McDojoDelux

UFC 232: Jones v. Gustafsson II Date: December Week 4 (2018) 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 the legitmate, 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. --------------------------------------------------------------Key Fights Play-By-Plays: This is the last UFC fight that will air on Fox Sports 1 it’s been a long and very successful broadcasting partnership but it finally ends tonight. Former UFC Heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski will look to shut up the loud moth Justin Willis who has labeled Arlovksi “the worst champion in UFC history”. Andrei responded with “after I knock him out, the people will know that this man is the worst fighter in the history of the UFC”. Round 1 As they are introduced by Bruce Buffer the size advantage for Willis is outstanding he probably has 30+ pounds on Arlovski, there's also a roar for when the former champion is introduced it’s clear who they want to win this fight despite it being held in Justin Willis hometown of California. The two jabs at a distance for a while until Willis decides to go full berserk mode charing down Arlovski with a huge one-two followed up by a vicious overhand all of the punches miss as the former champion saw them coming and circled to the left but Willis is keeping up a high pace. After Justin Willis misses another one-two Arlovksi instead of circling out uses a pull counter landing a beautiful counter overhand that stung Willis who looks punch drunk!!! Willis recovers quickly though and looks to respond with more heavy punches with some heat on them. It's clear he wants to knock out his opponent in the 1st round for sure. But Arlovski used some excellent head moment to duck the left-hook then Willis then slipped away from his follow up straight then one-two. Arlovski counters Willis with a couple of jabs then lands a clean right hand, Willis is off the mark with another overhand but lands a roundhouse kick to the body. But his guard down Willis is blasted by a brutal combination from Arlovski starting off with a clean jab then hitting a hard right-hook then finishing the combination with a switch kick to the head which saw Arlovski’s shin go straight to the forehead of Willis who's hurt again!!! Willis backs up to the cage and does an excellent job covering up blocking a lead uppercut then a flurry of hooks, Arlovksi grabs a hold of Willis clearly to take a breather the two pretty much stall until referee Mike Beltran separates the two for inactivity. A missed leg kick from Arlovski allows Willis to connect on his first head strike of the fight by landing a counter jab then he follows it with a right hook to the body as he backs down Arlovski. Old habits die hard as Willis starts swinging widely with a flurry of hooks that Arlovski all ducks circling away from the octagon as Willis follows him as the former champion cracks his opponent with an uppercut as Willis was chasing after him that leaves him hurt again covering up against the cage!!! Expecting a flurry of hooks like last time Willis is nearly dropped when stuns him again with a lead knee to the body!!! With his guard now down Arlovski lands a devastating head kick which has Willis completely punch drunk again!!! Now Arlovski flurries with hooks and hits everything single one of them until referee Mike Beltran pulls Arlovski off. Willis who was slouching on the cage for the entire sequence finally falls face-first he’s been knocked out cold, Andrei Arlovski turning back the clock in the final UFC fight on FS1 can you believe it, ladies and gentlemen. Arlovski takes it all in by sitting atop the UFC cage playing to the crowd he clearly enjoyed this victory. Official Result: Andrei Arlovski def. Justin Willis via KO [Head Kick & Punches] R1 (3:38) -------------------------------------------------------------- Moving on from a fight that had a lot of animosities we now have one where it’s been a build-up filled with nothing but respect. Both Mendes and Volkanovski know the opportunity that will be presented to them if either fighter is able to claim victory, the question is will we see a new face at the top of the Featherweight rankings or will Mendes once again finds himself only one fight away from a title shot. Round 1 Mendes looked to shoot for the takedown but Volkanovski is too quick using slick foot movement to jump backward out of range for Chad ‘Money’ Mendes to shoot for it then jumps back in to nail a straight right. After landing the punch Volkanovski now shoots for a single-leg takedown, Mendes hops on one foot doing well to prevent the takedown as Volkanovski settles for driving him against the cage. Alexander ‘The Great’ Volkanovski now shows his much higher strength advantage easily smoother Mendes against the cage with some dirty boxing as the California native seems all but helpless to continually eat bus driver uppercuts plus some knees to the body from Volkanovski. It’s not until Volkanovski voluntary lets go of the position changing tactics as the two meet up in the middle of the octagon to strike, two quick hooks from Mendes are slipped by Volkanovski who lands a solid calf quick then follows it up with a grazing lead elbow that opens a small cut on Mendes check!!! Mendes misses the set-up jab but gets Volkanovski to bite on a fake level change which allows him to hit a straight-right to the forehead, but he can’t follow up as Volkanovski against ties up with him easily driving him against the cage but instead of doing the routine dirty boxing he lets go and unleashed with a flurry of 4 hooks which all land to the head. But as Volkanovski landed his last hook of the flurry Mendes ducked down looking like he was going for the takedown only to go upstairs with a lightning-fast overhand right that landed directly on the chin of Volkanovski who goes down hard!!! Mendes follows up and lands two hammer fists but the round ends before he can continue the ground n’ pound!!! Some fans think the fight is over but as Mendes and Volkanovski make their way back to their corners everyone realizes the fight is still ongoing in fact Volkanovski walks back to his corner still a little wobbly if a few seconds were left Mendes possibly could have won already but we head to round two. Unofficial Judges: MMAJunkie: 10-9 Mendes Blurcat: 10-9 Volkanovski Sherdog: 10-9 Mendes Round 2 The two come together to start wrestling. It turns out to be a big mistake from Chad ‘Money’ Mendes as Volkanovski uses his strength advantage again now Chad finds himself in the muay-thai clinch!!! It doesn't take long for Volkanovski to land a devastating knee to head which puts Mendes lights out!!! Official Result: Alexander Volkanovski def. Chad Mendes via KO [Knee] R2 (0:47) -------------------------------------------------------------- Like mentioned before this could be a make-or-break fight for the longtime UFC Welterweight who once claimed interim gold in Carlos Condit on a rough 5-fight skid this very well could be his last chance to prove he still belongs in the UFC. Chiesa meanwhile looks to finally realize some of the championship potential he has at a new weight class after failing to become a top contender at Lightweight mainly due to his many botched weight cuts. Will see if he is able to keep up the same pressure grappling style of fighting against much bigger and longer opponents. Round 1 Chiesa wastes no time with some excellent movement Michael ‘The Maverick’ Chiesa slips and dodges all punches from Condit on his way into clinching with him, with great timing Chiesa easily gets a single-leg takedown. Chiesa fires some elbows from half-guard but in a scramble, Condit grabs the armbar but can’t lock it in leading to Chiesa getting full-guard transitioning from that position to full-mount at times. The next couple of minutes came to a standstill with Chiesa not doing much on top playing it really safe which led to the fight being stood up by referee Keith Peterson stands the two up. With so little time left in the round ‘The Natural Born Killer’ Carlos Condit is putting his foot down landing a beautiful double jab, straight right, then side kick to the leg combination. Chiesa is able to land a sneaky right-hook after the combination ends then shoots for a double-leg but this time around Condit stuff the takedown then hits a roundhouse kick to the body. Unofficial Judges: MMAJunkie: 10-9 Chiesa Blurcat: 10-9 Chiesa Sherdog: 10-9 Chiesa Round 2 Condit is pouring on the pressure this round exposing Chiesa below-average long distance striking starting the round with a spinning back kick to the body a three flurry of hooks all land then a nice straight-right followed by a left hook then brief bus driver uppercut. Chiesa from a long way out dives for a double-leg that doesn't come close as Condit backs away from the takedown attempt. As Chiesa attempts a jab to the body Condit then lands another beautiful combination starting with a one-two, uppercut, then he floors Chiesa with a straight right!!! Condit grabs full-mount and starts pounding’ out Chiesa but instead of keeping on the pressure with punches, he goes for an arm triangle submission!!! But Chiesa defends well and there's no danger at all, Condit gets back up immediately wanting no part of Chiesa on the mat. After a few feints from each other Condit tries the spinning back fists but misses blady allowing Chiesa to take his back!!! Instead of going for a backpack position Chiesa instead decides to go for a standing rear-naked choke which he gets under the chin!!! Condit tries his best to break out of it but is left with no option but to tap!!! Official Result: Michael Chiesa def. Carlos Condit via SUB [RNC] R2 (3:30) -------------------------------------------------------------- One of the most iconic moments in UFC history was when Micheal Bisping on 2 weeks notice knocked out Luke Rockhold at UFC 199 in the 1st round, ‘The Count’ came into the bout as the (+400) underdog seeing as how he lost to Rockhold only 15 months ago it seemed a logical conclusion that the champion would once again dominate the challenger. Cat Zingano currently is a (+700) underdog against the (-1000) favorite Cris Cyborg. Zingano and her coaches have referenced Bisping incredible victory as a source of inspiration and to ‘The Cats’ credit she isn’t coming off the couch as she was booked to fight on the prelims on this same exact card but as mentioned many times before when Amdana Nunes announced she couldn’t make the walk due to injury Zingano immediately stepped up to plate. The last time Zingano challenged for UFC gold she lost in a record 14 second submission loss to Ronda Rousey at UFC 184. Ever since the loss Zingano has been dying for another opportunity to prove herself at a championship level she finally finds herself once again as the challenger here tonight. Round 1 The two touch gloves as Referee Marc Goddard lays down the rules of the octagon, Zingano backs down Cyborg looking for the takedown but can’t close the distance as the champion feints constantly which keeps a cautious Zingano at a distance not wanting to get caught early by Cyborg who lands a set-up jab then overhand which Zingano ducks but a body kick to the ribs are able to land. Zingano is briefly able to tie up with Cyborg to land a knee to the body then a short jab as the two separate, Zingano continues to utilize some nice head movement as a one-two then overhand chrome Cyborg is again all slipped by the Brazilian is finding a home for the roundhouse kick to the body as she lands two consecutively. The two clinch with each other while Zingano fires off a few punches to the body it’s Cris Cyborg who is able to outwrestle her in the clinch. Cyborg gets a double-leg takedown with some solid ground n’ pound to the body. Zingano is successfully able to push off Cyborg however, as the Brazilian tried to get into a stick-guard position to rain down punches but was pushed off by Zingano who used her two feet to do so. Cyborg gets in close unleashing with some hooks that Zingano ducks then clips the champion with a straight-right twice in a row, the champion responds with a spinning back kick to the body. By the finale 10 seconds of the round Cyborg gets Zingano to bite on a fake jab then an uppercut combination finally cracking Zingano with two clean hooks then an overhand on the button to drop Zingano right as the round ends!!! Unofficial Judges: MMAJunkie: 10-9 Cyborg Blurcat: 10-9 Cyborg Sherdog: 10-9 Cyborg Round 2 Zingano’s fantastic defense is starting to crumble as Cyborg is able to consistently start landing to the head of the challenger starting the round with one-two then right-cross followed by a straight that all land clean!!! As Zingano backs up to the cage possibly hurt, Cyborg hits a devastating kick to the ribs followed by a spinning elbow then lands right on the forehead opening a big cut over the right eye of Zingano!!! Cyborg lands a left then a right as Zingano covers up against the cage!!! The champion got too aggressive as she missed badly on a left-hook allowing Zigano to take her back then get nice judo thrown takedown!!! Zingano takes her time occasionally throwing a few body shots from full-guard. Eventually while in side-control we see a bit more activity from the challenger who starts unloading with knees to the body but while throwing those knees Cyborg times an excellent scramble which sees her take Zingano’s back and attempt a few rear-naked choke attempts without the hooks in as the round ends. Unofficial Judges: MMAJunkie: 20-18 Cyborg Blurcat: 20-18 Cyborg Sherdog: 20-18 Cyborg Round 3 Zingano comes out the aggressor this round and Cyborg gladly doesn't back down as the two trade, ‘Cat’ Zingano ducks under a right-hook to land a jab to the body then a grazing right hook to the chin. But Cyborg responds with some heavy hands landing a slapping kick to the ribs then a switch kick to the body followed up with one-two. Cyborg is starting to slow down a little but thanks to her bodywork Zingano is starting to fade too, still though ‘The Cat’ is able to land a clean jab then right hook only for Cyborg to respond with a left-hook. The damage is starting to pile up on Zingano's face as her left eye is starting to close plus her nose is bleeding as well as the cut on her forehead reopening she is bleeding a lot of blood. Cyborg keeps up the pace landing one-two, then a double jab finishing the combo with a roundhouse kick to the body. Zingano is starting to back-up now as Cyborg lands another jab then a switch kick to the ribs, Zingano responds with a push kick to the body of her own but Cyborg is still right on her looking for the finish. Cyborg keeps lighting Zingano up with jabs, kicks to the body, with some straights put Zingano stands strong able to fire back with a few jabs as well as catching Cyborg clean with a few hooks of her own whenever Cyborg starts to go into a warlike mode to keep from unloading at an intense pace. Despite showing a lot of heart Zingano is still getting clipped clean pretty consistently as Cyborg's excellent movement doesn't allow Zingano a chance to circle out. Unofficial Judges: MMAJunkie: 30-27 Cyborg Blurcat: 30-27 Cyborg Sherdog: 30-27 Cyborg Round 4 Cyborg comes out again the aggressor with Zingano meeting her in the middle as the two trade shots again. Cyborg starts use off with a lead right-hook then an uppercut which nearly takes Zingano off her feet but she stays stable, Zingano tries to counter with a one-two then straight-right but all miss as Cyborg does a pull and counter coming over the top with an overhand that landed right behind the ear. Cyborg grabs a hold of Zingano landing a quick two knees to the body in the clinch then as the two separate tries to hit a fight-ending head kick but Zingano ducks it fakes the level change to get Cyborgs hands low then blasts the Brazilian with a lead uppercut. Zingano then grabs a hold of Cyborg driving her against the cage, Cyborg tries to cage walk to get free but Zingano does an excellent job keeping her up against the cage hitting Cyborg constantly with knees to the body and one notable one to the head. Zingano follows up that knee to the head with punches to the body plus a few foot stomps then uses a sharp leg sweep to take Cyborg down for the 2nd time tonight!!! Not much happens on top as both fighters are taking a breather until the round ends. Unofficial Judges: MMAJunkie: 39-37 Cyborg Blurcat: 40-36 Cyborg Sherdog: 40-36 Cyborg Round 5 Cyborg is completely out of gas, despite turning Zingano into a pizza face her grit, durability, and determination have her taking advantage early getting the collar tie while clinching with Cyborg. Unloading with a flurry of bus driver uppercuts mostly landing to the body the transitioning to the head, Cyborg seems all but helpless as she is pushed back to the cage easily then Zingano gets control of both of the champ’s legs then easily thrones him down for the takedown. While in side-control Zingano catches his breath a little but does well by landing a few razor-sharp elbows that open a small cut under the right eye of Cyborg!!! Zingano fails on her 1st armbar attempt but her 2nd armbar gets in fairly deep to the point where Cyborg uses a lot of energy to escape from it!!! It looks like Zingano was gonna try for another armbar late in the fight but referee Mark Goddard decides to stand the fighters up much to the dismay of the crowd and Joe Rogan in particular who can’t believe the decision from Goddard. Zingano was stalemating a bit in full-mount but only 20 seconds ago she had Cyborg in a deep armbar attempt plus she was in full-mount for crying out loud. 45 seconds left on the clock the two come together to start swinging as Zingano knows she can’t get off a submission attempt in time!!! A sloppy overhand from Zingano is countered by Cyborg with a jab then spinning back kick to the ribs she then follows it up with a 5 punch combination starting with 3 straight punches with only 1 landing then two hooks that both landed. Zingano doesn't connect with the left hand but does land a solid right hand as the horn sounds signaling the end of the fight. The two embrace as Cyborg continuously thanks Zingano for stepping up to the challenge while Zingano herself thanks Cyborg for giving her this opportunity. While not a blowout this fight certainly has a clear winner so here’s Bruce Buffer. Unofficial Judges: MMAJunkie: 48-47 Cyborg Blurcat: 49-46 Cyborg Sherdog: 49-46 Cyborg “Ladies and gentlemen after 5 rounds we go to the judges’ scorecards for the decision, the judges score this contest 49-46, 48-47, and 48-47 to the winner by unanimous decision And…. Still! The undisputed UFC Women’s Featherweight Champion of the world Cristiane Cyborg” Offical Result: Cristiane Justino def. Cat Zingano via UD (48-47x2, 49-46) -------------------------------------------------------------- The last fight of 2018 for the UFC and at last the much-anticipated rematch of one of the greatest fights of all time. Jones' recent USADA struggles over the years as well as others outside the octagon antics have added more fuel to this fire than originally anticipated, if both fighters are focused then there is no reason why they shouldn’t be able to replicate one of the greatest fights of all time. Will Jones finally reclaim his title to bring back order in his life? Or is 3rd time the charm for the Swede? We all find out tonight. Round 1 Gustafsson comes out throwing combinations to start the fight starting with a straight then one-two he then flurries for 4 hooks. He is only able to land 2 hooks out of the total 7 strikes he threw but Gus has already shown some improvements from the 1st fight as he said he needed to throw more rather than just be a plotting sniper. His success is short-lived as after blocking a lead elbow to the head Gustaffson is drilled by an impressive spinning back kick right to the liver by Jon Jones. Gustafsson throws the one-two up top but Jon slips them both returning fire with a right hook to the body followed by an oblique kick. Jones keeps up a mummy guard mostly to parry any of Gustafsson’s jabs which works as ‘Bones’ does not allow the Swede to establish distance as he circles around looking for the right time to wrestle. While he circles he sometimes offers a few kicks to the body and leg, Jones comes in and clinches but a wild flurry of hooks lands to the body and head Jon forcing him to back off but Jones responds with another spinning back kick to the body. Gustafsson jab is parried but he excellent pulls slipping out of the way of a straight from Jones then lands a very solid right hook counter to the chin of the former champion. Gustafsson throws another combination starting with a jab then a flurry of 4 hooks all are slipped by Jones who then checks a leg kick from Gus, ‘Bones’ retaliates with a trio of jabs then pushes kick to the body. Gustafsson jab is parried but his straight right to the body lands but he is particularly grazed by a lead knee to the head while doing so!!! A cut on the right side of Gustaffons right eye is bleeding badly here in the 1st!! Jone’s is starting to talk some trash as he lands 5 leg kicks to the lead leg of Gustafsson turning it red!!! As the round enters its closing minute Gustafsson feints rushing in on Jon to throw a combination that backs up Jones to the cage then feints on another combination which has Jones widely using some erratic head movement but Gustafsson times an amazing crunching right-hook that Jones practically moves into then follows it up with a clean straight to the forehead of Jones!!! Jon brings his guard up high allowing two brutal hooks to the body to land which buckles Jone’s before he can’t keep upright and falls!!! Jon Jones has just been knocked down for the first time in his career!!! Gustafsson follows up by grabbing the back as Jones covers up!!! Big rapid elbows from Gustafsson at a very high pace, while they mostly aren’t landing Jones is moving at all only covering. Gustafsson’s onslaught isn’t ending as he keeps throwing some elbows some slightly graze the side of Jone’s head but Jon still isn’t moving while he is covering up well like mentioned before he isn’t attempting to move at all he’s sort of curling up into a ball!!! That’s it referee Mike Beltron calls it off!!! Alexander Gustafsson finished Jon Jones in round 1!!! Jon Jones immediately protests the stoppage saying he was intelligently defending himself by covering up, but Mike Beltran explains to Jon he wasn’t really fighting back just curling up into a ball doing nothing as he hadn’t moved for 10 seconds. The stoppage can be debated but Alexander Gustafsson has officially handed Jon Jones the first legitimate loss of his career and is the new Light-Heavyweight champion becoming the first Light-Heavyweight champion from Sweden as well as the first champ not named Jon Jones or Daniel Cormier since 2010. Official Result: Alexander Gustafsson def. Jon Jones via TKO [body Punches & Elbows] R1 (4:26) -------------------------------------------------------------- Critical Rating: 75% / Commercial Rating: 98% Attendance: 17,466 ( $3,413,976 ) Venue: The Forum ( Los Angeles, California ) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Main-Event Alexander Gustafsson def. Jon Jones via TKO [body Punches & Elbows] R1 (4:26) to UFC Light-Heavyweight Championship [Fight Rating: Great] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Co-Main Cristiane Justino def. Cat Zingano via UD (48-47x2, 49-46) to retain UFC W-Featherweight Championship [Fight Rating: Decent] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Main-Card Michael Chiesa def. Carlos Condit via SUB [RNC] R2 (3:30) [Fight Rating: Great] Corey Anderson def. Ilir Latifi via UD (30-27x3) [Fight Rating: Decnet] Alexander Volkanovski def. Chad Mendes via KO [Knee] R2 (0:47) [Fight Rating: Great] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Preliminary-Card Andrei Arlovski def. Justin Willis via KO [Head Kick & Punches] R1 (3:38) [Fight Rating: Good] Petr Yan def. Douglas Silva de Andrade via KO [Punch] R3 (3:52) [Fight Rating: Good] Ryan Hall def. BJ Penn via UD (30-26x3) [Fight Rating: Great] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Early-Prelims Bec Rawlings def. Kalindra Faria via TKO [Punches] R1 (4:25) [Fight Rating: Great] Alessio Di Chirico def. Marcelo Guimaraes via TKO [Punches] R3 (2:45) [Fight Rating: Good] Sarah Moras def. Yana Kunitskaya via UD (30-26x3) [Fight Rating: Decent] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fight of The Night: Chad Mendes vs. Alexander Volkanovski -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Performance of The Night: Alexander Gustafsson, Michael Chiesa, Andrei Arlovski -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Predictions: vladjarca - (8/11) Majster_93 - (7/11) CageRage - (8/11) rodrigoviolim - (7/11) -------------------------------------------------------------- “Oh my god, ladies and gentlemen… Just when you think you have seen it all when you think nothing can surprise you anymore this sport pulls out something like this, and all you can really say is. Holy s***. Sorry for my language everyone but holy s***” - Joe Rogan Holy s*** indeed Joe Rogan. Alexander Gustafsson said it all week leading up to the fight and proved that 3rd time really is the charm as he is now the UFC Light-Heavyweight champion of the world with a TKO victory in round 1 over what many consider to be the greatest MMA fighter of all time. The fight started off extremely well with the two looking like it would be a replicated fight of the year bout as both showed improvements in the brief 4 minutes and 26 seconds they fought each other the 2nd time. Gustafsson had excellent timing knowing when and when not to throw combinations to preserve his energy plus his accuracy got better as the round went on leading to the finishing sequence. For Jon’s, he once again used his dynamic kicking game that definitely did work as the Swede was limping after the fight he also did a brilliant job parrying Gustafsson’s jab as Gus never really was able to set it up throughout the fight. However, ultimately he would overdo it with his head movement as he probably should have mixed in that movement with just covering up as he ran straight into a hook then put up his guard at the wrong time for Gus to land the fight-ending body shots that led to the fight-ending ground’ pound. Gustafsson barely was able to hold in his tears of happiness as he smiled all the way through the post-fight interview with Joe Rogan, the newly crowned Light-Heavyweight champion who would call out two opponents that had beaten him before for a potential rematch. “Oh, Joe [Rogan] it’s an amazing feeling I’ve worked so hard for this. I’ve failed twice already to claim this title but now it’s mine after all the hours in the gym, all the times I wanted to quit, I finally did it… Not only is this amazing but to win against him [Jon Jones] who I consider the greatest fighter of all time this is a dream. I have nothing but love for Jon. I know things got heated between us but I know he is a good person and an amazing fighter. As for my next fight, a trilogy is fine by me but I also want to take this time to call out some other people. Anthony Johnson, I heard you’re coming back, I always wanted to avenge that loss so in the same arena you knocked me out let’s do a rematch why not? And I think this victory makes me the pound for pound number one fighter Joe Rogan, but there's this guy they call ‘champ-champ’ he isn’t ‘champ-champ’ no more. He also holds a win over me Daniel Cormier if you want to come back down to 205 or I can come up and take your Heavyweight belt let’s do it, a fighter for the number one pound-for-pound fighter. The fans want a real fight not a circus show like you’re trying to do with Lesnar that is not what the fans want”. - Alexander Gustafsson Despite the amazing victory for Alex a large majority of fans are criticizing referee Mike Beltran for the stoppage as Jon Jones was covering well and none of the follow-up ground n’ pound never really landed clean it was grazing at best but nothing brutal. Beltran justified his decision to Jones who protested in the cage by explaining that Jon had given up his back to Gus who was raining down elbows and while Jones was covering up well he was barely moving, 15 seconds before the stoppage Jones didn’t move at all which to Beltran signaled that while Jon wasn’t finished physically he was finished mentally as he called off the fight. Both Jon Jones and his manager Malki Kawa heavily disagree with the stoppage with Malki saying they would challenge the result in an attempt to turn it over to a no contest. In total if you were to put into a percentage are 60% of fans, pundits, and fighters are okay with the stoppage while 40% have a problem with it. “You watch the fight and in the sequence where he [Alexander Gustafsson] knocked me down then came him with some wild elbows all of them are blocked. Every single one of them is blocked. None of them landed clean. Maybe two grazed me, I’m not trying to be a sore loser congrats to Gustafsson he worked hard for this but I worked hard to get back here too. I just feel robbed of my opportunity by the referee. I don’t mind the loss because losing happens, I want some more clarity like I clearly lost when I feel there is a lot of controversy around the stoppage. But like I’ve done many times before I’ll deal with it and I’ll be back”. - Jon Jones (via post-fight press conference) The main event stole the show as expected. The rest of the card was solid so let’s go over it. Cris Cyborg got the unanimous decision win over a game Cat Zingano who took all of Cyborg’s best shots in the early rounds to nearly get the win late as Cyborg was completely gassed in the final round Cat Zingano was on top on Cyborg in full-mount and attempt two close armbar attempts with a minute left it’s not unreasonable to think Zingano could have gotten the submission off but in another very controversial decision by the referee Mark Goddard stood the two fighters up in the last 45 seconds of the fight as for 20 seconds not much had happened but still Zingano had gotten off two close armbars and was in full-mount. Unlike the Jones stoppage which has fans divided this move has been unanimously criticized. Joe Rogan has gone to call it “the worst decision I’ve seen a referee make in a long time”. Entertainment wise it was an okay fight as Cyborg successfully made her 4th title-defense and Cat Zingano got to avenge her embarrassing Championship loss to Ronda Rousey in a gutsy loss to Cris Cyborg that many will be talking about for a long time. In a heartbreak for longtime UFC fans, Carlos Condit has lost his 5th fight in a row after coming so close to finally breaking it. Round 1 saw Chiesa expose Condit’s terrible takedown defense but in Round 2 with Condit putting on the pressure he would rock Chiesa with combinations then drop him with a straight nearly finishing him off with ground n’ pound but in what Condit has admitted was an “in the moment mistake” stopped the ground n’ pound to try and submit Chiesa in a triangle choke. The submission didn’t even come close and the wasted attempt gave Chiesa all the time he needed to recover, eventually, the fight found its way back to its feet then Condit would make another mistake going for an ill-advised spinning elbow that gave Chiesa his back as he dodged it then he submitted Condit with an impressive standing rear-naked choke. Rumors about Condit possibly being cut with another loss was a dark cloud over the entire lead-up for Carlos Condit and while the UFC has not made a statement on the future for ‘The Natural Born Killer’ in the UFC is unclear. Corey ‘Overtime’ Anderson outclassed Ilir Latifi to win (30-27) on all three judges' scorecards simply put Anderson froze up Latifi keeping him at a distance with long-range strike and leg kick. Even when the two wrestled Latifi failed to use his superior strength as he went 0 for 3 on takedowns compared to Andersons 2 for 5. Nothing else to say besides total one-sided domination the only thing missing were knockdowns and 10-8 rounds besides that total masterclass, the question arises where does Anderson fit into the title picture? Chael Sonnen on his ever-popular Youtube channel released a video explaining the situation with Anderson possibly challenging for the 205 titles. “[Corey] Anderson leading up to UFC 232 talked so much smack about Allstar gym, so much smack to the point where it was an all-out war between Corey Anderson and everyone at Allstars gym. So he goes out there to dominate Latifi, a member of the Allstar gym, and wouldn’t you know it he’s best friends as well as a fellow training of the newly crowned Champion Alexander Gustafsson. The marketing for Gus in UFC 232 was overcoming obstacles, this was his 3rd and probably last chance at a title shot, his 2nd fight against Jon Jones a chance for him to prove who really is the better fighter after such a close fight the first time around. He overcame all those obstacles only for a new one in Corey Anderson to emerge. Corey Anderson did every insult under the sun against every fighter, coach, and anyone associated with that gym he insulted everyone Gustafsson trained with and cared for. He went out there and proved to viewers 'hey I’m right' with his win over Latifi. He dominated one of Allstar’s best fighters; he is also one of Gustafsson’s best friends. Now the story that's laid with the Jon Jones trilogy and possibly a rematch with Cormier at Heavyweight is all fine, but for a complex yet easy-to-market fight I think Corey Anderson should be the next challenger for the belt”. - Chael Sonnen Alexander ‘The Great’ Volkanovski survived a scary opening round from Chad Mendes to get a knockout finished early in the 2nd. For the majority of round 1, Volkanovski proved to be the better fighter with dynamic movement, fundamentally better striking and countered Mendes wrestling with his overall strength showing how much stronger he is despite the two having a similar frame. Mendes did okay in the first feinting with level changes to get a few one punch straights but his biggest moment came when he faked a takedown late in the round going upstairs with a thunderous overhand that put Volkanovski down hard Mendes threw two hammer fists that both landed before the horn if only there were 2 or 3 seconds left Chad ‘Money’ Mendes would have undoubtedly won the fight. Thinking Volkanovski was still rocked Mendes decided to wrestle with the Australian a mistake that cost him the fight as Alex still held the overwhelming strength advantage and put Mendes into a muay-thai clinch to land a devastating knee to the head which put the California natives lights out early into the 2nd round. The prelims were also pretty fun Ryan Hall and Petr Yan both proved they are ready for a step up in competition with dominant victories. The opening bout of the night also saw #13 Women’s Bantamweight Sarah Moras ragdoll #10 Yana Kunitskaya. But undoubtedly the biggest story of the night was former Heavyweight Champion now a veteran of the sport Andrei Arlovski basically run straight through Justin Willis after the two had some choice words for each other, Willis famous comments of Arlovski being the “worst champion in UFC history” have come back to bite him royally as all of his bad intentions failed to even get started throughout the fight. Arlovski looked great, his movement for being an older fighter especially Heavyweight was impressive he rocked Willis 3 times on the feet even connecting on two brutal head kicks. The finishing sequence saw vintage Arlovski as he knocked out Willis in the first with a brutal furry of hooks that had Justin Willis knocked out slouching against the cage before he planted face-first into the canvas. Arlovski would also be the only fighter that trains with Jackson Wink MMA as the team went 1-2 on the night.

