By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch Senior Columnist
Bellator 292 and UFC Fight Night: Dvalishvili vs. Yan were last weeked
and featured some exciting fights. Who won and who lost? Let’s get to
the rundown.
Bellator 292
GOOD/UGLY- Michael “Venom” Page stops Goiti Yamauchi
MVP throws two low kicks, the second one connecting with Yamauchi’s
knee and dislocating it. This fight’s over in less than thirty
seconds. A brutal and explosive finish. Page improves to 21-2 while
Yamauchi drops to 28-6 and has his 3 fight winning streak snapped.
Good win for Page and let’s hope Yamauchi has a full recovery.
GOOD- Linton Vassell stops Valentin Moldavsky
Vassell comes aggressive with his striking. Moldavsky gets Vassell
down a few times but can’t keep him there and when they separate
Vassell drops him with a big right hand. Vassell moves to mount and
rains down punches before a huge elbow knocks Moldavsky out a little
over three minutes into the first round. Vassell improves to 23-8 with
1 No Contest while Moldavsky drops to 11-3 with 1 No Contest. Good win
for Vassell.
BAD- Alexandr Shabliy stops Tofiq Musayev
This was a quarterfinal match in the Bellator Lightweight World Grand
Prix. The first round starts very slowly as Shabliy throws a few leg
kicks. The crowd boos the lack of action. Shabliy drops Musayev with a
leg kick and the first round ends. The second round starts with more
of the same nothingness, eliciting more boos from the crowd. Shabliy
lands some punches and kicks but that’s about it and the second round
ends. I don’t blame the crowd for booing, this fight sucks. The third
round opens with an off-target Shabliy leg kick that hits Musayev low.
Musayev says he can’t continue and the referee rules the kick legal,
saying it hit Musayev in the groin after making initial contact and
deeming it incidental. A terrible end to a terrible fight. I get it,
it happens. These guys were just trying to counter the whole fight.
That leads to a lot of inaction. It sucks, but it happens. Shabliy
improves to 23-3 and has now won 8 straight fights while Musayev drops
to 20-5. It’s a win for Shabliy.
GOOD- Usman Nurmagomedov submits Benson Henderson
This was another quarterfinal match in the Bellator Lightweight World
Grand Prix. Also, Nurmagomedov is defending his Bellator Lightweight
Championship. The action starts with them trading kicks until
Nurmagomedov drops Henderson with one. Nurmagomedov is all over
Henderson and raining down punches and hammerfists on him until
cinching in a rear-naked choke that forces Henderson to tap a little
over halfway through the first round. An impressive win over a
seasoned veteran. Nurmagomedov improves to a perfect 17-0 while
Henderson drops to 30-12. Good win for Nurmagomedov.
GOOD- Benson Henderson retires
Benson Henderson announced his retirement after this fight. He had a
great career. 30 wins is impressive. He was also the WEC Lightweight
Champion as well as the UFC Lightweight Champion. He fought for a long
time and had wins over guys like Frankie Edgar, Nate Diaz, Gilbert
Melendez, Patrico Freire, Jorge Masvidal, Donald Cerrone, and Jim
Miller. I wish him good health in his retirement.
UFC Fight Night: Dvalishvili vs. Yan
GOOD- Vitor Petrino vs. Anton Turkalj
They trade takedowns early before fighting on the fence. Petrino hurts
Turkalj with a flurry and throws him down. Turkalj fights back with a
beautiful upkick and there’s more ground-and-pound before the first
round ends. The second round begins with Petrino nailing Turkalj with
some tough strikes before getting a takedown, though Turkalj is up
quickly. They grapple for a while before trading strikes at the end of
the round. The third round opens with more of the same. They’re
trading strikes and takedowns along with some nice grappling. Turkalj
does keep grabbing the cage, though. We go to the judges as the fight
ends and Petrino gets the decision victory to improve to 8-0 while
Turkalj drops to 8-2. Good win for Petrino.
GOOD- Mario Bautista submits Guido Cannetti
Bautista gets a quick takedown and they’re grappling early. They trade
more takedowns and stand ups until Bautista gets Cannetti’s back and
locks in a rear-naked choke to get the tap not quite three and a half
minutes into the first round. Bautista improves to 12-2 and has won 4
straight fights while Cannetti drops to 10-7. Good win for Bautista.
GOOD- Jonathan Martinez vs. Said Nurmagomedov
They trade kicks early, with Nurmagomedov seeming to get the better of
it. They keep trading kicks before Nurmagomedov starts mixing in
punches as well and is coming at Martinez from every angle and the
first round ends. The second round starts with more kicks until
Nurmagomedov gets a takedown. Martinez gets back up and they trade
strikes until the round ends. The third round begins with them going
to the ground and Nurmagomedov trying for the submission. He can’t get
it and Martinez gets back up. They trade some more and we end up going
to the judges. It was a very close fight and Martinez was awarded the
decision. Martinez improves to 18-4 and has won 5 straight fights
while Nurmagomedov drops to 17-3 and has his 4 fight winning streak
snapped. Good win for Martinez.
GOOD- Nikita Krylov submits Ryan Spann
They go to the ground early and trade submission attempts. They
grapple for a while before Krylov wraps up a Triangle Choke to get the
submission victory a little over three and a half minutes into the
first round. Krylov improves to 30-9 and has won 3 straight fights
while Spann drops to 21-8. Good win for Krylov.
GOOD- Alexander Volkov stops Alexandr Romanov
Volkov lands a lot of strikes early and it’s just too much as the
referee is forced to jump in to stop the fight a bit over two minutes
into the first round. Volkov improves to 36-10 while Romanov drops to
16-2. Good win for Volkov.
GOOD- Merab Dvalishvili vs. Petr Yan
Dvalishvili gets an immediate takedown but Yan quickly stands. They
trade strikes for a while. Dvalishvili keeps trying for takedowns but
gets denied and the first round ends. The second round starts with a
Dvalishvili takedown but he can’t keep Yan down. This happens a few
more times as Dvalishvili piles up the takedowns and the strikes. Yan
keeps getting back up, though, and the second round ends. The third
round starts with more of the same. Dvalishvili can get Yan down; he
just can’t keep him down. We move to the fourth round and it’s still
more of the same. Dvalishvili is hitting these takedowns but can’t
keep Yan down. He’s getting stuffed on most of them but the ones he
does get he can’t keep Yan down. Dvalishvili is also landing a lot of
strikes. This stuff is piling up and Yan clearly needs a finish if he
wants to win. The fifth round opens with still more of the same. Yan
seems very hesitant to throw. I don’t know why but Dvalishvili is
taking full advantage of it by unloading everything he’s got.
Dvalishvili is putting on a cardio clinic here. He’s done more here
than anyone I can ever remember. I could be very wrong on that,
though, but it certainly feels that way. We go to the judges and
Dvalishvili wins the decision and improves to 16-4 and has won 9
straight fights while Yan drops to 16-5 and has lost 3 straight
fights. Good win for Dvalishvili.
My new fantasy book is now out. It’s called Kingdom of Zarias: A Fight For
Survival. It’s the third book in my epic fantasy Kingdom of Zarias
series and follows the adventures of the Summers siblings as they
fight to defend the world from an evil villain named Galren. This book
also introduces lots of other characters as the scope of the world
grows. 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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