HYDEN BLOG: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly from Bellator 210 and UFC Fight Night 142

Bellator 210 and UFC Fight Night 142 was this past weekend. Let’s get right to the rundown.

Bellator 210

GOOD- Juan Archuleta vs. Jeremy Spoon
Archuleta completely and utterly dominated this fight. He landed some good punches, had some good takedowns, and was just the more aggressive fighter. Archuleta won the decision. Good win for him.

GOOD- Kristina Williams vs. Bruna Ellen
Williams got the decision in a fun fight. They were both active but Ellen is shorter and I think that lead to some of her shots missing. Good win for Williams.

GOOD- David Rickels vs. Guilherme Bomba
Rickels just kept coming forward and throwing and I think that helped him win the decision. It was a close fight, Bomba brought it as well, but I think Rickels did more overall and deserved the win in another good fight.

GOOD- John Salter submits Chidi Njokuani
Salter worked to get Njokuani to the ground, and when he did, it was basically over. He worked for the choke, sunk it in, and got the submission win. A really good upset win for Salter and a great way to end a fun card.

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UFC Fight Night 142

GOOD- Jim Crute submits Paul Craig
Crute was constantly trying stuff when they went to the ground. Submissions and counters and such. He finally locked in a kimura right at the end of the third round and Craig had to tap with about ten seconds left in the fight. Good win for Crute.

GOOD- Sodiq Yusuff stops Suman Mokhtarian
Yusuff blasted Mokhtarian with some huge power shots that would have made Ralph Kramden proud. That’s right, I’m going really old-school with the reference here. Great power shown by Yusuff as he stopped Mokhtarian in just a bit over two minutes of the first round. Maybe a bit of an early stoppage, but all that did was save Mokhtarian from getting pummeled some more so I’m good with it.

GOOD- Anthony Rocco Martin submits Jake Matthews
I give both guys credit here for going after it. They both threw a lot more strikes than I would have thought they’d throw in this fight. The finish came a little over a minute into the third round as they were grappling and Martin caught Matthews in a choke. Matthews passed out rather than tap out and Martin picks up a good win.

GOOD- Justin Willis vs. Mark Hunt
This was Hunt’s final fight in the UFC so it was disappointing in the way it ended. Willis fought a smart fight and avoided the power shots from Hunt and picked up the decision win. I always liked watching Hunt fight so I would have liked to see him go out with a win but credit to Willis, he fought smartly. Nice win for Willis.

GOOD/BAD- Mauricio “Shogun” Rua stops Tyson Pedro
Pedro dominated the first round, really hurting Shogun a few times. In the second round, Rua came back and took over, hurting Pedro with some big shots. The third round was a total bust, though, as Pedro quickly hurt his ankle somehow and Shogun pounded him out on the ground. It was Kevin Nash-like in the way that Pedro hurt himself by walking. These kind of freak accidents just suck because I would have wanted to see which man won the third round legitimately. I can’t fault Shogun for jumping on the opportunity, a win’s a win. Especially after he won the second round and had some momentum to build on.

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GOOD- Junior Dos Santos stops Tai Tuivasa
Both men landed some big shots and they both showed good toughness by taking them. Tuivasa used a pretty good amount of energy chasing after dos Santos, which seemed to affect him a bit more. The finish came as they both connected with big shots at the same time, but JDS was able to take it a bit better and he started landing more shots on Tuivasa on the ground. Tuivasa was fighting back but it was just too much and the ref had to jump in. Nice win for dos Santos to close a fairly good main card. I heard the prelims sucked so I’m glad I skipped them.

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