<div style="text-align:center;"><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;">I know I predicted Francis to beat him but Stipe getting knocked out cold in the 1st hurt not gonna lie, but at least a potential super fight between Jones and Ngannou is on the table. I Hope Miocic retires though as I only see him getting KO'd even worse from here on out. On the bright side from 3 out of 11 to 9 out of 11 on my predictions </div><img alt="" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/biggrin.png.929299b4c121f473b0026f3d6e74d189.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></div><p></p>

<p></p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Main Event</span></strong></p><p> </p><p> <strong>#9 Brian O’Flaherty (4-0)</strong> vs #10 Javid Khan (6-5)</p><p> Welterweight Bout</p><p> </p><p> Co-Main Event</p><p> <strong>#7 Geraint O’Connell (3-0) </strong>vs #10 Ignatius Hepfinger (9-10)</p><p> Lightweight Bout</p><p> </p><p> <strong>#9 Duey Rickert (9-5)</strong> vs #10 Swithens Corcoran (4-0)</p><p> Featherweight Bout</p><p> </p><p> #8 Tsunahei Ogawa (4-0) vs <strong>#9 Zabit Mansurov (3-0)</strong></p><p> Bantamweight Bout</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Pre-Show Card</span></strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> #10 Alessandro Adauto (2-0) vs #12 <strong>Masazou Nonaka (1-0)</strong></p><p> Bantamweight Bout</p><p> </p><p> <strong>#11 Mark Lee (3-0)</strong> vs #12 Clint Royle (2-0)</p><p> Featherweight Bout</p><p> </p><p> <strong>#10 Shawn McCarthy (2-0)</strong> vs #13 Nathan Wyles (1-0)</p><p> Lightweight Bout</p><p> </p><p> <strong>#12 Todd Prenger (2-0) </strong>vs #13 Humbert Gest (6-5)</p></div><p></p><p></p>

