By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch Senior Columnist
UFC Fight Night: Vettori vs. Dolidze 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: Vettori vs. Dolidze
GOOD- Kevin Vallejos stops Choi Seung-Woo
Choi starts things by landing several kicks. Both men are connecting
with punches now. Vallejos crushes Choi with a huge right hand that
drops him and he pounces on him and pounds on Choi until the referee
is forced to jump in to stop the fight a little over three minutes
into the first round.
Vallejos improves to 15-1 and has won 4 straight fights while Choi drops to 11-8. Good win for Vallejos.
GOOD- Brendson Ribeiro submits Diyar Nurgozhay
Both fighters start their showdown by firing kicks at each other until
they start mixing in punches as well. Ribeiro drops Nurgozhay with a big right hand and lets him up so they can continue striking until the
end of the first round. The second round begins with Nurgozhay getting
a takedown and mat return when Ribeiro gets to his feet. As they grapple, Ribeiro grabs a kimura and cranks it, forcing the tap about a
minute and a half into the second round.
Ribeiro improves to 17-7 while Nurgozhay is handed his first loss and now sits at 10-1. Good win for Ribeiro.
GOOD- Da’Mon Blackshear submits Cody Gibson
They start off firing punches at each other. Gibson tries for a
takedown but can’t get it. Gibson is all over Blackshear, who seems
hurt by the volume of strikes he’s taken already. Gibson keeps trying
for takedowns but can’t complete them but supplements them with heavy
strikes that are taking a toll on Blackshear. The fight moves to the floor and they grapple until the first round ends. The second round
begins with Blackshear spamming his heavy attack button until Gibson
finally gets a takedown. Blackshear quickly reverses things and is on
top and looking for a submission. He grabs a kimura and cranks it
until Gibson submits a little over four minutes into the second round.
Blackshear improves to 16-7 while Gibson drops to 21-11. Good win for Blackshear.
GOOD- Alexander Hernandez vs. Kurt Holobaugh
They start off mainly flinging kicks at each other. They continue
striking until Holobaugh drops Hernandez with a big right hand to the
side of the head shortly before the first round ends. The second round
begins with both fighters cracking each other with powerful strikes until Hernandez gets a takedown. Hernandez uses his ground-and-pound
to rain down strikes until the second round ends. The third round starts with Hernandez getting an immediate takedown. They grapple for
a bit before standing up and going back to trading strikes. Hernandez
gets another takedown and goes to work, trying his best to smash
Holobaugh with strikes and end things but the fight ends before he can. We go to the judges to render their verdict.
Hernandez wins the decision to improve to 16-8 while Holobaugh drops
to 21-9 with 1 No Contest.
GOOD- Chidi Njokuani stops Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos
Kicks are flying into flesh from the get-go and it’s not until a few minutes into the fight that a punch is thrown and connected with.
There’s a few short moments without kicks being thrown but it’s largely a kickboxing fight so far as the first round ends. Both men
have landed good kicks so far and Zaleski dos Santos landed a strong punch. The second round begins with more kicks until Zaleski dos
Santos rushes in and Njokuani smashes him with a knee to the chin that
drops him. Njokuani hammers down with strikes until the referee jumps
in to stop the fight not quite halfway through the second round.
Njokuani improves to 25-10 with 1 No Contest while Zaleski dos Santos drops to 25-9-1. Good win for Njokuani.
GOOD/UGLY- Marvin Vettori vs. Roman Dolidze
They’re trading strikes early but the pace is measured. They can’t hold themselves back for long, though, and violent strikes are lobbed
at their opponent often before the first round ends. In between rounds
the referee Herb Dean actually tells Dolidze to quit sticking his fingers straight out at Vettori. I’m glad to see that but I’d much rather the referee just take a point from him. The second round begins
with Dolidze pushing off and poking Vettori in the eye. No point is
taken so what the hell was the point of the warning? They’re trading
heavy strikes until the referee again warns Dolidze for outstretched
fingers. Take a frigging point, ref. How many times are you going to
warn the guy? They trade strikes until the second round ends. The third round starts with more heavy striking exchanges. Vettori hurts
Dolidze with a punching combination but Dolidze almost makes him pay
for coming in too hot. They strike until the third round ends.
The fourth round opens with the fighters exchanging bombs. Dolidze has
cut Vettori in a few different spots and is gaining confidence. Maybe that means he’ll quit sticking his fingers straight out at his opponent then? The fourth round ends with more striking exchanges. The
fifth round commences with powerful strikes being landed by both men.
Great toughness is on display here. They’re firing away at each other
without regard for their own safety. The fight ends so we go to the
judges to render their verdict.
Dolidze wins the decision to improve to 15-3 and has won 3 straight
fights while Vettori drops to 19-8-1. It’s a win for Dolidze, who
quite frankly should have had at least one point deducted if not two
so this should have been a draw or a Vettori decision win.
I won’t go on a long rant but there’s zero reason to have your fingers
sticking outstretched toward your opponent so a point should be deducted the first time you do it because it’s obvious what you’re
trying to do. It’s cheesy and cheap and dangerous and needs to be removed from MMA. Rant over.
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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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