By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch Senior Columnist
Bellator Champions Series 2: Mix vs. Magomedov 2 and UFC Fight Night:
Barboza vs. Murphy were both this past weekend and featured some
exciting fights and finishes. Who won and who lost? Let’s get to the
rundown.
Bellator Champions Series 2: Mix vs. Magomedov 2
GOOD- Archie Colgan vs. Thibault Gouti
They start off striking before Colgan gets repeated takedowns. Gouti
keeps battling up, though, so Colgan unloads a bunch of punches onto
him. Colgan continues to work his ground-and-pound for the rest of the
first round. The second round begins with some sparring before Colgan
gets a takedown. Colgan is all over Gouti and is dominating this fight
as the second round ends. The third round starts with Gouti landing a
few good punches before Colgan again gets a takedown. Gouti gets back
to his feet but Colgan connects with some strong strikes. He drops
Gouti with a left hook and is all over him but Gouti fights back to
his feet. They exchange strikes as the fight ends. We go to the judges
to render their verdict. Colgan wins the decision to improve to a
perfect 10-0 while Gouti drops to 17-7. Good win for Colgan.
GOOD- Yves Landu vs. Jonas Bilharinho
Landu gets an early takedown and they grapple for a while until
Bilharinho gets back to his feet. Landu unloads with knees and punches
that drop Bilharinho but he survives and the first round ends. The
second round begins with Bilharinho landing some nice kicks before
Landu gets a takedown. They grapple up and down to the mat over and
over until the second round ends. The third round starts with Landu
fighting for a takedown, though they’re back to their feet quickly.
Landu dumps him back to the mat and they grapple for the rest of the
fight. We go to the judges to render their verdict. Landu wins the
decision to improve to 21-9 and has won 5 straight fights while
Bilharinho drops to 11-3-1. Good win for Landu.
GOOD- Costello van Steenis submits Gregor Babene
They start off striking until Van Steenis gets a takedown and starts
working his ground-and-pound. Van Steenis is finally able to get to his feet shortly before the first round ends. The second round starts
with some striking exchanges until Van Steenis gets a takedown. Van
Steenis works for and applies a tight Von Flue choke and gets the
submission a bit over two minutes into the second round. Van Steenis
improves to 15-3 while Babene drops to 23-12 with 1 No Contest and has
his 8 fight winning streak snapped. Good win for Van Steenis.
GOOD- Cedric Doumbe stops Jaleel Willis
Doumbe staggers Willis with an early right cross then catches an
attempted knee from Willis and drops him with a big right hand. They
exchange and Doumbe drops Willis with a big right hook and swarms with
strikes to force the referee to jump in to stop the fight just over
three and a half minutes into the first round. Doumbe improves to 6-1
while Willis drops to 16-6. Good win for Doumbe.
GOOD- Patchy Mix vs. Magomed Magomedov
Mix is defending his Bellator Bantamweight Championship for the first
time here after unifying the title in his last fight. The first round
is primarily sparring until Magomedov stuns Mix with a hard left hand
toward the end of the first round. Mix steadies himself, though, and
the first round ends. The second round begins with more striking
exchanges. Magomedov seems more at ease now and is scoring better.
They’re piecing each other up here, with Mix dropping Magomedov to a
knee with a strong leg kick then follows that with a jab that stuns
Magomedov at the end of the second round. The third round starts with
some really strong strikes from Magomedov that hurt Mix. They’re going
back and forth but Magomedov seems to have found the right timing and
has hurt Mix a few times. The fourth round opens with another striking
exchange. Both men are connecting with solid strikes that are doing
damage but they’re both showing toughness. The fifth round begins with
both men fighting hard in their striking exchanges. This has been a
close fight all the way and that’ll continue here as they both show
toughness and tenacity and fight until the final bell. We go to the
judges to render their verdict. Mix wins the Split Decision (46-49,
48-47, 48-47) to retain his Bellator Bantamweight Championship and
improve to 20-1 and has won 7 straight fights while Magomedov drops to
20-4. This was a very close fight. Good win for Mix.
