By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch Senior Columnist
Bellator 272 and UFC Fight Night: Font vs. Aldo was this weekend and
there were some big comeback wins. Let’s get to the rundown.
Bellator 272
GOOD- Johnny Eblen stops Colin Huckbody
Eblen started with a leg kick then one to the body. He then smashed
Huckbody with several big punches before getting a takedown. Huckbody
got up but got battered by even more punches and the referee was
forced to jump in to stop the fight a little over a minute into the
first round. Eblen improves to 10-0 while Huckbody falls to 10-4. Good
win for Eblen.
GOOD- Josh Hill stops Jared Scoggins
Scoggins fires off some kicks early but none connect. Hill then
counters with some leg kicks of his own. There’s a whole lot of missed
strikes before Hill gets a takedown to win the first round. The second
round sees both guys come at each other but unfortunately for Scoggins
Hill is throwing a huge right hand then that catches Scoggins flush
and knocks him out cold. That’s a hell of a knockout. Scoggins falls
to 10-2 while Hill improves to 21-4. Good win for Hill.
GOOD- Jeremy Kennedy vs. Emmanuel Sanchez
Kennedy got an early takedown but Sanchez is back up quickly. Kennedy
got him down again but Sanchez gets up again. Kennedy then got a big
slam and started working for a submission. No dice, as Sanchez starts
to get back up but gets drug back down. Kennedy is all over Sanchez
like the proverbial cheap suit and the first round ends. Sanchez got
for a takedown in the second round but gets hip-tossed instead.
Sanchez works his way back up but gets taken down again and the round
ends. The third round sees Kennedy get another takedown and there’s
some more grappling but Kennedy’s the clear winner of the round and
the decision. Kennedy improves to 17-3 while Sanchez falls to 20-7.
Good win for Kennedy.
GOOD- Sergio Pettis stops Kyoji Horiguchi
This was for the Bellator Bantamweight Championship, which Pettis
currently holds and Horiguchi had to vacate due to injury in 2019.
Pettis dropped Horiguchi early in the first round, though it looked
like he slipped. Horiguchi counters with a takedown but nothing comes
of it and they get back to their feet. They trade strikes for the rest
of the round. The second round sees Horiguchi get another takedown and
start working his ground-and-pound. Horiguchi is bleeding but doing
damage but Pettis gets up to finish the round on his feet. Horiguchi
gets another takedown in the third round and does some more damage.
Pettis is fighting back but Horiguchi has to be winning every round up
until now. Horiguchi gets another takedown in the fourth round and
this looks like a replay of the last round. However, Pettis gets up
and tries a head kick that Horiguchi ducks under before Pettis lands
the ol’ Judas Effect, a spinning back fist that knocks Horiguchi out
cold. Pettis retains and improves to 22-5 while Horiguchi falls to
29-4. What an ending, what a comeback. That’s incredible. Good win for
Pettis.
Bellator announced a $1 million dollar grand prize for the upcoming
2022 Bellator Bantamweight World Grand Prix. The participants are the
current Bellator Bantamweight Champion Sergio Pettis, Kyoji Horiguchi,
Juan Archuleta, Patchy Mix, Magomed Magomedov, James Gallagher,
Raufeon Stots, and Leandro Higo. The bracket with the matchups will be
announced at a later date. Sounds great to me, I love tournaments.
UFC Fight Night: Font vs. Aldo
GOOD- Mickey Gall vs. Alex Morono
They traded strikes until Gall got dropped with a jab. He got back to
his feet and they had a big exchange to close the first round. The
second round saw Gall hurt Morono with a combination as they traded
more strikes and worked the body. They both continued firing away in
the third round but Morono probably got the better of it. Morono wins
the decision and has won three fights in a row to improve to 21-7 with
1 No Contest while Gall drops to 7-4 and has alternated wins and
losses in his last eight fights. Good win for Morono.
GOOD- Chris Curtis stops Brendan Allen
Allen slammed Curtis early in the first round then they traded some
big strikes on the feet for the rest of the round. The second round
saw Curtis begin landing some heavy shots and stun Allen with a right
hook. Curtis continued firing and forced the referee to jump in to
stop the fight. Curtis moves to 28-8 while Allen falls to 17-5. Good
win for Curtis.
GOOD- Clay Guida submits Leonardo Santos
Santos hurt Guida with a kick to the body and then drops him with a
knee. Guida survived somehow and Santos looks extremely tired. Guida
gets a slam and a little ground-and-pound to end the first round. The
second round starts with Guida getting Santos to the mat and locking
in a rear-naked choke to get the submission win. Guida improves to
37-18 while Santos drops to 18-5-1 and has now lost two in a row. Good
comeback win for Guida.
GOOD- Jamahal Hill stops Jimmy Crute
Hill drops Crute with a right hook but Crute shrugs it off. Hill drops
him with another right hook and finishes him with a big punch for the
knockout in under a minute into the first round. Hill improves to 9-1
with 1 No Contest that’s some BS as he tested positive for marijuana,
not steroids. Whatever. Anyway, Crute drops to 12-3 and has also lost
two in a row. Good win for Hill.
GOOD- Rafael Fiziev stops Brad Riddell
They trade strikes for a while before Fiziev lands a great body kick.
More striking exchanges to finish the first round. The second round
sees more striking exchanges, including some nasty body shots. Riddell
gets a takedown in the third round before landing a big left hook.
However, Fiziev lands a beautiful wheel kick and the referee jumps in
to stop the fight almost halfway through the third round. Fiziev
improves to 11-1 and has won five fights in a row while Riddell falls
to 10-2 to snap his seven-fight winning streak. Good win for Fiziev.
GOOD- Rob Font vs. Jose Aldo
Font went to the body several times in the first round but Aldo fired
back with stiff strikes of his own before dropping Font with a quick
combination. Aldo hurt Font with a big right hand in the second round
but also got plenty of return fire from Aldo. The third round saw more
of the same, both men landing plenty of strikes but I think Aldo was
getting the better of most exchanges. Font kept getting staggered by
Aldo strikes and that continued into the fourth round as Aldo dropped
him with a big knee. They fought most of the round on the ground. The
fifth round saw more brutal strikes that Font took. His toughness is
unquestioned, no doubt, but it’s Aldo who wins the round and the
fight. Aldo improves to 31-7 and has now won three fights in a row
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