By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch Senior Columnist
Bellator 277 and UFC Fight Night: Luque vs. Muhammed 2 were this
weekend. Let’s get to the rundown.
Bellator 277
GOOD- Linton Vassell stops Tim Johnson
They traded strikes early before Johnson dropped Vassell twice quickly
and started unloading on him. Somehow Vassell survived and turned it
around and started beating on Johnson. Vassell got into Full Mount and
worked his ground-and-pound to beat on Johnson until the referee had
to jump in to stop the fight 4:21 in the first round. If only the
referee was a second quicker. Vassell improves to 22-8 with 1 No
Contest and has won 4 fights in a row while Johnson falls to 15-9 and
has lost 3 fights in a row. Good win for Vassell.
GOOD- Aaron Pico stops Adli Edwards
Pico got an early takedown and did a little damage before they got
back to their feet, where Pico dropped Edwards. Pico landed some
elbows before Edwards got up only to get taken down again. Pico lets
him up before kicking him in the head and hitting him in the body and
landing another takedown. At the end of the first round Pico got
another takedown. The second round saw Pico get another handful of
takedowns. He’s working the body, landing shots to the head, and
getting a takedown whenever he wants. This is a dominant performance
by Pico here. A ton of heart and grit shown by Edwards but he’s just
outmatched. The fight ends not quite a minute into the third round as
Pico drops Edwards again and finishes him off. Pico moves to 10-3 and
has won 6 straight fights while Edwards drops to 9-2. Good win for
Pico.
UGLY- Vadim Nemkov vs. Corey Anderson ends in a No Contest
Bellator Light Heavyweight Champion Vadim Nemkov was set to defend his
title against Corey Anderson in the Bellator Light Heavyweight World
Grand Prix. Things started with some early trading of strikes before
Nemkov dropped Anderson with a quick leg kick. Nemkov started firing
but Anderson came back and the first round was close. The second round
saw Anderson get an early takedown and start working his
ground-and-pound. Anderson got another takedown early in the third
round but Nemkov locked a guillotine in. Anderson escaped and after
some more grappling the fight is paused to allow the cageside doctor
to look at a cut on Nemkov’s head. Anderson is declared the winner
until Nemkov protests it was an accidental headbutt that caused the
cut and the fight is ruled a No Contest after replay shows that to be
true. This sucks. Nemkov is now 15-2 with 1 No Contest while Anderson
is 16-5 with 1 No Contest. Terrible ending but it happens.
BAD/GOOD- Patricio “Pitbull” Freire vs. A.J. McKee
Bellator Featherweight Champion A.J. McKee was hoping to defend his
newly won championship that he had actually just won from Freire but
it was not to be. McKee came out firing early but Pitbull stayed
patient. The second round saw Pitbull get a takedown that probably won
him the round as not a whole lot else was happening. The third round
saw Pitbull hurt McKee but he got an immediate takedown. Pitbull
locked in a guillotine, though, but he couldn’t finish McKee. More
tentativeness from both in the fourth round. A few decent strikes from
each man and that’s it. McKee got a takedown in the fifth but he’s
fighting through exhaustion and the fight ends and Freire is awarded
the decision victory from the judges. Pitbull improves to 33-5 and
regains his Bellator Featherweight Championship while McKee gets his
first loss and is now 18-1. Not the most exciting of fights but they
each had a strategy. Good win for Pitbull.
UFC Fight Night: Luque vs. Muhammed 2
GOOD- Mounir Lazzez vs. Ange Loosa
They both attacked the body in the first round. The second round saw
more striking exchanges. Neither man able to land a takedown. The
third round sees each man absorb some big strikes. They were both
dishing out some heavy punishment but they took it. It goes to the
judges and Lazzez gets the decision win. Lazzez improves to 11-2 while
Loosa falls to 8-3 after taking this fight on a week’s notice. Good
win for Lazzez.
GOOD- Pat Sabatini vs. T.J. Laramie
Sabatini got a couple takedowns in the first round and worked some of
his grappling. The second round saw Sabatini get another takedown and
start working some ground-and-pound. He didn’t do a lot of damage but
it all adds up, I guess. The third round saw them trade big strikes
before Sabatini got another takedown. It goes to the judges and
Sabatini gets the decision victory. Sabatini improves to 17-3 and has
won 6 fights in a row while Laramie falls to 12-5. Good win for
Sabatini.
GOOD- Mayra Bueno Silva vs. Yanan Wu
They trade kicks early before mixing in some punches. Silva hurt Wu
with some big left hooks and again with a right hand at the end of the
first round. The second round saw more striking exchanges until Silva
tried for a few submissions. The striking exchanges continue into the
third round and they trade combinations to the head and body. They
fight until the end but Silva picks up the decision victory. Silva
moves to 8-2-1 while Wu drops to 12-5 and has lost 3 fights in a row.
Good win for Silva.
GOOD- Andre Fialho stops Miguel Baeza
They trade lots of strikes early, as they’re both swinging for the
fences. Lots of kicks being thrown out. Fialho starts to take over and
he’s hurting Baeza with uppercuts and hooks until the referee is
forced to jump in to stop the fight a little over four and a half
minutes into the first round. Fialho improves to 15-4 with 1 No
Contest while Baeza falls to 10-3 and has lost 3 straight fights now.
Good win for Fialho.
BAD/GOOD- Caio Borralho vs. Gadzhi Omargadzhiev
They trade kicks early before going to the mat. Some more striking
attempts before they again go to the mat in the second round. That
continues into the third until Borralho gets a point taken away for an
illegal knee. Omargadzhiev can’t continue and the fight is called
almost four minutes into the third round and they go to the judges.
Despite the point deduction Borralho is awarded the Technical
Decision. Sound strategy but not very exciting. And the ending lowers
it for me as well. Borralho improves to 11-1 with 1 No Contest and
Omargadzhiev is handed his first loss and falls to 13-1. Good win for
Borralho.
GOOD- Vicente Luque vs. Belal Muhammed
They trade kicks early until Muhammed gets a takedown and they grapple
for the rest of the first round. A little more striking in the second
round until Muhammed gets another takedown. Luque hurts Muhammed a few
times in the third round but can’t follow up. Muhammed gets another
takedown in the fourth round and they trade strikes. Luque defends the
takedowns well in the beginning of the fifth round but Muhammed is
tenacious and gets one. A few more striking exchanges and this one is
done. Muhammed wins the decision and improves to 21-3 with 1 No
Contest and has won 7 of his last 8 fights, with the No Contest being
the other result. Luque drops to 21-8-1 and has his 4 fight winning
streak snapped. Good win for Muhammed.
My fantasy 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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