<p></p><div style="text-align:center;"><img alt="Wbm3irk.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/Wbm3irk.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><p> </p><p> <strong><span style="font-size:36px;"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">December Week 4 (2018) Recap</span></span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="font-size:36px;"> --------------------------------------------------------------</span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="font-size:36px;"> </span></strong><strong><span style="font-size:36px;"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">MMA News</span></span></strong></p><p> </p><p> <img alt="jaEYgQZ.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/jaEYgQZ.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> <strong><span style="font-size:36px;">--------------------------------------------------------------</span></strong><img alt="Cw2sbQi.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/Cw2sbQi.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> <strong><span style="font-size:36px;">--------------------------------------------------------------</span></strong> <strong><span style="font-size:36px;"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">MMA Twitter</span></span></strong></p><p> </p><p> <img alt="BCm31by.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/BCm31by.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> <strong><span style="font-size:36px;">--------------------------------------------------------------</span></strong><img alt="uCzFotY.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/uCzFotY.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><span style="font-size:36px;">UFC 232: Jones vs. Gustafsson II (Preview) </span></span></strong></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Main-Event</span></strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> Light-Heavyweight: Jon Jones (#1, #3P4P, 22-1-1NC) vs. Alexander Gustafsson (#2, 18-4) </strong></p><p><strong> </strong><strong><span style="font-size:8px;">*</span></strong><strong><span style="font-size:8px;"><em>For Vacant Light-Heavyweight Championship</em></span></strong><strong><span style="font-size:8px;">* </span></strong></p><p><strong> </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> W-Featherweight: [C] Cristiane Justino (#13P4P, 20-1-1NC) vs. Cat Zingano (10-3) </strong></p><p><strong> </strong><strong><span style="font-size:8px;">*</span></strong><strong><span style="font-size:8px;"><em>Cyborg's 4th attempted title-defense</em></span></strong><strong><span style="font-size:8px;">*</span></strong></p><p><strong> </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> </strong></p><p><strong> Welterweight: Carlos Condit (#13, 30-12) vs. Michael Chiesa (14-4) </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> Light-Heavyweight: Corey Anderson (#6, 11-4) vs. Ilir Latifi (#4, 14-5-1NC) </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> Featherweight: Chad Mendes (#5, 18-4) vs. Alexander Volkanovski (#11, 18-1)</strong></p><p><strong> </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 [FS1]</span></strong><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> Heavyweight: Justin Willis (#14, 7-1) vs. Andrei Arlovski (#15, 27-17-1NC)</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> Bantamweight: Petr Yan (10-1) vs. Douglas Silva de Andrade (25-2-1NC) </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> Featherweight: BJ Penn (16-12-2) vs. Ryan Hall (6-1) </strong></p><p><strong> </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 [uFC Fight-Pass] </span></strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> W-Flyweight: Bec Rawlings (7-8) vs. Kalindra Faria (18-8-1) </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> Middleweight: Alessio Di Chirico (12-2) vs. Marcelo Guimarães (9-2-1) </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> W-Bantamweight: Sarah Moras (5-4) vs. Yana Kunitskaya (11-4) </strong></p><p><strong> </strong><strong><span style="font-size:36px;">--------------------------------------------------------------</span></strong><img alt="Rnu1SC7.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/Rnu1SC7.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><div style="margin-left:25px;">UFC wraps up 2018 with a rematch that's been 5 years in the making, back at UFC 165 (2013) then Light-Heavyweight champion Jon Jones faced challenger Alexander Gustafsson and put on one of the greatest championship fights in the history of MMA. The early rounds saw Gustaffson picking Jones apart on the feet, clearly holding the speed and boxing advantage. Jones tried countering his with creative striking mostly using kicks to slow down the Swede and keep him at bay. To the surprise of many Gustaffson would become the first fighter to ever take Jones down, taking him down twice in the fight with one takedown in round 1 and the other in round 2. Not only that Gustaffson would stuff every single takedown attempt from Jon in rounds 1 to 4, it seemed Jones’s impressive title reign at Light-Heavyweight was coming to an end but in round 4 Jones landed with a devastating spinning elbow that Guss particularly ran into near the end of the round. During the final seconds of round 4 and the majority of round 5, Gustafsson was in survival mode as he survived to the end of the fight. With rounds 1, 2, 3 so close the question was did the Swede bank all of those rounds to get the championship and to the judges no he didn’t as Jones picked up a unanimous decision in an all-time great war not only being one of the better title fights in MMA but one of the better MMA fights period. With such an amazing fight it was only to be expected a rematch would happen soon but the two fighters' paths would diverge from each other way longer than anyone would have thought. Originally the two were booked for a rematch at UFC 178 but a Gustafsson injury would lead to one of the greatest rivalries in MMA history as Daniel Cormier would step-up to fight Jones putting the rematch on the sidelines. While DC and Jones fought, Gustafsson would fight knockout artist Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson in his hometown Stockholm, Sweden and be brutally knocked out in the 1st round. But in his next fight, he faced the newly crowned Light-Heavyweight champion, Daniel Cormier, as Jones was suspended a year after being involved in a hit and run incident that included him hitting a pregnant lady. Once again Gustafsson would push the champion to his limits with a razor-close split decision loss to DC in another all-time classic war. Cormier has gone to call the fight “something that changed the way I fight and changed the man I am today”. Now the Swede rides a two-fight winning streak with a decision win over contender Jan Blachowicz and a 5th round TKO over Glover Teixeira the TKO of Glover was undoubtedly the greatest performance of his career his movement, boxing technique, and the overall game as at an all-time high now he is yet again on the doorstep of becoming a UFC champion he told reporters in a press conference leading up to the bout, </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> “This is undoubtedly my last chance at a UFC championship, I know what's at stake if I lose against Jon [Jones] and the third time the charm right? I don’t care what he does, he can do his steroids, all his partying, it doesn't matter to me. I’m 100% focused on winning tonight something I don’t think he has been focused on for a very long time". </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> - Alexander Gustafsson </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> I feel we all know Jones' path so I won’t spend too much time on it but after a UD victory over Daniel Cormier at UFC 182, Jones would be stripped and suspended a year after being involved in the previously mentioned hit and run incident. In his return, he snatched up an interim belt and was scheduled for a rematch against Cormier at UFC 200 who again as mentioned before won the strap in Jones’s absence. He would infamously test positive for a reported ‘trace amount of steroids’ before the event, suspended for a year again he would return at UFC 214 to finally put an end to the Cormier rivalry as in their rematch he'd win again this time by knockout in the 3rd round to not only win his title back but also his life until he tested positive again for a ‘trace amount of steroids’. He was again stripped of his championship again, his 2nd in over Cormier ruled a no contest, and suspended a year again. The leads us up to this fight where Jones just needs a good clean win with no controversy surrounding it at all until he tested positive for a ‘trace amount of steroids’ leading up to this fight too again. But USADA’s Jeff Novitzky would explain the positive test was for the same steroids that popped up back in UFC 214 he explained that USADA thinks the trace amount is still in there but not enough to enhance Jon Jones’s performance. The Nevada state athletic commission refused to sanction Jones but in a scramble instead of pulling Jones from the card the UFC moved the entire event to California to accommodate Jones as the commission there gave the green light. Many are disgusted by the special treatment and the good feeling that Jones tried to promote of him just finally getting a solid clean win is out of the picture now. If we can just go back to the fight for a second Gustafsson poses the same threats Jon faced before lightning-quick hands, technical boxing, and an all-around high-level mixed martial artist. It’s hard to know where Jones' head is at with the chaotic build-up but if he does come back at a high-level we all know who Jon ‘Bones’ Jones is one of if not the greatest MMA fighter in the history of the sport. </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> With the Jones drama dominating headlines it's hard to remember that there are 10 other fights on the card but let’s get into them. It’s no secret it’s a huge let down that Women's Bantamweight Champion Amanda Nunes pulled out with an injury before her scheduled super-fight bout with Women's Featherweight Champion Cristiane Cyborg as that fight would undoubtedly crown the greatest female fighter ever, alas the MMA gods decided it wasn’t meant to be instead Cat Zingano will step up in her Featherweight debut to face Cyborg for the championship. Reports have previously mentioned she was supposed to fight Megan Anderson in the prelims but she has been promoted to the co-main event. She says her training for Anderson will be a huge advantage for her,</div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> “Sure I took this fight with [Cristiane] Cyborg on short notice but I was already training for a fight on the exact same day. [Megan] Anderson is a tall striker with knockout power and [Cristiane] Cyborg is a tall striker with knockout power. The only thing against me is this five rounds instead of three, but to that I sat, when have you guys ever seen me gassed out before?”.</div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> - Cat Zingano </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 her credit, she is kind of right and Zingano is a very durable fighter who is skilled in dirty boxing plus wrestling. But Cyborg and Anderson’s power scale isn’t comparable, plus Cyborg is much more well-rounded than Megan Anderson being a high-level muay-thai, kickboxer, and black-belt in BJJ. Carlos Condit looks to end the worst losing streak of his career currently on a 4-fight skid it’s now make or break time for the longtime Welterweight contender and Jackson Wink MMA fighter as a loss here would probably have him off the rankings and cut off the UFC roster entirely. His opponent Michael Chiesa moving up to Welterweight after multiple weight misses at Lightweight, stylistically this is a very bad match-up for Condit who is notorious for his terrible takedown defense he’ll probably be looking to use his size to keep the fight standing or use his very experienced BJJ off his back to possibly submit Chiesa. With his job probably on the line maybe we’ll finally see Condit collect his first win since 2015 or will Chiesa start his Welterweight career by possibly retiring a UFC legend? To start off the main-card two key Light-Heavyweight and Featherweight fights could possibly crown the next title-challenger. Starting off with the Light-Heavyweight bout Corey ‘Overtime’ Anderson takes on Ilir Latifi training partner of Alexander Gustafsson at ‘Allstars Training Center’. Ilir is a very powerful wrestler with some good power in his hands as well, Anderson on the other is much more technical in his wrestling plus stand-up. Anderson has talked some trash in general about Allstars Training Center fighters calling the gym a "dumpster-fire" that has drawn the ire of both Latifi and Gustafsson during the lead-up. </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> Chad 'Money' Mendes a longtime staple plus two-time challenger fights for the 2nd time in 2018 after completing his USADA suspension recently taking less than 3 minutes to TKO Myles Jury. Mendes now faces Australias Alexander ‘The Great’ Volkanovski, both are huge for the division which to no one surprise means both fighters have some really heavy hands. Mendes has a better background in wrestling competing at a higher-level but Volkanovski like GSP before him has some really good MMA wrestling he also fights out of City Kickboxing a very technical kickboxing gym that has refined Volkanovski stand-up. Mendes has refined his striking as well starting to incorporate more body punches so keep an eye out on this one it very well could win the fight of the night honnors. Some notable prospects on the card are the Russian boxing and muay-thai specialist Petr Yan and BJJ supreme black-belt Ryan Hall. Both are taking on veterans in former two divisional weigh champion BJ Penn and Douglas Silva de Andrade a longtime muay-thai champion. Finally, we’ll see the finale fight on FS1 before the UFC official moves all its broadcasting rights to ESPN with the new ESPN deal that kicks into effect after the prelims for UFC 232 are over. The first-ever UFC on Fox was headlined by a Heavyweight fight and the last UFC on Fox (to be more specific FS1) will be a Heavyweight fight. The former Heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski will face up and comer Justin Willis who was supposed to face Mark Hunt earlier this month but Hunt would instead face JDS after Tuivasa pulled out of the main-evet fight with JDS via a stomach injury. Arlovski looks to prove that experience trumps everything as he said he was the better fighter in every aspect of MMA than Willis who in his words “is a fat sloppy striker”. Willis has made his intentions clear to the press he wants to knockout Arlovksi cold, </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> “He’s the worst champion the UFC has ever had [Andrei Arlovski], his biggest skill is luck and that’s it. He has declined over the years fighters have just realized he sucks that’s it”.</div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"> - Justin Willis </div><p></p><p> </p><p> <img alt="XIGhvwa.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/XIGhvwa.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> <img alt="eb9b5PE.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/eb9b5PE.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p></div><p></p>

<p></p><div style="text-align:center;"><img alt="Wbm3irk.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/Wbm3irk.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><p> </p><p> <strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><span style="font-size:36px;">December Week 4 (2018) UFC Rankings</span></span></strong></p><p> <strong><span style="font-size:36px;">--------------------------------------------------------------</span></strong><img alt="0dvM37y.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/0dvM37y.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> <strong><span style="font-size:36px;">--------------------------------------------------------------</span></strong><img alt="I2ePwJu.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/I2ePwJu.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> <strong><span style="font-size:36px;">--------------------------------------------------------------</span></strong><img alt="OfOGJPx.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/OfOGJPx.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> <strong><span style="font-size:36px;">--------------------------------------------------------------</span></strong></p><p> <img alt="eb9b5PE.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/eb9b5PE.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p></div><p></p><p></p>

