Best Matches Seen December 2020 |
GLORY 76 12/19/20
Heavyweight Tournament Semifinal: Nordine Mahieddine vs. Antonio Plazibat 4R. These two were the best fighters in the tournament, so it was this shame they had to meet in the first round. Plazibat was the favorite going in, but he suffered a quick knock down from a left hook and right low kick combo that could arguably have been called a slip, in the sense that the hook wasn't quite enough to put him down, but the leg kick then upended him because he was stunned. Plazibat was forced to fight the uphill battle of trying to win the next 2 rounds just to get it to the extra round, and while he outstruck Mahieddine in those rounds, it wasn't by a decisive margin. This never felt like a heavyweight fight, as both kept a high pace and were more about landing consistently then trying for the knockout. Plazibat had a little more speed and a little more cardio, but really didn't take over until the final minute of round 3. For the most part, they just exchanged combos the way you'd expect to see from middleweights. Given one judge gave Mahieddine the second round and one scored it even, there seemed no way for there to be an extra round when Plazibat didn't get a knockout in the third, but somehow this was a draw. Levi Rigters had to be thrilled, as it only took him a round and a half to win the previous semifinal. Although I would have given Plazibat the second and third rounds, given it was open scoring, one can understand how Mahieddine felt he now had to win this fight a second time. Mahieddine seem to empty the tank in the final 10 seconds of the third round, and really didn't fight for the first 2 minutes of the extra round, allowing Plazibat to just walk him down. Mahieddine then woke up and made one of his big runs, which must have been what the judges remembered, as this was his worse round of the fight by far. Mahieddine did seem to hurt Plazibat with the right hand 15 seconds left, which was clearly the best shot of the round. I'm not opposed to Mahieddine winning, but he got outstruck in the last 3 rounds, and had Plazibat moved forward, we probably would have had a real final, rather than a near walk over from exhaustion.Very good match.
Benjamin Adegbuyi vs. Badr Hari R3 0:50. You almost felt like Adegbuyi strategy was simply to survive until Hari broke. Hari still looks amazing at points, but between the injuries, the legal problems, and the roid suspensions, he's just not reliable over a full fight the past 5 years. That being said, he only fights the best fighters, and nearly head Rico beat last time out, which was shocking given how easily Rico has beaten everyone the past several years. Adegbuyi was willing to just stand in the mid range with Badr, eating some nasty body hooks to get in his low kicks , testing whether Hari's leg had fully recovered from the last Rico fight. The first round was very back and forth, and Hari probably landed the better shots, but between hitting the canvas 3 times from slips and playing with his chin from an inadvertant headbutt, he seemed to slightly be getting the worst of things. Hari got a knockdown late in the second, following the consistent body hook with a couple big hooks to the head. Hari went for the kill, but Adegbuyi did a good job of shelling up then wobbled to his corner for a rest. You figured Badr could probably finish him in the 3rd, but Adegbuyi landed a massive overhand right counter at the outset, probably breaking Badr's nose and prompting Hari to go for the desperation takedown in the wrong sport, with the ref ruling it a knockdown for Hari holding himself up. Hari tried to fire back with a right hook, but Benny beat him with a liver kick, prompting Todd Grisham to say " Uh oh, it's injury time!" Hari almost got back up, but then relented, deciding to sit down for the rest of the count. Exciting comeback. Good match.
UFC 256 12/12/20
Cub Swanson vs. Daniel Pineda R2. Cub tore his ACL in his last grappling fight against Jake Shields. It's probably still not 100 percent, but it's hard to tell because anyone would buckle under the leg kicks of Pineda. Pineda was more interested in grappling, but he gave Cub a lot of trouble because he also controlled the long range with his low kicks. Cub tripped Pineda up off a low kick, but Pineda nearly applied the same leg lock that tore Cub's ACL. Though Pineda also had an armbar attempt, Cub began to settle in on the ground. I thought he he would begin to take over, put his leg buckled from the next low kick, and Pineda was able to land a spinning heel kick. Cub turned the fight when he countered a low kick with the short right. Cub didn't seem to realize how badly he had Pineda hurt, and kind of let Pineda off the hook before nearly finishing at the end of the round with some huge elbows. Though Cub stole the round, it wasn't a good sign that he came out in a karate stance to protect the bad leg. Pineda was looking slow though, and now that he wasn't very active, Cub was able to use his speed, particularly his hand speed an odd angle striking from the low hands stance, to really snipe Pineda. Cub was able to defend a deep single leg with some great hopping, and surprisingly finished Pineda with a series of big punches on the break. Good match.
