early in the 2nd. Michaud would get back up, but time and time again Franca would take him back down. Though Michaud did little in the 2nd, he forced Franca to expend a lot of energy in the clinch & grappling sequences, and though both won 2R decisions early in the night, cardio is a lot more important to the success of Franca's high pressure style. Still, things weren't looking good for Michaud, as Franca started the 3rd with a low knee followed immediately by a knee to the head before Keith Peterson had any hope of breaking them for the foul that cut Michaud. Franca tried to follow the formula of round 2 with the takedown, but Michaud was ready with the guillotine counter, and kept trying to adjust but never had much body control though he was arguably winding Franca with the tight neck lock. Franca eventually took the top, and it seemed like this could be a repeat of round 2, with Franca grinding it out, but Michaud still had the energy to keep getting off his back, while Franca was gassed. Franca was no longer being proactive, and was mostly just standing in front of Michaud waiting. Still, the round, and thus the fight, were still very much up for grabs with 1:15 left, but Michaud was able to dig deeper & land some good punches to pull it out. Michaud won a majority decision 28-28, 29-28, 29-28. Good match.
UFC 243 10/6/19: Brad Riddell vs. Jamie Mullarkey 3R. Riddell was the stronger kickboxer while Mullarkey was the stronger grappler, but what made this a great matchup for Riddell is he didn't have to initiate to beat the opponent with his striking. Riddell moved forward at times, but would largely allow Mullarkey to make the first move trying to work his way in then nail him with a counter combo. Riddell's best weapon was countering with the left hook to the body, which he'd try to follow with a right to the head. Mullarkey did manage to cut Riddell in the 1st with a left hand counter, but for the most part Riddell had the answer to whatever Mullarkey tried. Mullarkey began to be more effective with his quick, long jab, and that opened up a flash takedown early in the 2nd, though we didn't see enough of this going forward. Mullarkey kept trying takedowns, but Riddell quickly reversed one and came down into mount on another. While overall this was still a better round for Mullarkey than the 1st, he had to escape a rear naked choke attempt in order to have time run out when he finally appeared poised to do some damage from the top with elbows. The first two rounds were fine, but it really got good in the 3rd when Mullarkey began just standing in front of Riddell after Riddell got the early takedown because at this point he had nothing to lose. Riddell was bombing on him, and knocked the mouthpiece out, but Mullarkey showed a good left hand counter to the cheek and then caught Riddell on the chin with the next one to wobble him, leading to a takedown. Mullarkey took Riddell's back, and I thought he was going to finish with the choke because Riddell wasn't all there, but he couldn't get the forearm under the chin & Riddell recovered by the time Mullarkey tried to flatten him out. Mullarkey disengaged after Riddell got to all fours and was ready to shake him, so Goddard finally got his mouthpiece back in, only to have Riddell knock it right back out with the 2nd combo. Riddell decided to let Mullarkey up even though he was working ground and pound, and by this point Mullarkey was just so physically spent he could barely stand, so it was basically target practice for Riddell. Riddell landed several clean, full power shots, and nearly exploded Mullarkey's Cauliflower ear with an elbow, but Mullarkey somehow still tried for takedowns & Riddell was tired enough himself that he didn't have the big flurry in him to get the finish. Even though the fight was kind of one-sided, it was Mullarkey refusal to surrender that made it a memorable fight. Most fighters would have just given up & went down uneventfully in the 3rd, but Mullarkey arguably came closer to getting the finish than Riddell did in this round despite Riddell winning the round. Riddell won a unanimous decision 29–27, 30–26, 30–26. Good match.
