By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch Senior Columnist
UFC Fight Night: Yusuff vs. Barboza was this past weekend and it
featured some interesting fights and a bigtime comeback win. Who won
and who lost? Let’s get to the rundown.
Also, I quickly go over some replacements for two fights on UFC 294
next weekend and the USADA-UFC split.
UFC Fight Night: Yusuff vs. Barboza
GOOD- Christian Rodriguez vs. Cameron Saaiman
They exchange strikes early before Rodriguez gets a takedown.
Rodriguez locks in an Anaconda Choke but Saaiman escapes and they go
back to trading strikes. They keep exchanging until the end of the
first round. The second round begins with more striking exchanges.
Saaiman shoots in for a takedown but Rodriguez again locks in an
Anaconda Choke. Saaiman escapes and they grapple on the mat for a
while. They get up shortly before the second round ends. The third
round starts with some really nice striking exchanges. That continues
until Rodriguez gets another takedown toward the end of the third
round. The fight ends so we go to the judges to render their verdict.
Rodriguez wins the decision to improve to 10-1 and has won 3 straight
fights while Saaiman drops to 9-1 and has his 9 fight winning streak
snapped. Good win for Rodriguez.
GOOD- Michel Pereira stops Andre Petroski
Pereira is feinting early until he crushes Petroski with a straight
right hand that drops him. Pereira follows up with punches in bunches
to force the referee to jump in to stop the fight a little over a
minute into the first round. Pereira improves to 29-11 with 2 No
Contests and has won 6 straight fights while Petroski drops to 10-2
and has his 5 fight winning streak snapped. Good win for Pereira.
GOOD- Jonathan Martinez stops Adrian Yanez
They’re exchanging early, with Martinez landing some sharp leg kicks.
Yanez’s left leg is jacked up and he gets dropped by another powerful
leg kick a little later. Martinez lets him up and smashes him again
with a few more leg kicks before the first round ends. The second
round begins with more Martinez leg kicks and Yanez is dropped again.
Martinez lets him up and slams home several more leg kicks until Yanez
drops again and holds his injured knee, ending the fight almost
halfway through the second round. Martinez improves to 19-4 and has
won 6 straight fights while Yanez drops to 16-5. Good win for
Martinez.
GOOD- Jennifer Maia vs. Viviane Araujo
They land strikes throughout the first round, both women trying
takedowns at separate times but getting stuffed on them until the
first round ends. The second begins with Araujo getting a takedown and
they grapple for the rest of the second round. The third round starts
with more striking from both. Maia tries for a takedown but can’t get
it. Maia softens up Araujo with some elbows and finally gets a
takedown. They’re back up and back down and are going for submissions
until the third round and fight end. We go to the judges to render a
verdict. Araujo wins the decision and improves to 12-5 while Maia
drops to 21-10-1. Good win for Araujo.
GOOD- Sodiq Yusuff vs. Edson Barboza
They come out swinging and Yusuff drops Barboza with a big right hand.
Yusuff pounces and tries to finish him but Barboza survives. However,
Barboza gets staggered by another right hand but survives long enough
for Yusuff to take him down. Yusuff can’t finish off Barboza and the
first round ends. Holy crap that was close. The referee could have
easily stopped the fight during this round, as Barboza was absorbing a
lot of damage. He survived, though, and we move on. The second round
begins with kicks flying around from all directions. They fight on the
fence and in the clinch for a while. Both men are landing good strikes
throughout this round but Barboza is landing more as the second round
ends. The third round starts with Barboza landing a lot of kicks.
Yusuff is fighting back but Barboza is landing more cleanly. Barboza
is really working the body with strikes. Yusuff takes a wheel kick
from Barboza and eventually drops but the third round ends before
anything can come of it. The fourth round opens with Barboza throwing
a lot of strikes. He’s mixing in some punches along with his usual
kicks. Yusuff is landing some nice strikes of his own but Barboza
continues to attack the body and it’s paying off for him as the fourth
round ends. The fifth round begins with some more really good striking
exchanges from both men. Barboza gets a few takedowns at the end of
the fifth round and his comeback is complete. We go to the judges to
render a verdict. Barboza wins the decision to improve to 24-11 while
Yusuff drops to 13-3. Good win for Barboza, who sets the record for
most Fight of the Night bonuses in UFC history with 9 of them total.
He also has 2 Performance of the Night and 1 Knockout of the Night
bonuses.
*************
There’s been some major changes to UFC 294, which takes place next
weekend on October 21st. Charles Oliviera (34-9, 1 NC) was injured and
has been removed from his fight against UFC Lightweight Champion Islam
Makhachev (24-1). Alexander Volkanovski (26-2) will now step in on
short notice to replace him.
Also, Paulo Costa (14-2) was scheduled to fight Khamzat Chimaev (12-0)
but had to pull out due to elbow surgery so Kamaru Usman (20-3) will
step in to face Chimaev.
I’m pretty excited for these fights myself, though injuries are always
unfortunate. At least we’re able to still have some great fights.
*************
USADA will no longer be in charge of drug-testing UFC fighters. The
UFC and USADA had a big blowup concerning Conor McGregor and their
contract was up for renewal at the end of the year anyway so the UFC
is going in a different direction. As of January 1st, 2024 a company
named Drug Free Sport International will be in charge of the UFC’s
drug program. They do the testing for the NFL, NBA, MLB, and many
more.
USADA said McGregor has to be in the testing pool for 6 months and
have 2 negative tests before being eligible to compete. The UFC didn’t
like that so they’re going a different way.
As usual we’ll have to wait to see what, if anything, changes for the
UFC moving forward with regards to this.
My new epic fantasy book is out. It’s called Kingdom of Zarias: The End’s
Beginning. The exciting epic fantasy series Kingdom of Zarias
returns with the 4th book in the series. After the harrowing events of
Book 3 the residents of the Kingdom of Zarias continue on their paths.
Serena Summers continues to learn and grow as a fighter, desperately
seeking to become stronger before she loses anyone else in her life.
Daniel Summers discovers new parts of the world that open his eyes to
just how little he truly knows. A new hero, Lamar Abeers, arrives to
join the fight against evil. Plus, Zach Summers, Tiana Highsmith, and
Xavien Ekens continue their journeys with their friends, and a new
ruler of Vhaharen is crowned. The world has found a little peace.
However, that peace is only temporary. In a shocking act of violence,
the monstrous villain Galren strikes from the shadows and changes the
world forever. This is Book 4 in the series. 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
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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