By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch Senior Columnist
UFC Fight Night: Thompson vs. Neal was this past weekend and featured some big fights. Let’s get to the rundown.
UFC Fight Night: Thompson vs. Neal
GOOD- Marcin Tybura stops Greg Hardy
Hardy fought pretty well in the first round, peppering Tybura with some big shots. The second round saw Tybura take the fight to the ground where Hardy didn’t know what to do. Tybura started smashing him with hammerfists and Hardy just turtled up until the ref stopped the fight. Good win for Tybura.
GOOD- Rob Font stops Marlon Moraes
Moraes got a takedown and landed some strong punches but Font battled back to his feet and then dropped Moraes with a few good shots. Font then jumped on him to pound him out and get the stoppage not quite four minutes into the first round. Good win for Font.
BAD- Michael Pereira vs. Khaos Williams
The first round was slow, mainly consisting of some kicks. The second round saw a little more action but still not what I was expecting. The third round saw even less action. Pereira ended up getting the decision win but this just wasn’t it. Still, a win’s a win so good win for Pereira.
GOOD- Jose Aldo vs. Marlon Vera
Aldo came out firing in the first round, he turned back the clock in this fight. He hurt Vera a few times with body shots. Vera kept trying for takedowns but couldn’t complete them. Meanwhile, Aldo battered Vera with more legkicks and body shots. The third round saw the fight go to the ground and Aldo glue himself to Vera’s back. Aldo took the decision and it was a vintage performance from him. Good win for Aldo.
GOOD- Stephen Thompson vs. Geoff Neal
Thompson just picked apart Neal for pretty much the whole fight. He stayed on the outside and jabbed him and struck him from all angles. It was precise and clinical and exactly what you would expect from Thompson. Neal tried but he just couldn’t do enough to take Thompson out. Thompson showed, once again, why he’s one of the most dangerous fighters in the welterweight division. He picked apart a rising star and made it look so much easier than it actually was. And Thompson has done this for a very long time. He makes it look easy. He’s like Eric Dickerson or Derrick Henry, upright runners who make it look as if they’re not running as hard or fast as they actually are. Another example would be the sprinter Michael Johnson, who broke records at 200m and 400m while looking like he wasn’t running as hard as he was.
Thompson is that way. He’s just so in control and methodical that he makes it look easy. After the win, Thompson called for a rematch against Jorge Masvidal. That sounds good to me. I’d rather see him fight UFC Welterweight Champion Kamaru Usman, though, because I’d like to see how Thompson would approach fighting Usman. However, I imagine Thompson had a reason for calling for a match against Masvidal so the UFC should give him that if possible.
*************
Anthony “Rumble” Johnson has signed with Bellator and plans on making a title run. I can absolutely see that happening. With his power, Rumble is a threat to anyone. No opponent or fight date has been announced but plenty have called for him to fight Yoel Romero. That would probably be a hell of a fight, it would certainly have the possibility of being exciting and explosive. I imagine we’ll hear something on who Johnson will fight first soon.
Comments and suggestions can be emailed to me at hydenfrank@gmail.com and you can follow me on Twitter at @hydenfrank and you can check out my blog athttps://3pr117238763.wordpress.com/ where I talk about wrestling, sports, and videogames. Thanks for reading and have a good day.
Leave a Reply