UFC Fight Night 158 9/14/19
Tristan Connelly vs. Michel Pereira 3R. When a fighter misses weight by a pound or two, that's when you really worry about their ability to perform on fight night. That may seem counterintuitive, but when they were that close but still had to pack it in they almost certainly depleted themselves to a compromising level, whereas when they missed by 5 pounds they knew they had no chance & thus weren't spending the day before trying to sweat off every ounce of water they could. This is not to demean Connelly, who had his own issues moving up a weight class for this 5 day notice fight. In fact, I was really impressed with his game plan. He studied Pereira very well & fought and extremely smart fight, trying to weather the opening round leaps & flips and grind & wear on him as much as humanly possible so he'd no longer be able to fight like a superhero. Though Pereira was the biggest favorite on the show, it was worrisome when Connelly avoided all of Pereira's opening minute acrobatics & pinned him against the cage grinding for a single leg. Pereira got on track with a rolling thunder, flying knee, and body hook, but Connelly wasn't giving him any space or down time, and took the top easily defending a guillotine when he got off his back onto his knees and drove for a double leg after avoiding Pereira's moonsault footstomp. The first round was the usual Pereira highlight reel, except his connect percentage was much lower, I'm not sure if that's due to people beginning to know to expect the unexpected or even low level UFC fighters being a lot more capable of defending themselves than Pereira's Road FC opponents. Pereira was already looking tired when he got off his back, and Connelly was now able to have some success standing toe to toe with him. Connelly went for a guillotine just before the bell to try to steal the round, and his corner told him he won it, which didn't seem right at all, but given he was the Canadian wouldn't have been too shocking given this is MMA judges we are talking about. Pereira was a conventional fighter in the final 2 rounds, probably because he didn't want to exert himself any more than he absolutely had to. He concentrated on utilizing his reach, mixing the front kick, long overhand right, and left body hook. Whether or not these connected, there was enough of a gap in between them that Connelly would just come right back at Pereira, and was increasingly walking him down as Pereira could neither sustain the pace of throwing the single shots to try to keep Connelly off him nor hurt Connelly enough with them to break his will. Pereira got a takedown, and mostly just laid on Connelly for the final two minutes. Though Pereira was certifiably exhausted, he was seemingly up 2 rounds. Pereira tried for the takedown early in the 3rd to lay it out, but Connelly dropped into a guillotine, and Pereira was too tired after defending to keep Connelly off him or look good in the inside exchanges they were having. Pereira's takedown attempt was slow, and Connelly gained top control. Though Connelly was a lot more active on the ground than Pereira was in round 2 almost by default, it wasn't until the final 2 minutes that he began landing at all, and even then they were mostly short left hands that were more annoying than punishing. Pereira didn't do much this round, but I can't see this as a 10-8 round because he defended himself well enough. I had it 29-28 Pereira, but the hometown judges came up with a unamous 29–28, 29–27, 29–27 decision for Connelly. While the first half of the fight was very good, the 2nd half was rather dull & monotonous with no real passing or posturing on the ground and was mostly just notable for the underdog comeback storyline. Good match.
Glover Teixeira vs. Nikita Krylov 3R. A fun match because both fighters had answers no matter where the action was taking place. There was rarely a clear winner in the standup, and even on the ground, the fighter who started on the bottom would threaten & usually reverse. Teixeira was very interested in utilizing his ground game here, as while he's a great boxer, Krylov is a lot more athletic and has more diversity on his feet. He was outgrappling Krylov in the 1st, but Krylov did shake Glover off his back & mount transition into a rear naked choke attempt. This round was tough to score because Teixeira controlled the first half, but Krylov cut him with elbows & had the notable submission attempt. There was good back & forth standup in the 2nd with Teixeira getting his left hook going, including slightly wobbling Krylov, while Krylov did a good job of using his movement & popping the jab. Krylov was doing too much backing & not enough circling as the round progressed, and there was a massive power difference between Teixeira's big punches & his increasingly infrequent jabs. Krylov had a takedown in the final 30 seconds, but this seemed a clear Teixeira round to me as Krylov was just doing too much running. Teixeira countered Krylov's takedown attempt early in the 3rd by dropping into a guillotine, and was able to shake him over the top of his back & take the top soon after Krylov escaped the guillotine. Krylov tried to sweep right, but Teixeira got a belly down armbar on the left arm on the way over. Krylov was on his knees though, so he just stepped over toward Glover's head and won the race to their feet. Glover was able to defend the single leg against the cage & eventually dropped into another guillotine, which was somewhat ill advised though because he put himself in a position where Krylov was potentially finishing the fight on top. I'm not sure if Krylov won any rounds, but the 1st & 3rd both could have gone either way. Teixeira did get another sweep & finish on top, for what it was worth, for me not really anything scoring wise, but all the reversals is what made the fight entertaining. It wasn't as exciting & unpredictable as Pereira vs. Connelly, but definitely a lot more consistently entertaining, and certainly the ground work was 100 times more interesting. Teixeira won a split decision 28-29, 29-28, 29-28. Good match.
