Best Matches Seen December 2021 |
UFC Fight Night 199 12/18/21: Amanda Lemos vs. Angela Hill 3R. When Lemos dropped Hill with a front kick under the jaw a minute into the fight, and followed with a series of hammerfists, I thought this was actually going be a quick Angela Hill fight. Hill was able to withstand the brief onslaught though, and it was the usual Hill fight where she has more speed and cardio, but lacks the power to really make an impact, and thus tends to lose some very close rounds. Hill wobbled Lemos with a overhand right counter to the back of the neck 4 minutes into the first round, but for the most part, it was Lemos who was throwing the really hard shots out of the muay thai stance. She didn't have much footwork or activity though, as it was all single power shots, while Hill kept applying pressure, she just wasn't landing enough to have actual volume, though that was her level of the impact. Lemos landed some good shots in the 2nd round when they were in the center of the octagon, where she had room, but for the most part, Hill was able to take her space away by backing Lemos into the cage and working the clinch game. I don't think Lemos was tired so much as she just doesn't have much game when she lacks the distance to throw her power shots. In any case, it was a round the piece going into the third. Lemos started the third well, landing the front kick to the chain, but Hill tripped Lemos up by catching her leg when she was recoiling on the low kick. Lemos was up quick when she hit the canvas in this round, but Hill was still clearly the better fighter when they were holding each other. The announcers, who work with Hill and were clearly rooting for her, went crazy for a spinning elbow that landed on Lemos' arm, this was clearly not a knockdown but an off balance from a "collision". Statistically, Lemos landed one more significant strike in the third round, but Hill landed nine more total strikes. Overall, this was a super close round. Hill probably won it just for being the more proactive and aggressive fighter, but it was virtually a coin toss. Somehow Douglas Crosby came up with 30-27 Lemos, while the other two judges were split at 29-28. Good match.
UFC 269 12/11/21
Dominick Cruz vs. Pedro Munhoz 3R. This wasn't so much of the usual figure 8's from Cruz to be unpredictable & elusive, as moving to control the distance, exploiting his reach by consistently keeping Munhoz at the end of his jab. Cruz got sloppy reaching with a left midway through the 1st though, and got dropped by a short left , then Munhoz followed up dropping him again with a left hand. Cruz put less emphasis on entering after this, and was more content to just be longer and faster. From the middle of the first round onwards, he fought a beautiful fight. Munhoz definitely hits harder, but that only helps when he actually lands. He was mostly out of range and on the defensive, really wanting Cruz to close the distance more, or especially overcommit so he could land the big counter. It wasn't so much that Munhoz was unwilling to be aggressive, as that Cruz was simply so much faster that he couldn't track him down unless Cruz wanted him to. Once Munhoz caught Cruz early, Cruz was largely unwilling to overextend for the big shot again, settling into a much more sustainable percentage fight where he could use his length, speed, and cardio to keep chipping away. Cruz was not only still engaging, but actually doing it more often, throwing a whole series of shots to keep Munhoz on the defensive then getting out of dodge before Munhoz could get his counterattack started. Munhoz really failed to cut off the rign in any fashion, and was ultimately left are chasing, reaching and lunging, connected only with air. Munhoz did land some leg kicks, but he didn't do enough with his hands to really make them into a consistent weapon. You could have given Munoz a 10-8 first round for the knockdowns, though Cruz coming on in the second half of the round makes a 10-9 more defensible, but clearly Cruz won the final two rounds easily. Cruz won a unanimous decision 29–28. Good match.