UFC on FOX: Lee vs. Iaquinta II Date: December Week 3 (2018) 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 the same, 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. -------------------------------------------------------------- Key Fight Play-ByPlays: Possibly the most competitive fight on the card Rob Font and Sergio Pettis is rightfully ranked a pick em’ fight. Font’s technical boxing combined with Pettis' creative taekwondo style promises some fireworks on the feet, but let us not forget Font is also an excellent wrestler. Sergio much like his brother Anthony are no slouches on the ground and can easily submit their opponents if they get sloppy on the ground. Round 1 Pettis feints and fakes a few jabs to get into close range, and leads off with a nice body kick that causes a huge slap sound. Continuing to feint with some fake jabs, Pettis slips the overhand from Font buckling him with a leg kick counter. Continuing to utilize kicks Pettis lands two quick ones to the legs then fakes a leg kick for a spinning back kick to the body, but Font dodges it by moving to the right then blasts Pettis with an uppercut followed by a jab then slipped a counter right hook from Pettis to only land a counter right hook of his own. Pettis backs up to the cage, he mistakenly bites on a fake straight from Font who goes for a level-change grabbing the legs. After some brief grapple exchanges Rob Font is able to lift up Pettis for a takedown, Font smothers Pettis from half-guard landing a few punches to the body than a quick elbow to the head that opens a small cut on the left side of the forehead of Sergio Pettis. After a couple of minutes of passing guard plus a failed armbar from Pettis, Rob Font is able to grab the full-mount but Pettis is able to excellently cover up on the bottom but Front keeps smothering him from the top to prevent Pettis from firing any strikes from the bottom or attempt any more submissions as well. Unofficial Judges: MMAJunkie: 10-9 Font Sherdog: 10-9 Font Blurcat: 10-9 Font Round 2 Font starts walking down Pettis who tries to set-up a counter uppercut as Font feints going for some takedowns, instead Font fakes the takedown then hits a plus counter one-two while Pettis goes for the uppercut briefly clinching with each other Pettis lands a knee to the body but as the two disengage from the clinch Font times a perfect elbow to the forehead of Pettis which reopens the same cut from round 1 in fact it made it even larger. Font wants to keep the pressure on but Pettis fakes the flying knee allowing him to hit a clean front kick to the face that landed right under the chin!!! Rob Font covers up high so Pettis goes to the body with 3 straight hooks than a straight as well. Font tries to respond with a pull counter straight but misses then gets clipped with an uppercut right under the chin. Pettis fires off 3 straight punches landing 1 of them but then finds a home with a roundhouse kick to the body which pushes Font to the cage. Pettis rips the body again by faking the uppercut up top going with 2 hooks to the body however, also gets blasted with an overhand on the chin as Pettis pulls back!!! Pettis lands two leg kicks but fails to read Font’s feints who fakes coming in a lead straight instead of taking down his opponent with a double-leg takedown. Font tries to transition to full-guard but a brilliant sprawl sees Pettis on top in the north-south position but in another sprawl, Font regains the top position in side-control!!! Font fires off some elbows to the body plus head near the end of the round. Unofficial Judges: MMAJunkie: 20-18 Font Sherdog: 20-18 Font Blurcat: 19-19 Round 3 Pettis still looks to land the uppercut constantly throwing them at the end of straight punch combinations but Font’s superior footwork keeps Pettis swinging in mid-air, after Pettis once again misses on yet another uppercut Rob Font lands a flush counter right hook after ducking under the punch then coming up with the punch. Font follows up with a left hand then straight to the body, Pettis is able to start finding success striking again by implementing kicks into his attacks. After two calf kicks land for Pettis he fakes going of the heel kick to the head allowing Pettis to land a flurry of 4 hooks to the body then going upstairs to the head with an uppercut, while inclose Font grabs ahold of Pettis scoring on two elbows to the forehead then lands a great right hook as the two separate!!! Font continues up with the attack coming forward with a straight but he also takes a lead knee to the body then is clipped on the chin by a quick elbow!!! Following up that elbow he lands a spinning back fist to the forehead while Font misses a counter right. The two stand in the middle starting to trade shots, Font lands a one-two then Pettis responds with a sharp front kick to the body. Pettis fires off a superman jab that just misses but is able to hit a follow-up spinning back kick, Pettis launches a head kick that Font pulls back his head then hits a flush straight then left hook. Pettis launches a flurry of hooks in response starting with 4 to the body with 2 landings then 3 to the head all of them blocked. After the flurry Font is able to land a nice jab but is hit with a hard slapping roundhouse kick to the body which stuns him briefly!!! The two just feints near the end of the fight as neither of them want to commit to anymore strikes as both parties raise their hands in victory, it’s gonna be a very interesting decision. Unofficial Judges: MMAJunkie: 29-28 Font Sherdog: 30-27 Font Blurcat: 29-28 Pettis “Ladies and gentlemen, after 3 rounds we go to the judges' scorecards for a decision, all three judges score this contest 29-28 to the winner by unanimous decision….. Sergio Pettis!!!” Official Result: Sergio Pettis def. Rob Font via UD (29-28x3) A rising contender on a winning streak in Dan Hooker faces a long contender who is now on a losing streak in Barboza. We’ve seen these types of fights many times before, as Dan Hooker labeled it “it’s old guard versus new guard”. Both men are dynamic kickboxers with some of the more impressive kick or knee knockouts in UFC history, the creative seen on both Barboza and Hooker promises some fireworks. But we have seen match-ups in the past be exciting on paper only to not deliver so we’ll see how well this fight lives up to expectations. Round 1 Barboza starts off the fight with an array of leg kicks that are well off the mark, on one of those leg kicks he leaves his chin entirely exposed allowing a counter looping right hook to land flush causing the Brazilian to back up to the cage. Hooker unloads with a flurry of 4 follow-up hooks but some excellent head movements got some “oohs” from the crowd as Barboza is finally able to land a signature stinging leg kick that made a cracking sound as it landed. The two aren’t able to land consistently as they jab away at each other unable to find the distance, Barboza is unable to land an ill-advised spinning back kick to the body allowing Hooker to grab a hold of him then drive him to the cage. Grabbing the collar tie Hooker blasts Barboza with 3 straight bus driver uppercuts to the head then a knee to the body before unloading with a flurry of 8 hooks with 6 of them landing!!! Barboza is able to circle out landing another quick leg kick as he does so, while the two engage distance another missed kick from Barboza allows Hooker to counter with a flush head kick to the dome of the Brazilian!!! Trying to end the fight with a knee ‘The Hangman’ looks to grab the muay-thai clinch to end with but runs into a double jab, straight right, then right hook the body combination from Edson Barboza. Looking to end the fight Barboza launches a huge head kick that is parried by Dan Hooker who scores with two hooks to the body then followed it up with a front kick as well. Barboza fakes another head kick putting Hooker’s guard up high then hits a massive spinning back kick to the rib cage that leaves a horrible red mark!!! Hooker misses on a few jabs allowing Barboza to counter with a solid right hand then briefly grabs Hooker to land two knees to the body. As the disengage Hooker lands a clean jab on the chin followed up by a solid pull then counter right hand, Hooker then lands a one-two jumps backward to avoid a body shot from Barobza then jumps right back into land a question mark kick to the forehead for Barboza which puts him on rubbery legs as the round ends. Unofficial Judges: MMAJunkie: 10-9 Hooker Sherdog: 10-9 Hooker Blurcat: 10-9 Hooker Round 2 Barboza starts the round by again missing on leg kicks occasionally getting counter by a few looping punches from Hooker who then misses on a body kick of his own allowing Barboza to connect on a straight to the body then left hook to the forehead. Barboza’s head movements are starting to take over this fight slipping a right loop right hook followed up by an overhand that also missed as Barboza again went to the body with a sharp front kick then spinning back to the body. Barboza lands two straight-pull counters then follows up on the 2nd one with a looping elbow that opens a cut on the right side of the nose of Dan Hooker. ‘The Hangman’ comes up short on a one-two as Barboza moves in for two quick calf kicks, Hooker starts to limp switching stances. While missing a straight Hooker is countered by a jab, right hook to the body followed up with a sidekick to the body. Hooker misses another jab but finally hits a few short punches by briefly grabbing hold of Barboza, the Brazilian dodges a right hand going to the body with a spinning back fist. Hooker lands a jab but leaves his hands a little too low as Barboza hits a hard question mark kick to the head!!! The two exchange hooks but then Barboza hits with the same icon wheel kick to the forehead of Hooker that he hit against Terry Emit at UFC 142!!! Hooker is floored landing head first to the canvas but does so at the exact same time the horn sounds for the end of the round!!! In a confusion of if the fight is over or not referee Mark Smith decides to let the fight play out, a very interesting and probably controversial decision as that was a definite 10-8 round for the Brazilian will see how ‘The Hangman’ can respond from practically getting knocked out. Unofficial Judges: MMAJunkie: 19-18 Barboza Sherdog: 19-18 Barboza Blurcat: 19-18 Barboza Round 3 Hooker starts moving around more this round as he was more of a plotter in the first 2 rounds, doing this slips the left-cross from Barboza responding with a jew back then roundhouse kick to the body. Hooker dashed straight at Barboza and landed a fly knee!!! But it only particularly landed as Barboza is able to shake it off responding with another leg kick which has Hooker limping now. The damage to his legs plus his gas tank starts to make him a plotter again as the final round continues. Barboza lands two leg kicks followed by a ducking jab he nearly runs into a lethal knee by Hooker similar to the New Zealander flying knee knockout of Ross Pearson, instead Barboza slips right hammers another leg lethal quick but leaves himself open for a straight right directly to the chin. Then with his left-hand grabs a collar tie to bashed a knee straight into Barboza’s face!!! Barboza might have been briefly hurt as he backs up the cage but with Hooker’s legs basically gone he can’t move in to follow up and finish the fight. The last-minute of the fight is spent with the two mostly missing on strikes as neither can find the range as both look really gassed out there. Unofficial Judges: MMAJunkie: 28-28 draw Sherdog: 29-27 Barboza Blurcat: 28-28 draw “Ladies and gentlemen after 3 rounds we go to the judge’s scorecards for a decision, the judges score this contest 29-27, 28-28, and 29-27 to the winner by majority decision. Edson Barboza” Official Result: Edson Barboza def. Dan Hooker via MD (29-27x2, 28-28) Lightweight has quickly become the most competitive division the UFC has to offer and tonight's main-event is yet another very interesting and competitive Lightweight clash. ‘Raging’ Al looks to make it 2-0 against ‘The Motown Phenom' Kevin Lee, both fighters right now are on the outside looking in when it comes to the Lightweight title-hunt but with a winning one is put straight into contention while for the loser it is a long way down the ladder in a division where you could quickly find yourself off the rankings with only a couple of losses even if their close fights. Round 1 Iaquinta offers a touching of the gloves with just one hand but there was no touching on the gloves completely ignored by Kevin Lee, it seems their war of words on Twitter has gotten to ‘The Motown Phenom’ who has promised to make quick work of Iaquinta will see if he can make good on those intentions here tonight. Lee steps in with a quick jab to the body followed by a quick head kick which is blocked, having Iaquinta on the back foot at a weird angle Lee manages to grab a hold of ‘Raging’ Al putting him up against the cage. After some brief dirty boxing to the body from Lee he is able to grab underhooks looking for a double-leg, intentionally its stuff by Iaquinta but after a sweep from Lee puts his opponent on one foot he is able to quickly scoop up Iaquinta for a slam takedown putting him under side-control. Lee fires off a couple of knees to the body then attempts a kimura submission but is blocked, as Lee takes some time to rest in Al’s guard he is hit by some elbow strikes while Iaquinta is on his back very similar to how Tony Ferguson was able to do minus the rubber-guard. Lee tries to respond with ground n’ pound with a few right hands to the body but Al Iaquinta is able to create separation by pushing ‘The Motown Phenom’ with his two feet to get the fight back standing. Lee lands a nice roundhouse kick to the body, Iaquinta misses a counter uppercut as Kevin Lee slips backward then parries Al’s jab but then ‘Raging’ Al rocks Kevin Lee with a humongous straight right to the chin as he fakes a level-change to bring his opponent’s hands down!!! Unfortunately, Iaquinta tripped over himself with some sloppy footwork allowing Lee to take the back with a body lock around the hips but he would stall until the end of the round. Unofficial Judges: MMAJunkie: 10-9 Lee Sherdog: 10-9 Lee Blurcat: 10-9 Lee Round 2 ‘Raging’ Al starts the round throwing punches in bunches while moving in he throws 3straight punches starting with a double-jab then straight right all 3 punches land then moves out with right-hook going backwards which is blocked but is particularly able to land a looping uppercut followed by a leg kick while on the outside. It seems whenever Iaquinta starts throwing combinations with the punches Kevin Lee just shells up not wanting to get clipped again by a clean bomb from Iaquinta, but once the fight is at a long-range Lee opens up with some push kicks to the body. Iaquinta fakes going with a combination upstairs causing Lee to freeze as he puts up his guard only to throw a rapid-fire 4 looping punches to the body forcing Lee up against the cage in which he ties up with ‘The Motown Phenom’. While Lee is up against the cage Iaquinta makes a sudden burst of energy by going low trying to grab then scoop both legs from Lee out from under him and it works as Lee pulls guard up near the cage. While in half-guard Al Iaquinta keeps Lee guessing with ground n’ pound transitioning from the body to the head, Iaquinta is able to grab side-control seeming content in the position throwing knees to the body with a few elbows to head. Unofficial Judges: MMAJunkie: 19-19 Sherdog: 19-19 Blurcat: 19-19 Round 3 Al Iaquinta starts the round out with a jab followed by a straight right then two hooks one to the head one to the body all punches land, this again caused Lee to move all the way back against the cage of the octagon. So Iaquinta like the 2nd round decides to clinch with Lee up against the cage unlike last time Kevin Lee shows a lot more resistance stuffing a double-leg takedown even switching the position around a couple of times as the two exchanged turning each other around but eventually Lee’s bigger frame and overall strength stars showing as he is able to trap Iaquinta against the cage for an extended period of time throwing knees to the legs, foot stops, short punches to the body. But his most effective strikes during this time were 2 clean elbows which opened up 2 small cuts under the left eye of ‘Raging’ Al who is then lifted into the air as Lee quickly grabbed a strong body lock to carry Iaquinta to the middle of the octagon for a terrific slam!!! Lee tries numerous times to grab full-mount but Al Iaquinta shows excellent transition defense to prevent Lee from ever getting a dominant position leaving him in half-guard for the rest of the round. Unofficial Judges: MMAJunkie: 29-28 Lee Sherdog: 29-28 Lee Blurcat: 29-28 Lee Round 4 It seems Kevin Lee used a lot of energy that round trying to outwrestle ‘Raging’ Al as he takes a lot of huge gaps for air in the corner and still does to start this round. Iaquinta sees this mouth breathing starts out attacking the body with a leg straight followed by a flurry of 4 hooks all punches land. Lee backs up but circles around instead of backing up directly to the cage, from a longer distance Iaquinta is able to land a looping jab that looks similar to a superman jab but Lee retaliates with a stinging roundhouse kick to the body. Iaquinta surprises everyone by shooting for a takedown at such a long distance surprising more people by grabbing a deep single-leg as Lee shows little resistance while being taken down. Iaquinta is able to transition pretty frequently between half-guard, to full-guard, to side-control but just can’t seem to secure full-mount. After some time in side-control with Iaquinta landing some knees to the body, Lee senses Iaquinta trying to take his back and in a perfect scramble, it's now Kevin Lee who has the back of Iaquinta!!! With a minute and a half left Lee attempts a rear-naked choke without any hooks in but he isn’t able to get the submission under the chin, ‘Raging’ Al works for separation and is able to get to his feet but Lee still has his back with a deep body lock. Lee throws some right hands to the body with a couple of knees to the back of the legs, Iaquinta is able to break free of the body lock but can’t get enough separation as Lee ties up with him again to put him up against the cage then slams his best strike of the fight by hitting a looping elbow that was very similar to a bus driver uppercut!!! Unofficial Judges: MMAJunkie: 39-37 Lee Sherdog: 38-38 Blurcat: 39-37 Lee Round 5 Last round and ‘The Motown Phenom’ is out for blood starting on the attack backing down Iaquinta who seemed like he was about to shoot for a takedown but Lee took the initiative peppering Iaquinta with 4 straight jabs then landed a hard cross!!! Despite a great combination, Lee looks like he is out of gas he probably spent the last of it on that combination right there as ‘Raging’ Al is starting to back down Kevin Lee. Big combinations from Iaquinta now flurrying with 7 hooks landing 4 of them all to the head, Lee is still freezing up not moving with his feet at all just covering up via a very traditional boxing guard!!! A huge uppercut nearly puts Lee down!!! As Lee is slouching against the cage Iaquinta is throwing some rapid punches with his right hand while referee Keith Peterson is telling Lee to fight back ‘The Motown Phenom’ grabs a hold of Iaquinta’s leg trying for a very weak single-leg which Iaquinta stuffs then takes the back of Kevin Lee!!! Iaquinta unloads with several right hands that clearly hurt Lee who tries to cover up, but suddenly the ground n’ pound stops as Iaquinta is wincing in pain shaking his right hand he might have broken it while going for some the finish because of this injury it allows Lee enough time to recover!!! The fight comes to a stand-still a bit. Iaquinta still has Lee’s back but is only firing off punches with his left hand now while Lee is all defensive just covering up not making any attempts to get back up he might not even have the stamina to do so in all honesty. With a minute left in the round, Iaquinta gets both hooks in and sinks in a rear-naked choke!!! It’s under the chin and was very close but Lee barely escapes only to be put right back into the RNC only a few seconds after escaping!!! With such little time left in the round, Lee opts to just survive the finale seconds instead of escaping a move which nearly had him finished, only nearly though as the round ends with Al Iaquinta living up to his ‘Raging’ nickname screaming out “same Al” as the fight ends taunting Kevin Lee who in an interview with the Fox desk after the weigh-in said Iaquinta was the same fighter he fought at UFC 169 with no improvements to his game whatsoever. Despite being dominated in the round Lee seems pretty confident raising his hands he probably thinks he won rounds 1, 3, and 4. But even if the judges do have him up could we possibly see a draw as this could have been a 10-8 round? Will see as Bruce Buffer has the decision. Unofficial Judges: MMAJunkie: 48-47 Lee Sherdog: 48-46 Iaquinta Blurcat: 47-47 draw “Ladies and gentle after 5 rounds we go the judge’s scorecards for a decision, all 3 judges score this contest 48-47 to the winner by unanimous decision, ‘Raging’ Al Iaquinta” Official Result: Al Iaquinta def. Kevin Lee via UD (48-47x3) -------------------------------------------------------------- Critical Rating: 70% / Commercial Rating: 75% Attendance: 8,846 ( $838,284 ) Venue: Fiserv Forum ( Milwaukee, Wisconsin ) -------------------------------------------------------------- Main-Event Al Iaquinta def. Kevin Lee via UD (48-47x3) [Fight Rating: Good] -------------------------------------------------------------- Co-Main Edson Barboza def. Dan Hooker via MD (29-27x2, 28-28) [Fight Rating: Good] -------------------------------------------------------------- Main-Card Sergio Pettis def. Rob Font via UD (29-28x3) [Fight Rating: Great] Charles Oliveria def. Jim Miller via SUB [Kimura] R2 (4:43) [Fight Rating: Average] Jack Hermansson def. Gerald Meerschaert via UD (30-27x2, 29-28) [Fight Rating: Decent] -------------------------------------------------------------- Preliminary-Card Bobby Green def. Drakkar Klose via SUB [Guillotine] R1 (3:50) [Fight Rating: Great] Dan Ige def. Enrique Barzola via UD (29-27x3) [Fight Rating: Great] Sergio Moraes def. Zak Ottow via SUB [Americana] R1 (3:22) [Fight Rating: Good] Ariane Lipski def. Emily Whitmire via KO [Knee] R2 (1:28) [Fight Rating: Great] -------------------------------------------------------------- Early-Preliminary Card Ramazan Emeev def. Abu Azaitar via TKO [Punches] R1 (0:49) [Fight Rating: Good] Sam Alvey def. Nikita Krylov via KO [Punch] R1 (4:33) [Fight Rating: Great] Gina Mazany def. Ashlee Evans-Smith via SUB [Armbar] R1 (2:00) [Fight Rating: Great] -------------------------------------------------------------- Fight of The Night: Sergio Pettis vs. Rob Font -------------------------------------------------------------- Performance of The Night: Charles Oliveria, Bobby Green, Sam Alvey -------------------------------------------------------------- Predictions: vladjarca - (11/12) so close Majster_93 - (10/12) rodrigoviolim - (8/12) -------------------------------------------------------------- “Same Al!” was the saying of the night as Al Iaquinta defeated Kevin Lee in a very competitive fight on the last ever UFC on Fox show. The saying also turned into a new MMA meme as the saying itself plus a gif of Iaquinta screaming it during the fight has spread around MMA Twitter. Going back to a more serious tone Iaquinta now finds himself near the upper talent of the Lightweight division calling out two fighters in particular Justin Gaethje explaining a fight between them is a “fight of the century type sh**” and Paul Felder as originally the two was supposed to fight at UFC 223 but in one of the craziest lead-ups to a card in MMA history, Iaquinta found himself as the main-event fight versus Khabib Nurmagomedov for the UFC Lightweight championship. But we will have to see after some scans what's up with Iaquinta's right hand which was probably broken during the fight, if so it might be a while since we see ‘Raging’ Al again in the octagon. For Kevin Lee his gas tank ultimately failed him once again as skills wise he probably is the better fighter than Iaquinta, in fact just a pure conversation of skills alone Kevin Lee is one the best Lightweights in the division but the same factors showed their heads again to yet again stumble up ‘The Motown Phenom’ being his cardio and consistency. Plus many questioned his decision to just shell up whenever Iaquinta started throwing punches as Al was very open to the counter jab which Lee never really exploited instead choosing just to freeze up against the cage of the octagon for the most part. Lee wouldn’t have a post-fight interview with Jon Anik or attend the post-fight press conference either as we are yet to hear from ‘The Motown Phenom’ who left with a bitter face shaking his head while the decision was read and gave Al Iaquinta the nod tonight. Edson Barboza proved that while he might be the old guard he isn’t going anywhere anytime soon as Barboza would put on one of the better rounds of his career during the 2nd round of his Majority Decision win over Dan Hooker his overall movement was at an all-time best for him, his leg kicks are still in prime form. Hooker performed well himself in fact most pundits and fans across the world scored the fight a draw as he showed he was the more technical fighter plus a bit more creative. But after such a bad beating in the 2nd round practically being knocked out in the last second the fact that most people thought he won the 3rd round has won over a lot of fans despite Barboza getting the win. Sergio Pettis won a very thrilling and close fight against Rob Font, with such a close fight in MMA it has already been labeled a robbery by some. However, judging aside Font showed some serious boxing skill but failed to adjust to the Taekwondo style of Sergio Pettis although both fighters left a lot to be desired in terms of defense, Pettis walked away with the unanimous decision victory plus undoubtedly a ranking next to his name next time the rankings are updated. To the shock of many, he would announce he will be competing in both the Flyweight and Bantamweight division saying, “I wanna be a pound-for-pound best fighter in the world to do that you gotta prove you can fight at multiple weight classes, we’ve never seen someone in the UFC consistently get wins in two weight classes and be ranked in both weight classes at the same time. To me, that's what pound-for-pound means that's what Anthony [Pettis] did at 145 and 155. It’s wanna I’m gonna do now at 125 and 135”. - Sergio Pettis It was an up and down night for prospects with some getting much-needed wins to further their careers while others came to a brutal end halt. Starting off with the victors Charles Oliveria dominated Jim Miller with his pressure grappling style of fighting to finish him in the 2nd round with a slick kimura while the two were sprawling on the ground, Jack Hermansson would outclass Gerald Meerschaert after a slow first round that was mainly a boxing fight to incorporate his superior submission grappling in rounds 2 and 3 that had Meershaert at the end of some pretty close submission attempts. Dan Ige would show the heart of a champion in a great fight which saw Ige push the pace with body strikes to win round 1 with his pure aggression but in round 2 Barloza incorporated more dirty boxing which had Ige in trouble multiple times as Ige started to gas. It seemed the fight was in favor of the fresher Barloza but when went to go for more dirty boxing at the start of round 3 he'd be dropped by a flying knee and nearly finished, with a minute left in the fight Ige would drop him again with a spinning back fists to secure a 10-8 round and the decision. As for the losers, Drakkar Klose defensive wrestling was badly exposed tonight as the veteran Bobby Green went a perfect 3 for 3 on takedowns before eventually getting a guillotine finish proving a lot of offs makers wrong being the biggest betting underdog win of the night at (+300), another veteran that would put away an upcoming prospect was Sam Alvery with a brutal knock out over Nikkita Krylov in a late comeback of the year candidate. Krylov immediately hurt Alvey to start the fight with a switch head kick counter after Alvey missed an opening 4 punch combination, the Russian then put Alvey down after dragging him into the muay-thai clinch to drop him with a brutal knee to the head to open a cut on the forehead of Alvey. Ground n’ pound nearly finished him off but when that didn’t work Krylov nearly pulled off a guillotine submission. Did I mention Sam Alvey won this fight? Eventually, Alvey would get his wits about him and the superior grappler was able to get back to his feet after threatening to sweep Krylov, the Russian seemed to discredit Alvey’s punching power leaving himself open for counters which coasted him the fight as when Krylov missed a fight-ending overhand followed by an even bigger uppercut which also missed Alvey set his feet to clock back on a thunderous right hook that put the Russians lights out. It’s not all bad news for Russian MMA as Ramazan Emeev took only 49 seconds to TKO Azaitar with a powerful straight right to extend his record to (19-3) and (4-0) within the UFC, finally, former KSW Women's Flyweight champion Ariane Lipski got a performance of the night knockout in her UFC debut showing some powerful muay-thai striking for the Women’s Flyweight division she might just be the most powerful striker in the division and if she can develop some better technique it probably isn't too long before she is challenging for the title.

