By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch Senior Columnist
UFC Fight Night: Zombie vs. Holloway was this past weekend and
featured a few exciting finishes. Who won and who lost? Let’s get to
the rundown.
UFC Fight Night: Zombie vs. Holloway
GOOD- Junior Tafa stops Parker Porter
Tafa nails Porter with some good strikes that prompt Porter to go for
a takedown and drag him to the fence. Tafa defends and smashes with an
elbow and a few big right hands that drop Porter and force the referee
to jump in to stop the fight almost a minute and a half into the first
round. Tafa improves to 5-1 while Porter drops to 14-9 and has lost to
two Tafa brothers this year. Good win for Tafa.
GOOD- Erin Blanchfield vs. Taila Santos
They’re exchanging strikes early, with Santos getting the early
advantage. Blanchfield goes for some takedowns but gets denied each
time. They fight in the clinch for a while before the first round
ends. The second round begins with some striking before Blanchfield
tries a few more times to get a takedown but gets denied again. They
do go to the ground again but nothing much happens and the second
round ends. The third round starts with Blanchfield trying over and
over to get a takedown but Santos defends well. Blanchfield is also
landing some nice strikes in this round. The third round and fight
ends so we go to the judges for the verdict. Blanchfield wins the
decision and improves to 12-1 and has won 9 straight fights while
Santos drops to 19-3. Good win for Blanchfield.
GOOD- Fernie Garcia vs. Rinya Nakamura
They exchange strikes for a bit before Nakamura gets a takedown and
they grapple until the end the first round. The second round begins
with Nakamura landing a bunch of kicks before getting another
takedown. They each try submissions and grapple until the second round
ends. The third round starts with another striking exchange until
Nakamura gets another takedown. They grapple for a while until Garcia
finally works his way up. They exchange strikes until the third round
and the fight ends. We go to the judges for the verdict and Nakamura
wins the decision to improve to a perfect 8-0 while Garcia drops to
10-4 and has lost 3 straight fights. Good win for Nakamura.
GOOD- Alex Caceres vs. Giga Chikadze
They’re exchanging a lot of strikes early. They’re both mixing up with
their kicks and punches well. Caceres slows down as the first round
comes to a close. The second round begins with them switching that up
for a while, as Caceres comes out swinging while Chikadze is
tentative. Before long, though, they’re both throwing a lot of volume.
Not a great success rate but they’re trying. The second round ends and
the third round starts with both fighters throwing kicks before mixing
in some heavy punches. They’re trading big strikes but Chikadze seems
to be doing more damage. The third round and fights ends so we go to
the judges for the verdict. Chikadze wins the decision to improve to
15-3 while Caceres drops to 21-14 with 1 No Contest. Good win for
Chikadze.
GOOD- Anthony Smith vs. Ryan Spann
They both land big right hands early before mixing in kicks as well.
Smith takes Spann down but nothing much happens and they separate.
Smith lands some good leg kicks and the first round ends. The second
round begins with Spann staggering Smith with some big hooks. They’re
on the ground after a flying knee from Spann, who starts working his
ground-and-pound. Smith’s left eye is just about swollen shut but
Spann only takes half advantage of that. Smith is battling back but
Spann is fighting tentatively to make sure he doesn’t make a mistake
as the second round ends. The third round starts with more striking
exchanges. Smith is working the body well. They’re both working in
some nice low kicks as well. The third round and fight ends so we go
to the judges for the verdict. Smith wins the Split Decision to
improve to 37-18 while Spann drops to 21-9. Good win for Smith.
GOOD- Max Holloway stops Chan Sung Jung
They’re trading heavy strikes early. Holloway works the body and they
both land big punches before the first round ends. The second round
begins with Holloway dropping Jung with a hard punch. He jumps on Jung
and locks in a deep choke. Jung survives somehow and they separate.
They exchange strikes for the rest of the second round. The third
round starts with Jung rushing Holloway but Holloway counters with a
big right hand to the chin that crumples Jung and ends the fight a
little over twenty seconds into the third round. Holloway improves to
25-7 while Jung drops to 17-8. Good win for Holloway.
GOOD- Chan Sung Jung retires
The Korean Zombie has not just one of the greatest nicknames in sports
history but also some incredible highlights during his career. He has
a 7 second knockout on his resume as well as the first Twister
submission in UFC history. 14 of his 17 wins came via finish. He was a
dangerous man in the cage and had some legendary fights against
Leonard Garcia, Dustin Poirier, and Yair Rodriguez. He also had a lot
of other great moments, his highlight reel is a must-watch. He had a
really good career and I wish him nothing but the best in retirement.
*************
Stephen Thompson was scheduled to face Michel Pereira at UFC 291 in
July. However, Pereira missed weight by 3 pounds so Thompson elected
not to fight. That’s well within his right. I was under the impression
that he would be paid his “Show Money” because he showed up, he made
weight.
However, I guess there’s no such thing as Show Money as the UFC hasn’t
done that. Dana White said that because Thompson chose not to fight
that he won’t get paid. I like to avoid talking about another person’s
money if at all possible but I will say that I think the UFC should
pay Thompson. Whether you think he’s right or wrong, he was ready to
fight. And I’m sure the UFC can afford it.
My new fantasy book is 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.
Leave a Reply