By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch Senior Columnist
UFC 295 was this past weekend and it featured some big title fights.
Who won and who lost? Let’s get to the rundown.
UFC 295
GOOD- Diego Lopes stops Pat Sabatini
Sabatini comes out strong with a big right hand early. He then tries
for a takedown a few times but can’t get it and eats a big right hand
from Lopes that staggers him. Lopes jumps on him and unloads punches
on him until the referee is forced to jump in to stop the fight a
minute and a half into the first round. Lopes improves to 23-6 while
Sabatini drops to 18-5. Good win for Lopes.
GOOD- Benoit Saint-Denis stops Matt Frevola
They start off with kicks before mixing in some punches. Frevola gets
a takedown but Saint-Denis is quickly back to his feet and connects
with a beautiful head kick that drops Frevola. A few follow-up punches
forces the referee to jump in to stop the fight a minute and a half
into the first round. Saint-Denis improves to 13-1 with 1 No Contest
and has won 5 straight fights while Frevola drops to 11-4-1 and has
his 3 fight winning streak snapped. Good win for Saint-Denis.
GOOD- Jessica Andrade stops Mackenzie Dern
Dern hits an early throw but Andrade avoids danger. Dern is mixing up
her kicks and punches while Andrade stays patient. Andrade starts
firing off some low kicks. Dern returns fire with some punches before
trying for a takedown. Andrade unloads a combination and drops Dern
shortly before the first round ends. The second round starts with Dern
connecting with punches while Andrade lands several kicks. Andrade
defends a takedown then connects with a left hook. Another Andrade
left hook drops Dern. Andrade lets her up and eats a massive
combination that hurts her. However, Andrade comes roaring back with
an overhand right that drops Dern again. Andrade lets her up again but
smashes her with punches until she drops her again and this fight is
over a bit over three minutes into the second round. Andrade improves
to 25-12 and snaps her 3 fight losing streak while Dern drops to 13-4.
Good win for Andrade.
GOOD- Tom Aspinall stops Sergei Pavlovich
Aspinall slams home a heavy leg kick to start the fight. Pavlovich
fires back with a big left hook that hurts Aspinall but he recovers
quickly. Aspinall lands a combination that hurts Pavlovich and follows
up with more bombs that drop him then finish him a little over a
minute into the first round. Aspinall is the new Interim UFC
Heavyweight Champion and improves to 14-3, with 11 of those wins
coming by knockout and the other 3 by submission. Pavlovich drops to
18-2 and has his 6 fight winning streak snapped. For the record, 15 of
Pavlovich’s wins have come by knockout so it’s not a surprise to see
this fight end early. Aspinall looks mighty good and is gonna be tough
for anyone in the heavyweight division to beat. Good win for Aspinall.
GOOD- Alex Pereira stops Jiri Prochazka
Both men are firing kicks early. A strong Pereira kick drops Prochazka
but he lets him up. Pereira slams home another hard leg kick, then
another. A fourth Pereira leg kick gets Prochazka to shoot in for a
takedown. Pereira threatens a guillotine but nothing comes out of it
and the first round ends as Pereira stands. The second round begins
with Pereira landing some good leg kicks. They fight on the fence for
a moment before Prochazka rushes after an escaping Pereira and gets
smashed with a left hook that drops him. Pereira unloads a bunch of
elbows as Prochazka is trying to get a takedown. Pereira pushes him
down into mount but the referee jumps in to stop the fight a little
over four minutes into the second round. Pereira wins the vacant UFC
Light Heavyweight Championship. Pereira improves to 9-2 while
Prochazka drops to 29-4-1 and has his 13 fight winning streak snapped.
The stoppage looked too early at first glance. Replays made the
stoppage look better, as Prochazka was reeling and likely would have
been finished a few seconds later even if the referee didn’t stop it
when he did. But you could still try to argue that it was early. Or…
at least, you could.
Prochazka showed, yet again, how honorable a man he is by saying in
his post-fight interview “In the end, I think it was right. I was
out.”
Case closed then. I’ll take him at his word.
I’ll finish with this. What Pereira has done is amazing. He’s had 7
fights in the UFC (going 6-1 with 4 knockouts) and won the
championship in two different divisions. He’s beaten 4 current or
former champions.
I understand that he’s a Glory Kickboxing Hall of Famer so he wasn’t
starting from scratch but it’s incredible what he’s accomplished in
the UFC.
*************
Bellator Lightweight Champion Usman Nurmagomedov (17-0, 1 No Contest)
has been suspended by the California State Athletic Commission for 6
months after testing positive for a prescription drug that contained a
banned substance.
However, he wasn’t stripped of his title due to the accidental nature
of the ingestion. Also, his unanimous decision win over Brent Primus
at Bellator 300 last month has now been turned into a No Contest.
Nurmagomedov was supposed to compete in the finals of the Bellator
Lightweight World Grand Prix against the winner of the Alexander
Shabliy (23-3, 8 straight wins) vs. Patricky Pitbull (25-11) fight at
Bellator 301 Friday.
It’s unclear what they’ll do.
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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