Main Event Heavyweight Championship Bout: © Stipe Miocic vs. (#1) Francis Ngannou Co-Main Event Featherweight Championship Bout: © Alexander Volkanovski vs. (#2) Brian Ortega Main Card Welterweight Bout: (#8) Tyron Woodley vs. (#11) Vicente Luque Light Heavyweight Bout: (#11) Johnny Walker vs. (#14) Jimmy Crute Bantamweight Bout: Sean O’Malley vs. Thomas Almeida ESPN Preliminary Card Lightweight Bout: Joe Lauzon vs. Lando Vannata Welterweight Bout: Court McGee vs. Mickey Gall Women’s Strawweight Bout: Randa Markos vs. Luana Pinheiro ESPN+ Early Preliminary Card Light Heavyweight Bout: Michal Oleksiejczuk vs. Modestas Bukauskas Women’s Strawweight Bout: Jessica Penne vs. Hannah Goldy Featherweight Bout: Julian Erosa vs. Nate Landwehr

Thank you for the critique I'll definitely take it into consideration next time I update the rankings.

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="rodrigoviolim" data-cite="rodrigoviolim" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="52401" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Excuse me friends, I was involved with a lot of work and with the increase of the pandemic in my country everything stopped, so I will have a little more time to write and update again.<p> </p><p> PRIDE NEVER DIES!</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> It's all goods, hope you're doing well and stay safe!</p>

FW: Andre FILI vs. Cody STAMANN LHW Tournament QF: Rashid YUSUPOV vs. Ivan SHTYRKOV W FlyW: Pearl GONZALEZ vs. Denise KIELHOLTZ LW: Drakkar KLOSE vs. Arman TSARUKYAN HW: Frank MIR vs. Denis GOLTSOV

MW #1: Israel Adesanya vs. Johny Hendricks WHW #1: Sinead Kavanagh vs. Gina Carano LW #1: Mairbek Taisumov vs. Paul Sass FLY #1: Demetrious Johnson vs. Naoki Inoue MW #1: Clint Hester vs. Marc-Andre Barriault WSW #1: Tecia Torres vs. Montserrat Ruiz WHW #1: Alexis Dufresne vs. Janay Harding WSW #1: Svetlana Gotsyk vs. Isabella de Padua LW #1: Lance Gibson Jr. vs. Roosevelt Roberts FLY #1: Eric Shelton vs. Alptekin Ozkilic SW: Pascual Cressy vs. Kentaro Watanabe MW: Makeshate Sailike vs. Ricardo Abreu WFLY: Wu Yanan vs. Heather Hardy WSW: Emi Tomimatsu vs. Natalia Denisova

December Week 3 (2018) Recap -------------------------------------------------------------- MMA News -------------------------------------------------------------- MMA Twitter -------------------------------------------------------------- Fight Announcement -------------------------------------------------------------- UFC on Fox: Lee v. Iaquinta (Preview) Main-Event [Fox] Lightweight: Kevin Lee (#4, 17-3) vs. Al Iaquinta (#8, 13-4-1) Co-Main [Fox] Lightweight: Edson Barboza (#6, 19-6) vs. Dan Hooker (#10, 17-7) Main-Card [Fox] Bantamweight: Rob Font (#11, 15-4) vs. Sergio Pettis (17-4) Lightweight: Charles Oliveira (24-8-1NC) vs. Jim Miller (29-12-1NC) Middleweight: Jack Hermansson (#13, 17-4) vs. Gerald Meerschaert (28-9) Preliminary-Card [FS1] Lightweight: Bobby Green (24-8-1) vs. Drakkar Klose (9-1-1) Featherweight: Dan Ige (9-2) vs. Enrique Barzola (15-3-1) Welterweight: Zak Ottow (16-6) vs. Sergio Moraes (14-3-1) W-Flyweight: Emily Whitmire (3-2) vs. Ariane Lipski (11-3) Early-Prelims [uFC Fight-Pass] Welterweight: Ramazan Emeev (18-3) vs. Abu Azaitar (14-2-1-1NC) Light-Heavyweight: Nikita Krylov (24-6) vs. Sam Alvey (33-11-1NC) W-Bantamweight: Ashlee Evans-Smith (6-3) vs. Gina Mazany (5-2) -------------------------------------------------------------- The last UFC on Fox event will air tomorrow night from all the way back to an epic Heavyweight class back in 2011 when then UFC Heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez faced the then-undefeated knockout artist Junior dos Santos to now in late 2018, the long-lasting 7-year relationship between the two companies has been a mostly very positive and historic experience with many all-time great moments from JDS knocking out Velasquez in the first round on the first UFC on Fox to Dominick Cruz reclaiming his Bantamweight tile in a very competitive split decision win against TJ Dillashaw. In the finale fight on Fox’s main channel one of if not the hottest prospect in the Lightweight division Kevin Lee has turned contender over the years. Gaining notoriety with a very competitive fight against former interim champion Tony Ferguson for the interim belt itself despite the 3rd round submission loss in his most latest fight that occurred at ‘UFC Fight Night: Lee v. Barboz’ people witnessed to the best version of Kevin Lee the world has ever seen his wrestling, boxing, BJJ was at all-time best. Now he moves to Team Alpha Male to fine tool all his skills to become the next Lightweight champion, “[Kevin Lee] is so talented man, he is such an amazing athlete, he's so strong, his boxing is getting more and more crisp, his wrestling is already at a very high-level, his BJJ is underrated, he will become the UFC Lightweight champion. I honestly think he can beat everyone then become the next double-champion” - Urijah Faber ‘Raging’ Al Iaquinta looks to put a halt to Lee’s championship aspirations, recently Iaquinta has been nationally praised for his all-heart performance against Khabib Nurmagomedov against the current champion he showed durability, heart, and amazing conditioning against the insufferable pace of the undefeated from Dagestan, Russia. He took the fight on only a day's notice and with Khabib's most recent destruction of former two-divisional champion Connor McGregor, Iaquinta's performance against Nurmagomedov is looking better and better by the day. Although Lee has been widely praised for skills areas he lacks is consistency and conditioning something that Iaquinta is a master at. This fight will undoubtedly be a test to see if ‘The Motown Phenom’ will take the next step that is essential to climb the 155pound ladder. The two have gone at it over social media adding more fuel to the fire for what should be an incredible fight. We stay in the Lightweight division for the co-main event Edson Barboza looks to snap his 2-fight skid against his opponent Dan Hooker comes in riding a 4-fight win streak. Hooker much like Lee has been very vocal about how he is the next big thing’ within the Lightweight division, “I’m young and winning, he's old and losing. This is the old guard versus the new, we have seen this way too many times to know how this one will end. [Edson] Barboza is one of my favorite fighters but even my favorite fighters can come to get it. I’m gonna pace never before seen this division. I want to make every Lightweight quit while fighting me. They'll question why they're even in this sport, to begin with, while fighting me”. - Dan Hooker In fairness to Barboza, his two losses were ones he was mauled by Khabib Nurmagomedov and Kevin Lee this fight will undoubtedly be a stand-up battle one a nice change of pace for the Brazilian. Both have notorious leg kicks with some impressive muay-thai, taekwondo, and kickboxing at a pick ‘em’ fight betting odds wise it’s most likely the more skilled fighter will outclass their given opponent or that one shot will put an end to the night. The rest of this card is quite promising as the UFC has booked many exciting prospects probably looking for an up and comer to get a big off such a big farewell event. Bantamweight see’s Seirgo Pettis returns from the Flyweight division moving back up to 145pounds to face #11 ranked Rob Font. While Pettis is still undecided on what weight class to commit too he is only 25 has more than enough time to develop into any given weight class and who knows maybe he could be a potential double-champion one day if he ever realizes his championship material talent. He has high-level taekwondo for the lower weight classes light on his feet the fundamental boxing plus wrestling style that Rob Font possesses has given Pettis troubles in the past. Charles Oliveira returns to Lightweight in a rematch against veteran Jim Miller while the Brazilian should win this fight any way he wants too it is invaluable that the two will be on the mat with each other with Miller being an elite black belt in BJJ who knows what he could pull off despite him being the biggest betting underdog on the card (+400). Middleweight sees Jack ‘The Joker’ Hermansson one of the more creative submissions Greco-Roman wrestlers the UFC has seen in the past few years face off against the grizzled 37 fight veteran in Gerald Meerschat skilled in every area of the fight game he looks to derail a potential hype train in Hermansson in so finally cracking the UFC top 15 Middleweight rankings. To the prelims on FS1 this will be the 2nd to last time the UFC will air fights on the network as the prelims for ‘UFC 232: Jones v. Gustafsson’ will be the final time Fox Sports will broadcast UFC fights before the broadcasting deal with ESPN kicks into effect in 2019. Headliner fan-favorite veteran Bobby Green takes on a very highly praised prospects Drakkar Klose a fellow Lightweight from Michigan compassions to Kevin Lee have followed Klose who actually has a much better gas tank than ‘The Motown Phenom’ if he can replicate Lee’s high-level wrestling, kickboxing, and overall talent in all areas of MMA this could be the next great Lightweight prospect. More prospects on the prelims include Featherweight Hawaiian kickboxer Dan Ige face a muay-thai specialist Enrique Barzola, Nikita Krylov is a very high-level Russian karate fighter very similar karate base to that of Russian Featherweight Zabit Magomedsharipov. Krylov faces Sam Alvey a very high-level wrestler with power in his hands, finally, another fellow Russian in Ramazan Emeev a strong sambo wrestler who likes to head hunter will fight powerhouse German Abu Azaitar the winner of this fight will be put in a very good position in his next fight to potentially crack the Welterweight rankings.

December Week 3 (2018) UFC Rankings -------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------

Main Event Middleweight Bout: (#7) Derek Brunson vs. (#10) Kevin Holland Co-Main Event Heavyweight Bout: Alexander Gustafsson vs. (#13) Walt Harris Main Card Light Heavyweight Bout: (#15) Paul Craig vs. Jamahal Hill Women’s Bantamweight Bout: (#15) Julia Avila vs. Julija Stoliarenko Lightweight Bout: Leonardo Santos vs. Grant Dawson ESPN Preliminary Card Heavyweight Bout: Tai Tuivasa vs. Dontale Mayes Welterweight Bout: Max Griffin vs. Kenan Song Middleweight Bout: Trevin Giles vs. Dricus Du Plessis ESPN+ Early Preliminary Card Women’s Strawweight Bout: Kay Hansen vs. Cheyanne Buys Bantamweight Bout: Gustavo Lopez vs. Adrian Yanez Women’s Strawweight Bout: Polyana Viana vs. Mallory Martin

3 out of 11.... That's actually not the worst I've ever done predicting an entire card before <img alt="" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/biggrin.png.929299b4c121f473b0026f3d6e74d189.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /> A fight between Usman and Khamzat is very enticing but I still feel Khamzat needs one more test against a guy like Thompson, Burns, or Chiesa before getting a shot at the title. But then again looking at my predictions what do I know <img alt="" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/biggrin.png.929299b4c121f473b0026f3d6e74d189.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" />

