HYDEN BLOG: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly from UFC Fight Night:
Namajunas vs. Cortez
By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch Senior Columnist
UFC Fight Night: Namajunas vs. Cortez was this past weekend and
featured some exciting fights and finishes. Who won and who lost?
UFC Fight Night: Namajunas vs. Cortez
NULL- Abdul Razak Alhassan vs. Cody Brundage
Brundage goes for an early takedown but Alhassan stuffs it and elbows
and punches Brundage in the head repeatedly. A few of the elbows are
illegal so referee Dan Miragliotta halts the fight to check on
Brundage, who can’t continue so the fight is waved off and ruled a No
Contest 37 seconds into the first round. Alhassan’s record is now 12-6
with 1 No Contest while Brundage’s record is now 10-6 with 1 No
Contest. A disappointing end to what probably would have been one of
the most exciting fights of the night
Julian Erosa submits Christian Rodriguez</b>
Erosa starts with a kick while Rodriguez responds with punches to the
face. Erosa fires back with some punches of his own before Rodriguez
hits him with a head kick. The fighters start brawling and throwing
heavy bombs at each other. Their toughness is on display as they each
goad the other on. Powerful strikes are landing constantly until Erosa
catches a kick and gets Rodriguez to the ground. They grapple for a
moment before Erosa grabs a guillotine that forces Rodriguez to tap
with eleven seconds left in the first round. Erosa improves to 30-11
while Rodriguez drops to 11-2 and has his 4 fight winning streak
snapped. Good win for Erosa.
Gabriel Bonfim vs. Ange Loosa</b>
They trade leg kicks right away before Loosa gets Bonfim down a few
times but Bonfim is right back up immediately. They smash each other
with strikes for the rest of the first round. The second round begins
with Bonfim hitting some kicks before Loosa gets a takedown but Bonfim
is right back up. Once again, they start nailing each other with
strikes, though Bonfim’s strikes seem to be more powerful. Bonfim
lands some powerful knees and gets a takedown right before the second
round ends. The third round starts with plenty more striking
exchanges. Bonfim keeps landing strikes over and over while Loosa is
slowing down. He continues to not offer much, which allows Bonfim to
continuously land strikes without reprisal. The fight ends so we go to
the judges to render their verdict. Bonfim wins the decision to
improve to 16-1 while Loosa drops to 10-4 with 1 No Contest. Good win
for Bonfim.
<b>GOOD- Jean Silva stops Drew Dober</b>
They start with kicks before mixing in punches as well. Dober gets cut
on his right eyebrow and they continue striking until the first round
ends. The second round begins with more striking, with each man
landing some good shots on his opponent. The cut on Dober’s eyebrow is
getting bigger and bloodier. Dober’s incredible toughness is on full
display here as Silva is lighting him up. Silva staggers Dober with a
huge elbow but Dober is saved by the bell as the second round ends.
The third round starts with fireworks as both men throw bombs. Dober
is bleeding a gusher at this point. Silva points at it to tell referee
Herb Dean to look at it but Dean tells him to continue fighting. Silva
lands a few more punches then Dean halts the fight to have Dober
examined. I guess it had to be on his time. Anyway, the fight is
stopped a minute and a half into the third round because Dober’s
eyebrow is gone and replaced with an enormous cut that’s two inches
long. It’s a nasty, terrible cut that you can find a picture of if you
haven’t seen it and are into that kind of stuff. Silva improves to
14-2 and has won 11 straight fights, including two stoppage wins in
the last two weeks, while Dober drops to 27-14 with 1 No Contest. Good
win for Silva.
Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Muslim Salikhov</b>
They trade strikes for the entire first round, with a lot of misses
and evasions piling up. There’s some heavy strikes thrown and landed
but nothing that’s going to stop the fight. The second round is more
of the same, though some of these misses are extremely close. There’s
also some connections that stagger each man and they trade takedowns
before the second round ends. The third round starts with more careful
striking before Ponzinibbio gets a takedown. Salikhov fights to his
feet and the fight ends so we go to the judges to render their
verdict. Salikhov wins the Split Decision to improve to 20-5 while
Ponzinibbio drops to 29-8. Good win for Salikhov.
Rose Namajunas vs. Tracy Cortez</b>
They start off trading kicks before working in punches as well.
Namajunas drops Cortez with a big left hook but lets her back up after
a few punches. They exchange strikes for the rest of the first round.
The second round begins with more striking exchanges until Cortez
starts working on a takedown and settles for taking Namajunas’ back.
Cortez threatens with a choke but Namajunas escapes and lands some
heavy punches. They exchange more strikes before Namajunas gets a
takedown just as the second round ends. The third round starts with
the women trading heavy strikes before Namajunas gets a takedown and
moves to full mount. Now it’s Namajunas who’s threatening a choke but
Cortez gets back to her feet. They’re back to the ground but again,
Cortez gets back to her feet shortly before the third round ends.
The fourth round opens with more striking exchanges until Namajunas
gets a trip takedown but Cortez is quickly back up and they exchange
strikes for the rest of the fourth round. The fifth round begins with
some big strikes being thrown and landed by both women. Namajunas gets
a takedown but Cortez is quickly back up. Cortez lands some heavy
strikes and tries to goad Namajunas into a brawl but she’s having none
of it and the fight ends. We go to the judges to render their verdict.
Namajunas wins the decision to improve to 13-6 while Cortez drops to
11-2 and has her 11 fight winning streak snapped. Good win for
Namajunas.
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Comments and suggestions can be emailed to me at
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Thanks for reading and have a good day.
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