HYDEN BLOG: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly from Bellator 275 and UFC Fight Night: Makhachev vs. Green

By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch Senior Columnist

Bellator 275 and UFC Fight Night: Makhachev vs. Green were this
weekend and both cards featured exciting fights and one had an
emphatic title defense. Who won what fights and how? Let’s get to the
rundown.

Bellator 275
GOOD- Jornel Lugo vs. Brian Moore
They traded strikes early, with Lugo attacking the body often. Moore
was stuck in first gear as Lugo varied his striking. Moore turned it
up a bit in the second round and started connecting with more strikes.
Unfortunately, Lugo connected with an eyepoke after kicking Moore low
in the first round. The third round saw Lugo continue to be more
active and that won him the decision. Lugo remains undefeated and
improves to 8-0 as Moore drops to 14-9. Good win for Lugo.

GOOD- Khasan Magomedsharipov vs. Jose Sanchez
Sanchez kept trying for a takedown in the first round but wasn’t able
to land one. As the first round came to a close Magomedsharipov hit a
spinning back kick and landed a takedown on his own. The second round
saw Magomedsharipov get another takedown and work his ground-and-pound
as he made Sanchez bleed. The third round was a repeat and
Magomedsharipov got the decision win to remain undefeated and improve
to 7-0 while Sanchez fell to 11-2 and he’s now two fights in a row.
Good win for Magomedsharipov.

BAD- Ciaran Clarke beats Abou Tounkara due to injury
Clarke tenaciously worked for a takedown as Tounkara tried a few
different submissions. Tounkara kept trying for a submission but the
first round ended. The fight ended because Tounkara injured his
shoulder and was unable to continue. Clarke was awarded the stoppage
victory and improved to 5-0 while Tounkara dropped to 7-3. Injuries
always suck but a win’s a win.

GOOD- Sinead Kavanagh vs. Leah McCourt
McCourt got an early takedown and went to work. However, Kavanagh
grabbed a kimura and was cranking that thing. McCourt escaped but
Kavanagh started throwing bombs as the round ended. Kavanagh got a
takedown in the second round but McCourt fought her way back to her
feet. Kavanagh got another takedown, though, and landed some big
shots. Kavanagh hurt her knee but battled on. The third round saw
Kavanagh get another takedown and they worked on the ground until the
round ended. Kavanagh landed some big strikes and she won the decision
to improve to 8-5 while McCourt fell to 6-2. Good win for Kavanagh. I
haven’t heard an update on the severity of her knee injury yet so
hopefully it’s less serious than it appeared.

GOOD- Gegard Mousasi stops Austin Vanderford
They traded punches early before a Mousai jab wobbled Vanderford, who
went for a takedown but then covered up and Mousasi unloaded on him to
force the referee to jump in to stop the fight not quite a minute and
a half into the first round. Mousasi successfully defends his Bellator
Middleweight Championship and now says he wants to fight the winner of
the Bellator Light Heavyweight World Grand Prix, which will be either
the Bellator Light Heavyweight Champion Vadim Nemkov or Corey
Anderson. We’ll see if or when that happens. For now, Mousasi improves
to 49-7-2 while Vanderford suffers his first loss and drops to 11-1.
Big win for Mousasi.

UFC Fight Night: Makhachev vs. Green
GOOD- Gregory Rodrigues vs. Armen Petrosyan
They traded strikes early in the first round, with Petrosyan getting
the upper hand there. It was more of the same until Petrosyan hurt
Rodrigues with a left hook. Rodrigues did get a takedown but this
fight’s been about the striking exchanges between these two. They’ve
both landed big strikes. They beat the hell out of each other even
more in the third round but neither could be finished so it goes to
the judges, who give a Split Decision victory to Petrosyan, who
improves to 7-1 while Rodrigues falls to 11-4. Good win for Petrosyan.

GOOD- Arman Tsarukyan stops Joel Alvarez
Tsarukyan gets a takedown early in the first round. Late in the round
he opens Alvarez up with elbows and it’s not pretty as blood is
everywhere. The second round sees more dominance by Tsarukyan as he
gets Alvarez down and unloads on him until the referee jumps in to
stop the fight not quite two minutes into the second round. Tsarukyan
improves to 18-2 and has won 5 fights in a row and 17 of his last 18,
with the only loss in there to Islam Makhachev. Alvarez drops to 19-3.
Good win for Tsarukyan

GOOD- Ji Yeon Kim vs. Priscila Cachoeira
They traded strikes throughout the first round, with Cachoeira getting
a late takedown to take the round. They traded more big strikes in the
second round. And the third round as well. They were hitting each
other with bombs all throughout the fight. They both showed tremendous
toughness to absorb such shots. They both fought hard and Cachoeira
won the decision. I thought Kim had won it but maybe I missed
something? Cachoeira improves to 11-4 while Kim falls to 9-5. Good win
for Cachoeira.

GOOD- Wellington Turman submits Misha Cirkunov
They grappled early before Cirkunov stood and dropped some big shots
down. He tried for a few submissions but wasn’t able to get anything
solid before the first round ended. The second round saw Cirkunov get
a trip takedown but Turman quickly grabbed an armbar and got the tap
about a minute and a half into the second round. Turman improves to
18-5 while Cirkunov drops to 15-8 and has lost 3 fights in a row. Good
win for Turman.

GOOD- Islam Makhachev stops Bobby Green
They traded strikes early in this short notice 160 lbs. catchweight
fight before Makhachev got a takedown and went to work. He worked for
a submission before he started throwing bombs and that was it, the
referee had to jump in to stop the fight not quite three and a half
minutes into the first round. Makhachev improves to 22-1 and has now
won 10 fights in a row while Green drops to 29-13-1. Makhachev is
clearly the next one in line for a title shot against the winner of
UFC Lightweight Champion Charles Oliveira vs. Justin Gaethje at UFC
274 on May 7th. I know Beneil Dariush is on a 7 fight win streak but
he had to pull out of this fight due to injury and we don’t know how
long he’ll be out of action. May’s still a few months away, though, so
we should know Dariush’s status by then but I still think I would lean
towards Makhachev getting the next title show. Either way, this was a
big win for Makhachev.

My new book is now out. It’s called Kingdom of Zarias: Undeath and
the Dewester Set. It’s a fantasy epic that begins with the Summers
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Kingdom of Zarias. It’s like a tabletop game in novel form. It’s on
Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and many other places. 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- My Book 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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