By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch Senior Columnist
PFL 7 and UFC Fight Night: Sandhagen vs. Nurmagomedov were both this
past weekend and featured some good finishes but also some very dull
decisions. PFL 7 kicked off the 2024 PFL Playoffs. Who won and who lost? Let’s get to the rundown.
PFL 7
GOOD- Taila Santos vs. Liz Carmouche
Carmouche missed weight so she’s fined 20% of her purse but also has a
point deducted from the scorecards from this semifinal matchup in the
Flyweight Division. They’re exchanging strikes early, with both women
throwing plenty of kicks. They start hunting takedown attempts for quite a while, until Santos gets a takedown. They grapple for the rest
of the first round as Santos keeps going for submissions and Carmouche
fights them off. The second round begins with more fast striking
exchanges until Carmouche trips Santos temporarily until they go back
to trading strikes. Santos hurts Carmouche with some good punches but
goes for a takedown, which allows Carmouche to regain her senses as
she fights it off. Carmouche ends the second round by slamming Santos.
The third round starts with Carmouche tossing Santos down, though Santos is quickly back up and they resume striking. Carmouche gets a
late takedown and the fight ends. We go to the judges to render their
verdict.
Santos wins the decision and advances to the Finals of the 2024 PFL Flyweight Season. Her opponent will be determined later. Santos’s
record improves to 22-3 and she’s won 3 straight fights while
Carmouche drops to 22-8 and has her 9 fight winning streak snapped.
Good win for Santos.
GOOD/BAD- Oleg Popov vs. Linton Vassell
This semifinal matchup in the Heavyweight Division starts with leg kicks and jabs from both men. Popov works for and gets a takedown but
Vassell is quickly back to his feet. After some clinch work on the
cage Popov gets Vassell down again. They grapple and Vassell works his
way up before Popov gets another takedown to end the first round. The
second round begins with both men slinging heavy strikes at each
other. Popov gets another takedown and returns Vassell to the mat when
he stands up. Popov hangs off of Vassell like a tight shirt, much to the dismay of the viewers. The third round starts with Popov
continuing his effective strategy of clinging to Vassell and grinding
him down. It’s not exciting but it gets the job done as the fight
ends. We go to the judges to render their verdict.
Popov wins the decision to advance to the Finals of the 2024 PFL Heavyweight Season. His opponent will be determined later. Popov’s
record improves to 19-1 and he’s won 17 straight fights while Vassell drops to 24-10 with 1 No Contest. Good win for Popov.
GOOD- Dakota Ditcheva stops Jena Bishop
They gauge the distance early before they start throwing out leg kicks and punches. Bishop wades through some strikes and takes Ditcheva down
with a big slam. They grapple for a bit before standing. They’re
firing off strikes at each other and Ditcheva nails Bishop with a big knee to the face that crumples her. Ditcheva forces Bishop to get back
up but she’s wobbly. Ditcheva then smacks Bishop with a front kick to
the body and a right hand to the face and the referee jumps in as Bishop collapses not quite four minutes into the first round. Ditcheva
improves to a perfect 13-0 while Bishop drops to 7-2. Good win for Ditcheva.
Ditcheva advances to the 2024 PFL Flyweight Finals and will face Taila
Santos at a later date.
GOOD- Denis Goltsov stops Timothy Johnson
They trade strikes early before Goltsov gets a takedown. Goltsov
starts punching his way to mount and gets full mount and is raining down bombs onto Johnson. Goltsov is relentless with his barrage and
the referee is forced to jump in to stop the fight not quite halfway
through the first round. Goltsov improves to 35-8 and has won 3
straight fights while Johnson drops to 18-10 and has his 3 fight
winning streak snapped. Good win for Goltsov.
Goltsov advances to the 2024 PFL Heavyweight Finals and will face Oleg Popov at a later date.
UFC Fight Night: Sandhagen vs. Nurmagomedov
GOOD- Joel Alvarez stops Elves Brener
They start off exchanging some quick strikes before Brener ducks into
a guillotine choke. He escapes and they resume trading strikes.
Alvarez is landing some strong strikes but Brener is taking it and continuing to move forward, showing good toughness. They go to the mat
and Alvarez locks in a tight Brabo choke that Brener is able to
survive until the first round ends. The second round begins with more
striking exchanges between the two men. Brener tries for a takedown
but can’t get it. Brener stays on the move but Alvarez is relentless
and follows him and keeps landing strikes before the second round ends. The third round starts with Brener staying on his bike but
Alvarez continues to land strikes often. Alvarez knees Brener in the head several times and drops him then lands some crisp left hands to
force the referee to jump in to stop the fight a little over three and a half minutes into the third round. Alvarez improves to 21-3 and retains his 100% finish rate while Brener drops to 16-5. Good win for
Alvarez.
