MMA Weekend Recap (Fights Galore)
For most sport fans these are the dog days of the year. No team sports are currently in season other than Major League Baseball. The NBA and NFL don't return until the final few months of the year, and the NHL season just concluded. In the case of fight fans however, this weekend felt like there was never enough fights to watch!
June 16, 2023
There were three separate international MMA organizations putting on events on Friday. First, being ONE Friday Fights, which began bright and early at 8:30 AM. These fights are always a fun watch and feature more than MMA exclusively. It typically begins with two or three MMA fights before transitioning exclusively to Muay Thai and Kickboxing. It is an understatement to say that every fighter who competes under ONE FC comes in with a chip on their shoulder which is indicative of how these individuals compete. For any of the early birds reading this, ONE Friday Fights is broadcasted on YouTube every Friday morning. It is difficult to familiarize with all the fighters under ONE FC.
This PFL event was honestly great. The PFL is different than other MMA organizations in the sense that is presented with a season format and point system based on fight results. As each fighter progresses through their season (3-5 fights a year) they are awarded a certain number of points depending on the context of their victory. First round finishes give a fighter six points, second round finishes grant five points, third round finishes grant four points, and a decision victory is three points. There were some great first round finishes from fighters who appear to be coming into their own. Marcelo Nunes, Denis Goltsov, Biaggio Ali Walsh who is the grandson of Muhammed Ali was given a main card spot despite still being an amateur. Biaggio fights with no fear which will serve him well in the future, but when he smells blood, he gets a bit reckless in pursuit of the finish which can lead to openings for him to get hit. Regardless, he is still a developing amateur and has world class level training at Xtreme Couture. Aspen Ladd, who was previously in the UFC, scored a second-round submission which was massive for her after dropping the first fight of her season. Last year's women's featherweight champion Larissa Pacheco scored a first round TKO against Amber Leibrock in the co main event which was also a big win considering her last fight went the distance. All honesty when PFL cards have fights where both fighters are looking to get that "Quick Six" it allows the viewer to recognize the importance of getting ahead of the pack with the way the organization is structured.
It seems like every time Bellator presents the public with a fight card that looks great on paper, the fights that are most promoted tend to under deliver. The undercard had a fun stretch with some competitive fights such as Archie Colgan passing a tough test in Emmanuel Sanchez. Along with impressive first round finishes such as Nobert Novenyi Jr who was lightning quick in his 45 second knockout. The undefeated Ramazan Kuramagomedov made his Bellator debut in style with a first-round knockout of his own and proceeded to call for a fight with fellow undefeated fighter Archie Colgan. The main card simply felt flat with the first fight resulting in Daniel James losing in his hometown to Gokhan Saricam. Admittedly, the fight between Corey Anderson and Phil Davis was fun because it was impressive seeing two light heavyweights scramble around and force each other into a high paced fight in which neither guy showed fatigue. The two title fights were simply underwhelming. Sergio Pettis pop shotted Patricio Pitbull for five rounds to remain Bellator's bantamweight titleholder. Credit to Pitbull for chasing gold in a third weight division but he did not look himself in this fight. No credit taken from Pettis who is proven to be worthy champion with legit title defenses but just as was the co main event, the light heavyweight title fight between Vadim Nemkov and Yoel Romero was also a one-sided stale mate of a fight. Romero never seems able to put it together when a belt is on the line despite being a freak athlete and a specimen of a human still fighting at 46 years old. This was his last opportunity to capture a world title in MMA and it was sad to see him resort to his old habits.
June 17, 2023
The UFC fight card was honestly great. There were a few odd occurrences like the messed up stoppage during the Dan Argueta vs Ronnie Lawrence fight where referee Keith Peterson misjudged a reaction from Lawrence where Peterson thought he tapped to a submission right after Peterson grabbed Lawrence's hand to see if he was still conscious. Even more odd was the fight between Carlos Hernandez and Denys Bondar which was a great scrap, there was moment where Hernandez was scrambling on his back and threw a kick while on his back which prompted Bondar to throw an illegal knee which landed. The intent was blatant yet there was no point deduction which was odd. In the closing moments of this fight Hernandez lands an excellent takedown/slam in which him and Bondar's head appear to have collided upon landing on the mat. Regardless, Hernandez followed up with ground and pound which knocked Bondar out. It was not ruled a knockout for Hernandez however due to the collision of their heads upon the throw but Hernandez won the decision. Alessandro Costa and Kyung Ho Kang closed out the prelims with statement making finishes as well. The main card was not short of crazy finishes either. Manuel Torres with a vicious elbow KO against Nikolas Motta, Pat Sabatini dominating Lucas Almeida with a submission win. Arman Tsarukyan passing a tough test against one of the few men willing to fight him in Joaquim Silva. And the main event was a war. Vettori hurt Cannonier early as Cannonier showed vulnerability from the southpaw stance but Cannonier progressively broke Marvin down and broke a record for most significant strikes landed. Marvin Vettori has the will of a thousand men because the shots he was taking were thunderous and he never quit or even looked for a way out. The middleweight division is very underappreciated and fights like this prove it.
Comments