Geoff Neal vs. Santiago Ponzinibbio 3R. A really close fight, Neal won the 3rd decisively with a late push, but the first two rounds could have gone either way. Ponzinibbio tried to be the aggressor, but Neal had very good movement and quick counterstriking, so it was difficult for Ponzinibbio to ever really get going. Santiago tried his best to drag Neal into a firefight, but Neal remained technical, for the most part. There honestly wasn't much difference between the first two rounds other than that Ponzinibbio had a meaningless brief position change in the middle of round 2. In both rounds, Ponzinibbio was credited with 26 strikes landed, while Neal landed 20 then 19. Though Neal was the more accurate striker, and Ponzinibbio was the one who was expending more energy, Neal did seem to be fading a bit toward the end of the second. His corner read him the riot act, and Neal responded throwing 73 strikes as compared to only 88 in the first two rounds combined, and landing a whopping 63%. Neal was more willing to come forward now, and began landing the right hook over the top of Ponzinibbio's suddenly tired block. Though round three was mostly the kind of fan friendly exchanging Ponzinibbio has made his name on, Neal's activity and incredible accuracy allowed him to take over even though they were mostly standing in front of each other and throwing heavy leather. Neal won a split decision 28–29, 30–27, 29–28. Good match.
UFC Fight Night 197 11/13/21: Max Holloway vs. Yair Rodriguez 5R. Max is a really tough task for anyone, much less after a two year absence, but Yair is the sort of fighter that has the tools to beat Holloway, and he got off to a good start with his consistently placed calf kicks, and great speed and timing. Rodriguez was willing to just stand in front of Holloway, relying on his head movement, and knowing if he could basically keep it to a shot for a shot, he would have the advantage because he has considerably more power and the ability to knock him out. I thought Rodriguez won the first round, but the problem is keeping this up for five rounds against one of the greatest cardio fighters in the history of the sport. Holloway was able to back to Rodriguez up a lot more in the 2nd round, but Rodriguez still kept a high volume, and was punishing him was with low and middle kicks. This was a difficult fight to score because I feel like Rodriguez was actually doing more damage because the calf kicks should add up a lot more than the punches, but Holloway landing clean punches to the face and body looks better to the judges. Holloway failed on a takedown early in the third, but then Rodriguez slipped trying to back out from his kick while Holloway connected with a short jab. From here, Holloway largely switched to trying to be a grappler because the standup was too close to be confident he was winning. Rodriguez had his own flash takedown, but certainly it was Holloway who did the damage on the ground in this round. Early in the fourth, Holloway used a standing guillotine to get the fight to the ground. I don't think Rodriguez won the round, but I was really impressed with his cardio, as even the grappling didn't slow him down that much, and he landed a nice jumping knee and some more middle kicks late in the round. Rodriguez still had the energy to go for the knockout in the fifth round, but once again it was simply too much volume from Holloway. If we assume Rodriguez won the first round, which only one judge actually gave him, this was probably 48-47 Max with each fighter getting 1 of the close rounds (2 & 5). While it's not outrageous to give Rodrigues three rounds in this fight, Holloway clearly won the 3rd & 4th, and it never felt like a fight Yair actually won, but rather a fight that he got a bit ahead early in in standup, and then Holloway took over by somewhat changing things up, adding effective ground punches to his bread and butter of simply outlanding the opponent Yair on their feet. Holloway had about a 70 significant strike advantage here, and although he doesn't hit as hard, he is just so tough that all those nasty calf kicks didn't slow him down in the least, and he was able to just keep pressuring full speed all fight, as always. Holloway won a unanimous decision 48-47, 48-47, 49-46. Very good match.
