HYDEN BLOG: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly from UFC 277

By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch Senior Columnist

UFC 277 was last night and featured some big fights, including two
title fights. Who won? Let’s get to the rundown.

UFC 277
GOOD- Magomed Ankalaev stops Anthony Smith
Things started off slowly in the first round. Smith hit the mat late
in the round, later indicating that he broke his leg. The second round
saw Ankalaev defend a takedown attempt and then reign down some
ground-and-pound after Smith tried to pull guard. Eventually the
referee had to jump in to stop the fight a little over three minutes
into the second round. Ankalaev improves to 18-1 and has won 9
straight fights while Smith drops to 36-17 and has his 3 fight winning
streak snapped. Good win for Ankalaev.

GOOD- Alexandre Pantoja submits Alex Perez
They traded some big strikes early before Pantoja stuffed a Perez
takedown and then got one of his own. He then locked in a rear-naked
choke and Perez had to tap about a minute and a half into the first
round. Pantoja improves to 25-5 and has won 3 straight fights while
Perez drops to 24-7. Good win for Pantoja.

GOOD/BAD- Sergei Pavlovich stops Derrick Lewis
They were slugging early and throwing heavy leather until Pavlovich
dropped Lewis. He punched Lewis a few more times before the referee
jumped in to stop the fight less than a minute into the first round.
The stoppage was a little early but Pavlovich was firing away so he
likely would have been finished anyway even if the ref had let the
fight continue for another 10-20 seconds. You don’t know that for
sure, though, so I understand the frustration. Pavlovich improves to
16-1 (with 13 wins by Knockout) and has won 4 straight fights while
Lewis drops to 26-10 with 1 No Contest (with 21 of those wins by
Knockout). Good win for Pavlovich.

GOOD- Brandon Moreno stops Kai Kara-France
Moreno won the Interim UFC Flyweight Championship with this victory.
They started slowly in the first round until maybe halfway through the
round when they started throwing some big strikes. Neither man got the
advantage, though. The second round opened the same way, with some
exchanges but nothing major until the last half of the round. The
third round saw things heat up quicker. Moreno got cut under his right
eye as Kara-France kept firing. Both men showing toughness as they
absorb big strikes. However, Moreno nails Kara-France with a brutal
body kick that drops him and he follows up with a lot of strikes to
force the referee to jump in to stop the fight. Moreno improves to
20-6-2 while Kara-France drops to 24-10 with 1 No Contest and has his
3 fight winning streak snapped. Good win for Moreno as he becomes a
two-time UFC Flyweight Champion.

GOOD- Amanda Nunes vs. Julianna Pena
Nunes won the UFC Bantamweight Championship here to once again become
a two-division champion. They exchange strikes throughout the first
round, with Pena getting staggered a few times. She fought back but
Nunes was just too much, a theme throughout the fight. The second
round opens with Pena starting to have some success with her striking
but then she gets dropped. Nunes gives her the Andre the Giant “Up!”
and nearly immediately drops her again. Nunes again waves her up and
they trade a bit before Pena gets dropped for the third time in the
round. There’s no Mario referee to stop the fight, though, so it
continues. Pena shows great toughness but that’s at least a 10-8 and
possibly even a 10-7 round. Holy crap. The third round sees more
dominance from Nunes, though not on the level of before. Pena is
fighting hard but Nunes is just beating her up. The fourth round opens
with a Nunes takedown. She starts working for a submission but Pena
fights back with a submission attempt of her own. Pena is just beat
the hell up. Nunes gets another takedown and works her
ground-and-pound and lets her up just to take her down again. The
fifth round opens with another Nunes takedown and she beats Pena up
some more until the bell rings and she reclaims her UFC Bantamweight
Championship. This was a complete and dominant display of fighting
from Nunes here. Nunes improves to 22-5 while Pena drops to 11-5. Good
win for Nunes.

My new fantasy book is now out. It’s called Kingdom of Zarias: The Steep
Price of Revenge
. It’s the second book in my epic fantasy Kingdom
of Zarias series and follows the adventures of the Summers siblings as
they seek revenge for the wrongs inflicted on them. This book also
introduces lots of other characters as the scope of the world
continues to expand. 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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