UFC 231: Holloway vs. Ortega Date: December Week 2 (2018) 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 the same, 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. -------------------------------------------------------------- Key Fight Play-By-Plays Whoever wins this fight will undoubtedly find themselves in the UFC Light-Heavyweight rankings, Manuwa was once inside the top 5 of the rankings but back-to-back losses have seen him drop off the top 15 entirely, something he has been very bitter about. Leading to some heavy trash talk towards his opponent Thiago Santos that led to an intense staredown with a fight nearly breaking out in the weigh-in lets see this bad blood feud come head to head inside the octagon. Round 1 Calf kick with the right then a flying front kick with the left lands for the Brazilian he then does a ducking jab which lands and also runs into a solid right hook from Manuwa that buckles his knees!!! Manuwa senses he’s got him hurt rushing in with a sloppy one-two that Santos ducks getting the body lock on him then lifts Manuwa up then puts him down for a slam. What strength from the Brazilian the advantage in BJJ is night and day the black-belt Santos consistently gets submission attempts with two armbars plus a kimura nearly getting all three submissions but Manuwa is able to just power out of all of them. From side control, Thiago Santos unloads with knees to the body as the round ends. Unofficial Judges: MMAJunkie: 10-9 Santos Blurcat: 10-9 Santos Sherdog: 10-9 Santos Round 2 Santos continues to unleash with his ducking jab so Manuwa counters again with a close right hook as Santos ducks straight into the punch and goes down hard-hitting his head first on the canvas!!! Then is put out as Manuwa jumps into the air to land a vicious hammerfist out like a light!!! Official Result: Jimi Manuwa def. Thiago Santos via KO [Punches] R2 (0:35) Nelson will be looking to bounce back after a year layoff against the surging ‘Cowboy’ Oliveira who looks to collect his 3rd win in 2018 plus crack the Top 10 rankings of the UFC Welterweight division against a longtime main staple of the rankings in Gunnar Nelson himself. Round 1 Quick leg kick lands for Olivera but he leaves his hands by his side allowing Nelson to land a quick jab then circles away to the right from Oliveira’s wild counter hooks. Oliveira is using some very intense pressure tactics early on. He's hunting for that knockout. Nelson ducks more wild hooks then snaps ‘Cowboy’ head with a stiff uppercut then drives him to the cage on a single-leg takedown attempt. Great defenses from Oliveira as he easily stops the takedown then quickly breaks away circling out to the middle of the octagon. Quick leg from Olivera again lands followed by two double jabs but Nelson slips the head kick, sensing Oliveira is on an awkward angle Nelson rushes in to grapple but gets cracked a fantastic straight to the chin while coming in!!! Nelson is knocked down!!! Oliveira tries to grab a bulldog choke but Nelson escapes to his feet!! ‘Gunni’ is now exclusively backing up looking to make it to the end of the round while ‘Cowboy’ ramps up his intense pressure tactics yet again. Oliveira grabs the thai-clinch starting to unload with wild knees to the body then one to the head kick really hurts Nelson!!! Barely able to stand Nelson looks to clinch in hopes of somehow gaining a dominant position but is blasted with an uppercut which takes him off his feet followed by two brutal hooks then a flying knee finally knockouts Gunnar Nelson out!!! Oh my goodness what a knockout sequence!!! Official Result: Alex Oliveira def. Gunnar Nelson via KO [Knee] R1 (4:12) The 2nd ever UFC Women's Flyweight champion is about to be crowned tonight in one of the two title-fights in the evening. Joanna has talked big leading up to this fight the animosity has clearly been building up between the two despite Valentina’s best efforts to keep a calm face leading up to an intense staredown one of the better ones of recent memory, everyone got the sense both ladies were ready to either claim UFC gold for the first time or become the 6th fight in UFC history to win a championship in two different weight classes. Round 1 Joanna opens up with a 7-punch combination ending with a spinning back fist but Valentina covers up well ducking the spinning back fist to get a body lock on Jedrzejczyk. Looks like she tried to sweep her legs from under her to do a judo-style throw but Joanna did an excellent job defending it but still gets driven to the fence. It seems Valentina has the overall strength plus weight advantage as she has little difficulty imposing her dirty boxing from the clinch landing multiple knees to the body, elbows to the face, plus the occasional shoulder strike. Jedrzejczyk tries to reverse position then spin out but simply doesn't have the strength to compete with Valetina early on as she is driven back into the cage. To Joanna’s credit, she has done an excellent job defending “The Bullet” 4 attempted takedowns while against the cage. 1 minute left on the clock is when Valentina decides to disengage but as she does she clocks, Joanna, with a stunning hook as they leave the clinch. “The Bullet” is now starting to blitz with 4 punch combinations starting with an uppercut followed by straight punches ending with a body kick. The first one only one punch lands with the starting uppercut plus the body kick, the 2nd time she lands 3 punches then the 3rd time around she lands all her punches plus the body kick to the ribs. Valentina feints going for another blitz combination and land a thudding kick to the legs that stunt. With a rough start from the former Strawweight champ, she is able to get a 3 punch combination to the body off at the end faking the uppercut to the head by instead going to the body with it followed by two hooks. Unofficial Judges: MMAJunkie: 10-9 Shevchenko Blurcat: 10-9 Shevchenko Sherdog: 10-9 Shevchenko Round 2 Shevchenko tries to blitz but is cracked by Joanna, as she timed a perfect counter 4 punch combination of straight punches that all land ending it with a front kick to the body, Jedrzejczyk starts the round becoming a very precise sniper. “The Bullet” fakes a one-two up top to mask the leg kick but Joanna reads it very well to check it then lands a front kick to the face, followed up by a few jabs to set-up a very nice straight then hook to the body combination. Shevchenko's kick to the head is blocked she is then countered with a spinning back kick to the body trying to respond “The Bullet” attempts a one-two then cross combination all slipped by Joanna who clocks Valentina as she attempts the cross with a pull counter hook. Joanna is starting to gain confidence perhaps too much as she starts taunting her opponent by putting her arms to her hips and putting her chin out in a gesture for Valentina to hit her. Shevchenko blitzed in but not to strike like Joanna was expecting, attempting two counter hooks Valentina ducks in them both grabs a quick muay-thai clinch to land just a single deflating knee that clearly hurt Joanna!!! Shevchenko looks like she was going for a leg kick but it's truly a question mark kick to the head which grazes the Polish fighter that opens a cut on the right side of the dome of Joanna. Followed up by a straight then an uppercut. It looks like that straight might have broken Joanna’s nose as it starts bleeding, Shevchenko grabs a hold of Joanna pushing her up against the cage again unloading with some dirty boxing until the round ends. Unofficial Judges: MMAJunkie: 20-18 Shevchenko Blurcat: 20-18 Shevchenko Sherdog: 20-18 Shevchenko Round 3 Jedrzejczyk knows she probably lost those last two rounds but has had some success within the first two rounds as well, she looks fired up ready to turn this fight around. Jedrzejczyk slips the one-two from Shevchenko but "The Bullet" is able to land a leg kick Joanna responds with an uppercut to the body then Valentina responds with a single hook to the head. Joanna looks to incorporate more bodywork but as she dipped down to go for a body hook she ran into a lead knee that grazed the side of Jedrzejczyk's face!!! While doing the chicken dance she backs up to the fence then is dragged into the muay-thai clinch she eats some lethal elbows that hit hard!!! Shevchenko gets the body lock, picks Joanna up, and puts her down for the slam to get her first takedown on her 8th attempt!!! Jedrzejczyk proves to be slippery and quick on the ground, able to sprawl well to prevent “The Bullet” from getting any dominant position as both ladies have to work hard to even have a slight advantage on the ground. But Shevchenko does well to keep control from half-guard for most of the round, Jedrzejczyk is finally able to get to her feet but Valentina is still on her as she unloads with bus driver uppercuts. With domination control against the cage, Joanna is helpless despite trying to cage walk out and reverse position. Unofficial Judges: MMAJunkie: 30-27 Shevchenko Blurcat: 30-27 Shevchenko Sherdog: 30-27 Shevchenko Round 4 Time is ticking for Jedrzejczyk she probably needs a finish if she wishes to win this fight but the last time she was able to finish an opponent was in 2015 against Jessica Penne, lets see if she is able to find a way here as she still looks confident heading into the championship rounds. Jedrzejczyk comes out the fresher fighter undoubtedly due to her overwhelming experience in 5 round fights starting with a right hook to the body followed up by a sidekick to it as well. Shevchenko attempts another 5-punch blitz combination starting with an uppercut followed by straight punches but Joanna lands a beautiful spinning back fist counter as Shevchenko was coming in for the uppercut!!! Joanna is quick to follow up with a front kick straight to the face followed by a flurry of 6 hooks only 1 is able to slightly land however as Valentina is able to keep a strong guard while covering up. Despite Joanna landing her best strikers of the fight, Shevchenko smiles it off cracking Joanna with an uppercut expecting another blitz followed by straight punches Joanna tries to circle out but Shevchenko instead shows lightning speed grabbing a single-leg for a takedown. But an excellent sprawl sees Joanna on top in side-control some rapid elbows actually land pretty clean but despite Jedrzejczyk having a better gas tank the strength advantage is still very much with “The Bullet” as she is able to make her way to the cage get up, walk on the cage then reserved position. The rest of the round is spent in familiar territory with Valentina overwhelming Joanna with her overall strength advantage up against the cage with Jedrzejczyk being able to do very little to get out. Unofficial Judges: MMAJunkie: 39-37 Shevchenko Blurcat: 40-36 Shevchenko Sherdog: 39-37 Shevchenko Round 5 Joanna misses the jab while trying to follow up with a hook her led leg is taken out from under her as Shevenko drops her with a swift leg kick!!! Shevchenko tells Joanna to get up, she senses the finish and is able to once again land a blitz combination of 6 punches consisting of the set-up uppercut, 4 straight punches then a kick to the ribs!!! While up against the cage Joanna is covering up focusing on all the strikes incoming she probably didn’t notice that while Shevenko was clinching up with her against the cage that she was going for the standing guillotine!!! Joanna refuses to tap and goes to sleep for it!!! There is a new Women’s Flyweight champion say hello to Valentina “The Bullet” Shevchenko. Official Result: Valentina Shevchenko def. Joanna Jedrzejczyk via SUB [Guillotine] R5 (1:22) It’s been a long night but it's finally time for the main event of the evening the Featherweight title is up for grabs reigning champion Max Holloway has moved base to AKA and with double-champ Daniel Cormier plus head coach Javier Mendes in his corner he looks to prove the best is still blessed despite a rocky 2018 in terms of making it to the scale. Meanwhile, the challenger has been dubbed the “next generation of Featherweights”, Ortega has shown elite BJJ that has never been seen before along with dynamite in both hands he comes into the bout as the betting favorite at (-180) but betting lines mean nothing in terms when the two face inside the octagon. After Bruce Buffer introduces them they both touch gloves and finally it’s time. Round 1 The two start out throwing combinations with Holloway getting the better of it early on, starting with a straight followed up with two hooks to the body. Ortega attempts to counter with a lead elbow but its parries away countered with 4 straight punches to the face. Holloway starts moving around he looks very light on his feet hitting body kicks to the ribs plus a few leg kicks while Ortega tries to get back into firing range. Ortega does well to mask a huge spinning heel kick that lands directly on Holloway's chin by using a few set-up jabs plus a fake level change to make it seem like he was going for the takedown. Holloway eats the kick taunting ‘T-City’ by clapping. Ortega follows it up with a superman jab by Holloway fires back with 3 hooks to the body then grazes Ortega with a side head kick. Holloway lands the one-two but the question mark kicks the body and is caught!!! Ortega attempts to sweep the legs but Holloway shows brilliant takedown defenses to prevent it but Ortega still has a hold of the champ. Ortega hits an array of punches to the body while having Holloway up against the cage, attempting another two takedowns Holloway is showing supreme takedown defenses as per usual but Ortega is able to find some success with dirty boxing against the cage. Landing the punches to the body like mentioned before plus some knees to the legs too, although ‘Blessed’ is able to land some elbows right to the head of Ortega as attempted those two said takedowns. Plus is able to land a few short punches to the head as the round comes to an end. Unofficial Judges: MMAJunkie: 10-9 Holloway Blurcat: 10-9 Ortega Sherdog: 10-9 Holloway Round 2 Holloway lands two out of three straight punches slips out rage dodging an uppercut from Ortega then jumping back into the pocket literally with a jumping front kick to the head. Ortega retreats back to the cage where Holloway unloads with a flurry of 8 hooks with 5 of them landing, ‘T-City’ uses a front kick to the body to push Holloway away allowing him to get enough space. Ortega lands an excellently timed spinning back kick to the body following it up by using a pull counter on a straight from Holloway cracking his head back with a thunderous hook!!! Holloway again claps but that one looks like it hurt!!! Holloway hits the jab but following it up with a straight then the cross is ducked by Ortega who grabs the body lock around Holloway's hips. Ortega does for a deep double-leg. Holloway does extremely well to defend it but can’t stop the takedown but is able to get himself up against the cage in a sitting cage position. Ortega tries a leg-lock!!! But it's not even close. Holloway is pushing down on Ortega’s head to keep him at his side; it actually works as all Ortega can only really do is offer some short punches to the body. After some stalling referee Herb Dean stands both fighters up, Holloway starts chopping down Ortega’s lead leg with 4 straight leg kicks while the two try to range the distance between them. Switching his stance to southpaw Ortega fakes a level change which gets Holloway's hands down to defend the takedown but instead ‘T-City’ goes upstairs with a ruthless uppercut very same to one which put away Frankie Edgar!!! Ortega is able to drive Holloway to the cage but there isn’t enough time to get anything done. Unofficial Judges: MMAJunkie: 19-19 Blurcat: 20-18 Ortega Sherdog: 19-19 Round 3 Ortega closes the distance wanting to find a good balance to strike and grapple but instead of finding his range he is getting picked apart by the champion starting with 3 straight jabs Holloway goes to the body with the straight then an uppercut followed by a flurry of 4 hooks in close which all land. Ortega does well to land a flicking jab then a looping hoop but Holloway keeps up the pressure with a one-two then lead knee to the body Ortega tries to counter with a hook but Holloway executes a brilliant pull then counters using another uppercut followed by hooks. Ortega tries a level change with a single-leg but it's Holloway the one who ends up on top!!! Not sure how long ‘Blessed’ wants to be on the mat with a high-level BJJ black-belt but he does well with positional wrestling and keeps Ortega smothered on the mat while also getting in some quick ground n’ pound form full-guard. Eventually, Holloway gets up as he does Ortega tries to secure his leg for a possible submission but can’t get a firm grip on the champ's leg as the fight goes back to the stand-up. A right hook then straight both lands to the body for the champ he then uses an oblique kick followed by a front kick to the body. Ortega seems desperate flipping out a looping overhand followed by a heel hook to the head both are slipped by Holloway who counters with a single deflating hook to the body. Unofficial Judges: MMAJunkie: 29-28 Holloway Blurcat: 29-28 Ortega Sherdog: 29-28 Holloway Round 4 After Max Holloway’s best round of the fight, it seems Ortega is slowing down, terrible news for the challenger as the champion is starting to put it together. Three straight jabs landed for Holloway followed by another oblique kick then a roundhouse kick to the body. Holloway lands a one-two then uses an excellent pull counter landing the overhand, Ortega fires out a flying knee but misses and eats a straight then leg kick for his troubles. It seems Max is starting to take over this fight but Ortega catches 2nd wind here quickly grabbing the collar tie with Holloway landing a hard knee right to the face that breaks the champion's nose!!! As blood pours out Holloway goes high with the head kick but Ortega slips his head right then counters straight to the body. Ortega then attempts a double-leg takedown it looks like Holloway will defend it yet again but he didn’t see the quick leg sweep from Ortega that finally puts the champion on the ground. Ortega quickly grabs full-mount and attempts the armbar submission!!! It’s in fairly deep but Holloway is able to escape then in a sprawl gets up but Ortega quickly grabs to collar tie again and tires the standing guillotine!!! Ortega pulls guard but loses his grip as the fight goes back to standing. Two hooks to the body land for Holloway followed by a roundhouse to the body, while the two are in close quarters Ortega again grabs Holloway into the clinch driving him up against the cage unloading with short punches to the body as the round ends. Unofficial Judges: MMAJunkie: 39-37 Holloway Blurcat: 39-37 Ortega Sherdog: 38-38 Round 5 After a very competitive 4th round we are here at the 5th and finale round for all the marbles this one has been a very close competitive fight if you have Holloway up, Ortega up, or have it as a draw heading into the final round it's clear this is a must-win round for both of these two men. Holloway opens this round missing the one-two plus follow-up right hook, Ortega does well to slip all punches then graze the champ with a looping right hook of his own. Holloway attempts a spinning back kick to the body but misses badly leaving his back exposed for Ortega who jumps right onto it!!! Holloway presses him up against the cage looking to prevent Ortega from dragging him down to the ground for the rear-naked choke but ‘T-City’ still attempts the choke anyways!!! He can’t get it but the choke distracts Holloway enough to the point where he attempts a leg sweep taking down Holloway for Ortega’s 3rd successful takedown of the fight!!! Ortega takes Holloways back yet again getting both hooks in this is trouble!!! But Holloway sprawls well to prevent the RNC from being applied but still finds himself on the bottom in side control now. Ortega is trying for the mounted-crucifix but again Holloway still full of energy prevents it with a sprawl this one sees him to his feet but Ortega still on him drives him up against the cage. The fight comes to a stand-still as ‘T-City’ seems content with throwing short punches to the body plus foot stomps with a minute left in the round Herb Dean decides to separate the two due to a lack of action. Holloway knows he must go for broke here he fakes the uppercut getting Ortega’s hands up high to parry it but instead uses a spinning back kick to the body that lands right on the liver on Ortega who stumps around briefly he’s hurt!!! 40 seconds left ‘T-City’ retreats to the edge of the cage Holloway unleashing a flurry of 8 hooks the first 7 all miss with Ortega slipping very well until he is cracked clean with a hook followed by an uppercut!!! Holloway drags Ortega into the thai clinch unloading with one knee to the body then 3 to the head but all of them are blocked. Ortega breaks free and circles out hitting Holloway with a clean looping right hook as he does so 10 seconds left in the fight!!! Holloway lands the front kick to the body followed by a one-two but Ortega lands the final shot of the fight with a lead elbow!!! What a wild finish to another very close round the judges have their hands full this decision will probably cause some controversy taking one look on Twitter see’s scores from media members, fighters, and fans going all over the place. Unofficial Judges: MMAJunkie: 49-46 Holloway Blurcat: 49-46 Ortega Sherdog: 48-47 Ortega “Ladies and gentlemen after 5 rounds we go to the judges scorecards for the decision the judges score this contest 49-46, 48-47, and 49-46 to the winner by unanimous decision And…. Still!!! The undisputed Featherweight champion of the world Max ‘Blessed’ Holloway” Official Result: Max Holloway def. Brian Ortega via UD (49-46x2, 48-47) -------------------------------------------------------------- Critical Rating: 78% / Commercial Rating: 98% Attendance: 15,299 ($2,175,075) Venue: Scotiabank Arena (Toronto, Canada) -------------------------------------------------------------- Main-Event [C] Max Holloway def. Brain Ortega via UD (48-47, 49-46x2) to retain UFC Featherweight championship [Fight Rating: Great] Holloway’s 3rd successful title-defense -------------------------------------------------------------- Co-Main [New C] Valentina Shevchenko def. Joanna Jedrzejczyk via SUB [Guillotine] R5 (1:22) to win UFC W-Flyweight championship [Fight Rating: Great] -------------------------------------------------------------- Main-Card Alex Oliveira def. Gunnar Nelson via KO [Knee] R1 (4:12) [Fight Rating: Good] Hakeem Dawodu def. Kyle Bochniak via TKO [Punches] R2 (2:03) [Fight Rating: Good] Jimi Manuwa def. Thiago Santos via KO [Punches] R2 (0:35) [Fight Rating: Great] -------------------------------------------------------------- Preliminary-Card (FS1) Claudia Gadelha def. Nina Ansaroff via SUB [RNC] R3 (4:59) [Fight Rating: Great] Gilbert Burns def. Jingliang Li via KO [Punch] R1 (0:25) [Fight Rating: Good] Katlyn Chookgian def. Jessica Eye via SUB [RNC] R3 (4:45) [Fight Rating: Great] Elias Theodorou draws. Eryk Anders (28-28x3) [Fight Rating: Good] Benito Lopez def. Taylor Lapilus via UD (29-28x3) [Fight Rating: Great] Dhiego Lima def. Chad Laprise via SD (28-29, 29-28x2) [Fight Rating: Decent] Magomed Mustafaev def. Carlos Diego Ferreira via UD (30-24, 30-25, 30-26) [Fight Rating: Great] Devin Clark def. Alexander Rakic via SUB [Americana] R1 (4:32) [Fight Rating: Great] -------------------------------------------------------------- Fight of The Night: Max Holloway vs. Brian Ortega -------------------------------------------------------------- Performance of The Night: Alex Oliveira, Jimi Manuwa, Gilbert Burns, Magomed Mustafaev, Devin Clark -------------------------------------------------------------- Predictions Majster_93 - 7.5/13 vladjarca - 8.5/13 CageRage - 7.5/13 -------------------------------------------------------------- UFC 231 turned out to be a pretty good card with a lot of impressive finishes on the main-card as 4 out of the 5 of them ended with a finish along with a very close Fight of The Night in the main-event as Max Holloway remains the Featherweight champion. Like said before it was a very close competitive fight with rounds 1, 4, and 5 all could be considered toss-up rounds, all in all, if you had to put it into a percentage probably 60%-40% of everyone who watched it scored it for ‘Blessed’. Those within that 40% include Brian Ortega and his team saying in the post-fight press conference, “I thought I took the championship rounds with the two takedowns, then round two was definitely mine. I also thought I took round one as well. I don’t feel like I lost in all honesty but I’ll take it. Max is a very good fighter. I'm not gonna sit here and say this is robbery because it was a close fight with a lot of close rounds but I just feel I won those close rounds to me. At least that's what my coaches were saying as well. All respect in the world to Max love that guy and hopefully, we can get a rematch scheduled soon”. - Brian Ortega Holloway in the post-fight interview didn’t really seem to care about the future but said he is “very interested” in a fight with current lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov saying that's a fight that needs to happen in the near future. The co-main was a much less competitive fight as Valentina 'The Bullet' Shevchenko became the first fighter to submit Joanna Jedrzejczyk only 2nd fighter to finish the Polish fighter in a pretty one-sided fight, Shevchenko just seemed to outclass in every area of the fight but Joanna did have some moments attacking the body plus even won the 4th round as Valentina started to gas but caught a 2nd wind in the 5th to get the guillotine choke. The two would not embrace after the fight as Valentina took glory in her win saying in the post-fight press conference “this fight just shows it's easy to talk but fighting is a skill and the more skillful fighter always wins I’ve proved that 4 times already”. Joanna announced via Twitter she will be moving back down to the Strawweight division. Hakeem Dawodu, Jimi Manuwa, and Alex Oliveira all got impressive knockouts on the night with Manuwa and Oliveira earning performance of the night bonuses. Moving to the prelims Nina Ansaroff got one of the more heartbreaking losses in the last couple of years as she was clearly winning pretty comfortably by using long-range leg kicks to batter Gadelha’s legs for the entire 3 rounds whenever the fight got close Ansaroff would unload with rapid punches forcing the Brazilian to back off. Clearly up 2 rounds to none and probably would have gotten a 30-27x3 on the judge's scorecards Ansaroff threw one of her few kicks to the body but was caught with 30 seconds left in the fight then submitted with a quick rear-naked choke. Ansaroff was devastated after the fight, embracing with her partner Amanda Nunes plus her coaches this was her chance to beat a top 5 fighter in the Strawweight division and only needed to survive one more second but unfortunately MMA is a very unforgiving sport. Gilbert Burns got a shocking knockout over the durable Jingliang Li this is the first time Li has been knocked out cold in his career, Burns set-up with straight body punches early on then after another straight to body fake like he was going for a level change to mask a huge looping overhand that landed right on the button to turn his lights off “toes curled out bad” as Joe Rogan said on the broadcast. Katlyn Chookgian has probably become the next challenger for the Women’s Flyweight championship after a great fight against the always game Jessica Eye, a very close fight early on but as the fight dragged on Chookgian a better BJJ grappler plus more technical boxer started to piece her up in the 3rd submitting with a rear-naked choke after dropping Eye with a hook to the body. Magomed Mustafaev a training partner of Khabib Nurmagomedov put a dominant beating on Carlos Deigo Ferreira shades of Nurmagomedov’s maulings over Edson Barboza and Micheal Johnson as Mustafaev would outland Ferreira a total of 124-17 strikes. Mustafaev proclaimed himself as the next great Lightweight, if he keeps up performances like these then he should be very much on track Magomed Mustafaev will definitely be a prospect to have tabs on in the near future. Finally, Devin Clark has derailed Alexander Rakic's hype train early before it could even get started early on Rakic was chopping Clark down with leg kicks but similar to Ansaroff a body kick would be caught that led to him being dragged to the ground then submitted quickly.