GOOD- Mackenzie Dern vs. Loopy Godinez
They’re trading strikes early until Godinez drops Dern momentarily
with a big left counter. Dern is back up and they continue to trade
strikes until Dern gets a takedown. Dern grabs an armbar and busts
Godinez on the nose to make her bleed but the first round ends. The second round begins with more striking exchanges and continues that
way all throughout the round until Godinez gets a takedown in the final minute. They’re beating each other up here and that continues as
Dern is quickly back to her feet. However, Godinez grabs a standing
arm triangle choke but can’t do anything before the second round ends.
The third round starts with both women throwing bombs. They’re both
showing good toughness to absorb these strikes. Dern gets a takedown
and they scramble for a moment before returning fully to their feet.
They resume throwing heavy strikes and nailing each other until the fight ends. We go to the judges to render their verdict.
Dern wins the decision to improve to 14-5 while Godinez drops to 12-5.
Good win for Dern.
GOOD- Michael Chiesa submits Tony Ferguson
They trade some strikes until Chiesa gets a takedown and quickly
transitions to a rear-naked choke that forces Ferguson to tap not quite four minutes into the first round. Chiesa improves to 17-7 and snaps his 3 fight losing streak while Ferguson drops to 25-11 and has
lost 8 straight fights. Not much to say as this result was sadly
expected. Ferguson hinted at retirement but didn’t fully commit to it.
Good win for Chiesa.
GOOD- Marlon Vera vs. Deiveson Figueiredo
They start off trading some strikes before Figueiredo gets a takedown.
They trade a few strikes before Vera scrambles his way back to his feet. Figueiredo gets another takedown before the first round ends.
The second round begins with more striking exchanges. Figueiredo keeps
trying for takedowns but Vera resists them and the second round ends.
The third round starts with more of the same. Both men are throwing
strikes and Vera keeps fighting off takedown attempts by Figueiredo.
Vera gets dropped by Figueiredo but is right back to his feet.
Figueiredo keeps trying for takedowns but can’t get any and the fight ends. We go to the judges to render their verdict.
Figueiredo gets the decision win and improves to 24-3-1 and has won 3
straight fights while Vera drops to 23-10-1. Good win for Figueiredo.
GOOD- Sharaputdin Magomedov vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk
Both men start off landing some heavy strikes right away. Magomedov is
landing from multiple angles but Oleksiejczuk is absorbing it and returning fire before the first round ends. The second round begins
with more of the same, Magomedov connecting with heavy strikes but
Oleksiejczuk coming back with strikes of his own. Oleksiejczuk is about to take Magomedov down but Magomedov grabs the fence to stay
upright. They continue to trade heavy strikes and bombs until the
second round ends. Magomedov is pulling away here and registering more
damage to his opponent. The third round starts with more of the same.
Magomedov is landing so much from so many different angles but
Oleksiejczuk is so tough that he takes it like a movie monster.
Oleksiejczuk gets a few takedowns and has to absorb some punches to
the back of the head. The referee warns Magomedov even though there
were so many of them that a point (at least) should have been
deducted. Regardless, the fight ends so we go to the judges to render
their verdict.
Magomedov wins the decision to remain undefeated at 14-0 while Oleksiejczuk drops to 19-9 with 1 No Contest and has now lost 3
straight fights. Good win for Magomedov, though I’d like to see less blatant cheating next time.
GOOD- Cory Sandhagen vs. Umar Nurmagomedov
There’s some nice action in the first round, as both men are fairly
active. Nurmagomedov got a takedown at the end of the first round but
nothing came of it. The second round begins with more of the same,
just less of it. There was a little more action in the third round but not much. The fourth round saw a bit more action but that’s not saying
much. The fifth round saw more of the same so we go to the judges to
render their verdict.
Nurmagomedov won the decision to remain undefeated at 18-0 while Sandhagen drops to 17-5 and has his 3 fight winning streak snapped.
Good win for Nurmagomedov.
This shouldn’t have been a 5 round fight. It should have been a 3
round fight. Too many times guys get booked in a 5 round fight and coast or spar in the first 2 rounds. You could tell that Nurmagomedov
was taking it easy in the opening few rounds to make sure he had the
energy in the later rounds. Smart strategy but not effective in
entertaining, which is a primary component in sports.
Anyway, I don’t want to make this too much of a sidebar rant. Both of
these men are very talented, obviously. This was a good win for
Nurmagomedov, I just would like to see a little more urgency from him.
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
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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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