McDojoDelux

Main Event Featherweight Bout: Urijah Faber (145 lbs) vs. Bryan Caraway (145 lbs) Co-Main Event Middleweight Bout: Vinny Magalhaes (205 lbs) vs. Steve Bosse (205 lbs) Featherweight Bout: Eddie Wineland (145 lbs) vs. Patricio Freire (145 lbs) Middleweight Bout: Michal Materla (205 lbs) vs. Glover Teixeira (205 lbs) Featherweight Bout: Micah Miller (145 lbs) vs. Diego Brandao (145 lbs) Middleweight Bout: Satoshi Ishii (205 lbs) vs. Brandon Vera (205 lbs) Featherweight Bout: Bart Palaszewski (145 lbs) vs. Willamy Freire (145 lbs) Middleweight Bout: Lyoto Machida (205 lbs) vs. Emanuel Newton (205 lbs) Preliminary Card Middleweight Bout: Mauricio Shogun (205 lbs) vs. Edwin Dewees (205 lbs) Heavyweight Bout: Mark Coleman (240 lbs) vs. Mariusz Pudzianowski (260 lbs) Lightweight Bout: Vitor Ribeiro (165 lbs) vs. Roger Huerta (165 lbs) Welterweight Bout: Yoshihiro Akiyama (185 lbs) vs. Matt Hughes (185 lbs) Middleweight Bout: Rafael Cavalcante (205 lbs) vs. Karlos Vemola (205 lbs) Lightweight Bout: Hayato Sakurai (165 lbs) vs. TJ Grant (165 lbs) Featherweight Bout: Georgi Karakhanyan (145 lbs) vs. Rumina Sato (145 lbs) Flyweight Bout: Yoshiro Maeda (125 lbs) vs. Yasuhiro Urushitani (125 lbs)

Hello all its been a while I've been busy with irl stuff but now have some free time on my hands, posts will be returning to this thread relatively soon with a new coat of paint to make up for the long hiatus. I can't promise consistent posts to this dynasty I might post once a week a couple of times within a week or maybe it's only a monthly occurrence. I'll have to see but see you all soon

<p>CTC Sunday Night Fights 3 Full Fight Card</p><p> </p><p> BW: <strong>Eduardo Dantas </strong>vs. Ray Borg</p><p> BW: <strong>Deiveson Figueiredo </strong>vs. Joe Warren</p><p> BW Final: Tomas/Kingad/<strong>Rodriguez</strong>/Ademola vs. Cartwright/Sousa/Nurmagomedov/Wooding</p><p> BW: <strong>Cory Sandhagen</strong> vs. Boston Salmon</p><p> BW: Cole Smith vs. <strong>Mitch Gagnon</strong></p><p> BW: <strong>Henry Cejudo</strong> vs. Luis Peralta</p><p> BW SF: Tomas/Kingad vs. <strong>Rodriguez</strong>/Ademola</p><p> BW SF: <strong>Cartwright</strong>/Sousa vs. Nurmagomedov/Wooding</p><p> BW: Kairat Akhmetov vs. <strong>Sergio Pettis</strong></p><p> BW: <strong>Rodrigo Praia</strong> vs. Ian Loveland</p><p> </p><p> BW QF: <strong>Carls John de Tomas</strong> vs. Danny Kingad</p><p> BW QF: <strong>Drako Rodriguez</strong> vs. Eddie Ademola</p><p> BW QF: <strong>Jack Cartwright</strong> vs. Herbeth Sousa</p><p> BW QF: <strong>Umar Nurmagomedov</strong> vs. Dominique Wooding</p><p> BW: <strong>Javid Basharat</strong> vs. Jesse Arnett</p><p> BW: Bryan Caraway vs. <strong>John Dodson</strong></p><p> BW: <strong>Joe Soto</strong> vs. Eddie Wineland</p><p> BW: <strong>James Gallagher</strong> vs. Keith Lee</p><p> BW: J.P. Buys vs. <strong>Soo Chul Kim</strong></p><p> BW: Manny Vazquez vs. <strong>Matheus Mattos</strong></p>

Time for my luck to turn around HW: Sergey SPIVAK vs. Evgeny GONCHAROV FW: Andre FILI vs. Nik LENTZ MW: Makhmud MURADOV vs. Gerald MEERSCHAERT BW: Rani YAHYA vs. Cody STAMANN LHW Title: Da UN JUNG vs. Ion CUTELABA

Main Event Light Heavyweight Championship Bout: © Israel Adesanya vs. (#1) Glover Teixeira (banking on the upset) Co-Main Event Women's Flyweight Championship Bout: © Valentina Shevchenko vs. (#3) Lauren Murphy Main Card Bantamweight Bout: Urijah Faber vs. Sean O'Malley Welterweight Bout: (#15) Robbie Lawler vs. (#14) Jingliang Li Bantamweight Bout: (#11) Marlon Moraes vs. (#13) Marlon Vera ESPN Preliminary Card Welterweight Bout: Mike Perry vs. Michel Pereira Women’s Strawweight Bout: (#4) Xiaonan Yan vs. (#5) Carla Esparza Heavyweight Bout: Greg Hardy vs. Carlos Felipe ESPN+ Early Preliminary Card Bantamweight Bout: Felipe Corales vs. Frankie Saenz Women’s Bantamweight Bout: Leah Letson vs. Zarah Fairn Dos Santos* Middleweight Bout: Abu Azaitar vs. Marcelo Guimares

Main Card UFC Light Heavyweight Champion: Jon Jones © (#1, 27-1, 1NC) vs. Jan Błachowicz (#2, 28-8) UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion: Weili Zhang © (#1, 23-1) vs. Tatiana Suarez (#3, 10-0) Light Heavyweight: Corey Anderson (#9, 14-6) vs. Alexander Gustafsson (#4, 19-6) Women’s Strawweight: Angela Hill (#8, 14-7) vs. Rose Namajunas (#6, 9-5) Welterweight: Colby Covington (#7, 16-3) vs. Tyron Woodley (#2, 20-5-1) Heavyweight: Walt Harris (#3, 15-7, 1NC) vs. Alistair Overeem (#12, 45-19, 1NC) Preliminary Card Women’s Strawweight: Hannah Cifers (#22, 12-4) vs. Virna Jandiroba (#17, 17-2) Women’s Flyweight: Maycee Barber (#6, 10-1) vs. Ariane Lipski (14-5)[#11, Women’s Bantamweight: Macy Chaisson (#2, 8-1) vs. Ketlen Viera (#12, 11-2) Bantamweight: Merab Dvalishvili (10-5) vs. Sean O’Malley (12-0) Featherweight: Khalid Taha (#21, 15-1) vs. Sodiq Yussuf (#16, 13-1) Featherweight: Ricardo Lamas (#12, 19-9) vs. Cub Swanson (#19, 6-12) Featherweight: Doo Ho Choi (#20, 16-4) vs. Darren Elkins (#23, 24-9) Lightweight: Mark Madsen (11-0) vs. Omar Morales (10-0) Lightweight: Bobby Green (25-11-1) vs. James Vick (#10, 14-5) Lightweight: Paul Felder (#16, 18-7) vs. Arman Tsarukyan (#14, 17-2)

<p>HW: <strong>Anton VYAZIGIN</strong> vs. Alexander GLADKOV</p><p> LHW: Rafael CARVALHO vs. <strong>Rashid YUSUPOV</strong></p><p> LW Tournament QF: <strong>Gregor GILLESPIE</strong> vs. Drakkar KLOSE</p><p> LHW: <strong>Anthony SMITH</strong> vs. Dovledtzhan YAGSHIMURADOV</p><p> WW Title & Tournament QF: <strong>Niko PRICE</strong> vs. Mike PERRY</p>

Looks like Rose has probably set herself up as the greatest Strawweight of all time any top contenders in your game that you think have a chance of at least challenging her? Also, I remember in one of my older games that I never made a dynasty thread about that McGregor signed with One too then got submitted in the 1st round by Shinya Aoki in his debut.

March Week 1 (2019) Recap ----------------------------------------------------------- MMA News: ----------------------------------------------------------- UFC Fight Night: Blachowciz vs. Smith -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Main-Event Light-Heavyweight: Jan Blachowciz (#6, 23-7) vs. Anthony Smith (#2, 31-13) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Co-Main Welterweight: Mike Perry (12-4) vs. Niko Price (12-2-1NC) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Main-Card Bantamweight: Renan Barao (34-7-1NC) vs. Cody Stamann (#12, 17-2) ***Catchweight: Tymoteusz Swiatek (15-3-1NC) vs. Raoni Barcelos (12-1) ***Barcelo’s misses weigh by 2.5 pounds*** Heavyweight: Marcin Tybura (#11, 17-4) vs. Blagoy Ivanov (#10, 16-2-1NC) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Preliminary-Card W-Bantamweight: Martnya Czech (3-0-1NC) vs. Antonina Shevchenko (#15, 6-0) Light-Heavyweight: Michal Oleksiejczuk (12-2) vs. Jonathan Wilson (7-3) Heavyweight: Mauro Cerilli (12-2) vs. Rashad Coulter (8-3) W-Bantamweight: Veronica Macedo (5-2-1) vs. Lucie Pudilova (8-3) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Early-Prelims Lightweight: Tony Sims (12-4) vs. Thibault Gouti (12-5) Welterweight: Salim Touahri (10-2) vs. Leonardo Santos (16-3-1) Lightweight: Erik Kock (15-6) vs. Jon Tuck (10-5) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It’s all but confirmed that the trilogy between reigning UFC Light-Heavyweight champion Alexander Gustafsson and former two-time champ himself Jon Jones will happen later this year reportedly the UFC is interested in booking it for international fight week. Tonight’s Light-Heavyweight main-event will likely determine who will be next in line for the winner of that championship fight. Coming into the weigh-ins tonight Anthony Smith looks sharp after a great weigh-cut despite being in front of a very pro-Blachowicz crowd he feels a victory will elevate his game to a whole new level, “it’s cliche to say this but this really is the best I ever feel, the weigh-cut was a breeze, training went extremely well I don’t have any real major injuries or pains coming into tomorrows fight. The goal is to win by any means necessarily knockout, submission, decision, I can literally win in all those types of scenarios”. Jan Blachowicz will headline the UFC’s first-ever show in Poland he said he “feels honored” and promises “fireworks”. Much like Smith the Polish native Jan looks in prime condition both are only 1 win away from challenging for UFC gold and both weren’t interested in talking about any other fights with a possible victory showcasing how laser focus both are on each other. Dan Hardy perfectly highlighted how even of a match-up this is in the most recent episode of Inside the Octogan both are high-level BJJ artist with solid knockout power the two can also mix it up but Hardy pointed out how Blachowicz tends to favor a traditional muay-thai style of fighting while also probably holding a significant weight advantage come fight night meanwhile Smith switches up between boxing and kickboxing stances as well the odd takedown. The co-main event saw tensions come to ahead with a near brawl on stage when Welterweights Mike Perry and Niko Price faced off each other during the weigh-ins. The ever so entertaining Perry literally grabbing Price by the neck with his right hand which led to Sean Shelby and UFC security quickly getting between them as they both started swinging. What caused this brawl? Well, just a day before their fight Nike Price appeared on The MMA Show with Ariel Helwani, when asked about Perry’s skills as a fighter he made a subtle dig at Mikes ex-girlfriend saying, “Mike’s a wild man, I mean you only need to look at him outside the cage theirs a reason some people can’t stand being around him”. Previously it was a pretty tame build-up but in just 3 days it’s turned nuclear hot between the two with it all coming to a boiling point at the weigh-ins. Luckily neither was hurt so the fight will go on as scheduled. In total 7 out of the 12 fights, tonight have a Polish fighter competing tonight on one of few two non-Polish fighters taking each other on is former interim and undisputed Bantamweight champion Renan Barao on a 3-fight skid he claims to be “reenergized” despite not being able to rattle of back to back wins since 2014 after recently turning 32 he also claimed to finally “finding a piece with the [TJ] Dillashaw loses” which he countered as a major factor for his losing streak. #12 Bantamweight prospect Cody Stanmann’s a high-level wrestler and boxer is very technical although he lacks in the BJJ department a little plus is very weak to leg kicks if Barao is able to show some of the flashes of the fighter he uses to be during his championship days Barao a high-level striker could devastate him with kicks keyword being could as Stanmann is a big (+500) betting favorite. On the main-card we also have our first missed weight attempt within the UFC this year as Raoni Barcelos weighed in at 147.5 pounds over the 145-pound Featherweight limit this has also led to a hit of spark in tensions with his opponent Polands Tymoteusz Swiatek who makes his UFC debut after an intense staredown then an interview with BT Sport expressed some vicious intentions. “Missing weight is unacceptable we had weeks of preparation I was already 151 by the start of this week, I cut down from 180! This my home my UFC debut and already I have fighters trying to cheat me. I can promise everyone who watches this I will knockout Raoni Barcelos in the 1st round tomorrow night”. While the two didn’t get that much attention before their chilling staredown it’s a great thing that their both getting such recognition as this fight is a dark horse for the fight of the night on the card both earned UFC contracts through raw brawling power and overwhelming psychical attributes. The opening bout of the main card sees the #10 Blagoy Ivanov faces Poland’s #11 Marcin Tybura both are relatively slow Heavyweights not known for their striking rather grappling however, the difference being Tybura relies more on his BJJ sprawling meanwhile Ivanov has a background in Sambo which typically makes him much stronger than he actually appears on first glance one of his favorite things to do is do slam his opponents into the canvas. The prelims are as expected mostly dominated by Polish fighters the headliner will have the undefeated Matryna Czech a lethal BJJ black belt from Poland facing undefeated #15 Women’s Bantamweight Antonia Shevchenko the sister of UFC Flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko both train together and are coached by the same staff. While not being from Poland Mauro Cerilli is one of the most promising Italian Heavyweights in recent memory a former Cage Warriors Heavyweight champion although a small Heavyweight at 6’2” he packs some surprising power behind his hands in fact the UFC he might be the quickest Heavyweight on the roster as he makes his UFC debut tonight against Rashad Coulter a big 265+ pounds Heavyweight known for his accurate headhunting despite his lack of technique he has an eye for landing clean. The rest of the card is fairly unknown unfortunately but they’ll have a chance to make a name for themselves come tomorrow night. ----------------------------------------------------------- MMA Fueds/ Interviews -----------------------------------------------------------