Main Event Welterweight Bout: (#2) Leon Edwards vs. (#15) Khamzat Chimaev Co-Main Event Featherweight Bout: (#9) Dan Ige vs. (#14) Ryan Hall Main Card Featherweight Bout: Zubaira Tukhugov vs. Ricardo Ramos Heavyweight Bout: Ben Rothwell vs. Philipe Lins Lightweight Bout: Mark O. Madsen vs. Scott Holtzman ESPN Preliminary Card Lightweight Bout: Don Madge vs. Guram Kutateladze Bantamweight Bout: Jonathan Martinez vs. Davey Grant Flyweight Bout: Tagir Ulanbekov vs. Matheus Nicolau ESPN+ Early Preliminary Card Middleweight Bout: Eryk Anders vs. Darren Stewart Welterweight Bout: Jason Witt vs. Matthew Semelsberger Women’s Strawweight Bout: Jinh Yu Frey vs. Gloria de Paula

December Week 2 (2018) Recap -------------------------------------------------------------- MMA News -------------------------------------------------------------- Fight Announcement -------------------------------------------------------------- MMA Twitter -------------------------------------------------------------- UFC 231 Preview Main-Event [Featherweight]: [C] Max Holloway (#5P4P, 19-3) vs. Brain Ortega (#1, 14-0-1NC) Holloway 3rd attempted title-defenses Co-Main [W-Flyweight]: Valentina Shevchenko (#1, 15-3) vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk (#1STR, 15-2) For Vacante UFC W-Flyweight Championship Main-Card [Welterweight]: Gunnar Nelson (#12, 16-3-1) vs. Alex Oliveira (#14, 19-5-1-2NC) [Featherweight]: Hakeem Dawodu (8-1-1) vs. Kyle Bochniak (8-3) [Light-Heavyweight]: Jimi Manuwa (17-4) vs. Thiago Santos (19-6) Preliminary-Card (FS1) [strawweight]: Claudia Gadelha (#3, 16-3) vs. Nina Ansaroff (#9, 9-5) [Welterweight]: Gilbert Burns (13-3) vs. Jingliang Li (15-5) [W-Flyweight]: Katlyn Chookgian (#5, 11-1) vs. Jessica Eye (#7, 13-6-1NC) [Middleweight]: Elias Theodorou (#13, 15-2) vs. Eryk Anders (11-2) [bantamweight]: Taylor Lapilus (11-2) vs. Benito Lopez (9-0) [Welterweight]: Dhiego Lima (12-7) vs. Chad Laprise (13-3) [Lightweight]: Carlos Diego Ferreira (13-2) vs. Magomed Mustafaev (13-2) [Light-Heavyweight]: Alexander Rakic (#15, 10-1) vs. Devin Clark (10-2) -------------------------------------------------------------- It’s been a rough 2018 for Max ‘Blessed’ Holloway after being crowned 2017 fighter of the year gaining the Featherweight championship then defending it again in an immediate rematch against the widely reconsigned Featherweight GOAT and one of the great MMA fighters of all time Jose Aldo. But after reaching the top of the sport Holloway would hit rock bottom opening up about his mental struggles throughout the year 2018 has been wrapped up in a slew of pull out due to weigh-in issues his notorious pull-outs being when he had to pull out of fighting at 223 where he stepped in on a few days notice to challenge Khabib Nurmagomedov after a Tony Ferguson injury a chance for Holloway to become a double-champion but much like Tony two days before the event, Holloway pulled out as the New York Athletic State Athletic Commission had seen enough forcing “Blessed” to pull out due to some dangerous weigh-cutting. Then he was scheduled to fight Brian Ortega in the co-main event of 226 but in an infamous interview on FS1 Holloway looked awful slurring his words barely awake he again pulled out via weight-cutting issues. Questions on if Max should be stripped of his Featherweight championship and move to Lightweight have been at the forefront the past few months, but as Holloway always says “A king gotta defend his crown”. Finally making the 145-pound limit for the first time in a year will it have a negative impact on his performance that many think it will if he comes into the fight the same he did in the Aldo fights except a combination striker with creative kicks that likes to keep the pressure on 100% for the entire fight with some of the best takedown defense in UFC Featherweight history. In need of a change, Holloway would leave his long time gym in Hawaii moving his base of training to California as now AKA head coach Javier Mendes the coach of many of the greatest UFC champions the sport has ever seen the likes of Khabib Nurmagomedov, Daniel Cormier, Cain Velasquez, Luke Rockhold all come to mind now add Max Holloway. “I was very excited when he decided to come train here. Daniel [Cormier] invited him over for a few sessions and everything just kicked off from there. I feel now he’s in a consistent training environment, coming here training with our guys adds consistency that I don’t think Max ever had before he just kinda trained whenever he wanted to. His output is much higher than it's ever been right now were working on him to develop the same type of BJJ and wrestling that Luke [Rockhold] developed”. - Javier Mendes His opponent Brain Ortega is the latest big thing in MMA after his sensational knockout over Frankie Edgar becoming the first fighter ever to put the seemingly unfinishable Edgar away in just the 1st round the power in his hands is simply stunning on top of that Ortega is credited for having the greatest BJJ in the UFC right now and if you look at his submission wins over Cub Swanson, Renato Moicano, and Deigo Brandao it's hard to discredit his case. But perhaps his most noteworthy achievement is Ortega’s ability to turn a fight completely around the definition of its never over until it's over is a huge part of Brain Ortega’s game that has seen him carve an undefeated record in the UFC. Is the best still blessed? Has the Featherweight division moved past Holloway? The co-main event sees the 4th meeting between the 17-time kickboxing champion Valentina “The Bullet” Shevchenko and former Strawweight queen Joanna Jedrzejczyk while being the on paper the first meeting they have had inside the octagon the two meet three separate times in three separate muay-thai tournaments where “The Bullet” won every single time. A decade has passed since their last meeting now Jedrzejczyk looks to become a two-division world champion, having some pretty mild words for “The Bullet” “This is MMA. I have been more dominant than she [Valentina Shevchenko] ever has been. I have won championships she hasn’t. This isn’t muay-thai anymore this isn’t the same fighter she faced 10 years ago. I simply don’t believe she has what it takes to be a UFC champion”. - Joanna Jedrzejczyk Valentina has been letting all the comments from Joanna go, not retaliating at any of her taunts during the media scrums, pre-fight press conference, and any interviews she did. But at UFC 231 an intense staredown led us all to get a glimpse into “The Bullet” true feelings towards Jedrzejczyk comments. On paper, the striking should be dead even if the question is can the former Strawweight champion adjust to the different weight class fast enough in her first fight in the division. If not Valentina should be able to impose her physically stronger frame on her if not Jedrzejczyk has some of the best takedown defenses in the game a fight on the feet could theoretically go either way. Welterweight Gunnar Nelson makes his return after a year away from the sport following a brutal first-round knockout to Santiago Ponzinibbio returning against “Cowboy” Alex Oliveira who has a very similar style of Ponzinibbio a Heavy-handed muay-thai fight with unlike most of Nelson’s previous opponent is a black belt in BJJ. Stylistically it seems Nelson is taking another very hard on his return but “Cowboy” despite having a very strong submission attack game on the ground lacks in the defensive side as well as having some below-par takedown defenses and at times a questionable chin reveals that this fight might not be as one-sided as many fans expect it to be. Bad blood is brewing in the opening bout of the main-card Light-Heavyweight Jimi Mauwa has been very vocal about his removal on the UFC’s rankings list upping the trash talk to bring more attention to the fight in an attempt to get more name-value calling Santos a “rejected Middleweight scrub” as well as questioning his chin labeling the Brazilian a “glass chin coward”. Santos much like Valentina let all the insults fly over but their weigh-in staredown caused a brief shoving match between the two that Dana White and security had to break up, both promising a knockout victory to make it onto the Light-Heavyweight rankings. The headliner for the preliminary card sees partner to UFC Women’s Bantamweight champ Amanda Nunes in Nina Asaroff a very creative kicker looking to push the pace against a consistent Strawweight title-challenger Claudia Gadelha notorious for having the worst gas tank in all of the UFC. Prospects to note is multiple-time BJJ world Gilbert Burns moving up to Welterweight to face the tall and well-rounded Jingliang Li. After his brutal loss to Thiago Santos Middleweight Eryk Anders in all fairness he took the fight on a day's notice, he still has a lot of upside being a powerful grappler-facing hometown fighter Elias Theodorou like Anders a very well rounded who lacks his power but probably has better technique. Lastly, Alexander Rakic will fight on the first fight of the entire night he looks to add another highlight-reel knockout against submission wrestler Devin Clark.

