The Lioness Slays Rocky, Keeps Her Crown
Reigning Women’s Bantamweight Champ Amanda Nunes defeated Raquel Pennington via fifth round TKO. The Lioness was on the hunt early, chopping away with powerful legs kicks and looking to land the homerun right-hand she’s utilized so well during her title reign. To Rocky’s credit, she showed a good chin but even better defensive positioning which prevented the champ from connecting with it. Nunes showed some mild frustration in the stand-up game after Pennington landed some slick right-hand-counters, but continued to invest with leg kicks and front kicks her opponent’s body which eventually opened up some more options down the line. That’s pretty much how the whole fight went until the challenger told her corner that she was “done” in between rounds four and five due to a rapidly swelling eye and broken nose, both of which were caused by well placed clinch knees from the champ. Pennington returned for the final round, but another vicious elbow further damaged her nose and left her face down in a pool of blood when the referee stepped in to halt the bout.
For many outside observers, the end was something of a foregone conclusion. However, Pennington acquitted herself well and gave Nunes a much stiffer test than former champions Ronda Rousey and Meisha Tate. She proved that she belonged in there, but Nunes showed why she is the champ. The #4 ranked Ketlen Viera is likely next in line to challenge for the title while #3 Julianna Pena, coming off a loss, is a good fit for Rocky.
Gastelum Survives Jacare
Halfway through the first round, (#5 MW) Kelvin Gastelum found himself in deep trouble. From the clinch, (#2 MW) Jacare rolled to a heel hook which he used to sweep and end up in side control. From there, the multiple time Brazilian Jiu Jitsu World Champion worked for position before locking up an armbar attempt at the end of the first round. Gastelum didn’t panic and rode out the position until the bell signified the end of the round and Jacare looked surprisingly tired getting off the mat. It was no aberration and Kelvin pounced in the second round, opening up with a variety of shots and eventually floored the former Strikeforce Champ with a straight left hand. Souza managed to withstand the follow up flurry before Gastelum backed off and allowed the exhausted Brazilian back to his feet. Jacare responded with front kicks and some looping shots that connected, but didn’t seem to have much effect and was barely able to get to his corner once the round ended. To his credit, he came out fought hard in the third round but the damage had already been done. The younger, faster fighter was continually beating him to the punch and the cardio gap proved to be too much to overcome.
When the judges read the decision, 29-28 split for Gastelum, a dejected Jacare left the cage knowing his title aspirations were likely behind him. Souza has dropped 2 of his last 3 fights is rapidly approaching 40. He’ll likely swap places in the rankings with Kelvin, so now seems like the right time to finally rematch (#3 MW) Luke Rockhold who is also coming off a loss. With the win, Gastelum finds himself in a great position and could be next in line for a title shot even though former champ (#4 MW) Chris Weidman may have something to say about that.
Dern Dominates Cooper
Usually, an unranked women’s strawweight bout doesn’t make the cut for Pay-Per-View, but the fight between Mackenzie Dern and Amanda Cooper got a lot more interesting when Dern missed the 115-pound weight limit by 7.5 pounds. She was undefeated coming in and Cooper was a 3-3 fighter going into the bout with a penchant for losing via submission…hand-picked to hopefully showcase Dern’s prowess as a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu World Champion. Cooper was rightfully upset, calling it disrespectful and unprofessional but ultimately decided to take the fight anyway. On social media, she described it as strawweight vs flyweight and vowed to defeat the “broken” Dern in a very WWE-esque promo. For all her bravado, “ABC” seemed stiff and tentative out of the gates and was never able to put her perceived striking advantage to good use. In fact, she was losing the stand-up exchanges when she got blasted by a looping right hand from Dern. That shot alone almost ended the fight, but she survived the subsequent ground blows only long enough to get rear naked choked instead. The fight last two and a half minutes.
Dern did what she was supposed to do, but missing weight isn’t going to curry any favor with other fighters or the UFC brass. She needs a ranked opponent next and she needs to make weight. (#8 SW) Felice Herrig would be my pick, especially if the UFC wants to fast-track Dern to a title shot but it’s a big jump. Now at 3-4, Cooper doesn’t have many options.
Lineker and Kelleher Go to War
Brazilian (#6 BW) John “Hands of Stone” Lineker took a little longer than he wanted, but got the KO victory late in the third round versus Brian Kelleher. The unranked New Yorker put up a hell of a fight coming off his signature win over former 135-lb champ Renan Barao. He did his best to take control of the Octagon but Lineker’s relentless pressure and winging power shots put Kelleher on the defensive for the majority of the contest. A constant mix of head and body shots from Hands of Stone kept Boom out of rhythm and backing up until he eventually ran out of real estate and ate a monstrous left hook against the fence. Kelleher hit the canvas hard and Leon Roberts stepped in to wave it off.