Main Event Women's Strawweight Bout: (#2) Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs. (#3) Tatiana Suarez Co-Main Event Middleweight Bout: Luke Rockhold vs. (#13) Brad Tavares Main Card Welterweight Bout: (#11) Neil Magny vs. (#12) Geoff Neal Lightweight Bout: (#13) Al Iaquinta vs. (#11) Carlos Diego Ferreira Featherweight Bout: Cub Swanson vs. Hakeem Dawodu ESPN Preliminary Card Flyweight Bout: (#7) Manel Kape vs. (#9) Matt Schnell Light Heavyweight Bout: Alonzo Menifield vs. William Knight Flyweight Bout: (#11) Raulian Paiva vs. (#12) Amir Albazi ESPN+ Early Preliminary Card Heavyweight Bout: Roque Martinez vs. Chris de la Rocha Women’s Flyweight Bout: Ashlee Evans-Smith vs. Liliya Sharikova Lightweight Bout: Alex Reyes vs. Michel Quinones

Bellator 212: Freire vs. Curran III Date: February Week 4 (2019) Saturday Event posts will be a mixture of both fight play-by-plays as well as quick bullet points to summarize the event as a whole, only key fights like the fight of the night or fights, the performance of the night as well as fights that have a lot of significance like the main event, co-main, or key bout on the main-card or prelims will be covered. These play by plays are romanticized for dramatic effect but the results are legitimate, if the play-by-plays are too long or you don’t feel like reading them I’ll have a more brief summary of what happened plus the full card results at the bottom. -------------------------------------------------------------- FIGHT PLAY-BY-PLAYS: Bellator history will be made tonight the trilogy bout between reigning Featherweight champion Patricio ‘Pitbull’ Freire will face former two-time Featherweight champ Pat Curran tonight to determine in all likelihood who is the greatest Featherweight in Bellator history? Freire has talked the talk coming into this fight being open with fans and media alike about his aspirations on becoming the greatest Featherweight in the history of MMA something he feels he is on the cusp of with a possible title defense over Curran tonight. Meanwhile, Curran has had a very simplistic approach heading into tonight that being seeing this as “just another fight” and looks forward to “once again becoming the champion”. Round 1 The two meet each other in the middle Curran shows excellent head movement ducking and weaving out of the way of a jab flurry of 4 hooks then question mark kick combination from Patricio ‘Pitbull’ Freire to start the round he responds with a set-in straight right to the body. Curran presses forward with a one-two but Freire covers up well to absorb the punches then ribs the body with a single right hook while retreating back towards the cage. Freire feints going up top firing off a quick leg kick but Curran checks it excellently which causes the champion to slip!!! Curran quickly grabs the top position in half-guard!!! Curran fires off some ground n’ pound to the body meanwhile Freire is attempting to make his way to the fence of the cage. After a period of struggle Freire reaches the cage then is able to get up his back up against the fence as Curran still has a hold of him. After some exchanges from the clinch with Freire getting off a few elbows to the head while Curran gets a few bus driver uppercuts eventually after securing the body lock the challenger is able to swiftly lift then blast the champion with a Greco-roman slam leaving Curran on top in side-control!!! Freire tries to sprawl to get out but Curran holds the position unleashing with some hammer fists then transitions for a kimura submission!!! It’s fairly deep but Curran didn’t apply it correctly so no matter how hard Curran tries he can’t submit him!!! Freire sprawls again finding much more success this time around able to get up to his feet Curran quickly tries to grab a standing guillotine!!! He’s got a solid grip but mistakenly pulls guard which causes Curran to lose control now he finds himself on the ground as Freire grabs the top position!!! While on top in half-guard Freire opens a cut over the left eye of Curran with some slicking elbows. Freire continues to fire off some elbows cleanly to the face of Curran who gives up his back in an attempt to protect himself!!! Freire landings some looping ground n’ pound but Curran survives to the end of the round!!! Unofficial Scorecards: MMAJunkie: 10-9 Freire Sherdog: 10-9 Freire Blurcat: 10-9 Curran Round 2 Curran comes in blitzing in with a jab then a right hand that both land then another jab lands, Freire backs up to the cage as he does so Curran dives for the double-leg but Freire defends well spins Curran around backwards then hits a nice elbow as he disengages for the clinch!!! Freire jumps back to the center of the cage then jumps right back into range ducking under a straight-right from Curran then blasts him with a counter-right head kick right on the button!!! Curran is once again dazed nearly falling on his ass he wobbles around!!! Another right head kick lands this time on the dome!!! Freire comes in with three looping hooks but Curran ducks and dodges them all counter with a right hook to the body. Freire puts everything into a devastating uppercut but Curran slips right then pulls with a counter one-two that lands cleanly. Freire circles around firing a few leg kicks to the thigh then lands a set-in jab but Curran ducks under a right hook, showing some crisp boxing Curran fires off a quick 3 straight punches of the face!!! Both fighters aren’t backing down as they continue to throw strikes in the center of the Bellator cage!!! Freire lands a push kick to the body then a jab followed by a roundhouse kick, Curran again blasts Freire with 3 straight punches then slips his head backwards to avoid a counter cross from Freire which he counters with a right hook to the body. Freire doubles up with the jab as well as the push kicks to the body keeping the fight at long range for a while, Freire rushes in with a one-two that is too far to the left but he lands a follow up with a left overhand to the forehead then catches Curran with a crunching right hook as Curran attempted to counter with an uppercut which missed then left hook counter that was to slow as he eats ‘Pitbull’ right hook. Freire lands a push kick to the leg then body before flying at Curran with a superman punch!!! But the superman punches is blocked by Curran who grabs a body lock while Freire’s in mid-air but as they go down the champion grabs the guillotine!!! It looks to be locked in as Freire continues to grip tighter and tighter as he grabs the top position!!! It looks like Curran is about to go out but the round ends as Curran is saved by the bell for the 2nd time this fight!!! Unofficial Scorecards: MMAJunkie: 20-18 Freire Sherdog: 20-18 Freire Blurcat: 19-19 Round 3 Freire looks to end this fight right here right now loading up on some looping hooks as the two exchange early in the round. Freire leaps at Curran with a long jumping superman jab then two huge looping hooks but Curran excellently covers up blocking all 3 punches landing a nice short check left hook while backing up. Curran scores to the body with a straight then a jab to the head, the two feint as Freire looks to be going for a level change but throws two huge looping hooks again that Curran just slips both. Curran gets a nice slip and pull counter jab, but his back hits the fence of the Bellator cage as he now has nowhere to run as Freire traps Curran against the cage with some killer footwork blasting Curran with a kick to the ribs then nearly lands a spinning elbow to the head!!! Freire spins again this time with a back fist but runs right into a check right hook of Curran!!! Freire lands face-first to the canvas!!! Curran starts pounding away as Freire tries to get back up but Curran grabs the back of Freire!!! Curran flattens him out and his ground n’ pound is landing a devastating pace!!! Referee Keith Peterson calls it!!! Pat Curran has won the trilogy and now makes it a 3-time Bellator Featherweight champion!!! OFFICIAL RESULT: Pat Curran def. Patricio Freire via TKO [Punches] R3 (0:57) to win Bellator Featherweight championship [Fight Rating: Fantastic] -------------------------------------------------------------- Critical Rating: 75% / Commercial Rating: 80% Attendance: 4,505 ($596,913) Venue: Landers Center (Southaven, Mississippi) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Main-Event Pat Curran def. Patricio Freire via TKO [Punches] R3 (0:57) to win Bellator Featherweight championship [Fight Rating: Fantastic] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Co-Main Phil Davis def. Tito Ortiz via UD (30-27x3) [Fight Rating: Decent] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Main-Card Kevin Ferguson Jr def. Javier Torres via SD (28-29, 29-28x2) [Fight Rating: Average] Tyrell Fortune def. Justin Wren via SD (30-27, 28-29, 29-28) [Fight Rating: Awful] Revelina Berto def. Sinead Kavanagh via SUB [Armbar] R2 (3:34) [Fight Rating: Great] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Predictions: vladjarca - (2/5) correct predictions Majster_93 - (2/5) correct predictions mmaaddict - (2/5) correct predictions -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In a sensational fight, Pat Curran has regained the Bellator Featherweight Championship to cap off the trilogy with Patricio Freire (2-1) against the now former champion. It was a devastating defeat for Patricio Freire the look of dismay and disappointment was clear upon his face as Scott Coker wrapped the champion belt around Pat Curran, he was sent straight to the hospital but made Tweeted out, “This all apart of the plan you don’t become the greatest Featherweight of all time without facing adversity congrats to Curran but I’m not going anywhere”. It’s not out of the realm of possibility that Freire could get a 4th fight against Curran due to how competitive tonight’s clash was however a Freire has discussed a move up to Lightweight the future for ‘Pitbull’ is currently unknown. Curran was complimentary of the former champ recognizing in the post-fight press conference that he was hurt multiple times and is keen for a possible 4th fight. The rest of the card tonight was pretty lackluster as excepted the main-event practically carried the show but going down the list of results Phil Davis as expected dominate the now 44-year-old Tito Ortiz. Davis scored a total of 6 out of 6 takedowns on the night in route to a unanimous decision win in which 12 minutes out of the fight 15 spent on the ground with Davis exclusively on top as Ortiz was helpless to the younger superior grappler. Before that fight we witnessed two close split decisions the first one being a surprising tactical chess match played out between the eldest son of the late Kimbo Slice in Kevin Ferguson Jr versus Javier Torres, Ferguson Jr showed great patience timing his shots well landing clean stiff with some follow up straight jabs plus leg kicks to the thigh for the most part. Meanwhile, Torres put in some great bodywork in rounds 1 and 2 as well winning the briefly clinch exchanges with Ferguson Jr landing nice knees to the body plus bus driver uppercuts. Torres would secure round 3 with a takedown early and wouldn’t let his opponent up with round 3 clearly in his bag the question was did he do enough in rounds 1 or 2 to get the win? One judge thought he did while the other two disagreed handing Kevin Ferguson Jr the split decision victory the two exchanged harsh words after the fight as Javier Torres called the fight “a disgusting robbery” downplaying Kevin Ferguson Jr power by saying “for a street fighter he hits like a b****” meanwhile Ferguson Jr laid of Torres in the post-fight presser, “last round for all the marbles and you come out panic wrestling? Diving for the takedown for dear life? Very cowardly move that’s not fighting thats’ just being a p****”. The 2nd one was a complete snoozefest of a fight as Tyrell Fortune remains undefeated with a less than impressive win over Justin Wren with the two being such high-class wrestlers both seemed to believe that they would cancel each other out if they decided to take the fight to the mat so neither fighter attempted a single takedown on the night instead we witnessed a very sloppy and exhausting stand-up match as the two gassed within the first 2 rounds. Fortune out-landed Wren in each round mainly due to his more dynamic striking mixing in his straight punches with kicks to the leg, body, and even head occasionally but both fighters failed to land anything clean to the head, Wren was constantly coming forward being the aggressor often using a straight to mas a looping overhand but like mentioned before neither fighter was able to land a clean punch on the night. It seems Bellators promoter Scott Coker and the Heavyweight prospect have come to a rough patch as Coker heavily criticized Fortune’s performance, “[Jusitn] Wren tried to make a fight out of it but unfortunately Tyrell Fortune didn’t seem to want to fight looked more like he was interested in point fighting maybe you can get away with that in the small promotions but this is Heavyweight people wanna see finishes”. Fortune’s contract with Bellator is up so it’ll be interesting to see if the Heavyweight will come to terms with what many regards as the 2nd biggest MMA promotion. Lastly probably one of the only two great fights on the card saw Revelina Berto get an incredible comeback victory early on Berto and Sinead Kavanagh traded at long-range Berto was sticking the jab and move her head well but Kavanagh was light of her feet landing nice push and spinning back kicks to the body. Eventually, the two started trading a close range which favored Kavanagh who was pinpoint with her hooks often landing cleanly on the chin after a landing two she switched up her left hook into a lead elbow which rocked Berto all the way to the cage then a front kick to the face put her down. Kavanagh landed some brutal ground n’ pound but couldn’t finish Berto off as Kavanagh remained in half-guard for a majority of the rest of the round. By the 2nd round, it was clearly Kavanagh had used up all of her energy which led to her looking to grapple early after failing on a takedown but able to push Berto up against the cage of some dirty boxing she then went for a blast double-leg successfully getting it but in an amazing scramble Berto was able to grab Kavanagh’s right arm on the way down nearly getting an armbar as while the two scrambled she gained top position but Kavanagh survived the submission by popping her arm out just in time. But she wouldn’t be so lucky come the 2nd time around as Berto gained side-control then forced Kavanagh to tap out with a kimura submission on the same right arm.