Mackenzie Dern vs. Virna Jandiroba 3R. The closest and most competitive fight on the show, a stand up battle of grappling champions that may not have exactly been the fight we wanted, but was quite interesting nonetheless. Dern's striking continues to improve by leaps and bounds. I'd still like to see some semblance of head movement out of her, but she's able to be so aggressive now that she can score big enough with her blitzes to sort of be able to get away with not having ideal defense in between, especially since she's doing a really good job of extending her combos now, making it difficult for the opposition to feel comfortable about starting their counterattack. Her jab is really effective in setting up her big combos, and if she can get away from loading up so much and begin to flow more, she'll really be dangerous. Dern won the first round convincingly, but Virna began to come on in the second when she started holding her ground and using her own jab. Dern was increasingly looking for the takedown, but Virna did well in the clinch, scoring with both knees and elbows. Tthe fight turned when Virna cut her on the bridge of the nose with a knee, breaking it. This became particularly problematic for Dern when she was on her back, as the blood was going into her eyes. With the fight even going into the third, Jandiroba seemed to have the advantage health wise, but Dern fought hard to win, and both had some big moments early in the round. Dern hurt Jandiroba with a nice right hook, but still couldn't get the takedown, and wound up briefly on the bottom when her trip failed. The last few minutes were really intense, with both throwing bombs trying to find some way to steal this. Both were throwing jabs at the same time, but Dern's was the one that was consistently connecting. Dern also did a nice job landing the body kick. Still, it was too close to feel confident about going into the final minute. Not understanding how idiotic MMA judges are, Jandiroba dove for an arm bar with 30 seconds left, which should have stolen the figth for her if all things were equal, but instead likely lost it for her because the judges only see her finishing on her back. I mean, I had Dern slightly ahead from the stand up, so I don't think 29-28 Mackenzie was a bad decision, but Jandiroba definitely won the last 30 seconds even though she was on her back. Very good match.
UFC Flyweight Title: Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Brandon Moreno 5R. On one hand, this was a shockingly excellent fight, I say shockingly because the fighter getting pummeled was the one who improved with each round until dying out in the 5th. On the other hand, while exciting, this fight was nowhere near as competitive as as the announcers and judges tried to make it. Figueiredo has been an axe murderer , finishing seven of his ten UFC fights, all within two rounds. However, he was really handicapping himself trying to make weight twice in three weeks, given he admits he weighs 145 pounds by the time the bell rings. Moreno, at least, was undergoing the same insanity, but he's not nearly as big of a man, barely cutting any weight. I love this fight, and the heart Moreno was able to show, but let's not get carried away here. Moreno gained ground for a while, but he was getting mauled because Figueiredo hits so much harder it's hard to even measure, and simply slowing Figueiredo down some, combined with Figueiredo understandably gassing due to the grueling weight cuts doesn't actually translate into winning rounds. Moreno was still getting hammered, and just because Figueiredo didn't get up instantly a few times later in the fight, that should not be confused with Moreno actually making progress toward some sort of finish. Yes, the total striking numbers were pretty similar, but it's not a hyperbolic argument to state that Figueiredo's jab is more damaging than Moreno's power punch. Regardless, the pace was insane, and this was a real war! Moreno spent the early rounds walking backwards because Figueiredo was just walking him down, but Moreno did a good job of countering and using his jab when Figueiredo actually wasn't attacking. Cormier's nutso wrestling bias reared its ugly head when he tried to give Moreno the second round based on less than 30 seconds of control where Figueiredo landed more shots from the bottom. The actual important events in the second were a legal punch to the eye, as well as an ugly poke when Figueiredo pushed off from the bottom, both compromising Moreno's