Lineker definitely needs a top tier opponent next before he gets the title shot he’s asking for. Anyone in the top-5 is good, but the loser of the (#4 BW) Jimmie Rivera v. (#5) Marlon Moraes fight makes sense as the winner will likely get a title shot. Kelleher, on the other hand, still has a bright future and should get a ranked opponent like (# 15) Eddie Wineland.
The Dragon Retires The Phenom
You really couldn’t ask for a better matchup to kick off a PPV. The only thing bad about (#12 MW) Lyoto Machida versus (#9 MW) Vitor Belfort is that this fight didn’t happen like 10-years ago. The two Brazilian UFC legends and eventual Hall of Famers have always been near the top of the heap in their divisions, but somehow never met until now. Both men showed a great deal of respect for one another throughout the first round, Machida content to play his game from the outside with stabbing kicks and feints, Belfort content to wait for his opportunity to counter. Neither man wanted to make the first mistake and, to my surprise, the crowd in Rio actually started to boo quite loudly during the lackluster first round. That all changed dramatically when Machida one shot KOed Vitor with a front-kick to the face, much like Anderson Silva had done to Belfort years ago. If the kick wasn’t enough, the Phenom’s head snapped violently off the canvas and the Dragon didn’t follow up with any strikes as Marc Goddard stood over the unconscious fighter.
For Belfort, this is the end of the line for a long and storied career filled with some of MMA’s best memories. When he returned to the UFC in 2009 he put on one of the greatest career comebacks ever, fighting for three titles between 2009 and 2015. His retirement is well deserved, but his presence in the sport will be missed.
With this win, the 39-year-old Machida likely takes Vitor’s #9 ranking or at least breaks the top-10. He called out former champ (#6 MW) Michael Bisping who is looking for a retirement fight as well. A win there would actually put Lyoto back on a path towards another title shot, but he’s not getting any younger.
Ferreira Sleeps Roberson
The featured preliminary bout saw Cezar Ferreira slow the hype train of Karl Roberson. After some early exchanges, Ferreira changed levels and got the fight to the ground. Roberson popped back up initially but didn’t secure leverage and wound up going right back down. He battled from his back for a while but eventually succumbed to the superior grappler and Ferreira stepped over Roberson’s attempt to re-establish half guard and locked up a tight arm-triangle choke which put Roberson to sleep very quickly.
The winner of the Ultimate Fighter Brazil is 9-4 in the UFC and 13-6 overall, it’s about time he gets a ranked middleweight. (#13 MW) Antonio Carlos Junior would be a good fit, he is riding a 5-fight win streak and fought in April.
Oleinik Does It Again
(#10 HW) Aleksei Oleinik was getting the worst of the stand-up against (#14 HW) Junior Albini, he even got taken down and mounted by the Brazilian heavyweight. Fortunately for Oleinik, he had his trusty Ezekiel choke to go to. Just like his fight with Viktor Pesta, he applied an awkward looking head-lock before getting taken down but turned it into a submission victory. Albini couldn’t believe it either, sitting in disbelief after tapping from the mount position.
Oleinik is 40-years-old and has more than 60 fights on his resume, but he’s moving in the right direction. He should get the winner of the upcoming fight between (#9 HW) Andrei Arlovski and (#12 HW) Tai Tuivasa, Albini should get the loser or maybe (#15 HW) Justin Willis.
Ramos Wrecks Hein
Davi Ramos pretty much had his way with Nick Hein in their lightweight bout. Hein looked stiff from the outset and a bit unsure. Ramos got to open up with some kicks while, but got countered and floored on one of them. Hein wanted no part of the ground game and forced the Brazilian to stand back up, but it didn’t last long as Ramos hit a nice takedown shortly afterwards. He advanced quickly and used a kimura setup to take back control when Hein tried to roll towards the arm lock, it sounds less impressive than it was. From there it was short. Ramos secured back position with a body triangle and worked towards the rear naked choke, eventually settling for a modified neck/jaw crank that forced the tap.
Ramos showed that he is ready for some tough fighters, Hein (14-3) is no joke. (#15) Olivier Aubin Mercier would be an interesting contest for both men. He is coming off a win recently and is also a highly skilled grappler. Hein is going to need another rebound fight before pushing back towards the rankings. At 34-years old, he needs to make a run soon.
Zaleski dos Santos Flattens Sean Strickland
Before Machida’s one-shot KO of Belfort, Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos surely thought he had the highlight win of the evening. At about the midway point of the first round he whacked Strickland upside the head with a sneaky spinning heel kick. While the blow didn’t end the fight instantly, Strickland was never able to recover and dos Santos finished him with follow up strikes. Up until that point, nothing of any real significance had been landed. Performance bonus or not, the kick will certainly look nice on the highlight reel.
Without either man being ranked at welterweight, it’s tough to say what’s next for each of them. What we learned is that dos Santos can strike out of nowhere and should petition for a ranked opponent. He’s 5-1 in the UFC and (#15 WW) Dong Hyun Kim is the gatekeeper, that fight makes sense. Strickland is now 6-3 in the company but he needs another win or two before making a push up the ladder.
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