Welterweight Bout: (#11) Colby Covington vs. (#16) Douglas Lima Womens Flyweight Bout: (#3) Montana de la Rosa vs. (#5) Valerie Loureda Featherweight Bout: (#3) Sodiq Yusuff vs. (#13) Mirsad Bektic Bantamweight Bout: (#9) Ricky Simon vs. (#11) Cory Sandhagen Welterweight Bout: Andrey Koreshkov vs. Tarec Saffiedine Heavyweight Bout: Jake Hager vs. Jared Rosholt Light Heavyweight Bout: Jarod Trice vs. Marcel Fortuna Welterweight Bout: Ben Saunders vs. William Macario Flyweight Bout: (#16) Jordan Espinosa vs. (#18) Aleksander Dosklachuk Flyweight Bout: (#17) Zhalgas Zhumagulov vs. (#23) Bruno Azevedo Womens Strawweight Bout: (#16) Hannah Cifers vs. (#20) Loma Lookboonmee Womens Flyweight Bout: (#16) J.J. Aldrich vs. (#18) Pearl Gonzalez Bantamweight Bout: Chris Gutierrez vs. Miles Johns Lightweight Bout: Alan Patrick vs. Rafael Fiziev Welterweight Bout: Adam Proctor vs. Dillon Danis Featherweight Bout: Chase Hooper vs. Shane Burgos

This'll probably be one of the more funnier build-ups to a fight in recent memory I can already picture the exchanges on Instagram between Darren and Holland

<p>Main Event</p><p> Featherweight Bout: <strong>(#2) Zabit Magomedsharipov</strong> vs. (#4) Yair Rodriguez</p><p> </p><p> Co-Main Event</p><p> Heavyweight Bout: <strong>(#15) Sergey Pavlovich</strong> vs. (#10) Shamil Abdurakhimov</p><p> </p><p> Main Card</p><p> Heavyweight Bout: <strong>Sergey Spivak</strong> vs. Stefan Struve</p><p> </p><p> Women's Flyweight Bout: (#14) Antonina Shevchenko vs. <strong>(#12) Andrea Lee</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> Middleweight Bout: (#14) Omari Akhmedov vs. <strong>Krzysztof Jotko</strong></p><p> </p><p> ESPN Preliminary Card</p><p> Bantamweight Bout: <strong>Khusein Askhabov</strong> vs. Ricky Simon</p><p> </p><p> Featherweight Bout: Movsar Evloev vs. <strong>Daniel Pineda</strong></p><p> </p><p> Heavyweight Bout: <strong>Dmitriy Sosnovskiy</strong> vs. Ante Delija</p><p> </p><p> ESPN+ Early Preliminary Card</p><p> Welterweight Bout: <strong>Alexey Kunchenko</strong> vs. Brian Camozzi</p><p> </p><p> Women’s Strawweight Bout: <strong>Alexandra Albu </strong>vs. Alex Chambers</p><p> </p><p> Welterweight Bout: <strong>Sergey Khandozkho </strong>vs. Luan Chagas</p>

February Week 4 (2019) UFC Rankings -------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------