vision. Every shot Figueiredo landed was vibrating Moreno's body, knocking him backwards like in an over exaggerated movie, whereas Moreno couldn't do anything to earn Figueiredos respect and keep him from just walking him down. Figurado was fouling too often, doing so much damage with a low kick in the third that Moreno was coughing and spitting blood . Herzog deducted a point even though it was the first low blow, which was well justifed but obviously also contributed to the illusion that the fight was way closer than it was. That meant this was only a 9-9 round, though Rogan went nuts for a Moreno overhand right that might have grazed, while Cormier bragged about another great round for Moreno. Cormier was actually speculating that Moreno might be up 29-27 now. This has to be the worst announced fight of the year. Moreno had a good fourth round, on the back of his left hook, which he mixed well between the head and the body, to set up following with the big right. Figurado blocked a high kick, but the announcers still went nuts like it was CroCop in his prime. Moreno then finally scored a takedown that Figueiredo didn't just get right back up from, now needing the the break. That being said, the right hand Figueiredo landed when he got up after being down for 35 seconds was worth a lot more than the one little punch Moreno threw while struggling to finally hold him down. Figueiredo went back to hurting Moreno, including a nice uppercut, but Moreno was hurting him as well. This was some great stuff! Moreno had another takedown, and this time actually landed a nice guard pass punch. I'd marginally give this round to Moreno, the only round he actually won. Unfortunately, Moreno didn't even fight in the fifth. His left shoulder was injured, so he just stood around watching for the first 3 minutes. Figueiredo wasn't super impressive in this round either, trying to avoid a takedown by picking his shots, but he was really accurate with his left body kick and landed a hook that rocked Moreno. Moreno finally threw the left and a few times late, coming on a little, but he literally only land a handful of weak shots. Somehow, that clueless judge Junichiro Kamijo, scored this round for Moreno, which should automatically result in his license being revoked. This resulted in the fight being a majority draw rather than a 48-46 majority decision for Figueiredo. I'm glad we'll get a rematch, but this scoring was some bullshit! Excellent match.
UFC on ESPN 19 12/5/20: Marvin Vettori vs. Jack Hermansson 5R. This could have been a classic had it been more competitive. Hermansson always fought to win, and really believed in himself, so the fight was really competitive, except Vettori won virtually every round. The pace was pretty amazing regardless, with each fighter basically taking one to land one. Vettori had more hand speed, and was able to walk Jack down early. He dropped him midway through the first with a big left straight, nearly getting the finish in what could have been a 10 to 8 round. Hermansson was mostly trying to time Vettori in the first to land the counter, but from the second round onward, he pushed forward. This immediately opened up a hard fought takedown, but Vettori reversed well Jack was trying to secure it. Though Hermansson was active enough that he didn't take any damage, it was a huge psychological victory for Vettori to be up 2 rounds, especially showing a brand of superiority in grappling, which should have been a big advantage to Jack. Hermansson had his best round in the third doing what he could strategically to keep Vettori on the defensive, pushing forward to keep his takedown a threat and to keep Vettori from being able to wait and simply beat him with hand speed by getting off first. It looked like Hermansson was going to take over in the later rounds with his cardio, as expected, but Vettori really upped his output in the fourth round. Vettori's corner wanted him to answer all Hermansson's shots, and in the fourth he began to take over again. Knowing he was down and had to be aggressive, Hermansson was now staying in the pocket and just exchanging, so Vettori was landing more than ever. Round 5 was another excellent round where they stood toe to toe and slugged it out. Hermansson was really putting all he had into his shots, trying for the knockout because that was his only chance. It wasn't going to matter, but you could have given Jack this round also. Vettori won a unanimous decision 49-46, 49-46, 49-45. Very good match.
