By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch Senior Columnist
UFC Fight Night: Volkov vs. Aspinall was yesterday afternoon and
featured some really good fights. Let’s get to the rundown.
UFC Fight Night: Volkov vs. Aspinall
GOOD- Ilia Topuria stops Jai Herbert
Herbert dropped Topuria early in the first round but Topuria got a
takedown to recover. As the round is about to end Herbert knocks
Topuria’s mouthpiece and pummels him but he survives. The second round
sees Topuria destroy Herbert with punches a little over a minute into
the round. That was a devastating combination. Topuria remains
undefeated at 12-0 after making his lightweight debut while Herbert
falls to 11-4 and has lost 3 of his last 4 fights. Good win for
Topuria.
GOOD- Molly McCann stops Luana Carolina
McCann starts in with her striking early but Carolina fights back with
some knees and leg kicks. They’re throwing leather and McCann lands a
spinning elbow. The second round sees more brawling before McCann gets
a takedown. She’s not able to do anything with it so she stands up and
they fight some more on the feet. The third round sees McCann finish
the fight with another spinning elbow not quite two minutes into the
third round. Another crushing finish. McCann improves to 12-4 while
Carolina falls to 8-3. Good win for McCann.
BAD/GOOD- Gunnar Nelson vs. Takashi Sato
There’s a little bit of striking before Nelson gets a takedown and
throws little punches for the rest of the round. Nelson gets another
quick takedown in the second round and the same thing happens, he
peppers Sato with punches for what seems like hours. Third round, same
thing. It’s an effective strategy but it was also dull and shows the
lack of a killer instinct that gets him in trouble when he faces guys
who are skilled enough at grappling to stymy him enough to get their
offense in. Nelson needed the win, though, so you do what you have to.
Nelson moves to 18-5-1 while Sato falls to 16-5 and has lost 3 of his
last 4 fights. Good win for Nelson.
GOOD- Paddy Pimblett submits Rodrigo Vargas
Pimblett got a takedown and locked in the rear-naked choke to get the
submission win not quite four minutes into the first round. Paddy says
he’s never in a boring fight and he’s right so far. Pimblett improves
to 18-3 and has won 4 fights in a row while Vargas falls to 12-5 and
has lost 3 of his last 4 fights. Good win for Pimblett.
GOOD- Arnold Allen stops Dan Hooker
Allen came out firing. Hooker fought back but Allen was relentless.
Hooker stuns Allen and these guys are throwing bombs. Hooker’s
fighting back but Allen keeps firing and the referee is forced to jump
in to stop the fight halfway through the first round. Allen improves
to 18-1 and has won 11 fights in a row while Hooker drops to 21-12 and
has lost 4 of his 5 fights. Good win for Allen.
GOOD- Tom Aspinall stops Alexander Volkov
Aspinall lands some nice strikes before getting the takedown. He hurts
Volkov with some ground-and-pound before they get back to their feet.
Aspinall gets another takedown before locking in a kimura that forces
Volkov to tap almost four minutes into the first round. Aspinall
improves to 12-2 and has won 8 fights in a row while Volkov falls to
34-10. This win has to vault Aspinall way up in the rankings. I’m not
saying he should get a title shot or anything but he just submitted
the 6th ranked guy in the division. Good win for Aspinall and an
appropriate finish to what was a great card.
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
siblings but spreads out to encompass a large number of characters
across multiple stories as the world faces a threat from a vile
necromancer. There’s lots of action, magic, and monsters in the
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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