Best Matches Seen June 2021 |
UFC 263 6/12/21: Brad Riddell vs. Drew Dober 3R. Dober at his best was the better athlete and seemed to be the better fighter, but Riddell had more variety, and was able to slow Dober down with his right hands and his takedowns, keeping Dober from being at peak level really after the first round. Dober stunned Riddell with a short left hand early on when Riddell was coming forward, just starting to throw his own punch. Riddell was able to recover by continually grinding for the takedown, partially because Dober seemed to want to answer with a Gotch piledriver. Once Dober escaped, it went back to being purely a boxing match, and it was clear that Dober had the advantage there because he had the faster hands, and was generally better prepared to react faster in the brawling. Dober cut Riddell on the upper left forehead with a right hook. Riddell got his right hand going toward the end of the first round, and Dober wasn't doing a good job of defending against the right hand out of his predominant southpaw stance. Dober did hurt RIddell early in the second when they were just swinging, now opening up a cut on the bridge of Riddell's nose. Riddell was having more and more success taking Dober down, but had a hard time keeping him there. All the energy Dober had to expand defending takedowns and getting off his back began to slow him down, and then Riddell had more success with his right hand when they were standing. Dober landed a nice spinning kick at the end of the second round, but it wasn't quite enough to get the round back. Riddell wobbled Dober with a right hand to start the third. Riddell did a good job of landing the inside leg kicks against the southpaw, but wasn't throwing its enough. Riddell clearly outlanded Dober in the 3rd, and wobbled him with a big right hand counter with 40 seconds left in the fight to clinch victory. Riddell won a unanimous decision 29–28. Good match.
UFC on ESPN 25 6/19/21: Marlon Vera vs. Davey Grant 3R. Marlon Vera vs. Davey Grant. This was an entertaining fight, very close in standup, though Vera increasingly gained ground through the mat game. In round one, Grant was able to get up fairly quickly, but was cut taking a knee when Vera abandoned his guillotine. Grant did a nice job of striking off the stance switch, especially ripping the body then going to the head, but he had enough switch kicks that he remained unpredictable. I thought Grant edged the first round with his activity, but Vera did good damage with his low kicks. Vera was gaining ground with his low kicks in the second, and slashed Grant's forehead with a series of short left elbows from that half clinch. Grant came back with a flashy spinning high kick, and took Vera down midway through the round. Vera kept throwing up submissions off his back to keep Grant from getting any ground and pound going. Vera finally used a leglock to escape, and landed a few good elbows before the bell. I would give this round to Vera because he was the one doing the work, even though Grant was mostly the one who was on top. I don't understand why Grant tried for the early takedown in the third, as he was outlanding Vera in standup, but this strategy just resulted in more of what we saw in the second round, where Vera was the one applying the pressure. In this case, he stopped Grant's takedown, and quickly took his back. Grant landed a few good hooks once he got back to his feet, soon wobbling Vera. Vera was clearly the much fresher fighter though, and quickly came right back with a jumping knee, then worked Grant over against the cage before tripping him up. Grant created an opening to stand by throwing up a triangle, but was just too tired to actually move, so Vera was able to get right back on top and hurt him with a few more elbows. Vera finished with a rear-naked choke attempt to secure the round, and thus the fight, but this wasn't even close to a 10-8 round. I thought it was closer to a 28-28 draw (though Vera clearly won the fight scored as a whole) then to the crazy 30-26 scorecard Derek Cleary submitted. Vera won a unanimous decision 29–27, 29–28, 30–26. Good match.