<p></p><div style="text-align:center;"><img alt="xaGm4eS.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/xaGm4eS.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><p> </p><p> <strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><span style="font-size:36px;">UFC Fight Night: Cruz vs. Rivera</span></span></strong> </p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><strong>Date: February Week 4 (2019) Saturday</strong></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> Event posts will be a mixture of both fight play-by-plays as well as quick bullet points to summarize the event as a whole, only key fights like the fight of the night or fights, the performance of the night as well as fights that have a lot of significance like the main event, co-main, or key bout on the main-card or prelims will be covered. These play by plays are romanticized for dramatic effect but the results are legitimate, if the play-by-plays are too long or you don’t feel like reading them I’ll have a more brief summary of what happened plus the full card results at the bottom.</div><p></p><p> <strong><span style="font-size:36px;">--------------------------------------------------------------</span></strong></p><p> <strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><span style="font-size:36px;">FIGHT PLAY-BY-PLAYS:</span></span></strong></p><p> </p><p> <img alt="eMCMD3a.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/eMCMD3a.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> </p><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><em>Former Flyweight champion Micco Montano will make her first appearance since December 2017 when she won the inaugural Flyweight championship belt but due to a slew of injuries, the UFC stripped Montano after she failed to face Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 228 (September 2018). To the dismay of the former champ, she didn’t get a call or text from UFC higher-ups but was informed by an Ariel Helwai tweet that she was stripped which she called “one of the most disrespectful things someone has ever done to me in my life”. Since losing her title Montano has been training with one goal in mind to regain her championship and hopefully embarrass the newly crowned champion Valentina Shevchenko in the process to quote her coaches, “she thinks about not only beating [Valentina] Shevechenko but embarrassing her she wants to dominate her then finish her with 1 second left on the clock and that’s a reality we going to make happen it’s not just some wishful thinking it’ll happen”. First, she has to get past Liz Carmouche an always game durable muay-thai fighter who looks to make a splash on her to a title shot in a new weight class.</em></div><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><div style="margin-left:25px;"><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Round 1</span></strong></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> The former champ Nicco Montano gets a huge roar from her hometown fans in Arinoza there hungry for a hometown winner here tonight. Carmouche presses forward looking to strike pressuring Montano up near the cage as she tries to circle to the right. Carmouche hits a set-in jab as well as a crunching right hook to the chin while coming, Carmouche grabs a hold of Montano looking to push her to the cage but Montano excellently ducks grabbing the body lock to get a quick takedown while Carmouche was rushing in. Despite Montano being on top she can’t seem to get out of half-guard as Carmouche is doing some brilliant defense on her back, the former champion is able to get a few minor elbows to the head but the majority of the groundwork is pretty lackluster with no much going on. Referee Mark Smith stands the two up after two minutes on the ground. Montano is off the mark with a jab but her follow-up straight lands cleanly with a leg kick landing as well. The two stand and trade but both are mostly their blocking of parrying each other strikes until the last couple of seconds of the round as Carmouche is able to split the guard of Montano with a jab then two hooks to the body with a third hook transitioning to the head as time expires. </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Unofficial Scorecards: </span></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> MMAJunkie: 10-9 Montano </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> Sherdog: 10-9 Carmouche</div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> Blurcat: 10-9 Carmouche </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><div style="margin-left:25px;"><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Round 2 </span></strong></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> Carmouche has found her jab constantly using it while Montano is trying to find the range to fire off strikes to get the takedown. Now that Carmouche has found the jab she now finds her straight right as the ‘Girl-Rilla’ is constantly landing the one-two to the chin of Montano as the former champ can’t seem to get anything off. A sense of desperation sets in as Montano dives from fa out of range for a single leg that Carmouche easily defends but pushing Montano’s head down then gets her leg free. Now it’s one-twos followed by an overhand that constantly lands for Carmouche as she starts pushing the pace, Carmouche starts flurrying with 4 to 6 hooks every time she sets up with the one-two almost every time now landing at a 75%+ clip. Montano’s nose is bleeding blady now with her right eye nearly being closed shut as well as a lot of swelling around her left eye too. One minute left Carmouche lands a hard stiff jab that pushes Montano against the cage follows it with two hooks to the body then an uppercut lands right on the nose!!! Carmouche keeps up the flurry of strikes a one-two followed by a cross lands!!! Following it up with a double-jab then another uppercut!!! Now Carmouche is throwing wild looping hooks until the round ends!!! </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> After taking a beating the doctors are taking a look at Montano giving the green light that she can continue, commentator Daniel Cormier says her corner “needs to stop this fight right now, look at her breathing hard blood is all over her chin her nose won’t stop bleeding both her eyes are nearly shut she hasn’t landed a punch for 2 minutes now”. </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Unofficial Scorecards:</span></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> MMAJunkie: 19-18 Carmouche</div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> Sherdog: 20-17 Carmouche</div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> Blurcat: 20-17 Carmouche</div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><div style="margin-left:25px;"><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Round 3</span></strong></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> Carmouche misses on the jab allowing Montano to clinch up with her but due to the beating, she has taken she doesn’t seem to have the strength to outwrestle Carmouche who grabs the collar tie unloading with more uppercuts to the chin of Montano. As the two separate one last quick uppercut from Carmouche lands directly under the chin that puts Montano down!!! Carmouche grabs side-control landing ruthless elbows in the process, instead of going for the TKO finish, Carmouche grabs the kimura submission in which Montano taps almost immediately!!! </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><div style="margin-left:25px;"><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">OFFICIAL RESULT:</span></strong></div><div style="margin-left:25px;"><strong> </strong></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><strong> Liz Carmouche def. Nicco Montano via SUB [Kimura] R3 (0:59) </strong></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><strong> [Fight Rating: Great]</strong></div><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><p> </p><p> <strong><span style="font-size:36px;">--------------------------------------------------------------</span></strong></p><p> <img alt="wehqlE7.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/wehqlE7.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> </p><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><em>Two weeks’ notice is all the time these two vets needed as reported multiple times already, Swanson looks to end a 3-fight losing streak with a victory over the former Top 5 Lightweight Michael Johnson who rides a two-fight win streak ever since moving down to the Featherweight division, however, ‘The Meance’ has yet to have that signature finish or victory yet which he aims to do against Swanson promising a brutal finish with a win over a ranked opponent. </em></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><div style="margin-left:25px;"><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Round 1</span></strong></div><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> The two exchange throwing combinations Swanson is the first to land with a jab then ducking hook but 2 follow-up hooks miss due to Johnson slipping right countering with 3 straight punches. The two exchange left hands Swanson covers up while Johnson keeps coming forward with intent scoring with 4 out of 5 flurries of hooks then finishing it off with a solid straight right to the forehead. Johnson manages to dodge the push kick to the body by slipping to the right then landing a clean one-two on the chin but Swanson is able to land a nice right hook to the ribs after feinting that he was going with the hooks up top. But Johnson again flurries with hooks landing 3 out of 5 of them one clips his right on the chin buckling him a hit allowing Johnson to furry again with hooks landing 3 out of 5 again then an overhand just clip the side of Swanson’s dome!!! Swanson again lands a hook to the ribs after feinting a hook to the head but can’t follow up with more strikes as Johnson continues to show his superior speed by quicking blitzing in with a one-two then furries with 5 hooks landing 4 of them. Swanson while backing up is able to land a roundhouse kick to the body but is now getting stalked constantly by Johnson who is pressuring him intensely!!! Johnson flurries again with hooks landing 2 out 5 as Swanson starts implementing some head movement in which he is able to counter with a jab then roundhouse kick after slipping past the 5th hook of ‘The Meance’. Johnson starts slowing down a little sticking to straight punches in the last minute of the round connecting with some good jabs and left hands while Swanson keeps digging to the body with right hooks. Last few seconds of the round Swanson feints the right hook to the body which Johnson bites on hard as he doesn’t see the lighting fast left hook of Cub Swanson that puts Johnson down hard!!! But as he falls the horn sounds signaling the end of the round!!! Literally saved by the horn wow!!!</div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Unofficial Scorecards: </span></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> MMAJunkie: 10-9 Johnson </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> Sherdog: 10-9 Swanson </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> Blurcat: 10-9 Johnson </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><div style="margin-left:25px;"><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Round 2</span></strong></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> Swanson comes out landing hard shots starting with a one-two then right hook to the body followed by a left hook to the head Johnson starts covering up backing off to the cage he still looks severely dazed!!! Johnson eats a left and right hook then a knee to the face as he is going down Swanson tries to land a huge looping right hook but somehow Johnson recovers picking himself up with one hand doges then loop hook by moving backs then use his footwork by circling right to the center of the octagon. Swanson continues pushing down Johnson landing three straight jabs then a right hook to the body but Johnson slips a left hook from Swanson seeing an opening for a split second Johnson cocks back then blasts Swanson with an overhand!!! Before Swanson can cover up Johnson blats him with three straight punches then a right cross puts him down!!! Johnson kneels down right beside him raining down hammer fists until referee Jason Herzog pulls him off!!! Wow!!! </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><div style="margin-left:25px;"><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">OFFICAL RESULT:</span></strong></div><div style="margin-left:25px;"><strong> </strong></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><strong> Michael Johnson def. Cub Swanson via TKO [Punches] R2 (1:58) </strong></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><strong> [Fight Rating: Great]</strong></div><p></p><p> </p><p> <strong><span style="font-size:36px;">--------------------------------------------------------------</span></strong></p><p> <img alt="ZDErWJt.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/ZDErWJt.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> </p><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><em>Dominick Cruz looks to make another run at the Bantamweight title in hopes of becoming a 3-time champion to cement his status as “the greatest Bantamweight of all time” that many have dubbed him although recently that status has been slowly pulled out from under him with the current Bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw. Although ‘The Dominator’ holds a razor-close spilled-decision win over Dillashaw the current champ has put on an impressive run of finishes at 145-pounds during Cruz’s absence, Dillashaw himself has said he is “the greatest Bantamweight of all time” something Dominick has taken issue with saying Dillashaw can never be called the greatest due to Cruz’s win over TJ back in January 2016. Standing in his way for another title shot is #6 Jimmie Rivera who looks to make a run of his own to the championship, Rivera has said a key path to victory is his superior boxing to quote “We’ve seen Cruz be outstruck by high-level boxers like Cody [Garbrandt] as well as TJ [Dillashaw] outstrike him with leg kicks. I believe I excel in both my boxing and kickboxing I respect Dominick [Cruz] but it’ll be a long night for him”. </em></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><div style="margin-left:25px;"><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Round 1 </span></strong></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> To the shock of everyone Dominick Cruz offers no touching of the gloves, it defiantly got the crowd into the fight even more as the opening round begins. Cruz comes blitzing in fast landing a one-two then cross but his right hook is dodged by Rivera who slips to the left countering ‘The Dominator’ with a left hook. Rivera tries pumping the jab but Cruz’s iconic head movement prevents the jab from consistently landing. Rivera mixes it up by using the jab to fake the lead leg kick with some of them landing, one moment saw Rivera feint the jab land a calf kick which opened up the guard of Cruz for a lead uppercut than landed cleanly. Cruz flicks out two counter jabs then lands a nice stiff left head kick to the dome of the head of Rivera but Rivera does well to catch the leg of Cruz while retracting it. Instead of going for the single-leg, Rivera decides to clinch up using some shoulder strikes to smash into the face of Cruz. Dominick tries to outwrestle attempting a body lock but Jimmie Rivera uses his superior strength to quickly lift up Cruz then slam him to the ground landing himself in half-guard. Rivera hits some short sharp elbows while on top, Cruz attempts multiple scrambles and sprawls but Rivera keeps the fight in half-guard with himself on top for the rest of the round. </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Unofficial Scorecards: </span></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> MMAJunkie: 10-9 Rivera </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> Sherdog: 10-9 Rivera </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> Blurcat: 10-9 Rivera </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><div style="margin-left:25px;"><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Round 2 </span></strong></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> Rivera comes out attacking Cruz with leg kicks to the thigh then transitions to calf kicks, Cruz is still moving well but isn’t offering much it terms of offense as he looks to close distance to wrestle. But after a pretty slow leg kick from Rivera who looks to be slowing down Dominick Cruz catches it then sweeps the other leg from underneath Jimmie Rivera. Dominick follows him to the ground grabbing side-control in which he starts firing off some solid ground n’ pound over the course of two minutes using both punches to the head plus knees to the body as well as head occasionally. Dominick excellently transitions to half-guard but can’t seem to get into the mount so the majority of the round is spent with Cruz smothering Rivera with his wrestling while also offering a few knees to the body and head. </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Unofficial Scorecards: </span></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> MMAJunkie: 19-19 </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> Sherdog: 19-19 </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> Blurcat: 19-19 </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><div style="margin-left:25px;"><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Round 3</span></strong></div><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> The two stands and jab at each other from a distance for the opening of the round but after settling into his striking range Rivera blitzes in landing the set-up jab but the elusive head movement of Dominick Cruz see the right then left hooks of Rivera along with the follow-up uppercut all hit air. Cruz puts together a 5 punch combination nailing two hooks of his own to the chin with a one-two then cross also landing, Rivera doesn’t back off deciding to stand and trade swinging out a left overhand then ruthless looping right hook both miss badly leaving him open to a quick flying knee to the chin as Cruz gets some serious air time. This causes Rivera to back off but Cruz stays on him as once he hits the ground he grabs the single-leg takedown getting it instantly!!! The next 3 minutes are spent with Cruz getting some solid ground n’ pound to the body and head in full guard but Cruz just can’t seem to transition to any other position which leads to the referee standing the two up after a brief stalemate. Rivera comes forward landing a one-two but misses a right cross as he attempts to keep up the pace with strikes leading to a flurry of 3 hooks landing straight on the chin of Rivera. Cruz drives a front kick to the chin of Rivera then shoots for another single leg again fastly grabbing the takedown near the end of the round.</div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><div style="margin-left:25px;"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Unofficial Scorecards: </span></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> MMAJunkie: 29-28 Cruz</div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> Sherdog: 29-28 Cruz </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> Blurcat: 29-28 Cruz </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><div style="margin-left:25px;"><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Round 4</span></strong></div><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> Cruz is taunting Rivera to keep exchanging at close boxing range as his footwork is shot at this point but he still poses excellent head movement although Rivera was having success at long range with leg kicks he seems to be exclusively throwing in short boxing range just like Cruz wants as ‘The Dominator’ ducks under two hooks from Rivera landing a counter right hook over the top then flurries with 4 more hooks that all land. Cruz lands consecutive one-twos before ducking under a set-in jab then overhand from Rivera to get the double-leg takedown with supreme speed!!! Rivera does well to use his two feet to keep Cruz from getting into half or full guard meaning the former two-time champion has to settle for stick-guard where he flings down looping punches to the body after. Rivera tries his hardest but can’t top Cruz from grabbing side control where he starts unloading with some clean punches then even more clean punches on top of more then more and even more!!! Rivera is letting a lot of punches go unanswered they don’t have much power behind them but still, the referee yells “show me something”!!! Cruz starts putting more heat on his punches but gets a little sloppy allowing for a brilliant sprawl from Rivera which sees him grab the right leg of Cruz driving him to the cage. Rivera attempts the single-leg but Cruz defends it brilliantly by pushing on the head of Rivera then pushes him off of him as the two get back to exchanging at a close boxing range. Rivera lands the jab feints well to then land a great overhand right but Cruz shows he still has a chin on him immediately he flurries with three hooks then caps off the combo with a clean straight right to the chin which wobbles Rivera!!! Dominick uses the superman punch while Rivera backs away to put him down!!! Cruz kneels down beside his knocked down opponent then unleashing with a ruthless hammer fist that puts Rivera out cold!!! </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><div style="margin-left:25px;"><em>Dominick ‘The Dominator’ Cruz does it again he gets the impressive 4th round knockout after a 2 year lay off when asked what next he told commentator Paul Felder, “I want my belt back as well as my undefeated record back too when Urijah [Faber] beat me the first time I came back to beat him twice to the point I feel that first lose doesn't count the same thing will happen to [Cody] Garbrandt. Also, I beat the current champion right now. I'm coming off an impressive knockout. I know [Marlon] Moraes is whining for it but why should someone earn a title shot off beating an unranked opponent? That was number 6 right there I think I deserve it the most.” </em></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><div style="margin-left:25px;"><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">OFFICAL RESULT: </span></strong></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><strong> Dominick Cruz def. Jimmie Rivera via KO [Punches] R4 (4:16) </strong></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><strong> [Fight Rating: Great] </strong></div><p></p><p> </p><p> <strong><span style="font-size:36px;">--------------------------------------------------------------</span></strong></p><p> <img alt="o6DElxB.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/o6DElxB.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Commerical Rating: 76% / Critical Rating: 84% </span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="font-size:14px;"> Attendance: 5,566 ($979,616) </span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="font-size:14px;"> Venue: Round Valley Ensphere (USA, Arionza) </span></strong></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <strong>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Main-Event</span></strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> Dominick Cruz def. Jimmie Rivera via KO [Punches] R4 (4:16) </strong></p><p><strong> [Fight Rating: Great] </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Co-Main</span></strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> Michael Johnson def. Cub Swanson via TKO [Punches] R2 (1:58) </strong></p><p><strong> [Fight Rating: Great] </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Main-Card</span></strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> C.B. Dollaway def. Trevin Giles via SUB [Guillotine] R1 (3:52) </strong></p><p><strong> [Fight Rating: Great] </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> Liz Carmouche def. Nicco Montano via SUB [Kimura] R3 (0:59) </strong></p><p><strong> [Fight Rating: Great]</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> Marlon Vera def. Matthew Lopez via UD (30-26x3) </strong></p><p><strong> [Fight Rating: Great] </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Preliminary-Card</span></strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> John Moraga def. Yuta Sasaki via SD (29-28x2, 28-29) </strong></p><p><strong> [Fight Rating: Great] </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> Sabah Homasi def. Nathan Coy via KO [Grounded-Knee] R1 (0:31) </strong></p><p><strong> [Fight Rating: Good] </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> Artur Bagautinouv def. Azamat Pshukov via UD (30-27x2, 29-28) </strong></p><p><strong> [Fight Rating: Average] </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> Keith Berish def. Joe Gigliotti via TKO [Punches] R1 (3:53) </strong></p><p><strong> [Fight Rating: Great] </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Early-Prelims</span></strong><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> Dan Kelly def. Kale Roberson via SUB [Kimura] R2 (4:18) </strong></p><p><strong> [Fight Rating: Great] </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> Bharat Kandare def. Yaotzin Meza via KO [Punch] R3 (0:40) </strong></p><p><strong> [Fight Rating: Decent] </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Fight of the Night:</span></strong></p><p><strong> Michael Johnson vs. Cub Swanson </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Performance of the Night:</span></strong></p><p><strong> Dominick Cruz, C.B. Holloway, Sabah Homasi</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Predictions: </span></strong></p><p><strong> vladjarca - (4/12) Correct Prediction</strong></p><p><strong> Majster_93 - (6/12) Correct Predictions</strong></p><p><strong> mmaaddict - (7/12) Correct Predictions </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</strong></p><p> <img alt="pbKJwvJ.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/pbKJwvJ.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;">Dominick Cruz is back ladies and gentlemen with a knockout victory to the surprise of many as this is only the 2nd ever time Jimmie Rivera has been finished in his career the 1st time coming when he was knocked out in 33 seconds against Marlon Moraes last year. The knockout has drawn comparisons to when Cruz made his comeback after 3 years away from the sport due to multiple leg injuries in 2014 at UFC 178 when he won in just over a minute with a knockout against Takeya Mizugaki to secure himself a title shot even though he would have to wait a year to get it after suffering another major leg injury. Early on it seemed to be Rivera’s fight to lose as he won the opening round by using crisp boxing, leg kicks, then mixing it up with wrestling with Cruz seeming a little rusty to start out in the process he had taken one of Cruz’s most important tools his footwork. But after Cruz was able to establish his superior wrestling in the following rounds the exchanges on the feet were at a close boxing range that favored Cruz who used his superior head movement at will as he no longer had to worry about the leg kicks at such a close range although he didn’t need to worry as Rivera after round 1 abounded the kicks entirely. Cruz showed with the two years out he had sharpened his accuracy landing a lot of punches directly to the chin showing some extremely high-level boxing that eventually dropped Rivera after a combo of hooks then a series of straight rights put Rivera down with ground n’ pound putting his lights out. During his post-fight interview with Jon Anik, he put out his hit list naming Cody Garbrandt and TJ Dillashaw he explained further his future plans during the post-fight press conference, </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> “Those are the only two names that make sense to me, I proved I’m a level above most of the contenders across the division a title shot or a rematch against Cody [Garbrandt]. Those are two rematches I fancy my chances in I made a lot of mistakes in both fights that I can easily fix”. </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> Add another fight of the night bonus to Michael Johnson and Cub Swanson’s paycheck the two put on a great fight which saw Swanson struggle to deal with the speed of Johnson in round 1 of ‘The Meance’ but Swanson found success right the right hook to the body throughout the round during the dying seconds of the 1st Swanson executed on a feint with the right hook to the body then went upstairs with the left hook that put Johnson on his ass right as the round ended. It was clear Johnson hadn’t yet recovered as Swanson came out swinging and landing a lot of looping punches it seemed a TKO or KO finish was just around the corner and it was but not for Swanson. Johnson who was countering off an aggressive Swanson hit him with an array of looping punches that cleanly landed but eventually missed with a left hook in which Johnson quickly countered with an overhand then quickly followed it up with three straight punches then a right cross in what felt like less than a second that Swanson went from being the hammer to being the nail as Johnson’s arm was raised in victory after finishing him with ground n’ pound. A tough pill to swallow for Cub he kept a poker face for the crowd but during the post-fight press conference let some of the emotion show after a reporter asked him about if the UFC will remove him from the rankings with tonight’s loss, “Man less than a year ago I was one win away from a title-shot now it’s I’m one loss away from being cut. What’s that 4 in a row now? Being knocked out by [Michael] Johnson? That fight was mine for the taking and blew it. I definitely deserve to be off the rankings after a performance like that”.</div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> For those who betted on the biggest underdog of the night in the (+500) C.B. Dollaway got their money's worth, Dollaway showed some serious holes in Giles game as he struggled with the hand fighting close-quarters grappling on the feet with Dollaway constantly tied up with Giles putting him into the muay-thai clinch landing an array of dirty boxing punches plus knees. Giles would gas early attempting to power out of every clinch with little technique sensing this the veteran Dollaway quickly took down Giles pretty easily with a leg sweep then as they hit the mat quickly grabbed the guillotine choke to put the first loss on Giles record. A stunning finish for a stunningly dominant performance as Giles failed to land a single significant strike for the whole 3 minutes and 52 seconds. Speaking of dominant performances Marlon Vera easily defeated Mathew Lopez who has now been cut by the UFC following 3 straight losses, Vera used his dynamic striking (the 1st time with a head kick the 2nd time with an uppercut then right hook combo) plus superior footwork to keep the fight standing dropping Lopez twice in the 1st round. Lopez could never get in close or trap Vera against the cage to get the takedown often shooting for the blast double leg from far out but went 0 for 7 on the night with takedowns. Liz Carmouche is now the #1 contender at Women’s Flyweight as she’ll likely fight the winner of the rescheduled [C] Valentina Shevchenko versus Katlyn Chookagian. It was a close 1st round Montano landed an early takedown with solid top control with some solid straight punches landing on the feet as well but Carmouche showed mind-blowing accuracy with hard punches to the body and head often transitioning between the two with combos. This led to a dominant round 2 with Carmouche finding the chin on Montano at a 70%+ clip, a dazed Montano couldn’t muster the strength to fully implement her wrestling which leads to a brutal finish in the third as the two were tangled Carmouche unloaded with bus driver uppercuts one of those uppercuts landed cleanly as they separated put her down after some ground n’ pound instead of finishing her off with punches she opted for the kimura submission which she easily got as Montano quickly tapped. Carmouche said she fully expects to face Valentina in a rematch saying that “Chookagia stands close to literal 0% chance”. Carmouche is currently the only fighter to finish the Flyweight champion back in 2010. </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> John Moraga has bounced back with what some are calling a “hometown decision win” over Yuta Sasaki getting a split decision win on the scorecards. All three rounds were close and competitive exclusively a stand-up battle in which Sasaki outlander Moraga in every single round mainly due to the high volume of kicks to the body and leg however those kicks lacked power with them being more kicks to score points than winning the fight. Moraga had big moments in each round as well as the two constantly exchanged combos in the center of the octagon, Moraga would constantly catch Sasaki with a check right hook then cross while Sasaki like mentioned before was a bit more creative and dynamic with spinning attacks mostly focusing using his kicks. Nathan Coy joins Matthew Lopez in being a part of the pool of fighters the UFC has cut this evening after his 31 second TKO loss to Sabah Homasi getting his first win in the promotion after 4 fights. Coy shot early but Sabahi excellently stuffed it ending up on top then blasting Coy in the face with a knee becoming the first UFC fighter to win via grounded knees since they became a legalized move earlier this year. The last thing of note is Bharat Kandare become the first fighter from India to get a win inside the UFC knocking out Yaotzin Meza with a check right hook then uppercut as Meza was blitzing in with a lead push kick to the body that missed then elbow that was to slow as Kandare found his chin. Meza would also be the 3rd fighter on this card tonight to be released by the UFC after his 3rd round loss tonight.</div><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <img alt="eb9b5PE.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/eb9b5PE.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p></div><p></p>

