By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch Senior Columnist
PFL 9 and UFC Fight Night: Cannonier vs. Borralho were both this past
weekend and featured some big fights. Who won and who lost? Let’s get
to the rundown.
PFL 9
GOOD- Shamil Musaev vs. Murad Ramazanov
Musaev is throwing out some strikes but not a lot is happening for the
first few minutes until Ramazanov gets a takedown. Musaev is quickly
back to his feet, though, and the first round ends. The second round begins with some clinchwork until Musaev gets a takedown. They grapple
and scramble for quite a while, with Musaev doing some damage before
the second round ends. The third round starts with Musaev landing some
nice strikes, as Ramazanov appears to be tired. Musaev finally gets a
takedown and the fight ends. We go to the judges to render their verdict.
Musaev wins the decision and advances to the Finals of the 2024 PFL
Welterweight Tournament. Musaev improves to 17-0-1 and has won 4 straight fights while Ramazanov drops to 12-2 with 1 No Contest. Good
win for Musaev. Not the most exciting of fights but good strategy by Musaev.
GOOD- Timur Khizriev vs. Gabriel Alves Braga
They’re trading strikes early with both doing good damage. Khizriev
does a little more, though, and the first round ends. The second round
begins with more of the same as they continue to trade strikes. Braga
is struggling to keep up with Khizriev and he’s bleeding now as the second round ends. The third round starts with more of the same again,
though Braga fights off some takedown attempts by Khizriev before the
fight ends. It’s a close fight so we go to the judges to render their verdict.
Khizriev wins the Split Decision to advance to the Finals of the 2024
PFL Featherweight Tournament. Khizriev improves to a perfect 17-0 while Braga drops to 14-2. Good win for Khizriev.
GOOD- Magomed Umalatov vs. Neiman Gracie
Gracie is replacing the injured Don Madge in this fight. They start trading strikes early and that continues until the first round ends.
The second round begins with Gracie pressuring Umalatov and they trade
strikes throughout this close second round. The third round starts
with Umalatov dropping Gracie but he doesn’t want to risk getting
submitted so he keeps things standing. They grapple a bit more before the fight ends. We go to the judges to render their verdict.
Umalatov wins the decision to advance to the Finals of the 2024 PFL Welterweight Tournament and will face Shamil Musaev in those Finals.
Umalatov improves to a perfect 17-0 while Gracie drops to 13-6. Good win for Umalatov.
GOOD- Brendan Loughnane vs. Kai Kamaka III
They start off tentatively but soon start exchanging strikes.
Loughnane seems more active but Kamaka has some good counters as the
first round ends. The second round begins with Kamaka seeming to pull
ahead in the striking game, though things are still very close as the second round ends. The third round starts with more strong striking
from both men. It’s another really close round and the fight ends with
the winner still in doubt. We go to the judges to render their
verdict.
Loughnane wins the Split Decision to advance to the Finals of the 2024
PFL Featherweight Tournament and will face Timur Khizriev in those Finals. Loughnane improves to 30-5 and has won 3 straight fights while
Kamaka drops to 14-6-1 and has his 5 fight winning streak snapped.
Good win for Loughnane.
UFC Fight Night: Cannonier vs. Borralho
GOOD- Gerald Meerschaert submits Edmen Shahbazyan
Meerschaert starts off with kicks while Shahbazyan responds with punches. They both start to mix in some other strikes and they’re both
attacking the body effectively before the first round ends. The second
round begins with Meerschaert trying for some takedowns before
Shahbazyan drops him with a big knee. Shahbazyan tries to swarm to
finish the fight but Meerschaert survives and they grapple for a while until Meerschaert locks on an arm-triangle choke that forces
Shahbazyan to submit a bit over four minutes into the second round.
Meerschaert improves to 37-17 while Shahbazyan drops to 13-5. Good win for Meerschaert.
GOOD- Michael Morales stops Neil Magny
They start off flinging kicks at each other and Morales hurts Magny’s
lead leg with the power of his kicks. Magny is behind Morales now and
trying to force him down but he can’t. Morales smacks Magny with a huge elbow that floors him and follows up with a relentless barrage of
punches that force the referee to jump in to stop the fight with about
twenty seconds left in the first round.
Morales improves to a perfect 17-0 while Magny drops to 29-12. Good win for Morales.
GOOD- Mairon Santos stops Kaan Ofli
This was the The Ultimate Fighter 32 Featherweight Finale. They start
off striking and both fighters are letting loose. Both men are
absorbing a good amount of damage before the first round ends. The
second round begins with more of the same as they unload on each other. Santos crushes Ofli with a powerful left hand that knocks him a
minute and a half into the second round and he follows that with two
unnecessary follow-up rights before the referee can jump in to stop the fight.
Santos improves to 14-1 while Ofli drops to 11-3-1 and has his 8 fight
winning streak snapped. Good win for Santos as he wins the TUF 32 Featherweight Finale.
GOOD- Ryan Loder stops Robert Valentin
This was the The Ultimate Fighter 32 Middleweight Finale. Loder gets a
quick takedown and they both go to work. Both fighters threaten with
different submissions and are reversing reversals and countering
counters as the advantage seems to flip back and forth before the first round ends. The second round begins with Loder getting another
early takedown. Loder traps Valentin in a crucifix and elbows the hell
out of him until the referee jumps in to stop the fight not quite two
minutes into the second round.
Loder improves to 7-1 and has won 3 straight fights while Valentin
drops to 10-4 with 1 No Contest and has his 3 fight winning streak
snapped. Good win for Loder as he wins the TUF 32 Middleweight Finale.
GOOD- Angela Hill vs. Tabatha Ricci
Both women are winging strikes at each other early. Ricci keeps
rushing forward to try to grab Hill but Hill keeps attacking her to try to stay free. They both continue to land strikes until the first round ends. The second round begins with Ricci getting an immediate
takedown. Hill is back up after a moment and they resume beating each
other up. Both ladies are landing a constant stream of good attacks and are both attacking the body as well as the head. They’re flying at
each other like windmills in a tornado as strikes are coming from
every angle. They finish the second round smashing each other like Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots. The third round starts with more of the
same, as both fighters are relentless. Ricci gets a quick takedown but
Hill is right back up and they’re swinging again. Now they’re trading knees and here come the punches. We see uppercuts and elbows and kicks
flying from all directions as the pace is incredible, even as the
fight ends. We go to the judges to render their verdict in this wild fight.
Ricci wins the decision to improve to 11-2 while Hill drops to 17-14.
Good win for Ricci.
GOOD- Jared Cannonier vs. Caio Borralho
They start off kicking each other before a Borralho thumb to the eye
halts things. They resume with more kicks being landed, as well as some punches, until the first round ends. The second round begins with
both fighters being warned for sticking their fingers straight out at
their opponent. We sure don’t need that crap in a fight. Cannonier
begins blitzing in as Borralho tries to counter. They continue
striking until the second round ends. The third round starts with
multiple striking exchanges that continue throughout until the third round ends.
The fourth round opens with Borralho attacking Cannonier’s leg with kicks. Cannonier fights back, though, and bloodies Borralho with
strikes. This continues until the fourth round ends. The fifth round
begins with another Borralho eye poke. That should be a point taken but it isn’t, as Cannonier waves the referee off. They continue
striking until Borralho drops Cannonier with a nice power punch.
Borralho swarms with punches before moving to an arm-triangle choke.
Cannonier survives and the fight ends. We go to the judges to render
their verdict.
Borralho wins the decision to improve to 17-1 with 1 No Contest and has won 14 straight fights while Cannonier drops to 17-8. Good win for
Borralho.
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