By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch Senior Columnist
UFC Fight Night: Grasso vs. Shevchenko was this past weekend and it
featured some exciting fights and a title fight that ended in…let’s
just say, a pretty unique way. Counting this event, there’s only been
six title fight draws in UFC history. Who won and who lost the
remaining fights? Let’s get to the rundown.
UFC Fight Night: Grasso vs. Shevchenko
GOOD- Fernando Padilla vs. Kyle Nelson
Padilla’s throwing a lot of kicks early. Nelson reciprocates with some
low kicks that spin Padilla around a few times. They both start mixing
in some strikes, as Pedilla responds to some Nelson punches with some
elbows before the first round ends. The second round begins with
Padilla throwing more kicks before Nelson responds with some punches
and a head kick that staggers Padilla. They’re both connecting well
with strikes but Nelson’s strikes are doing more damage as the second
round ends. The third round starts with both fighters being
aggressive. They’re both mixing up with their strikes well and neither
is backing down. Again, it appears Nelson does a little more damage as
the third round and fight end. We go to the judges to render a
verdict. Nelson wins the decision to improve to 15-5-1 while Padilla
drops to 15-5 and has his 3 fight winning streak snapped. Good win for
Nelson.
GOOD- Daniel Zellhuber submits Christian Giagos
Giagos is landing some good punches early and hurts Zellhuber. Giagos
unloads on Zellhuber but can’t finish him. Good toughness there by
Zellhuber. Now they’re trading kicks as the first round ends. The
second round begins with them exchanging strikes. Zellhuber fights off
a few takedown attempts, the last one he counters with an Anaconda
Choke that forces Giagos to tap almost three and a half minutes into
the second round. Zellhuber improves to 14-1 while Giagos drops to
20-11. Good win for Zellhuber.
GOOD- Raul Rosas Jr. stops Terrance Mitchell
They’re both throwing bombs immediately. Rosas connects with a huge
left hand that drops Mitchell then pounces on him and punches him
until the referee jumps in to stop the fight not quite a minute into
the first round. Rosas improves to 8-1 while Mitchell drops to 14-4.
Good win for Rosas.
GOOD- Jack Della Maddalenna vs. Kevin Holland
They’re mixing up their strikes early. Della Maddalena attacking the
body while Holland is throwing some nice kicks. JDM responds with some
good kicks of his own, as well as some punches. The first round ends
as both fighters are throwing nice volume. The second round begins
with more striking exchanges. They’re both landing and absorbing
stronger strikes as the round wears on. They’re coming at each other
from all angles as the second round ends. The third round starts just
like the others have, with lots of striking exchanges. Holland is
mixing things up really well while Della Maddalena seems to have a
little more oomph to his strikes. Neither man will be finished tonight
so we go to the judges to render a verdict. For the second fight in a
row, Della Maddalena wins the Split Decision and improves to 16-2 and
has won 16 straight fights while Holland drops to 25-10 with 1 No
Contest. Good win for Della Maddalena.
GOOD/BAD- Alexa Grasso vs. Valentina Shevchenko
Grasso was defending her UFC Flyweight Championship here in an
immediate rematch after Shevchenko got caught with a submission late
in their fight back in March. We begin with some good striking
exchanges. Shevchenko gets a quick takedown but Grasso is able to
fight her way back to her feet. They fight on the fence until the
first round ends. The second round begins with Grasso nailing
Shevchenko with a huge right hand that drops her. Shevchenko survives
and gets a takedown. They kick at each other’s legs for a while before
the second round ends. The third round starts with Shevchenko getting
another takedown. Grasso tries to get up but gets caught in a
guillotine. She gets free and they grapple for the rest of the third
round. The fourth round opens with more striking exchanges before
Grasso gets a takedown. They grapple for a bit until Grasso gets up
and they exchange strikes. Shevchenko gets another takedown and the
fourth round ends. The fifth round commences with some good strikes
from both women. They’re both landing well before Grasso tries for a
takedown but can’t get it. Some more nice strikes before they go to
the ground. Grasso grabs a rear-naked choke but Shevchenko breaks free
and the fifth round and fight end. We go to the judges to render a
verdict. The fight is ruled a Split Draw so Grasso retains her UFC
Flyweight Championship.
The first three rounds are in agreement. Shevchenko won Rounds 1 and 3
while Grasso won Round 2. Judges Sal D’Amato and Mike Bell scored
Round 4 for Shevchenko while judge Junichiro Kamijo scored it for
Grasso. I thought Grasso clearly won Round 4 as I was watching it.
Maybe I’m wrong? It’s certainly possible, I haven’t rewatched it or
anything. So right away I think that’s not right, though again, just
my opinion.
However, then we see that all three judges scored Grasso as the winner
of Round 5. That I think everyone can get behind. But then we see that
Mike Bell scored the fifth round 10-8 for Grasso. Sounds crazy to me
but then that means that the fight is a Split Draw instead of a Split
Decision win for Shevchenko, which I think would have been a bad
decision.
So in the end I guess things worked out but man, what a convoluted way
to get there.
Anyway, Grasso is now 16-3-1 and has her 5 fight winning streak
stopped while Shevchenko is now 23-4-1.
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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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