<p>Main Event</p><p> Middleweight Bout: <strong>Rinat Fakhretdinov</strong> vs. James Webb</p><p> </p><p> Co-Main Event</p><p> Bantamweight Bout: <strong>Jake Hadley</strong> vs. Carlos Augusto Santos</p><p> </p><p> Main Card</p><p> Women's Strawweight Bout: <strong>Julia Polastri</strong> vs. Vanessa Demopoulous</p><p> </p><p> Light Heavyweight Bout: Fabio Cherant vs. <strong>Duke Didier</strong></p>

<p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Main Card</span></strong></p><p> </p><p> Welterweight: Claudio Henrique da Silva (#25, 15-1) vs. <strong>Vicente Luque (#11, 19-7-1)</strong></p><p> Middleweight: Antonio Arroyo (10-3) vs. <strong>Rodolfo Vieira (#18, 10-0)</strong></p><p> Welterweight: <strong>Alex Oliveira (20-9-1, 2NC)</strong> vs. Michael Pereira (24-12, 2NC)</p><p> Middleweight: <strong>Antonio Carlos Junior (#16, 10-5, 1NC)</strong> vs. Bruno Silva (19-7)</p><p> Bantamweight: Pedro Munhoz (#10, 19-5, 1NC) vs. <strong>Rani Yahya (#25, 26-11-1, 1NC)</strong></p><p> </p><p> <strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Preliminary Card</span></strong></p><p> </p><p> Women’s Flyweight: J.J. Aldrich (#19, 9-5) vs. <strong>Maryna Moroz (#21, 10-4)</strong></p><p> Light Heavyweight: <strong>Khadis Ibragimov (9-3)</strong> vs. Saparbek Safarov (10-4)</p><p> Light Heavyweight: <strong>Jamahal Hill (7-1)</strong> vs. Jonathan Wilson (8-4)</p><p> Welterweight: Brok Weaver (15-5) vs. <strong>Khama Worthy (15-7)</strong></p>

Main Event Bantamweight Title © Juan Archuleta (24-2, 6-1) vs. #2 Kyoji Horiguchi (29-2, 1-0) Co-Main Event Women's Flyweight Title © Juliana Velasquez (11-0, 6-0) vs. #3 Liz Carmouche (14-7, 1-0) Main Card #4 Benson Henderson (28-10, 5-5) vs. #9 Chris Wade (17-6, 0-0) #4 Khalid Murtazaliev (14-2, 0-0) vs. #8 Mike Shipman (14-3, 5-2) #6 Dovletzhan Yagshimuradov (18-5-1, 0-0) vs. #11 Jordan Johnson (12-2-1, 0-0) Preliminary Card #14 Jordan Mein (31-13, 0-1) vs. Jon Manley (13-6, 2-0) #9 Lena Ovchynnikova (12-6, 2-3) vs. Melissa Martinez (7-0, 0-0) Gokhan Saricam (5-1, 1-1) vs. Davion Franklin (2-0, 1-0) #12 Dominic Mazzotta (15-3, 1-2) vs. James Gallagher (11-1, 8-0) #14 Amber Leibrock (4-4, 1-3) vs. Larissa Pacheco (13-4, 0-0) Alex Polizzi (7-1, 1-1) vs. Lee Chadwick (26-15-1, 2-2)

February Week 4 (2019) Recap -------------------------------------------------------------- MMA News -------------------------------------------------------------- UFC Fight Night: Cruz vs. Rivera -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Main-Event Bantamweight: Dominick Cruz (#2, 22-2) vs. Jimmie Rivera (#6, 22-2) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Co-Main Featherweight: Cub Swanson (#12, 25-10) vs. Michael Johnson (19-13) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Main-Card Middleweight: C.B. Dollaway (17-9) vs. Trevin Giles (11-0) W-Flyweight: Nicco Montano (#1, 4-2) vs. Liz Carmouche (#3, 12-6) Bantamweight: Matthew Lopez (10-3) vs. Marlon Vera (14-5-1) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Preliminary-Card Flyweight: John Moraga (#10, 19-7) vs. Yuta Sasaki (21-6-2) Welterweight: Sabah Homasi (11-8) vs. Nathan Coy (15-7) Flyweight: Artur Bagutinov (5-1-1) vs. Azamat Pshukov (4-0) Middleweight: Joe Gigliotti (7-2) vs. Keith Berish (5-1-1NC) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Early-Prelims Middleweight: Karl Roberson (7-1) vs. Dan Kelly (13-4) Featherweight: Yaotzin Meza (21-11-1NC) vs. Bharat Kandare (5-3) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The UFC returns to the scorching state of Arizona originally supposed to be headlined by a Heavyweight match-up between former UFC Heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez and title-challenger Francis Ngannou but Velasquez due to lingering knee injuries couldn’t make the late February date. So instead former two-time Bantamweight champ #2 Dominick Cruz and #6 Jimmie Rivera will fight in the 5-round main event. For the first time since December 2016, Dominick Cruz will be competing after a 2 year layoff after dropping the Bantamweight championship to Cody Cody Garbrandt at UFC 207. Cruz was born and raised mostly in the state of Arizona moving to California joining Alliance MMA to further his MMA career after recently falling out with the gym ‘The Dominator’ has moved back to the state to open his own MMA gym with Evolution MMA which he co-founded with UFC Featherweight Jeremy Stephens. That'll be the 2nd ever UFC fight an Evolution MMA will have inside the UFC as Stephens got the gyms 1st win in their 1st bout with a first-round knockout over Renato Moicano. The two gyms have thrown potshots at each other over social media with Bellator Bantamweight champion Darrion Caldwell calling Stephens and Cruz “self-centered egotistical dips****” while ‘Lil-Heaven’ fired back on Twitter calling Caldwell a “B-tech champion”. As for drama between Rivera and Cruz it’s mostly just been a respectful build-up as the two were both complimentary of their opponents while also confident they’ll get the win come tomorrow night. ‘The Dominator’ will hope to live up to his nickname with yet another tactical performance using angles, footwork, and feints to confuse his opponent while Rivera a fundamentally sound boxer and wrestler will look to use his crisp punches to hopefully outstrike Cruz as the former champ has had trouble in the past with high-level boxers like when he lost to Cody ‘No Love’ Garbrandt. The rest of the card has been plagued by injuries with the main event being the one fight that kept this entire card glued tougher, with such little name value the co-main was booked on two weeks' notice to help beef up the card. Two multiple-time winner fight of the night winners in Michael Johnson and Cub Swanson will compete in a Featherweight bout the two like mentioned only had 2 weeks of preparations but that wouldn’t detour either from taking on this fight. Only two years ago it seemed Swanson was on the cusp of a title-shot but after dropping 3 straight his rankings has slid all the way to #12. The same could be said for Michael Johnson who was once a Top 5 Lightweight but after going on 3 fight losing streak himself he’d move down to Featherweight where he has rattled 2 straight victories. It should be a very interesting clash of styles as Swanson a higher-level kickboxer who more accurate with his strikes plus a BJJ black belt will have to deal with the speed and volume of Johnson, ‘The Menace’ has yet to see his power transition over to Featherweight yet which attributes to adjusting to the new weight class promising a finish this time around. Tonight’s card also has a slew of fighters from the desert state of Arizona tonight C.B. Holloway, Nicco Montano, Mathew Lopez, and John Moraga will look to get a win in front of their hometown fans, friends, and family. The inaugural Women’s Flyweight champion Nicco Montano was stripped last year due to inactivity after she failed to fight now champion Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 228. Montano looks to reclaim her champion, she found out she was stripped of her title on Twitter and has been complaining ever since, it was only a couple of months after her last fight when she won the title with a decision win over Roxanne Modafferi but still, the UFC saw a star in Shevchenko and since Montano would need some time to recover the UFC didn’t want to wait and like mentioned before stripped Montano while other champions who have been inactive longer than Montano weren’t stripped until it was absolutely necessary which the former champ has pointed out multiple times. With a win tonight she’ll definitely challenge Shevchenko to reclaim the title, Montano has talked a lot about ‘The Bullet’ saying she “isn’t really a legitimate champion until I’m beaten that undisputed belt is fake”. In her way is Liz Carmouche a pioneer for Women’s MMA she faced Ronda Rousey for the Women’s Bantamweight champion in the UFC’s first-ever female fight at UFC 157 (February 2013). With the move down to a new weight class, Carmouche looks to challenge for another championship with a possible win over a former champ of the division. Undefeated Middleweight prospect Trevin Giles looks to keep his zero tonight against a tough durable veteran in the ground n’ pound wrestling machine C.B. Holloway the biggest underdog of the night at (-500) as Giles overwhelming strength plus power is probably the tipping point for the bookies having him such a high favorite. The last two fights of notoriety on tonight's card are the firsts fight on the main card and the headliner of the prelims starting with the Bantamweight bout Mathew Lopez is on a knife's edge with the company coming off to brutal TKO losses to Raphael Assuncao and Alejandro Perez in fairness those two are high ranked Bantamweights, while Lopez lost brutally he did show promise in both bouts showing he isn’t that far off some of top talents at 145-pounds. An accomplished wrestler the question probably is if his chin has softened due to the damage the 1st and only UFC fighter from Ecuador Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera look to put that theory to the test. Hot off 2-straight victories with a 3rd he could very well find himself a ranked opponent as his next match-up a resilient well-rounded fighter the question is what really is Vera’s ceiling as a UFC fighter? John Moraga once considered the hardest hitter at Flyweight is looking to rebound after a 2nd round TKO loss to the undefeated Deiveson Figueiredo, prior to the loss he was riding a 3-fight win streak and is very much capable of climbing his way back up the Flyweight rankings. Yuta Sasaki recently found his way off the rankings due to no fault of his own he looks to regain a number next to his name a wildly creative striker a Japanese karate base style kickboxer his wild kicks can give anyone in the division a run for their money. -------------------------------------------------------------- Bellator 212: Freire vs. Curran III -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Main-Event Featherweight: [C] Patricio Freire (28-4) vs. Pat Curran (23-7) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Co-Main Light-Heavyweight: Phil Davis (19-5-1NC) vs. Tito Ortiz (19-12-1) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Main-Card Welterweight: Javier Torres (10-5-1NC) vs. Kevin Ferguson Jr (3-2) Heavyweight: Justin Wren (13-2) vs. Tyrell Fortune (5-0) Featherweight: Revelina Berto (3-1) vs. Sinead Kavanagh (5-3) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Patricio Freire has for weeks coming into his trilogy bout with Pat Curran proclaimed he is going to prove why he is “the greatest Featherweight of all time” with a possible win tonight. The two have traded wins, losses, and championship belts before. Tonight possibly for the final time to settle who is the greatest Featherweight in Bellator history Patricio Freire and Pat Curran will fight for the third time. Current champ Patricio Freire at his best can be considered one of the better Featherweights in the world a powerful puncher and kicker he has elite-level muay-thai and BJJ that can give anyone a run for their money his biggest flaw would be consistency when he is at his best he proclaims he is “unbeatable” to quote the champ, “Jose Aldo is the greatest Featherweight of all time, but I’m right there not Max Holloway that’s bulls**** he isn’t on me or Aldo’s level but with him losing to Max two-times now I think with a win over Curran that makes me the best to ever do it at Featherweight. After that, I’ll claim the Lightweight title against [Michael] Chandler to prove I’m the greatest to ever do it”. Very big talk but if he can pull it off with a win fair play to him, Pat Curran has been a model of consistency within Bellator’s Featherweight division for a very long time now being a former two-time champion for the organization a crisp fundamental boxer with a very solid wrestling base can absolutely give the champ a run for his money it might be why he is the (-120) favorite heading into tomorrow night. The co-main sees former Bellator Light-Heavyweight champion Phil Davis take on former UFC Light-Heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz in what many consider a classic Bellator fight. Ortiz is pushing 45 years old meanwhile Davis is 34 and only three fights removed from his close split decision loss to current champ Ryan Bader, but Tito has defended the match-up calling himself the clear “pound-for-pound greatest fighter on the planet” after his victory over Chael Sonnen. He compares this situation to UFC 132 when he submitted Ryan Bader in the 1st round after coming off 5 whole years since his last victory he called this situation “virtually the same” saying he would do the exact same thing promising a 1st round submission victory. The eldest son of the late Kimbo Slice in Kevin Ferguson Jr faces off against Javier Torres, both like to brawl but can mix it up with powerful wrestling the two are pretty evenly matched in terms of technique so this might just come down to who implements the better gameplan. Tyrell Fortune is one of Bellator’s most promising Heavyweight prospects a powerful national-caliber wrestler faces Justin Wren while not as an accomplished wrestler as Fortune is Wren is one of the better Heavyweights in wrestling inside MMA similar to how George St-Pierre was successfully able to utilize wrestling although his background was in karate. A very good night of fights with all but one fight being very hard to predict for some although who knows this is MMA and the MMA gods might just throw us a curveball in the air of an upset.

