UFC 297 was this past weekend and featured some big title fights. Who
won and who lost? Let’s get to the rundown.
UFC 297
GOOD- Movsar Evloev vs. Arnold Allen
Evloev starts off with kicks while Allen answers with punches. Evloev gets a takedown and they scramble until the first round ends. The second round begins with Evloev utilizing the kicks again. Evloev gets
a takedown and returns Allen to the mat after he stands. They get back
to their feet and Evloev lands a nice jumping knee. Allen is returning fire with punches. Evloev lands another knee to the body before the second round ends. The third round starts with some hard striking exchanges. They’re working hard and Allen tries for a submission off
of a Evloev takedown attempt. He can’t get it and the fight ends. We go to the judges to render their verdict. Evloev wins the decision and
improves to a perfect 18-0 while Allen drops to 19-3. Good win for Evloev.
GOOD- Chris Curtis vs. Marc-Andre Barriault
They exchange strikes throughout the first round, with Barriault
getting the better of things. The second round begins with more of the same striking exchanges, though Curtis is firing up and starting to pour it on. Words won’t do justice to the violence being inflicted
here. They’re connecting with big punches and kicks and elbows and knees. Any way you can attack somebody is how it’s going down. Neither
man is taking a backward step. The third round starts with more of the same. Just straight attacks on the body and head of their opponent.
They’re fighting like a knife-edge death match here and neither man is showing signs of being stopped. The fight only ends due to time. We go to the judges to render their verdict. Curtis wins the decision to
improve to 31-10 with 1 No Contest while Barriault drops to 16-7 with 1 No Contest. Good win for Curtis.
GOOD- Neil Magny stops Mike Malott
Malott using leg kicks early. They exchange strikes for a bit before fighting on the fence. More leg kicks hurt Magny’s leg and it’s
obvious what Malott’s gameplan is. The second round begins with Malott
getting an early takedown. He lets him up, though, before getting another takedown. Malott uses his ground-and-pound until the second round ends. The third round starts with an early Malott takedown.
Magny is quickly back up but Malott takes him down again. Magny quickly gets back up and takes Malott down himself. Magny unleashes his own ground-and-pound and smashes Malott to get the stoppage with
only fifteen seconds left in the third round. What a comeback. Magny improves to 29-11 while Malott drops to 10-2-1 and has his 6 fight winning streak snapped. Good win for Magny.
GOOD- Raquel Pennington vs. Mayra Bueno Silva
This fight was for the vacant UFC Bantamweight Championship. They fight on the fence early. They exchange strikes until Silva gets a takedown. Pennington gets up but Silva drags her back down and they grapple until the first round ends. The second round begins with striking exchanges inside the clinch. They’re both landing and
absorbing some hard strikes. They tie up and Silva tries for a
rear-naked choke but has to let it go and the second round ends. The third round starts with kicks from Silva and punches from Pennington.
Silva gets a throw and tries for a choke but Pennington escapes. Silva drags Pennington to the mat and they grapple for a while until the third round ends. The fourth round opens with the fighters tying up. Silva drags Pennington down and again tries for the rear-naked choke but can’t get it. They continue to grapple for the rest of the round,
with Pennington using some of her ground-and-pound to soften Silva up.
The fifth round begins with Pennington landing some hard punches.
Pennington grabs an arm triangle but can’t cinch it fully in.
Pennington lands a few more strikes before the fight ends. We go to
the judges to render their verdict. Pennington wins the decision and improves to 16-8 and has won 6 straight fights while Silva drops to 10-3-1 with 1 No Contest. Good win for Pennington as she wins her first championship in the UFC.
GOOD- Dricus du Plessis vs. Sean Strickland
Strickland is defending his UFC Middleweight Championship here. They
start with some striking exchanges. Du Plessis gets a takedown and they’re up and down a few times before separating. More punches from
Strickland end the first round. The second round begins with du
Plessis having more success with his kicks while Strickland has more success with his punching. Du Plessis with another takedown before the second round ends. The third round starts with a lot of kicks from du
Plessis. Strickland fires back with punches but he’s getting nailed with these kicks. The fourth round opens with Strickland landing some
good punches but du Plessis counters with punches and more kicks. Du Plessis gets a couple of takedowns but Strickland works his way to his
feet quickly both times. They continue exchanging strikes until the fourth round ends. The fifth round begins with some high-power
striking exchanges. Du Plessis tries a few times to get a takedown but
can’t get any of them. They’re brawling now until the fight ends. We go to the judges to render their verdict. Du Plessis wins the Split Decision and is the new UFC Middleweight Champion. He improves to 21-2
and has won 9 straight fights while Strickland drops to 28-6 and has his 3 fight winning streak snapped. Good win for du Plessis.
*************
Frankie Edgar (24-11-1) has been inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame. He has wins over guys like B.J. Penn, Charles Oliveira, Cub Swanson,
and Urijah Faber. He’s a former UFC Lightweight Champion and has 8 Fight of the Night bonuses (2nd most all-time in UFC history) as well as the second-most fight time in UFC history, with nearly 8 hours inside the cage. This is well-earned and I hope Edgar is enjoying his life in retirement.
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.
Leave a Reply