UFC 268 11/6/21
Justin Gaethje vs. Michael Chandler 3R. This was the insane war we all expected, the best match of the year, and one of the best either have ever been involved in, which says a lot given the long list of crazy wars these two have given us. Just a crazy slugfest with both men absorbing tons of punishment. Both are capable of standing toe to toe and slugging it out with the best of them, but Gaethje has a lot more technique and actual strategy, and thus was much more difficult to hit with any consistency. Chandler basically just did two things, he either came forward throwing huge hooks or he fought behind the jab. The later was clearly the better option because Chandler was at least balanced, under control, and reaching a lot less. The huge problem for Chandler is anytime he stopped attacking, Gaethje just chopped his calf. By the end of the first round, Chandler's leg was toast. Chandler did hurt Gaethje midway through the first round following the jab with a right straight. Chandler caught the shoulder with a jumping knee, but then wobbled Gaethje with another right straight. Gaethje hurt Chandler back with an uppercut, and this became one of the themes of the fight, Chandler seemed to have never learned how to defend either a low kick or an uppercut, just eating every uppercut and continuing on his merry way, not even trying to raise his guard. Chandler has ridiculous power when he actually lands, but he was so much less consistent than Gaethje, who had several consistent techniques that he could essentially land at will, especially since Chandler's only real defense was to stay on offense. Due to this, I thought Chandler even lost the first round because while he had Gaethje hurt one more time, he took way more overall damage, and came out half crippled. By round 2, Chandler's options were rather limited. He couldn't really move from all the kicks, so now he didn't have much choice but to challenge the ego, trying to get Justin to stand toe to toe even moreso and just exchange bombs. Chandler really had nothing on his low kicks, which were a reasonably good weapon in the first round, as long as we aren't comparing them to the great ones his opponent was throwing. Now that he was moving really slowly, it was much easier for Gaethje to time his hooks and uppercuts, and he dropped Chandler with a huge uppercut 2 minutes into the round. Chandler's face was a mess, and he could barely stand, but he will never give up, and you have to give him at least a few concussions in order to have a chance to fully incapacitate him. Chandler accidentally scratched Gaethje's eye with an open hand, and Mike Beltran, who was a mile away and didn't move in between the fighters or anything, couldn't get around to stopping the action before Chandler cold cocked a defenseless Gaethje, who had backed away with one eye completely closed. Then there was a classic exchange where Beltran asked, "Are you good?" Gaethje responded, "No, I'm not good, he poked me in the F'n eye!" Beltran "Are you good?" Gaethje "Yeah, I'm good." So then Beltran immediately restarted the fight, with Gaethje still blinking rapidly, essentially half blind. Gaethje knew he had to say he was good the 2nd time to avoid a potential stoppage, that doesn't mean the ref or doctor shouldn't look at the eye, or he shouldn't get any time to recover, or anything. Luckily, as the round was over. Chandler was doing a good job of landing body punches in this third, but spent too much time playing to the crowd and trying to taunt Gaethje to try to knock him out, but Gaethje was still consistent with the uppercut and leg kick. Chandler had a nice slam midway through the round, but Gaethje immediately took his back. The fight never slowed down though, and Gaethje soon hurt Chandler two more times with big overhand rights. Gaethje won a unanimous decision 29–28, 29–28, 30–27. Great match.
Shane Burgos vs. Billy Quarantillo 3R. This was a really good fight that was hurt tremendously from trying to follow an all-time classic. For the most part, it just took place in a phone booth, with Quarantillo pushing forward, but Burgos then knocking him back. Burgos power was a real problem for Quarantillo, as for the most part he regained space by literally backing Billy up with the impact of his counter shots. Burgos is just so much bigger, and is the better technical striker. However, Quarantillo has amazing cardio, and just as more will to win than just about anybody. I don't think he even won a round, but at the same time this was an amazing performance by him, just gutting through a war he was really overmatched in. Quarantillo was able to keep Burgos out of his comfort zone with relentless pressure, just constantly throwing so Burgos didn't have a chance to sit back and pick him apart. With 45 seconds left in round 1, Billy went down when Burgos countered a right uppercut with a short right hook. This was more of a slip, but that was difficult to tell live, though it didn't effect the score as all of the judges gave Billy the 1st. Burgos was doing a great job of chopping the legs, which led to Billy getting offbalance more than he would have liked in the 2nd, and barely being able to walk by the 3rd. There was a huge exchange at the end of the 2nd round after Burgos hurt Quarantillo with another low kick. Billy was just standing in the pocket slugging it out because he didn't have them movement anymore, but this was not a winnable or sustainable strategy against Burgos. Quarantillo's calf was just shot, but he gutted it out, limping his way through the final round. Quarantillo was just reaching on its punches in this round, and would sometimes still stumble because he couldn't transfer weight. It looked like one or two more likely kicks which finished the fight, but somehow Quarantillo kept lunging or falling forward, diving for the leg lock or trying to grab or hold Burgos any way he could. Round 3 may have been and Quarantillo's worst round, as he had nothing on his shots and couldn't really pressure with strikes, but amazingly Burgos had even less room to work with in this round than in the previous rounds. Burgos won a unanimous decision 29–28. Very good match.