<p><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Main Card</span></p><p> </p><p> Women’s Strawweight: Carla Esparza vs. <strong>Joanna Jedrzejczyk </strong></p><p> Heavyweight: <strong>Curtis Blaydes</strong> vs. Aleksei Olenik </p><p> Bantamweight: Ricky Simon vs. <strong>Petr Yan</strong></p><p> Women’s Flyweight: <strong>Mara Romero Borella</strong> vs. Jessica Eye </p><p> Women’s Strawweight: Nina Ansaroff vs. <strong>Cortney Casey</strong></p><p> Featherweight: Shane Burgos vs. <strong>Brian Ortega</strong></p><p> </p><p> <span style="text-decoration:underline;">Preliminary Card</span></p><p> </p><p> Flyweight: <strong>Askar Askarov</strong> vs. Tagir Ulanbekov </p><p> Women’s Flyweight: <strong>Lauren Murphy</strong> vs. Gillian Robertson </p><p> Welterweight: Rafael dos Anjos vs. Gunnar Nelson</p><p> Light Heavyweight: <strong>Aleksa Camur </strong>vs. Mike Rodriguez </p><p> Featherweight: Guido Cannetti vs. <strong>Chase Hooper</strong></p><p> Welterweight: Michel Prazeres vs. <strong>Stephen Thompson</strong></p><p> Bantamweight: Frankie Saenz vs. <strong>Yadong Song</strong></p><p> Bantamweight: Iuri Alcantara vs. <strong>Joe Soto</strong> </p><p> Middleweight: <strong>Alen Amedovski</strong> vs. Markus Perez </p><p> Welterweight: Alvaro Herrera vs. <strong>Zelim Imadev </strong></p>

