By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch Senior Columnist
Bellator 263 and UFC Fight Night: Hall vs. Strickland were last night. Let’s get to the rundown.
Bellator 263
GOOD- Goiti Yamauchi stops Chris Gonzalez
They came out trading strikes and both showed some nice toughness to keep coming. Yamauchi landed some nice shots, then a big uppercut and a straight right hand that dropped Gonzalez. Yamauchi pounced on him to force the referee to jump in to stop the fight. Good win for Yamauchi.
GOOD/BAD- Islam Mamedov vs. Brent Primus
This was an extremely close fight. Mamedov spent more of the fight on top but wasn’t doing much with it. Some of that was because Primus was constantly threatening with submissions or attempting to get himself on top. You can enjoy the level of skill shown here but also think it was dull, which it was. Mamedov won by split decision, good win for him.
GOOD- Usman Nurmagomedov stops Manny Muro
Nurmagomedov came out throwing a lot of kicks, then got a takedown. He tried for the choke but Muro escaped but got taken down again. Muro got back up only to get taken down again. Muro got back up again but got blasted with a knee to the body and Nurmagomedov jumped on him with hammerfists to force the referee to jump in to stop the fight three and a half minutes into the first round. Good win for Nurmagomedov.
GOOD- Emmanuel Sanchez vs. Mads Burnell
These guys were going off on each other in the first round with strikes, lots of punishment absorbed by both guys. Burnell also landed a few takedowns so he probably took that round. Things slowed down in the second as the men tired but Burnell landed more takedowns and won the round. The third round saw Burnell land a few more takedowns and all those takedowns gave him the decision victory. Good win for Burnell.
GOOD- A.J. McKee submits Patricio “Pitbull” Freire
Pitbull was the Bellator Featherweight and remains the Bellator Lightweight Champion. This is the finale of the Bellator Featherweight World Grand Prix. They circled each other and were very tentative early until McKee hurt Pitbull with a kick. He started celebrating like it was over but the fight continued. However, he then grabbed a guillotine and choked Pitbull out to win the Bellator Featherweight Championship and the $1 million grand prize. Great win for McKee, who continues to impress.
UFC Fight Night: Hall vs. Strickland
GOOD- Bryan Barberena vs. Jason Witt
Witt got the fight to the ground twice during the first round. Witt dropped Barberena with a strong right then dropped him again a little bit later in the round. The third round saw a reversal as Barberena hurt Witt but it wasn’t enough and Witt won by majority decision. Good win for Witt.
GOOD- Melsik Baghdasaryan stops Collin Anglin
They traded some heavy shots in the first round. The second round saw Baghdasaryan land a huge head kick that dropped Anglin and forced the referee to jump in to stop the fight not quite two minutes into the second round. Good win for Baghdasaryan.
GOOD- Jared Gooden stops Niklas Stolze
Gooden got an early takedown but Stolze got up. Gooden then unloaded some huge strikes to force the referee to jump in to stop the fight a little over a minute into the first round. Good win for Gooden.
GOOD- Cheyanne Buys stops Gloria de Paula
Buys got an early takedown but lets de Paula stand before obliterating her with a big head kick. It’s not quite over, though, as Buys has to jump in with a bunch of punches to force the referee to jump in to stop the fight one minute into the first round. Good win for Buys.
GOOD- Uriah Hall vs. Sean Strickland
Lots of strikes from these guys in this fight. They fought hard. Honestly, I’m always leery when I see Uriah Hall’s name on a card because he can be very exciting but he can also be really boring to watch. I liked this fight, though. I thought it was pretty good. Strickland won the decision, good win for him.
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Comments and suggestions can be emailed to me at hydenfrank@gmail.com and you can follow me on Twitter at @hydenfrank. Thank you for reading.
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