Bellator 200 and UFC Fight Night 130 were this past weekend. Let’s get to the rundown.
Bellator 200
GOOD- Phil Davis stops Linton Vassell
Davis probably won the first two rounds because he was very aggressive and had some nice grappling as well as striking moments. Vassell was able to get some takedowns of his own, though, so it was a close fight. In the third round, however, Davis hit Vassell with a huge headkick that ended things. Nice win for Davis.
BAD/GOOD- Anastasia Yankova vs. Kate Jackson
Jackson completely controlled Yankova throughout the fight and dominated things. There was a lot of clinch work, though, which was nice but also lackluster and dull. Jackson won the decision, so credit is due there, but I just couldn’t get into this fight much at all. Others may feel differently but I just found myself disliking this fight.
GOOD- Mike Shipman stops Carl Noon
Shipman literally dropped Noon with the first punch of the fight and that was it. He jumped on him and the ref had to step in. Quick win, good win, for Shipman.
GOOD- Aaron Chalmers submits Ash Griffiths
Chalmers caught Griffiths with a left hand that dropped him, then followed that up with a guillotine to force the tap. Quick win, good win, for Chalmers.
GOOD/UGLY- Michael “Venom” Page stops David Rickels
MVP was clowning around a lot in this fight, but he did catch Rickels and cut him open, leaving a big gash. Shortly into the second round, Rickels quit because of the cut. The GOOD is for Page showing his skills and the UGLY is for some of the clowning (some was fine but let’s not go overboard) and for the cut that ended the fight. Rickels is tough but a cut like that is tough to fight through. Big win for Page.
Sidenote- Some have criticized Rickels and said he should have continued and all that stuff. I think that’s ridiculous and you never know what’s in a person’s heart. I think it’s out of bounds to question Rickel’s toughness. He’s proven how tough he is.
GOOD- Gegard Mousasi stops Rafael Carvalho
Mousasi took Carvalho down a few times and proceeded to pound him out about three and a half minutes into the first round. Big win for Mousasi, and a dominant win for him as well, as he becomes the new Bellator Middleweight Champion. After the win he called out the Bellator Welterweight Champion Rory MacDonald so we’ll likely see that fight next. If for no other reason, we’ll probably see that fight next because I’m not sure who else has a claim to a title shot in either division.
UFC Fight Night 130
GOOD- Darren Stewart stops Eric Spicely
Stewart started unloading on Spicely in the second round and forced the ref to step in and end the fight. Good win for Stewart as he showed some nice striking.
GOOD- Claudio Enrique da Silva submits Nordine Taleb
Silva worked some nice ground-and-pound, beating Taleb up, before locking in the choke for the submission win. Good win for Silva.
GOOD/BAD- Makwan Amirkhani vs. Jason Knight
Amirkhani won the split decision in a really close fight. Things started well but faded in the third round. To be honest, I didn’t care much for this fight, but I did like the effort.
GOOD- Arnold Allen submits Mads Burnell
Burnell was doing well in this fight, and he very possibly would have won a decision, but then Allen locked on a choke as he defended a takedown and forced the tap. Nice win for Allen.
Neil Magny stops Craig White
White took this fight on short notice and he showed up to fight, but Magny was just too good. Magny smashed White in the face with a big knee and then finished him off with some more punches.
BAD- Stephen Thompson vs. Darren Till
Just too little going on here. Thompson is avoiding over and over and making Till swing at the air. That’s nice and all, and obviously takes talent, but it also makes for a boring fight. As the fight entered the fifth round I guess Thompson is ahead on the scorecards. Neither man has really landed much, but Thompson has landed more. He’s also made it extremely difficult for Till to even land a shot, and when he does, it’s a glancing blow at best.
It goes to decision, though, and Till wins. I don’t agree with that as I thought Thompson was the clear winner. Not by much, nor would this be a win to be particularly proud of, but I thought Thompson won. This appears to be a homecooking win for Till. This isn’t a robbery or anything, as the fight was close, but perhaps I feel that way because I didn’t like this fight.
This win obviously helps Till some, but I don’t think it really helps him all that much. For one, he came in 3.5 pounds over the welterweight limit. Two, a lot of people didn’t think he won the fight. Three, it wasn’t a very exciting fight. For those reasons I think this inches Till up the rankings but it doesn’t send him rocketing up them. I think he still needs a win over a big name in order to even think about getting a title shot. This is the UFC, though, so I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
Comments and suggestions can be emailed to me at hydenfrank@gmail.com and you can follow me on Twitter at @hydenfrank
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