HYDEN BLOG: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly from Bellator 238 and UFC Raleigh

Bellator 238 and UFC Raleigh were both this past weekend. Let’s get to the rundown.

HYDEN BLOG: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly from Bellator 238 and UFC Raleigh

Bellator 238

GOOD- Emilee King submits Ava Knight

King got the fight to the ground after being stunned early and started working her ground game. She was tenacious and eventually locked in a rear-naked choke to get the victory a little over two minutes into the first round. Good win for King.

GOOD- Raymond Daniels stops Jason King

Daniels kept popping King with shot after shot. He really laid into King with his striking and it was just too much for him to take. Daniels got the stoppage win just over three minutes into the first round. Good win for Daniels.

GOOD- Sergio Pettis submits Alfred Khashakyan

Khashakyan landed some nice strikes early but Pettis came back and landed some damaging strikes of his own. Pettis dropped Khashakyan then locked in a tight guillotine and got the win three minutes into the first round. Good win for Pettis.

GOOD- Juan Archuleta vs. Henry Corrales

Both men fought hard here, landing and receiving powerful strikes. They went back and forth, with Archuleta getting the advantage a bit more and that’s why he won the decision. Good win for Archuleta.

GOOD- Darrion Caldwell submits Adam Borics

Caldwell used his speed to pepper Borics with strikes before getting a takedown and eventually locking in a rear-naked choke for the submission not quite two and a half minutes into the first round. Good win for Caldwell.

GOOD- Cris Cyborg stops Julia Budd

As expected, Cyborg used her powerful striking to hurt Budd, dropping her a few times. Budd showed good toughness, though, as she kept fighting back. Cyborg was too much, though, as she stayed aggressive and relentless and she ended up getting the TKO stoppage a bit over one minute into the fourth round. She hurt Budd and swarmed her to force the ref to jump in. Cyborg is the new Bellator Featherweight Champion, making her the only competitor to hold titles in Bellator, the UFC, Invicta, and Strikeforce. Big win for Cyborg.

UFC Raleigh

GOOD/BAD- Jamahal Hill vs. Darco Stosic

This fight was solid. Hill had some nice striking moments and that’s why he got the decision win. Nice win for Hill.

GOOD- Angela Hill stops Hannah Cifers

They exchanged early and often in the first round but in the second round, Hill got a takedown and smashed Cifers with some vicious ground-and-pound to get the win. Good win for Hill.

GOOD- Alex Perez submits Jordan Espinoza

Perez got a takedown and submitted Espinoza halfway through the first round. Good win for Perez.

GOOD/BAD- Michael Chiesa vs. Rafael dos Anjos

Chiesa fought well, using his size to his advantage by draping himself over RDA pretty much the entire fight to make him carry his weight, but damn, I didn’t care for this fight much at all. You could tell that Chiesa was going to win by decision by the end of the first round. His size and grappling were just going to be too much for RDA, and RDA is too good on the ground himself so it was unlikely that he would get submitted. So it was no surprise that Chiesa won the decision, good win for him.

GOOD- Curtis Blaydes stops Junior Dos Santos

JDS avoided the takedowns attempts from Blaydes in the first round, but started getting beat up as the round came to a close. The second round started with Blaydes landing more strikes and he hurt JDS and then finished him off just over a minute into the second round. Good win for Blaydes as he’s now won three fights in a row. In fact, the only man to have ever beaten Blaydes is Francis Ngannou, who’s done it twice. This win puts Blaydes a little bit closer to a title shot. The only thing really standing in his way is the losses to Ngannou. We’ll have to wait a bit and see what happens in the division and hopefully we get a little clarity soon.

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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