By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch Senior Columnist
UFC Fight Night: Brunson vs. Holland was last night. Was it good or bad? Well, read on to find out.
UFC Fight Night: Brunson vs. Holland
GOOD- Tai Tuivasa stops Harry Hunsucker
Some legkicks and some huge right hands from Tuivasa put Hunsucker down and stopped the fight not quite fifty seconds into the first round. Good win for Tuivasa and nice display of power.
GOOD- Adrian Yanez stops Gustavo Lopez
Lopez fought pretty well early but Yanez was just too much. Specifically, his striking was too much as he beat up Lopez throughout the fight. Yanez dropped Lopez earlier in the fight and then finished him off with a powerful right hand not quite thirty seconds into the third round.
GOOD- Cheyanne Buys vs. Montserrat Ruiz
They fought all over the place in the first round, with Ruiz probably getting the edge. She had a nice throw during the round as well. Ruiz had another good throw in the second round and did okay with her striking so she likely took that round as well. The third round saw Buys come out firing but Ruiz hit her with another throw. Buys fought well but it wasn’t enough and Ruiz got the decision victory from the judges. Good win for Ruiz.
GOOD- Max Griffin stops Song Kenan
They traded strikes early before Griffin caught Kenan with a beautiful right cross that stunned him and then followed up with more shots to close the deal not yet two and a half minutes into the first round. Good win for Griffin.
GOOD/BAD- Derek Brunson vs. Kevin Holland
Brunson came out firing and put some heavy shots on Holland, dropping him in the first round. It was much the same in the second round, though it played out differently. Brunson got a couple takedowns and Holland looked outmatched. The third round made me want to change the channel, Brunson got a takedown early and they stayed on the mat for the rest of the round, with little micro-bursts of action occasionally. Unfortunately for the fighters and us as well, this is the main event so it’s going five rounds. Give us strength, give us all strength. In the fourth round, Brunson got another takedown after a little fun striking. Can’t have any of that. The fifth round saw Holland get a trip takedown but he couldn’t do anything with it. He landed some good shots on the ground but it wasn’t enough and Brunson won the decision from the judges.
This was another one of those fights that wasn’t very fun to watch (though the early rounds were good) because it went on way too long, but you can’t blame the winner. Brunson did what he had to do to get the win. Would I have loved to see Brunson get the stoppage? Hell yeah, but I wouldn’t ever expect him to go out there and throw caution to the wind. He’s a professional and needs to care about wins and losses. At the same time, there’s the entertainment aspect as well. It’s a hard balance.
One thing I really wish the UFC would start doing is in these five round main events, if Fighter A has won the first three rounds, it’s over, there’s no fourth or fifth rounds. I imagine that guys have come back to win a fight after losing the first three rounds, but it’s surely happened so infrequently that it’s a statistical blip. I’d rather not be subjected to these fourth and fifth rounds where you know what’s going to happen.
If that’s too extreme for some people, at least make it where if a guy wins the first four rounds, the fight is over. At least give us that. I won’t speak for anyone else but rounds like those are so devoid of interest that they’re not even worth the effort to have them.
That said, this is still a good win for Brunson. Holland was on a five fight winning streak, all in 2020. Beating a guy like that is something to appreciate. Now Brunson himself is on a four fight winning streak.
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UFC Featherweight Champion Alexander Volkanovski has had to pull out of his scheduled title defense against Brian Ortega next week at UFC 260 after testing positive for Covid-19. Hopefully they reschedule this fight for as soon as possible, as that should be a good fight.
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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