By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch Senior Columnist
UFC Fight Night: Cannonier vs. Imavov was this past weekend and featured some exciting fights and finishes. Who won and who lost?
Let’s get to the rundown.
UFC Fight Night: Cannonier vs. Imavov
GOOD- Punahele Soriano vs. Miguel Baeza
Baeza starts off with some kicks before they clinch against the cage.
They trade knees before going to the mat. Soriano is working his ground-and-pound and landing a lot of strikes while Baeza hunts submissions. Baeza almost gets a kneebar but Soriano escapes and they
stand but Baeza is eating a lot of strikes here as the first round
ends. The second round begins with more kicks from Baeza before Soriano gets a takedown. From here, things repeat from the first round. Baeza hunts submissions while Soriano works his ground-and-pound. Some of those elbows from Soriano look like they
really hurt. Baeza gives up his back and Soriano continues looking for
angles to strike from as the second round ends. The third round starts with a Soriano takedown and he starts his ground-and-pound again,
breaking the welterweight division record for significant strikes
landed on the ground. This continues for the entire round. The crowd is booing but Baeza is showing great toughness and Soriano is showing
tremendous cardio here. The fight ends so we go to the judges to render their verdict. Soriano wins the decision to improve to 10-4 while Baeza drops to 10-4 and has lost 4 straight fights. Good win for Soriano.
GOOD- Zachary Reese stops Julian Marquez
Marquez starts with a leg kick that Reese responds with a kick of his
own but then Reese unloads a combination on Marquez and floors him with an uppercut that ends the fight twenty seconds into the first round. Wow. Reese improves to 7-1 while Marquez drops to 9-5 and has lost 3 straight fights. All 8 of Reese’s pro fights have ended in the first round, even his loss. Don’t blink during his fights. Good win
for Reese.
GOOD- Brunno Ferreira stops Dustin Stoltzfus
Stoltzfus works his jab early before getting a takedown. Stoltzfus
works his ground-and-pound as he hunts for submissions. Ferreira gets
away and they start swinging away at each other. Ferreira nails
Stoltzfus with a big right hook then a spinning back elbow. Stoltzfus
is hurt but he’s fighting on. They keep trading until Ferreira
connects with another spinning back elbow that ends the fight with nine seconds left in the first round. Ferreira improves to 11-1 while Stoltzfus drops to 15-6. Good win for Ferreira.
GOOD- Raul Rosas Jr. submits Ricky Turcios
Turcious fakes a glove touch to throw some kicks. Rosas gets a
takedown. Turcios is throwing a lot of punches from underneath. They
grapple for a while before Turcios gets up. However, Rosas takes him right back down. Turcios gets up again but Rosas takes him back down again. Turcios reverses positions, though, and grabs a rear-naked
choke that almost is the fight-ender but Rosas survives and the first round ends. The second round begins with a wild striking exchange, as
both men are swinging away. Rosas gets a takedown. Turcios gets up but
gets taken down again. Rosas is relentless and takes the back, locking in a rear-naked choke of his own that forces Turcios to tap nearly halfway through the second round. Rosas improves to 8-1 while Tucios drops to 12-3. Good win for Rosas.
GOOD- Dominick Reyes stops Dustin Jacoby
They’re exchanging strikes early until Reyes staggers Jacoby with a nice hook and combination that has Jacoby reeling. Reyes comes in with
a knee that drops Jacoby and swings away until the referee jumps in to
stop the fight exactly two minutes into the first round. Reyes
improves to 13-4 and snaps his 4 fight losing streak while Jacoby drops to 19-9-1. Good much-needed win for Reyes and a good moment for him.
GOOD/BAD- Nassourdine Imavov stops Jared Cannonier
Some early striking exchanges until Cannonier gets a takedown. Imavov
is quickly back up but then gets warned by the referee about his
outstretched fingers. They begin fighting in a phone booth with all sorts of punches and kicks flying before the first round ends. The second round begins with Cannonier complaining about Imavov’s outstretched fingers. Take a point, ref. Then DQ him if you have to.
Anyway, they’re both throwing heavy leather before they clinch on the fence. Imavov gets Cannonier off of a takedown attempt by elbowing his
ears. They go back to exchanging strikes until the second round ends.
The third round starts with the referee warning Imavov about his fingers. Quit warning him and start taking points away. Disqualify him. Do something to get this garbage out of MMA. Anyway, they exchange a little bit before Imavov gets a takedown. Cannonier is right back up, though, and takes Imavov back to the fence. They go back to the center of the cage before the third round ends. The fourth
round opens with Imavov staggering Cannonier with a big right hook.
Cannonier runs to get his wits back but Imavov follows. Cannonier
blocks Imavov’s punches but the referee waves the fight off anyway a
minute and a half into the fourth round.
That’s a bad call by referee Jason Herzog. I don’t want to go crazy and act like it’s the most egregious thing I’ve ever seen but I don’t agree with this call at all. Cannonier was defending himself and no longer appeared to be compromised. I’m not an MMA ref so maybe I’m
wrong on this but it seemed far too early. Anyone who knows me knows
that I’m not one of those “Let him fight through it” type of people.
No, I’d rather the stoppage be too early rather than too late. I don’t think that’s the case here.
Anyway, the result stands so Imavov improves to 14-4 with 1 No Contest while Cannonier drops to 17-7. Good win for Imavov.
*************
Kai Asakura (21-4) is relinquishing his Rizin Bantamweight
Championship that he won last December to sign with the UFC. Asakura
has won the Rizin Bantamweight Championship twice and is very popular
in Japan so this is a big signing for the UFC. No word on when his debut will take place.
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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