UFC Fight Night: Barboza vs. Murphy
GOOD- Angela Hill submits Luana Pinheiro
Not a lot is landing during their initial striking exchanges, as both
women try to figure the other out. Suddenly, a huge exchange breaks
out that leads to Hill getting a takedown. Hill works a little
ground-and-pound until she gets back to her feet. Pinheiro eventually
follows her up but Hill takes her down again as the first round ends.
The second round begins with more striking exchanges. Hill knocks
Pinheiro down, though she’s right back up, and they continue swinging
at each other. Pinheiro rushes in for a takedown but Hill locks on a
tight guillotine that forces the tap a bit over four minutes into the
second round. Hill improves to 17-13 while Pinheiro drops to 11-3.
Good win for Hill.
GOOD- Adrian Yanez stops Vinicius Salvador
Salvador is very aggressive early but so is Yanez. They’re nailing
each other with hard strikes until Yanez drops Salvador and swarms him
with strikes. For some reason the referee allows things to continue
beyond when he should have jumped in but he eventually stops the fight
not quite three minutes into the first round. That’s a bad job there
and I hope Salvador is okay. Yanez improves to 17-5 while Salvador
drops to 14-7 and has lost 3 straight fights. Good win for Yanez.
GOOD- Themba Gorimbo vs. Ramiz Brahimaj
Gorimbo gets an early takedown, though Brahimaj is quickly back up.
They grapple for a while until Gorimbo gets another takedown. Brahimaj
again fights back to his feet and they exchange strikes for the rest
of the first round. The second round begins with Gorimbo landing some
leg kicks. Gorimbo gets a takedown and they’re up and down again. They
grapple for a long while before returning to their feet but Gorimbo
gets another takedown as the second round ends. The third round starts
with both men grappling and fighting in the clinch. Gorimbo gets a few
more takedowns before the fight ends. We go to the judges to render
their verdict. Gorimbo wins the decision to improve to 13-4 and has
won 3 straight fights while Brahimaj drops to 10-5. Not the most
exciting fight ever but Gorimbo fought well. Good win for Gorimbo.
GOOD- Kalinn Williams stops Carlston Harris
They start off swinging and Harris looks good until he gets caught
with a huge right counter hook that floors him. Williams swarms and
gets one punch in before the referee jumps in to stop the fight a
minute and a half into the first round. Williams improves to 15-3
while Harris drops to 19-6. Good win for Williams.
GOOD- Edson Barboza vs. Lerone Murphy
They start off with a lot of kicks, though both men are mixing in
punches as well. They continue exchanging strikes until the first
round ends. The second round begins with Murphy landing some good jabs
and hooks. Barboza lands some kicks but Murphy gets a takedown.
Barboza is right back up, though, and they return to striking. Murphy
staggers Barboza before the second round ends. The third round starts
with Murphy landing at a much higher pace and it’s taking its toll.
Barboza shows toughness to keep going as the third round ends. The
fourth round opens with Murphy pulling away, landing jabs and hooks
whenever he wants. Barboza is able to answer with some kicks but it’s
not enough. Tremendous toughness on display here from Barboza but
Murphy’s doing a lot of damage as the fourth round ends. The fifth
round begins with Barboza getting staggered a few more times but
fighting through it. Barboza hurts Murphy with a spin kick to the body
that prompts Murphy to take him down. Murphy runs out the clock and
the fight ends. We go to the judges to render their verdict. Murphy
wins the decision to improve to 14-0-1 and has won 6 straight fights
while Barboza drops to 24-12. Good win for Murphy.
*************
Khalil Rountree (13-5, 1 No Contest) is out of his fight with Jamahal
Hill (12-2, 1 No Contest) at UFC 303 on June 29th after accidentally
consuming a banned substance in a supplement. There’s been no word on
a replacement yet.
*************
WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO, and The Ring Heavyweight Champion
Oleksandr Usyk (22-0) defeated WBC Heavyweight Champion Tyson Fury
(34-1-1) by split decision to become the first man to unify the four
major heavyweight championships, the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and WBC
titles.
Usyk is the first Undisputed Heavyweight Champion since Lennox Lewis
(41-2-1) nearly 25 years ago.
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Thanks for reading and have a good day.
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