<p>Main Event</p><p> Light Heavyweight Championship Bout: © Jan Blachowicz vs. <strong>(C MW) Israel Adesanya</strong></p><p> </p><p> Co-Main Event</p><p> Women’s Featherweight Championship Bout: <strong>© Amanda Nunes</strong> vs. (#2) Megan Anderson</p><p> </p><p> Main Card</p><p> Bantamweight Championship Bout: © Petr Yan vs. <strong>(#1) Aljamain Sterling</strong></p><p> </p><p> Light Heavyweight Bout: (#2) Thiago Santos vs. (<strong>#4) Aleksandar Rakic</strong></p><p> </p><p> Bantamweight Bout: <strong>(#11) Dominick Cruz</strong> vs. (#15) Casey Kenney</p><p> </p><p> ESPN Preliminary Card</p><p> Lightweight Bout: <strong>Drew Dober</strong> vs. (#14) Islam Makhachev</p><p> </p><p> Flyweight Bout: (#8) Rogerio Bontorin vs. <strong>(#9) Kai Kara-France</strong></p><p> </p><p> Bantamweight Bout: <strong>(#14) Song Yadong</strong> vs. Kyler Phillips</p><p> </p><p> ESPN+ Early Preliminary Card</p><p> Women's Strawweight Bout: <strong>(#15) Livia Renata Souza</strong> vs. Amanda Lemos</p><p> </p><p> Light Heavyweight Bout: <strong>Carlos Ulberg</strong> vs. Kennedy Nzechukwu</p><p> </p><p> Lightweight Bout: Aalon Cruz vs. <strong>Uros Medic</strong></p>

<p></p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Correction to the Pound for Pound rankings:</span></strong><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> (</strong><strong><em>*Took me days to realize I forgot Whittaker sorry lol*</em></strong><strong>) </strong></p><p> </p><p> 1. Daniel Cormier </p><p> 2. Khabib Nurmagomedov</p><p> 3. Jon Jones </p><p> 4. TJ Dillashaw </p><p> 5. Max Holloway </p><p> 6. George St-Pierre </p><p> 7. Tyron Woodley </p><p> 8. Stipe Miocic </p><p> 9. Henry Cejudo </p><p> 10. Robert Whittaker</p><p> 11. Tony Furgeson </p><p> 12. Connor McGregor </p><p> 13. Cris Cyborg </p><p> 14. Amanda Nunes </p><p> 15 Rose Namajunas</p></div><p></p><p></p>

Main card predictions: W FlyW: Molly MCCANN vs. Poliana BOTELHO FlyW Tournament QF: Kai KARA-FRANCE vs. Amir ALBAZI WW: Robbie LAWLER vs. Elizeu Zaleski DOS SANTOS MW Tournament QF: Brad TAVARES vs. Gerald MEERSCHAERT HW: Matt MITRIONE vs. Daniel OMIELANCZUK

December Week 2 (2018) UFC Rankings

Main Card Women’s Strawweight: Carla Esparza (17-6) vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk (18-5) Heavyweight: Curtis Blaydes (15-3, 1NC) vs. Aleksei Olenik (59-13-1) Bantamweight: Ricky Simon (17-3) vs. Petr Yan (16-2) Women’s Flyweight: Mara Romero Borella (14-7, 2NC) vs. Jessica Eye (17-7, 1NC) Women’s Strawweight: Nina Ansaroff (11-6) vs. Cortney Casey (9-7) Featherweight: Shane Burgos (14-2) vs. Brian Ortega (14-3, 1NC) Preliminary Card Flyweight: Askar Askarov (12-1-1) vs. Tagir Ulanbekov (12-1) Women’s Flyweight: Lauren Murphy (13-5) vs. Gillian Robertson (8-5) Welterweight: Rafael dos Anjos (29-14) vs. Gunnar Nelson (18-6-1) Light Heavyweight: Aleksa Camur (7-0) vs. Mike Rodriguez (10-5-1) Featherweight: Guido Cannetti (8-6) vs. Chase Hooper (9-0) Welterweight: Michel Prazeres (26-3) vs. Stephen Thompson (15-5-1) Bantamweight: Frankie Saenz (12-6) vs. Yadong Song (15-5-1, 1NC) Bantamweight: Iuri Alcantara (36-10, 1NC) vs. Joe Soto (19-7) Middleweight: Alen Amedovski (9-2) vs. Markus Perez (12-3) Welterweight: Alvaro Herrera (9-7) vs. Zelim Imadev (8-3)

"you can call me mystic mac because I predict these things" It's only all downhill for me from here probably getting a 0/5 next time around

UFC Fight Night: JDS v. Hunt Results Date: December Week 1 (2018) 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 the same, 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. -------------------------------------------------------------- Key Fight Play-By-Plays A promoted fight promoted on Dana White’s “if you don’t know? Now you know” series, White boldly claimed the next great Featherweight prospect would be created through this fight. High praise lets see who will have his hand raised. Round 1 Not wasting any time both meet each other in the middle of the octagon after some feints by the two its Mokhtarian who lands the first clean strike with a quick leaping jab but his follow up straight is ducked. Petterson counters with a very solid uppercut then attempt a standing guillotine he attempts the submission for 20 seconds but it’s nowhere near even being applied correctly but he has pushed Mokhtarian up against the cage. Some time goes by as the two battle for a dominant position but out of nowhere Petterson quickly grabs the collar-tie then unloads with a big knee to the face which staggers the Australian!!! Petterson goes a perfect 5 for 5 on his set-up combination landing the one-two, front-kick to the body, plots then straight followed by an overhand!!! Suman Mokhtarian is in serious trouble as Petterson attempts a fight-ending flying-knee he was of course to the left in a wild scramble Mokhtarian was able to take his opponents back while two were still standing, eventually attempting a standing rear-naked choke. It was a decent attempt but he didn’t have the choke around the neck only able to get the chin if anything the choke probably burnt Mokhtarian arms out more than any effective damage to Petterson who promptly slammed Mokhtarian while he was still on his back and in an excellent scramble took top position in full-mount briefly. The rest of the round is spent with the two battling for position on the ground. Unofficial Judges: MMAJunkie: 10-9 Petterson Blurcat: 10-9 Petterson Sherdog: 10-9 Petterson Round 2 Don’t blink as these two get right back at it to start round to Mokhtarian knowing he lost the previous round is coming out with some fury in his shots landing a right hook to the body but again his follow-up shots just aren’t landing as a one-two then looping hook don’t come close to touching Petterson who counters with a grazing head kick. It seems Petterson is on his way to upsetting the homegrown Australian prospect right in his own backyard, Petterson dives for a single-leg but great defenses by Mokhtarian see’s the two clinch with each other after both briefly battling for a more favorable position Mokhtarian executes a beautiful trip but while in mid-air attempts a flying D’arce choke while in mid-air! He somehow gets it in deep this could be trouble!!! Wow!!! Petterson taps!!! Mokhtarian as advertised finishes him with late submission of the year candidate of my goodness. Official Result: Suman Mokhtarian def. Steven Petterson via SUB [D’arce-choke] R2 (1:13) We have seen these types of fights before as the old guard takes on the new guard, Pedro looks to finally take the next step to become a contender by defeating a former champion. Rua looks to continue to end off upcoming Light-Heavyweight prospects as he has constantly done more times than not. Round 1 As the fight starts it's clear Pedro is the more active fighter in terms of movement holding a long karate base staying relatively light on his feet for a Light-Heavyweight at least, while “Shogun” is a lot more of a plotter. Neither fighter was able to land any strikes of significance during the first two minutes beside the occasional jab and leg kicks that both fighters landed on each other, as the round hits the midway point Pedro seems to start kicking it into gear starting to throw combinations he’s throwing a lot of straight shots transition from the head to body but he is also mostly missing on them. Rua is doing well to slip but never commits to any counter-strike as he lets Pedro dictate the pace of the fight as we enter the last minute of the round Pedro misses 4 out of a 5 punch combination but was able to smash Rua’s face in by surprising the Brazilian with a head kick that seemed to gain the confidence of the Australian. Pedro would start consistently pumping up and landing one-twos to secure around. Unofficial Judges: MMAJunkie: 10-9 Pedro Blurcat: 10-9 Pedro Sherdog: 10-9 Pedro Round 2 Rua’s corner frustrated with his inactivity demands he starts taking the fight to his opponent right now which he does as Rua has abandoned his constant movement on the backfoot in favor of keeping constant pressure on Pedro. Starting the round with a beautiful combination landing a jab looping hook as he ducked under Pedro’s cross finishing with a roundhouse kick. Rua is now the one constantly landing his one-twos at will, finishing a few of those with leg kicks, “Shogun” traps Pedro against the cage dragging him into the clinch but surprisingly gets turned around then is hurt by Pedro throwing some brutal elbows which slice open Rua!! Pedro lets go of the clinch trying to land a big one-punch knockout he does land one with a very powerful hook that had a lot of wind up behind it but Rua stays on his feet despite his head snapping back. Rua is still up against the cage in some serious trouble he still might be hurt!! Pedro’s jab hits then a cross his head kick is blocked but his right hook to the body isn’t, Rua tries a lead elbow but its parried and he is countered by another hook from Pedro that snaps his head back Rua has been stuck against the cage of the octagon for some time now Pedro is far enough to where he can unload with more wind up with his strikes but still not far away enough for Rua to escape the cage. Pedro drags Rua into the clinch nothing noteworthy to mention is landed by etheir thought as the round ends. Unofficial Judges: MMAJunkie: 20-18 Pedro Blurcat: 20-18 Pedro Sherdog: 20-18 Pedro Round 3 Pedro backs Rua up to the cage again unloads with a quick jab that lands but the right hook is blocked allowing Rua to unleash a wicked roundhouse kick to the body followed up by a calf kick. Pedro strikes to set in with a jab but misses as he moves out, “Shogun” dives for a single-leg and he gets it!! Pedro does well off his back to prevent Rua from transitioning for a while but eventually the Brazilian finds his way into side-control trying some elbows which are all blocked. While he is blocking he leaves his arm exposed Rua a black-belt in BJJ quickly spots this and grabs the arm this is trouble!!! He puts Pedro into a kimura. It looks really tight!! He is damn near twisting that arm he doesn't look like he’s gonna tap the referee looks to stop the fight but suddenly Pedro pops free of the attempt just like that how? He isn’t out of the woods yet “Shogun” grabs the mount throwing fight-ending elbows. He now opens a big cut over the right eye of Tyson Pedro who rolls over giving up his back, it looks like Rua is gonna try a rear-naked choke but his brilliant sprawl sees him get a hold of the same arm he put into a kimura this time putting it into an armbar!!! That arm is once again hyper-extended Pedro won’t tap can he escape this time of will his arm finally nap? Less than 15 seconds left on the clock can he make it? “Shogun” loses his grip!!! Big mistake from the Brazilian as the fight comes to an end he could have gotten the late submission victory but now we’ll see what the scorecards hold for us. Unofficial Judges: MMAJunkie: 28-28 draw Blurcat: 28-28 draw Sherdog: 29-28 Pedro “Ladies and gentlemen after 3 rounds we go the judges scorecards for a decision all 3 judges score this contest 29-28 to the winner by unanimous decision Tyson Pedro” Official Result: Tyson Pedro def. Mauricio Rua via UD (29-28x3) Hunt takes this bout on 3 days' notice but like mentioned previously he was scheduled to be in a 3 round co-main but steps up to go the full 5 five rounds for the main-event seeing as this will be his last UFC fight. With both fighters on the tail end of their careers can they possibly show one last glimpse of greatness by replicating the sensational first fight with an even better rematch? Round 1 Dos Santos comes forward predictably dictating the pace at the start of the fight against a slow start like Hunt he hits a clean jab followed by a, straight right then calf kick. Keeping up the pressure Dos Santos shows beautiful boxing slipping two looping hooks from Hunt then unloads with a four-punch of flurry hooks of his own then does his signature spinning back kick to the body. Dos Santos doesn't fade away he thinks he can get Hunt out there right here right now, Dos Santos tries a front kick to the body but gets countered coming in by a huge overhand that just grazes the dome of Dos Santos as he backs away to the center as the two meets and starts trading there. Hunt misses a 3 punch combination and is met with a check left hook right on the button for his troubles, Dos Santos hits a straight to the body then finally hits on his signature overhands the same one which knocked out Cain Velasquez to win him the UFC championship. This time it lands on the forehand of Hunt but “The Super-Samoan” stands strong and he catches a roundhouse kick by Dos Santos peppering him 3 quick jabs before snapping his head back with a cross after he lets go of his foot. The two aren’t done trading yet two right hooks to the body for the former champion but he overextended a little with his footwork getting clipped by an uppercut as he moved back, Mark Hunt backs up Dos Santos to the cage land a powerful one-two but Dos Santos is able to land another check left hook to prevent Hunt from continuing his assault. What an amazing round these two Heavyweights are putting out an output of a Flyweight fight and we still have a minute left in the round Dos Santos slips past a right then overhand combination from Hunt countering with a jab then right hook to the body finished with a calf kick. Dos Santos's investment into the body has some serious redness around both sides of Hunt’s ribs ouch!! Hunt misses a wild looping hook causing Dos Santos to quickly get hold then launch a big knee at the end of the round right to the head but Hunt responds with a fast elbow that opens up a cut under Dos Santos's check. Amazing round. Unofficial Judges: MMAJunkie: 10-9 Dos Santos Blurcat: 10-9 Dos Santos Sherdog: 10-9 Dos Santos Round 2 Dos Santos quickly returned the favor to Hunt in the first few seconds of round two opens a cut on the right side of Hunt’s dome by landing a fast head quick that did some damage!!! Hunt backs off against the cage!!! Jab to the head then the straight right to the body followed by another jab to the head then a spinning back kick to the body again!!! Referee Jason Herzog is yelling for Hunt to “fight back, show me something”!! Dos Santos looks to end it with a signature overhand but is badly off the mark in fact poor head movements see him run straight into a huge uppercut from Mark Hunt!!! Dos Santos backs off he’s not on rubbery legs but that shot did some serious damage my goodness how are either of these two still standing? Quick calf kick by Dos Santos followed by a stick then move jab, Hunt tries to end it with a looping right hook after feinting a takedown by Dos Santos reads it perfectly slipping out of the way then hits Hunt with his own medicine with an uppercut of his own. The two clinch briefly both looking exhausted but Dos Santos continues to dictate a fast pace landing two quick elbows to open a new cut on the top of Hunt’s nose. Hunt fires back a knee to the body before the two separate. The two now start feinting both wanting to land one big shot that will put their opponent away for good Dos Santos goes low with a hook then tries another signature overhand but runs straight into a right hook from Hunt who plants his feet!!! That’s it Dos Santos is down and out, he adds another walk-off knockout to the highlight reel Mark “The Super-Samoan” he gets the win in his final UFC fight in front of his adoring Australian fans. What an amazing fight. Official Result Mark Hunt def. Junior Dos Santos via KO [Punch] R2 (3:43) -------------------------------------------------------------- Critical Rating: 78% / Commercial Rating: 90% Attendance: 5,299 ($862,046) Venue: Adelaide Entertainment Centre ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Main-Event Mark Hunt def. Junior Dos Santos via KO [Punch] R2 (3:43) [Fight Rating: Fantastic] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Co-Main Tyson Pedro def. Mauricio Rua via UD (29-28x3) [Fight Rating: Great] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Main-Card Jake Mathews def. Thiago Silva via UD (30-27x3) [Fight Rating: Average] Kai Kara-France def. Ashkan Mokhtarian via TKO [Round-House Kick] R2 (3:55) [Fight Rating: Good] Luke Jumeua def. Kenan Song via TKO [Punches] R2 (2:41) [Fight Rating: Good] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Preliminary Card Ben Nguyen def. Wilson Reis via UD (30-27x3) [Fight Rating: Decent] Shane Young def. Yadong Song via TKO [Head Kick & Punches] R2 (2:12) [Fight Rating: Decent] Yanan Wu def. Talita Bernado via UD (30-27x3) [Fight Rating: Good] Suman Mokhtarian def. Steven Petterson via SUB [D’arce-choke] R2 (1:13) [Fight Rating: Fantastic] Trevor Smith def. Julian Marquez via SUB [RNC] R3 (4:10) [Fight Rating: Decent] Jim Crute def. Paul Craig via SUB [RNC] R3 (2:56) [Fight Rating: Great] Jodie Esquibel def. Shana Dodson via TKO [Punches] R1 (0:09) [Fight Rating: Good] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Fight of The Night: Junior Dos Santos vs. Mark Hunt & Steven Petterson vs. Suman Mokhtarian Performance of The Night: Mark Hunt, Suman Mokhtarian, Jim Crute, Jodie Esquibel ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Predictions rodrigoviolim - (6/12) correct predictions CageRage - (9/12) correct predictions vladjarca - (6/12) correct predictions ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Usually, after a fantastic fight ending in a performance of the night knock-out fighters would be all hype often demanding opponents, increase in pay, as well as a whole lot of other things, not the 44-year-old Mark Hunt thought. He seemed keen on finally putting his UFC career behind him while not officially retired yet he talked about how the UFC made him lose the passion for the sport once again bashing the company as well as Dana White during the UFC's own post-fight press conference. "I love the fans and use to love the rush of the fight, but with all my court cases with the UFC, that same rush doesn't have the same effect I've got a lot of my mind cases to win and a s**thole of a company to leave. Don't get me wrong I don't hate the fans, media, and most UFC employees its the higher calling the shots like Dana White I have a problem with. Also while I'm here Joe Silva go f*** yourself greedy mother-". - Mark Hunt Talk about an awkward moment for the UFC who was probably banking on a JDS victory speaking of the Brazilian he now suffers his 6th career defeat this time at the hands of a let's face it over the hill Mark Hunt. JDS released a Twitter statement hours after the vent expressing his love for the fans, UFC, and family expressing how he has no plans of retirement and will fight out his 8 fight contract with the UFC with 7 more fights to go. Mauricio Rua may find himself off the rankings after a pretty shocking loss to Tyson Pedro he was the (-700) favorite, but Pedro outworked him in the early rounds to survive two deep arm submission attempts from "Shogun" much will be made of how he let slip of such a deep armbar with 15 seconds left in the fight. If he had a more firm grip no doubt "Shogun" would have walked away with the win, as for Pedro he finally gets a win over a big-name opponent he has been seeking for in his UFC career and heads into free agency with some leverage. Auckland City Kickboxing went a perfect 3-0 on the card with fighters Kai Kara-France, Luke Jumeua, and Shane Young all getting their hands raised all three getting stoppages. France impressed many with his dynamic kicking game destroying Ashkan Mokhtarian lead leg finishing him with a roundhouse kick to the body perhaps if not for Jodie Esquibel getting the fastest knockout in Women's Flyweight history then he could have been awarded a performance bonus. Esquibel was a thing of beauty Dodson came in rushing with an overhand but Jodie Esquibel simply pulled her head back then cracked her opponent with two fast hooks to put her down much like the sequence when Connor McGregor TKO'd Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205. Finally, if you don't know, now you know as the two highlighted fighters from Dana White's "if you don't know, now you know" series won in impressive fashion. Jim Crute destroyed Paul Craig dropping him in every single round finishing him in the 3rd with a RNC meanwhile Suman Mokhtarian got a flying D’arce-choke finish in what could be 2018's submission of the year.