By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch Senior Columnist
UFC Fight Night: Font vs. Vera was last night and featured some
exciting action. Let’s get to the rundown.
UFC Fight Night: Font vs. Vera
GOOD/BAD- Krzysztof Jotko vs. Gerald Meerschaert
They trade strikes during the first round, with neither man getting a
big advantage. They do even more clinch work in the second round and
it’s a grind. The third round sees more clinch work before they go to
the ground. Neither can lock anything in so Jotko has to settle for
the decision from the judges. Effective strategy but I didn’t care for
this fight. Jotko improves to 24-5 and has won 5 of his last 6 fights
while Meerschaert falls to 34-15 and has his 3 fight winning streak
snapped. Good win for Jotko.
GOOD- Darren Elkins vs. Tristan Connelly
Elkins got three takedowns in the opening round and worked a little
ground-and-pound and submission game. The second round sees Elkins
pepper Connelly with strikes before taking him down momentarily. In
the third round they start off trading strikes before Elkins pulls
away with his volume. Connelly is fighting hard but Elkins is just
more active and he ends the fight with another takedown. Elkins gets
the decision win and improves to 27-10 while Connelly falls to 14-8.
Good win for Elkins.
GOOD- Grant Dawson submits Jared Gordon
They trade kicks early before they begin grappling. Dawson’s finally
able to get a takedown and he works some ground-and-pound until the
first round ends. The second round sees Dawson really hunting for
another takedown. He gets it but Gordon gets back to his feet so
Dawson keeps trying until he gets him down again. They keep scrambling
in the third round until Dawson gets another takedown and locks in a
rear-naked choke for the submission a little over four minutes into
the third round. Dawson improves to 18-1-1 and has won 9 of his last
10 fights, with the 10th being a Draw. Gordon falls to 18-5 and has
his 3 fight winning streak snapped. Good win for Dawson.
GOOD- Joanderson Brito stops Andre Fili
Brito starts with kicks before crushing Fili with a big right hand
that ends things and forces the referee to jump in to break up the
fight forty seconds into the first round. Brito improves to 13-3-1
while Fili falls to 21-9 with 1 No Contest. Good win for Brito.
GOOD/BAD- Andre Arlovski vs. Jake Collier
They did a lot of clinch work in the first round. They traded a lot of
strikes to start the second round and that continued into the third
round. They mixed in some more clinch work before going back to
trading. A little too sluggish at times but Arlovski won the Split
Decision and improves to 34-20 with 2 No Contests and has won 4 fights
in a row while Collier falls to 13-7. Good win for Arlovski.
GOOD- Rob Font vs. Marlon Vera
They trade kicks early before they start hammering each other. Font
landed some heavy shots to the head and body. Font is landing some
good elbows and his boxing seems on point so far. The violence and
toughness on display here is incredible. The second round ends with
more hard strikes being exchanged. The third round sees more vicious
striking exchanges. Font’s outstriking Vera to a large degree but
Vera’s hurting Font more. The fourth round is more of the same, Font
is landing big strikes but they don’t seem to be affecting Vera and
then Font gets dropped again. The fifth round is again more of the
same. Font lands a lot of strikes but Vera is doing more damage and he
dropped Font again. It has to go to a decision, as Font and Vera are
just too tough to be stopped. I don’t feel I’ve done this fight
justice as I would recommend that you watch it for yourself if you
haven’t seen it already. Font looked like somebody from a horror movie
while Vera looked nearly untouched. I can’t explain that, that’s wild.
Vera wins the decision and improves to 19-7-1 and has won 3 fights in
a row while Font drops to 19-6. Good win for Vera.
*************
I see more and more talk of UFC Heavyweight Champion Francis Ngannou
wanting to box undefeated WBC and The Ring Heavyweight Champion Tyson
Fury. I don’t fault Ngannou for wanting a big-money payday, who
wouldn’t want that? He’d lose, though. I’m sure some people might
think he’d win but MMA boxing isn’t the same as actual boxing. Ngannou
would do as well in a boxing match as Fury would do in an MMA fight.
That is to say, I think they’d both get their asses kicked in the
other sport. It’s interesting but not something I would prioritize
over fights for Ngannou in the UFC. That’s just me, though. Others may
disagree and that’s fine. I would watch their boxing match if it were
on network TV or something but I wouldn’t pay $100 for it.
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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