By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch Senior Columnist
Bellator 286 and UFC Fight Night: Dern vs. Yan were both yesterday and
had some interesting fights. Who won and who lost? Let’s get to the
rundown.
Bellator 286
GOOD- Juan Archuleta vs. Enrique Barzola
Archuleta starts the fight with some nice striking. Barzola tries to
fire back but Archuleta hits him with some more punches and they
clinch. Archuleta continues tagging Barzola until Barzola gets a
takedown. The round ends shortly thereafter. Round two sees them trade
some solid strikes until Archuleta gets a takedown. Barzola is back up
quickly and they scramble around for the rest of the round. Round
three opens with some more striking exchanges until they get into some
wild grappling exchanges. No one’s able to get a takedown until
Barzola finally does towards the end of the round. However, Archuleta
quickly reverses and the round ends. Archuleta wins the decision from
the judges and improves to 26-4 while Barzola drops to 18-7-2. Good
win for Archuleta.
BAD- Jeremy Kennedy beats Aaron Pico due to injury
The fight begins with Pico smashing Kennedy and sending him falling
backwards into the fence. Pico dislocated his left shoulder during the
followup sequence. Kennedy gets a takedown and some strikes in but
can’t finish him before the round ends. In between rounds the cageside
doctor examines Pico, who can’t lift his arm above his head and the
fight is waved off, with Kennedy declared the winner. Anytime an
injury decides a fight like this, it sucks. Kennedy improves to 18-3
with 1 No Contest while Pico drops to 10-4. Injuries suck but they
happen sometimes.
GOOD- A.J. McKee vs. Spike Carlyle
Carlyle starts off like a windmill in a tornado until McKee drops him
to a knee. They scramble and go to the ground, where McKee does more
damage. The second round starts with them trading kicks and takedown
attempts. McKee gets a takedown but Carlyle is quickly back up. They
go to the ground again and McKee tries for a few different submissions
but the round ends. The third round opens with McKee getting a
takedown and landing some elbows that cut Carlyle open. They spend the
rest of the fight grappling, with McKee dominating the action, and we
go to the judges. McKee wins a dominant decision and improves to 19-1
while Carlyle drops to 14-4 and has his 5 fight winning streak
snapped. Good win for McKee.
GOOD- Patricio “Pitbull” Freire vs. Adam Borics
Pitbull is defending his Bellator Featherweight Championship here and
the action starts tentatively until a few minutes in when they start
throwing flurries and combinations. A close round ends and the second
round begins with some solid action. Pitbull is working the counter
game so not much is happening, which gets the crowd to boo. They
strike for a while to open the third round until Pitbull gets the
fight to the ground. They grapple around for a bit and the round ends.
The fourth round sees Pitbull go back to waiting for an opportunity to
counter. He does hurt Borics but not a lot was happening on his end
and the crowd is upset again. The fifth round opens with more striking
exchanges and some grappling until they go to the ground. The fight
ends and Pitbull successfully retains his Bellator Featherweight
Championship with a unanimous decision, improving to 34-5 while Borics
drops to 18-2 and has his 4 fight winning streak snapped. Good win for
Pitbull.
UFC Fight Night: Dern vs. Yan
GOOD- Mike Davis vs. Viacheslav Borshchev
They open with striking before going to the ground. Davis mauls him
with a big knee, hard punches, and damaging elbows. Borshchev survives
and the round ends. Round two starts with Borshchev throwing kicks and
then turns into both men beating each other up until Davis gets a
takedown. Round three opens with more striking exchanges and toughness
shown. Davis is hurt from a punch in the eye so he takes the fight to
the ground and that’s where the fight ends. Davis wins the decision
and improves to 10-2 and has won 3 straight fights while Borshchev
drops to 6-3. Good win for Davis.
GOOD- Sodiq Yusuff submits Don Shainis
They clinch early and Yusuff buries a bunch of knees into Shainis, who
shoots in for a takedown but gets caught in a guillotine and has to
tap thirty seconds into the first round. Yusuff improves to 13-2 while
Shainis drops to 12-4 and has his 5 fight winning streak snapped in
his UFC debut. Good win for Yusuff.
GOOD- Raoni Barcelos vs. Trevin Jones
Things start slow until they begin exchanging strikes and takedown
attempts. Barcelos does more damage and the round ends. The second
round starts with them trading strikes until Barcelos drops Jones.
Barcelos pounces on him and starts unloading some vicious elbows,
cutting Jones. However, he can’t finish him before the round ends. The
third round opens with Barcelos landing more heavy strikes until he
gets a late takedown. Barcelos unloads with more vicious elbows but he
can’t finish him. Jones is too tough so we go to the judges and it’s
no surprise Barcelos wins and improves to 17-3 while Jones drops to
13-9 with 1 No Contest and has lost 3 straight fights. Good win for
Barcelos.
GOOD- Randy Brown vs. Francisco Trinaldo
They start with a lot of striking. Brown seems to do a little more
damage but it’s close. The second round starts with several Brown
kicks. They both take hard shots from the other but move forward.
Trinaldo needs to get in close due to the size difference but Brown’s
keeping him at bay and hurting him with a few strikes before the round
ends. The third round opens with more strikes, with Trinaldo getting
the edge this time. Trinaldo gets the fight to the ground and stays on
top for the rest of the round but it’s not enough and Brown gets the
decision victory, improving to 16-4 with 4 straight wins while
Trinaldo drops to 28-9. Good win for Brown.
GOOD- Mackenzie Dern vs. Yan Xiaonan
They start off striking and Dern is already reddened up. Dern is
trying for the takedown but can’t get it so Yan is peppering her with
kicks and strikes. Round two starts with Dern trying hard to get the
fight to the ground, even absorbing several punches from Yan in the
process. Dern is trying different submissions but can’t get any locked
in. She’s all over Yan, though, but can’t quite get the stoppage and
the round ends. Round three opens with Dern trying to grab Yan so she
can try to finish the fight but she’s getting beat up in the process.
Yan keeps hitting her over and over. Dern finally grabs Yan and throws
her to the mat but the round is over before she can follow up. The
fourth round sees Yan wailing all over Dern as Dern tries to get in
close for a throw or takedown. After absorbing a lot of strikes, Dern
is finally able to get the fight to the ground. However, by the time
she gets an armbar the round is over. The fifth round sees them start
off slugging it out but Dern is able to throw Yan down. There’s
minutes left and Dern begins laying it on Yan. She nearly locks in the
submission but Yan is able to escape. Yan wins the majority decision
from the judges and improves to 16-3 with 1 No Contest while Dern
drops to 12-3. Good win for Yan.
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. Also, here’s the link to my new Compendium book about
the Kingdom of Zarias series- KoZ Compendium 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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