UFC 234: Whittaker vs Gastelum Date: February Week 3 (2019) Saturday Event posts will be a mixture of both fight play-by-plays as well as quick bullet points to summarize the event as a whole, only key fights like the fight of the night or fights, the performance of the night as well as fights that have a lot of significance like the main event, co-main, or key bout on the main-card or prelims will be covered. These play by plays are romanticized for dramatic effect but the results are legitimate, if the play-by-plays are too long or you don’t feel like reading them I’ll have a more brief summary of what happened plus the full card results at the bottom. -------------------------------------------------------------- FIGHT PLAY-BY-PLAYS: A very quick turnaround for the New Zealand Flyweight Kai Kara-France after 2nd round TKO victory in December last year which was only 2 months ago Kare-France faces the #10 Flyweight Brandon Moreno who finds himself on a 2-fight skid but looks to turn it around with a new training camp focused on a more well-rounded game-plan which Moreno said is “key to victory” in a brief clip on the UFC’s embedded Youtube series. Kara-France a teammate of Israel Adesanya who fights in the co-main this evening, ‘The Last Stylebender’ expressed how he expects himself, Kara-France, UFC Lightweight Dan Hooker, and UFC Featherweight Alexander Volkanovski all to be Champions by the end of the year he said on the 3rd episode of Embedded during a sparring day at Citykickboxing, “They just don’t know the intensity that we train with here, along with all the minds behind the madness I don’t see anyone out coaching us. This is an exciting year. I think everyone here who fights in the UFC will be Champion come 2020 just watch”. Round 1 Kai Kara-France's quick jab is ducked by Moreno who proceeds to block Kara-France’s follow-up body-kick while Kara-France attempts to gather himself Moreno lands with two left hands that he slings out. Kara-France perfectly fakes a level change by going under then up with a clean jab he then fakes a right-hook only to actually throw the right hook after feinting it however, Moreno quickly grabs the left leg. See the opportunity Moreno puts in a lot of effort for the single-leg takedown after a struggle with Kai-France doing well to put all his weight forward which intentionally prevented the takedown at first wasn’t enough as Moreno grabs side-control while the two are on the mat. Moreno grabs a quick Kimura but it’s easily blocked, Moreno slows down the pace of the fight with his wrestling mostly looking for more dominant positions transitioning from side-control to full-guard firing off some solid ground n’ pound to the body. After some more transitioning plus a few solid elbows from the back from Kara-France, see’s Moreno back in side-control again going for the Kimura submission!!! This time around Moreno is able to lock in the submission this time!!! Kara-France tries sprawling out of it but Moreno keeps a hold of the Kimura as he continues to extend it!!! It looks like Kara-France arm is about to be broken but in a last-minute sprawl Kara-France is able to shake off the submission and nearly got back to his feet but Moreno grabs a hold of the body lock to drag back down Kara-France to the ground as he grabs his back but can’t get any hooks so the fight goes back to Moreno keeping Kara-France on the ground with his superior positional wrestling spending most of the round in full-guard reigning down punches to the body. Unofficial Scorecards: MMAJunkie: 10-9 Moreno Sherdog: 10-9 Moreno Burlcat: 10-9 Moreno Round 2 Moreno shows slick movement ducking under the two hooks from Kara-France then slips backwards to avoid the incoming one-two then straight he then moves out of the way of the roundhouse body-kick before stepping back in with a set-in jab which lands. Moreno starts using quick short shuffle steps to go back in and out of range which he uses to grab a hold of Kara-France while the New Zealander was pressured up against the cage. Moreno lands a few knees to the body while then goes for the double-leg takedown, Kara-France uses the cage excellently to defend it at first but eventually, Moreno shows superior strength being able to just pick up Kara-France then slam him down to the ground. It’s a repeat of the first round with Moreno using brilliant positional wrestling which prevents Kara-France from throwing that many strikes off his back as well as attempting to sprawl to get back up. With a minute left in the round, Moreno attempts to gather full-mount but Kara-France is just able to prevent ‘The Assassin Baby’ from ever grabbing the position leaving Moreno in side-control for most of the dying seconds of the round in which he attempts a late armbar in which Kara-France defends it. Unofficial Scorecards: MMAJunkie: 20-18 Moreno Sherdog: 20-18 Moreno Blurcat: 20-18 Moreno Round 3 The two exchange in the pocket with short-range boxing exchanges with most of the strikes bouncing off each other's shoulders although Moreno is able to briefly grab the collar tie and unload with a couple of bus driver uppercuts. Some lighting speed in then out footwork from Kara-France backs up ‘The Assassin Baby’ that opens up Kara-France to swiftly land a jab he finds his cross parried but unleashes a high kick that lands cleanly on the chin which Moreno eats!!! Moreno fires back with a couple of jabs while Kara-France retracts his leg, Moreno presses forward running into a set cross from Kara-France in which Moreno responds with a right-cross of his own then a flurry of 4 hooks to the body that all land. Kara-France lands two leg kicks to the lead leg of Moreno who misses with a counter overhand Kara-France slips to the left in which he lands a flush counter left hook then a clean uppercut right under the chin!!! Moreno quickly unleashes another flurry of hooks to the body landing 2 out of 4 this attack to the body forces the New Zealanders guard down seeing this Moreno fakes a double-leg takedown attempt going upstairs with a clean right overhand to the chin of Kara-France!!! Moreno ducks under two hooks as Kara-France follows that up with a lead uppercut then right hook to which Moreno slips backwards to dodge then pulls on a counter straight then he flurries again with hooks this time all of them are aimed at the head he lands 3 out of 5 as Kara-France covers up!!! Kara-France throws out a vicious body kick but Moreno catches it easily!!! Moreno doesn't waste time quickly getting a fast single-leg takedown in a flash!!! In half-guard Moreno seems content to ride out the rest of the round on top throwing ground n’ pound to the body then the head, Kara-France knowing he’s down on the scorecards is able to sweep Moreno out of his top position leaving him on the bottom as Kara-France grabs his back the New Zealander however quickly disengages telling the Moreno to “stand up and trade”. Kara-France lands a clean jab then slips a counter-right hook from Moreno allowing Kara-France to score with a hard kick to the ribs then a swift leg kick that pulls the chair right from under Moreno. Both fighters start trading as Moreno leaps in with a flurry of hooks exclusively to the head but only lands the first out of 3 hooks as the following 2 are ducked by Kara-France who lands a clean overhand as he ducks under the 2 hooks from “The Assassin Baby”. The jab again lands for Kara-France who feints a cross upstairs going to the body with a spinning back kick to the ribs, Kara-France follows it up with an array of jabs in which most of them land after eating a few Moreno ribs the body with a deflating hook to the liver!!! Kara-France slightly clinches his body in which Moreno gets in close, landing an elbow to the forehead in the clinch as the two separate. Kara-France fires off a straight right but a brilliant slip of the pull counter with a right hook to the body lands for Moreno. Kara-France’s one-two is off to the left allowing for another right hook to the body followed by a straight right to the center of that body as well, Kara-France lands a quick leg kick then blitzes in with a quick shuffle forward then jab right cross both land clean. Moreno fires off a counter overhand from long range. It's a little too short of Kara-France's chin as he slipped his head to the right just in time!!! A jab straight to the nose forces Moreno backwards a nice straight right sees him covering up against the cage!!! Kara-France flurries with hooks as Moreno continues to cover up 2 out of 5 lands!!! Kara-France backs up but then rushes back in attempting to finish the fight with a flying knee!!! But Moreno recovers just in time to circle away from the cage to the center of the octagon with only 20 seconds left the two stand then trade Kara-France starts it off with a set-in leg kick then jab follows up with the one-two. Moreno overhand clips Kara-France to the forehead once he ends his combo then a right cross splits the guard of Kara-France the two both throw overhands that miss, Kara-France while he misses attempts to switch it up mid-strike with a spinning heel kick to the head that’s off to the right as the fight ends!!! Unofficial Scorecards: MMAJunkie: 29-28 Moreno Sherdog: 29-28 Moreno Blurcat: 29-28 Moreno “Ladies and gentlemen after 3 rounds we go to the judges' scorecards for a decision, All three judges score this contest 29-29, to the winner by unanimous decision…. Brandon ‘The Assassin Baby’ Moreno” OFFICIAL RESULT: Brandon Moreno def. Kai Kara-France via UD (29-28x3) [Fight Rating: Great] -------------------------------------------------------------- A critical turning point for both fighters' careers whoever wins will probably face the upper competition at Heavyweight. Tai Tuivasa looks to keep his undefeated record afloat drawing high praise from UFC Middleweight champion Robbert Whittaker and Heavyweight legend Mark Hunt who said himself, “Tai [Tuivasa] reminds me a lot about me just more skilled and dedicated he has what it takes to be champion with a win I’d like to see him face Francis [Ngannou] next”. For Harris it’s been an up and down career currently (4-6) inside the UFC he’s recently managed to finally go on a run with two quick 1st round finishes his quick hands as probably the fastest the Heavyweight division has ever seen but he has been plagued with conditioning issues his entire career plus struggles with the label on being a one-dimensional average kickboxer to casual and even hardcore fans. Tuivasa while a bit of a slow starter in comparison to ‘The Big Ticket’ who likes to start fights guns blazing has promised the 3rd round finish saying, “after he [Walt Harris] is done kicking my ass for 2nd rounds hopefully I’ll get him out of there in the 3rd” which drew the laughter of all reporters present during media day. Round 1 Referee Dan Miragliotta in charge of action here tonight as he signals for the fight to start. Tuivasa starts us off with a cross that particularly lands to the forehead. Harris doesn't connect with a counter jab but Tuivasa moves right when he should have gone left as he runs straight into a right hook from ‘The Big Ticket’. Harris swings out two more hooks but they come up short as Tuivasa backs up. The two fient from a distance, neither wanting to gas themselves early. Tuivasa offers a few jabs then follows one of them up with a left hook that lands right behind the ear. Tuivasa pushes forward in doing so he runs into another hook from Harris to the chin which forces him to back off. Harris slips under the jab from Tuivasa cracking him again with a left hook then he lands a calf kick, Tuivasa fires off with some more jabs but Harris again ducks under the straight punches to nail a right cross to the chin of Tuivasa. ‘Bam Bam’ starts glancing at his corner looking for some instructions. His nose is bleeding and the punches to the chin have left a solid red mark. Tuivasa again throws out the jab but it's off to the right as Harris dips his head to the right then cracks him again with a right hook to the chin then lands another calf kick. The fight is now in a bit of a stalemate as Tuivasa has started to shell up defensively meanwhile Harris seems to be waiting until ‘Bam Bam’ opens up to counter with another big hook as he feints that he’ll let his hands go but only really throws a few quick leg kicks. Tuivasa finally opens up as the two exchange hooks ‘Bam Bam’ lands a set-in left hook while Harris lands a right hook but it seems Harris had more pop on it as Harris keeps up the pace landing a double-jab then fakes the leg kick to mask a huge head kick with his foot slamming against the chin of Tuivasa!!! Harris misses on the set-in jab but lands a vicious right cross to the chin then a right hook then wows the crowd with a huge flying knee all strikes land directly on the chin!!! Tuivasa is hurt as he backs up against the cage!!! While covering up he is able to block the jab but a right hook clips him behind the ear which forces Tuivasa to go down up against the cage as he hits the canvas referee Dan Miragliotta waves off the fight!!! OFFICAL RESULT: Walt Harris def. Tai Tuivasa via TKO [Punches] R1 (3:46) [Fight Rating: Great] -------------------------------------------------------------- Dariush looks to get back to back wins for the first time since 2016 leading up to this fight Dariush has expressed some frustrations with how stagnant his career has been in the Lightweight division over the last 3 years especially his 42 second loss to Alexander Hernandez last year that has been in the headlines again recently as Hernandez continues to rise through the Lightweight rankings. Although he hasn’t expressed his frustrations in terms of trash talk towards Trinaldo he has talked about what's ahead of him moving forward calling out Alexander Hernandez for a rematch as well as a possible match-up with former Lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos. Trinaldo during media day said, “Respect to him but he acts like the fights are already done, man. I’m right in front of you and I know you have to talk to get the fans engaged more nowadays but I’m a problem, a force you can’t think you’ve beaten me already”. Round 1 Dariush starts us off by landing a few jabs but misses on when he tries a one-two allowing Trinaldo to dip his head right then land his own counter right hand. Dariush starts jabbing to the body now then just like before attempts a one-two which lands he follows it up with a right hook as well that lands but leaves himself open for the uppercut that snaps his head straight up. Bouncing around a little he fires the one-two off to the head this time but Trinaldo covers up well landing a kick to the lead leg of Dariush. The two both exchange jabs but it’s Trinaldo who faster on the trigger landing a right hook then uppercut as Dariush moves back, Trinaldo keeps up the pressure landing another jab but this time it’s Dariush who’s faster as while the Brazilian attempts an uppercut he is blasted with a flurry of 3 clean hooks then a swift head kick lands clean on the dome of Trinaldo but he shows he’s okay by responding with a right hand that splits the guard of Dariush who responds with a leg kick to the lead leg of Trinaldo. Dariush doges the right hand then slips back on the jabs from Trinaldo he then pulls with the right cross then leg kick finishing his combination with question mark kick to the head which particularly lands behind the ear as the Brazilian just gets his hands up in time block the majority of the kick but still he stumbles backwards a bit!!! Dariush moves in for the kill blasting Trinaldo with a set-in overhand to the right of the head of the Brazilian then a cross but after wobbling to the cage he dodges a front kick to the face from Dariush which more than likely would of ended the fight as the Brazilian continues to circle right as he is trapped against the cage as Dariush is using some excellent footwork to keep him there. Dariush unloads with a one-two slips his head back to dodge the counter overhand right from Trinaldo allowing Dariush to land a front kick then grabs ahold of the wrist of Trinaldo in which he uses that to slice open a cut on the side of Trinaldo head with an elbow. While the two are clinched Trinaldo dives under for the double-leg but after a long struggle an excellent sprawl see’s Dariush on top of Trinaldo taking his back throwing off some ground n’ pound until the end of the round. Unofficial Scorecards: MMAJunkie: 10-9 Dariush Sherdog: 10-9 Dariush Blurcat: 10-9 Dariush Round 2 Dariush picks up where he left off scoring with two jabs then scores a left cross then right hook but ‘Massaranduba’ telegraphs a spinning back kick to the body moving to the right and as Dariush spins Trinaldo blasts him with a counter right hook instead of backing up Dariush fires off a one-two then roundhouse kick to the body all strikes land but Trinaldo also doesn't back down landing a huge looping right hook right on the forehead of Dariush!!! Dariush doesn't let that back him up hitting a nice roundhouse to the body then a right hand to the chin!!! The two continue to fight in a phonebooth Dariush flurries with hooks with circling right landing 3 out of 7 as Trinaldo covers up. Dariush lands a set-up jab to the right hook to the body looking to again flurry with them as he goes up but before he has even lifted his head full up Trinaldo lands a lighting quick uppercut that literally takes Dariush off his feet!!! Dariush lands hard on his back and he is stiff out cold!!! OFFICAL RESULT: Francisco Trinaldo def. Beneil Dariush via KO [Punch] R2 (2:27) [Fight Rating: Fantastic] -------------------------------------------------------------- 2019’s International fighter of the year the undefeated Israel Adesanya has been touted as possibly the next great Middleweight champion in the division but to get the top he has a killer road at 185 before he can challenge for the undisputed title. Tonight he faces what many consider one of the great fighters ever Anderson ‘The Spider’ Silva, Israel has said over and over again that Anderson is his MMA model who inspired him to take up the gloves and fight for a living. Meanwhile, Silva has praised Adesanya as a future champion, this very much an old face as both are elusive strikers with highlight-reel knockouts although neither are known for pushing the face so it’ll be interesting to see what type of fight will play out tonight. Round 1 The Australian crowd gives a huge warm welcome to Anderson Silva as the fans are blowing the roof off the arena. You could be mistaken for Silva fighting in front of his home crowd of Brazil if you didn’t know the fight was taking place in Australia. Silva uses erratic hand fighting to start allowing him to parry the jabs from Adesanya but his counter straight is too slow as ‘The Last Stylebender’ ducks under circles right then fires and lands a hard leg kick to the lead leg of Silva. Adesanya waits for Silva to start letting his hands go as ‘The Spider’ is using his erratic hand fighting movement to take away the jab of Adesanya that being said but Silva steps in then surprise everyone with a quick spinning back kick to the chest of Adesanya that backs him up to the cage. Anderson goes on the attack grabbing a hold of Adesanya as he was up against the cage Silva lands a few uppercuts and knees to the body before he decides to disengage as he goes so ‘The Spider’ fires a hard right hand that lands. Adesanya tries to respond with a one-two but Silva’s erratic hand fighting again parries both the punches Silva lands a jab to the body as well as a roundhouse kick. The crowd smells a potential upset even UFC commentators are getting into as former Middleweight champion turned UFC commentator Michael Bisping says “Silva looks amazing right now, this is the best he’s looked in years”. Adesanya launches a quick head kick that Silva barely ducks in time with Israel open Silva is able to land a clean counter jab then lead leg kick. Adesanya starts mixing it up with feints faking the one-two as well as a leg kick which opens up the body to a devastating kick to the ribs. That stops the erratic hand fighting of Silva as he goes back to a more traditional style of covering up, displaying quick fast hands ‘The Last Stylebender’ blats Silva with a lead right hook then an uppercut followed by a one-two then lands another kick to the ribs that make a cracking sound as it lands!!! Silva moves in to strike but his straight right then left hook can’t find the mark due to the slick head movement of Israel Adesanya who’s check right hook catches Silva as he comes in. Adesanya is now starting to find his jab landing a couple of them as well as leg kicks to the lead leg, Adesanya taunts Silva with the Ali shuffle then poses to the crowd blowing a kiss. His psychological warfare is stopped by a one-two that gets past the guard of Adesanya as the two-circle Silva again lands the one-two with some perfect timing finding just the right angle as the round ends to a surprisingly very competitive round. Unofficial Scorecards: MMAJunkie: 10-9 Silva Sherdog: 10-9 Adesanya Blurcat: 10-9 Adesanya Round 2 Silva steps in on the attack ready to unload which he, of course, does his jab, and the right hook misses as Adesanya slips to the right he counters ‘The Spider’ with a quick short right hook to the chin that staggers Anderson Silva!!! A cross then straight right lands directly on the chin that forces Silva to the cage!!! Silva tries to fire an uppercut to back up Adesanya but he is too slow as ‘The Last Stylebender blasts Silva with a spinning back fist!!! Another straight-right land that forces the end of the fight!!!! OFFICAL RESULT: Israel Adesanya def. Anderson Silva via TKO [Punches] R2 (0:43) [Fight Rating: Decent] -------------------------------------------------------------- It’s been a long night but we arrive at the main event of the evening five rounds for the undisputed UFC Middleweight championship of the world. Robert ‘The Reaper’ Whittaker is undefeated ever since his move up from Welterweight to Middleweight gaining UFC gold after two wars against Yoel Romero he holds wins over the top contenders at Middleweight with victories over with two victories over the previously mentioned Yoel Romero, Ronaldo Jacare, Derek Brunson, Brad Tavares, and Uriah Hall. Although Kelvin Gastelum has started to find his stride after a hiccup loss to Chris Widemen the Mexican, American would get a big-time 1st round knockout over former champion Michael Bisping and a split decision win over Ronaldo Jacare. The build-up has been very respectful in an era of intense trash talk which is refreshing for some as the skills of both fighters have been at the main stage for the marketing of the fight. Round 1 To no one's surprise the two fighters touch gloves as referee Dan Miragliotta has the assignment for the main event tonight, Whittaker of course gets a huge round of applause that is somehow louder than the cheers Anderson Silva got during his introduction. The two start the bout with stellar head movement Gastelum slips back to dodge the jab and right hook as well as getting out of the way of a 3 punch combination of straight punches plus a swift head kick. Gastelum tries to open up with the one-two but Whittaker seems to have the timing on it as Whittaker continues to bob and weave. Gastelum is the first to land a strike after a lengthy stalemate of no strikes landing as he slips to the left of the right hook of Whittaker leaving him open to a one-two then looping left hand to the forehead. Gastelum uses the set-up jab then goes all-in on a right hand the same combination which knocked out Bisping and much like the highlight the jab misses only to mask a clean hard right hand straight to the chin!!! Whittaker eats it though and keeps going to shock of many. The two exchange combos but Whittakers cross is parried and his leg kick checked to allow Gastelum to rip the body with a hook but leaves himself open to a clean straight to the head. ‘The Reaper' misses on a spinning back kick to the body allowing Gastelum to hit two counter left hands. Whittaker blitzes in on Gastelum with a jab that is a little too far to the right and his devastating overhand just misses the chin. Kelvin Gastelum calmly hits a clean check right hook to the chin of Whittaker forcing the champ backwards. Gastelum fires a one-two that doesn't trouble Whittaker his massive head kick is read easily by Whittaker who dodges by circling left landing two quick jabs then a leg kick. Unofficial Scorecards: MMAJunkie: 10-9 Gastelum Sherdog: 10-9 Gastelum Blurcat: 10-9 Gastelum Round 2 Whittaker starts the round by blitzing in close unleashing an overhand left then one-two ending his combo with a swift head kick but Gastelum excellently covers up as all strikes are either blocked or come off the shoulder. Gastelum after backing off comes back into range firing a straight that Whittaker slips to the left and counters with a straight of his own to the head. Gastelum leaps in with a superman jab that just comes up short but he also uses the jab to set up a huge looping left hook catching ‘The Reaper’ while he was attempting an uppercut. Gastelum grabs a hold of Whittaker by using his superior strength to back him up to the cage unleashing some short hooks to the body. Gastelum tries to get wrist control but Whittaker surprises him with some slick grappling. He opens a cut under the left eye of the challenger with a very short elbow. Gastelum decides to disengage bringing this fight back to the center of the octagon. Gastelum lands the jab but his head kick is again easily read by Whittaker slipping backwards then he pulls on a counter jab to the body then follows it up with two hooks. Gastelum responds by snapping ‘The Reaper’ head up with an uppercut while also landing a one-two then straight, Whittaker backs on near the cage who misses on a right hand which Gastelum dodges to the right countering with a straight right to the chin then a lead knee to the body. Now Whittaker is up against the cage Gastelum unloads with 3 quick punches with a jab then two hooks the jab and 1st punch lands but Whittaker blitzes forward blasting Gastelum backwards with a powerful one-two that lands right on the chin. Whittaker circles away from the cage. The two seem a little gassed by the end of the round with the two getting a little sloppy after a brief exchange in which Gastelum landed a short right hook he is able to clinch up quickly get underhooks and get a double-legged takedown near the last 20 seconds of the round. Unofficial Scorecards: MMAJunkie: 20-18 Gastelum Sherdog: 20-18 Gastelum Blurcat: 20-18 Gastelum Round 3 Whittaker swings out a looping right hook to get in close; it's just short as Kelvin slips back and counters with a jab then straight the two engage with ‘The Reaper' swiftly firing off a head kick that barely misses the forehead of Gastelum who again counters Whittaker with a jab then a quick leg kick. Gastelum leaps right at Whittaker again with a superman jab that’s too short this is to again mask his true attack as he swings out a devastating set-up jab then straight again the same combination that knocked out Michael Bisping!!! ‘The Reaper’ ducks under both punches blasting Gastelum on the chin with a counter ducking overhand. Whittaker follows it up with a jab and right hook to the body; he also grazes Gastelum’s side of the head with a switch head kick!!! This opens another cut on Gastelum this time on the left side of his head!!! Whittaker lands two consecutive kicks to the rib cage Gastelum attempts a one-two but Whittaker is too quick with the leg kick as the punches are too far to the right. The champion is starting to find his groove here in the 3rd as he continues to attack the lead leg of Gastelum with side and oblique kicks making the challengers attack slower and easier to read. Whittaker dodges the left hand and overhand right of Gastelum by slipping to the right countering with a sidekick to the body then a quick left hand. Whittaker starts putting his foot off the gas though to converse some energy for the championship rounds allowing Gastelum to get off a few jabs Whittaker mostly dodges anything else the challenger follows up with as he continues to attack the body and leg with sidekicks. With 10 seconds left in the round Gastelum looking shattered throws out the jab without much form at all, Whittaker ducks under then come up with a thunderous lead elbow straight to the chin of Gastelum!!! The shot stuns him right as the round comes to an end!!! Unofficial Scorecards: MMAJunkie: 29-29 Gastelum Sherdog: 29-28 Gastelum Blurcat: 29-28 Gastelum Round 4 Gastelum shows some serious confidence as well as heart, taunting Whittaker to meet him in the middle and trade to start the round. ‘The Reaper' smiles happily granting his wish as the two trade in the middle. Gastelum surprises Whittaker by landing a left cross then a looping right hook with bad intentions just misses the chin as the champ slips backwards while retracting the punch to cover up in case of a counter-attack Gastelum doesn't see the huge looping overhand right that Whittaker lands directly on the chin of Gastelum crushing it in the process!!! Gastelum’s mouthpiece falls out as he stumbles backwards while hitting ass first to the canvas he’s down!!! Whittaker quickly gains full-guard raining down punches on a stunned Gastelum referee Dan Miragliotta gave the challenger as many opportunities to survive perhaps a bit too many but after taking repeated blows cleanly to the head the fight is called off!!! OFFICAL RESULT: [C] Robert Whittaker def. Kelvin Gastelum via TKO [Punches] R4 (0:32) Whittaker’s 1st title-defense [Fight Rating: Good] -------------------------------------------------------------- Critical Rating: 77% / Commercial Rating: 98% Attendance: 13,745 ($2,419,120) Venue: Rod Laver Arena (Melbrone, Australia) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Main-Event [C] Robert Whittaker def. Kelvin Gastelum via TKO [Punches] R4 (0:32) [Fight Rating: Good] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Co-Main Israel Adesanya def. Anderson Silva via TKO [Punches] R2 (0:43) [Fight Rating: Decent] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Main-Card Francisco Trinaldo def. Beneil Dariush via KO [Punch] R2 (2:27) [Fight Rating: Fantastic] Megan Anderson def. Felicia Spencer via TKO [Head Kick & Ground N’ Pound] R1 (4:46) [Fight Rating: Great] Walt Harris def. Tai Tuivasa via TKO [Punches] R1 (3:46) [Fight Rating: Great] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Preliminary-Card Jussier da Silva def. Alexandre Pantoja via TKO [Punches] R2 (2:16) [Fight Rating: Good] Brandon Moreno def. Kai Kara-France via UD (29-28x3) [Fight Rating: Great] Manny Bermudez def. Deigo Pereira via SUB [D’Arce Choke] R1 (1:59) [Fight Rating: Good] Jairzinho Rozenstruik def. Justin Ledet via UD (30-27, 29-28x2) [Fight Rating: Decent] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Early Prelims Kyung Ho Kang def. Frankie Saenz via UD (29-28x3) [Fight Rating: Decent] Nadia Kassem def. Juliana Lima via TKO [Punches] R1 (4:44) [Fight Rating: Good] Shane Burgos def. Alex Caceres via UD (30-25x2, 30-26) [Fight Rating: Decent] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fight of the Night: Francisco Trinaldo vs. Beneil Dariush -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Performance of the Night: Francisco Trinaldo, Megan Anderson, Walt Harris, Manny Bermudez -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Predictions: vladjarca - (7/12) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- And still the Middleweight champion of the world as well as undefeated at Middleweight Robert Whittaker has defeated Kelvin Gastelum he is now (10-0) in his last 10 fights with the victory tonight. Gastelum looked good early on winning rounds 1 & 2 on all three judges scorecards the most surprising was how his head movement was constantly dodging most of the champion's strikes early on. But Whittaker after making the adjustment to change up his striking rhythm with an emphasis on sidekicks to the body and leg plus oblique kicks, eventually, Gastelum legs and body was as red as humanly possible making his strikes easier to read plus with his movement compromised it eventually led to a jaw breaking overhand right finish as the two exchanged early on in the 4th. It was a good showing for both fighters. The most surprising development of the night was Whittaker’s ability to take some of Gastelum’s huge punches, the same punches that knocked out Michael Bisping he said post-fight, “He hits very hard but everyone hits very hard at Middleweight. It’s nothing new to me I guess I’ve just become used to it at this point”. Gastelum thanked all of his fans, friends, family, and Whittaker himself in a Twitter post saying he was devastated but was still on a mission for UFC gold. During the UFC’s ever so popular Thrill and Agony, we got to see how devastating the loss was for Gastelum who left the arena with a towel over his head but in later clips, we got to see Whittaker come find him behind stage before he was taken to the hospital to thank him for the fight. Israel Adesanya is demanding for his “overdue” title-shot after his 2nd round TKO over Anderson Silva the fight was much more competitive with some giving Silva the first round ‘The Spider’ used erratic hand fighting to take away most of Adesanya’s punches early on allowing Anderson to win the early exchanges but being the dynamic striker Israel is he incorporated some thunderous body kicks that stopped the erratic hand fighting of Silva which led to Adesanya picking the older Silva apart on the feet with dynamic striking which got him the early 2nd round TKO. “Sure not my best fight but look at what I did to the greatest fighter ever, I’ve defeated him easily and it’s not a fluke win like [Chris] Wideman's or a bull**** decision like with [Michael] Bisping’s who 100% lost that fight. It was a surgical tactical victory, something that’s never happened to Silva before because no one else can do it. It’s me next for sure Yoel [Romero] will knockout that inflated balloon [Paulo Costa] and he’s lost twice, no one else deserves it more than so don’t f*** around I’m next”. Some are understandably are iffy on if a victory over Silva who is only ranked #9 in the division is worthy of granting Adesanya a title shot one person who doesn't think so is the champion himself, “When you look at that fight I watched all of it backstage after warming up he is a fantastic striker who can mix up the game-plan well but, [Anderson] Silva was able to exploit all the holes that I already know are apart of his game if Silva at 43 can blitz in on him how do you think I’ll fair?”. Adesanya has quickly framed Whittaker as an unworthy scared champion who doesn't want to defend his belt over the top competitors of the division suggesting Robert should be stripped, Whittaker hasn’t yet and likely won’t respond to ‘The Last Stylebender’ comments as like he said many times before trash talk ain’t really his thing. It was an exciting main-card as Francisco Trinaldo and Beneil Dariush won fight of the night in a barn burner, Trinaldo also has an early knockout of the year candidate as his devastating uppercut that lifted Beneil off his feet has gone viral on Youtube, Twitter, and Instagram. Unfortunately for Dariush who looked to climb back up the Lightweight rankings with a victory will in all likelihood be dumped off to make way for Francisco Trinaldo his thoughts on the contest and his now curious position being (1-3-1) in his last 5 fights are unknown he hasn’t yet been released but his next fight being the last on his contract will be very interesting. Walt Harris and Megan Anderson both put on the best performances of their careers starting with Anderson she showed how much she’s improved showing excellent takedown defense stuffing 3 out of 3 of Spencer’s takedowns she also showed devastating muay-thai landing slicing elbows that cut Spencer around her right eye. After stuffing the 3rd takedown of an elbow while the two separated rocked Spencer then a sensational question mark head kicks to the left side of the dome of Spencer put her down. From full-mount Anderson rained down elbows until the referee said stop, with Nunes, booked to fight at UFC 237 against Holly Holm, Anderson said during his post-fight interview with Jon Anik a fight with Cyborg “made a lot of sense” since the two were originally booked to fight back in 2017 at UFC 214. Walt Harris has derailed Tai Tuivasa hype train to the shock of the Australian crowd who cheered for Harris in his victory but still, there was a stunning atmosphere to the whole finishing sequence but it was no fluke knockout. Harris had some of the best crisp boxing ever seen in the Heavyweight division constantly catching ‘Bam Bam’ on the chin with hooks in fact Harris only missed 2 punches the entire fight landing at an impressive 95%+ clip. Credit to Tuivasa he probably should have been finished early with how clean Harris was landing to his chin, Harris has credit to victory finally taking the sport seriously as previously he only would swing and pray for a knockout to win now he is taking the sport seriously. Let's move onto the prelims a number #1 Flyweight contender has been crowned with Jussier da Silva who dominated with leg kicks and uppercuts he showed footwork never showcased by him before as it’s clear he has worked on his boxing footwork. The question is will Cejudo give da Silva a shot as ‘The Messenger’ does have a split decision win over him already and the way the Flyweight champ is talking on Twitter makes it seem like he is angling for a rematch with TJ Dillashaw at Bantamweight. It was an awesome night for prospects tonight Manny Bermudez, Shane Burgos, and Australian native Nadia Kassem all displayed that their possibly ready for a rise in competition one prospect that had a rough night despite winning was Jairzinho Rozenstruik who showed some promising boxing but despite his god gifted power being his main marketing tool despite landing clean he never able to hurt Ledet who was game for the entire fight. In fact, the fight is an early robber of the year candidate right belong side Alex Perez vs. Joseph Benavidez as Ledet outstruck Rozenstruik in every single round taking him down in rounds 2 and 3 going 2/4 for takedowns on the night. Rozenstruik did land some clean looping hooks but like mentioned before nothing that rattled Ledet who was puzzled as to why he didn’t get the nod when the scorecards was read. Not a great UFC debut for Rozenstruik but if he can deliver on the power that the UFC marketing team promised one big KO will make most MMA casual all but forget about this fight in due time.

