By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch Senior Columnist
UFC 267 was last night and it featured two title fights, including an
Interim UFC Bantamweight Title fight so we were guaranteed at least
one new champion. Were two new champions crowned? Let’s get to the
rundown.
UFC 267
BAD/GOOD- Magomed Ankalaev vs. Volkan Oezdemir
I usually try to be somewhat positive but this was a slog. It looked
like they were fighting underwater. Anyway, some decent striking
landed for Ankalaev in the first round. A little more striking in the
second round, and Ankalaev also got a takedown. More of the same in
the third round and Ankalaev got the decision win. Good win for him
but this was a slow fight and kind of hard to watch.
GOOD- Khamzat Chimaev submits Li Jingliang
Chimaev got an early takedown and worked for the submission until he
finally locked in a rear-naked choke for the Stone Cold victory at
3:16 of the first round. Good win for Chimaev.
GOOD- Alexander Volkov vs. Marcin Tybura
This was another fight that wasn’t exactly the greatest thing ever but
there was some nice action. Volkov won the decision with his striking
in rounds one and three. He also fought off an incredible amount of
takedown attempts from Tybura. I think Tybura tried over a dozen times
for a takedown and didn’t land any. I give him credit for tenacity.
Volkov’s striking also sealed the deal and won him the decision. Nice
win for Volkov.
GOOD- Islam Makhachev submits Dan Hooker
They traded a few strikes before Makhachev got a takedown and locked
in a tight kimura to force the tap and get the submission win not
quite two and a half minutes into the first round. Good win for
Makhachev.
GOOD- Petr Yan vs. Cory Sandhagen
This was for the Interim UFC Bantamweight Championship. These guys
threw and landed an incredible amount of punches, though the volume
thrown by Sandhagen was especially high. Unfortunately, he only landed
about a third of the strikes he threw. However, when you throw almost
450 strikes that still means you landed a lot of them. Sandhagen
started strong but then Yan took over. The first round went to
Sandhagen but the next four went to Yan and earned him the decision
victory and he’s once again a champ. It’s only Interim, though, but
I’m sure he’ll still take it. Yan dropped Sandhagen in the third round
but couldn’t finish him, Sandhagen showing great toughness throughout
the fight. Sandhagen was game and kept throwing but it was obvious
that Yan was the better fighter today. Sandhagen did get a takedown
but was also stymied on a handful of other takedown attempts. Great
effort by both men but Yan came out ahead. Good win for Yan.
GOOD- Glover Teixeira submits Jan Blachowicz
The first round kind of sucked, to be blunt. Teixeira got a takedown
and…that was about it. He stayed on top of him and Blachowicz
couldn’t get up. The second round saw them land some big strikes
before Teixeira got another takedown and went to work. Teixeira moved
to mount, then took his back, then locked in a tight rear-naked choke
to get the submission victory to become the new UFC Light Heavyweight
Champion. Good win for Teixeira as he becomes the oldest first-time
champion in UFC history at 42 years old and is also the second oldest
champion in UFC history behind only Randy Couture.
*************
There’s been some recent back-and-forth between Fedor Emelianenko and
Dana White. Fedor said Dana cares too much about money and Dana said
that if Fedor had accepted the UFC’s offer in 2009 that he wouldn’t
still be fighting at 45 years old. I’m a Fedor guy so I’m more on his
side. I think this is just deflection from Dana, who still gets called
out from time to time about the UFC not paying their fighters enough.
And then some of it is that Fedor never went to the UFC and some
people still call him the best, which doesn’t sit well with Dana.
However, if you’re asked a question, which Dana was, you answer it and
there you go. Fedor took a shot at Dana and he responded. It’s no big
deal. I don’t think either guy really thinks all that much about the
other. Stuff like this bubbles up from time to time and I’m for it.
Nothing wrong with a little spice sometimes.
My book is on Amazon. It’s called Small Town Crime Cabal.
It’s about a brother and sister who operate a drug and gambling ring
in their small hometown. They want more, though, and hope to expand
beyond the limits of where they grew up. That comes with a price,
though, and the question becomes- are they willing to pay the price?
This is the first in my Brotherhood of the Streets series. It’s on
Kindle Unlimited right now or you can buy it in e-book or paperback
form. If you’re interested, I would greatly appreciate it if you would
check it out and support me. Here’s the link to my book on Amazon- My Book I’ve also
written a sci-fi book called Forever Man, the link is Forever Man: The
Fight to Save the World. Thank you very much, have a good day.
Comments and suggestions can be emailed to me at
hydenfrank@gmail.com and you can follow me on Twitter at @hydenfrank.
Thanks for reading and have a good day.
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