Very hard main-event to predict I'm completely 50/50 on who I see winning this but I'll lean with the diamond to get it done, also if Aldo actually uses his leg kicks I think he can beat Garbrandt even with all the damage he's taken but since he mostly just uses his boxing nowadays I think it's likely he'll eventually get caught. Main Event Lightweight Championship Bout: (#1) Dustin Poirier vs. (#3) Charles Oliveira Co-Main Event Bantamweight Bout: (#7) José Aldo vs. (#4) Cody Garbrandt Main Card Featherweight Bout: (#14) Edson Barboza vs. (#12) Shane Burgos Women's Bantamweight Bout: (#8) Julianna Peña vs. (#3) Aspen Ladd Middleweight Bout: Jacaré Souza vs. (#15) Sean Strickland ESPN Preliminary Card Flyweight Bout: (#3) Alex Perez vs. (#4) Alexandre Pantoja Women’s Flyweight Bout: (#4) Jennifer Maia vs. (#5) Cynthia Calvillo Welterweight Bout: Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos vs. Ramazan Emeev ESPN+ Early Preliminary Card Women’s Flyweight Bout: (#6) Jessica Eye vs. (#13) Taila Santos Middleweight Bout: Antonio Braga Neto vs. Collin Huckbody Featherweight Bout: Martin Buschkamp vs. Chris Fishgold

Main Event: Womens Bantamweight Championship Bout: © Aspen Ladd vs. (#3) Raquel Pennington Co-Main Event: Heavyweight Bout: (#4) Alexander Volkov vs. (#8) Stipe Miocic Main Card: Welterweight Bout: (#7) Tony Ferguson vs. (#10) Rory MacDonald Bantamweight Bout: (#2) Sean O'Malley vs. (#6) Brett Johns Featherweight Bout: (#5) Michael Trizano vs. (#8) Jeremy Stephens Bantamweight Bout: (#21) Steve Garcia vs. (#24) Michael McDonald Preliminary Card: Womens Bantamweight Bout: (#2) Macy Chiasson vs. (#4) Pannie Kianzad Lightweight Bout: (#16) Islam Makhachev vs. (#18) Alexander Hernandez Heavyweight Bout: Jair Rozenstruik vs. Travis Browne Light Heavyweight Bout: (#24) Christian Edwards vs. Alonzo Menifield Womens Featherweight Bout: (#3) Leah Letson vs. (#6) Larissa Pacheco Womens Strawweight Bout: (#13) Livia Renata Souza vs. (#15) Randa Markos Featherweight Bout: Myles Jury vs. Gavin Tucker Welterweight Bout: Brandon Thatch vs. Ryan LaFlare Featherweight Bout: Patricio Freire vs. Robin van Roosmalen Lightweight Bout: Ludovit Klein vs. Kenny Jordan

Main Event: Womens Strawweight Bout: (#2) Weili Zhang vs. (#5) Tatiana Suarez Co-Main Event: Featherweight Bout: (#15) Chan Sung Jung vs. (#24) Emmanuel Sanchez Main Card: Womens Flyweight Bout: (#4) Maycee Barber vs. (#7) Yanan Wu Featherweight Bout: (#20) Andre Fili vs. (#22) Doo Ho Choi Bantamweight Bout: (#18) Marlon Moraes vs. (#23) Yadong Song Heavyweight Bout: Minzhe Tsoi vs. Juan Espino Preliminary Card: Light Heavyweight Bout: Shamil Akhmedov vs. George Tokkos Womens Bantamweight Bout: (#14) Julija Stoliarenko vs. (#15) Valentine Paret Featherweight Bout: Guan Wang vs. Pat Sabatini Bantamweight Bout: Kyung Ho Kang vs. Frans Mlambo Light Heavyweight Bout: Andrew Clamp vs. Csaba Hocz Bantamweight Bout: Kyler Phillips vs. Cole Smith Light Heavyweight Bout: Jonathan Wilson vs. Nick Roehrick Featherweight Bout: Alex Caceres vs. Daguir Imavov Womens Strawweight Bout: Bo Meng vs. Tiffany van Soest Heavyweight Bout: Kirill Sidelnikov vs. Ronny Markes