HYDEN BLOG: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly from UFC Fight Night: Machado Garry vs. Prates

GOOD- Randy Brown stops Nicolas Dalby
Brown favors jabs while Dalby answers with kicks early. Brown smashes
Dalby’s nose and staggers him. He does have his fingers outstretched,
though, which I always hate. Anyway, Dalby drops Brown with a big hook and he drops a few punches before the first round ends. The second round begins with more of the same aggression from both fighters.
Brown hurts Dalby with some power punches but Dalby shows good
toughness to keep coming. He can’t take it all, though, as Brown lands
a devastating right hand that ends the fight and leaves Dalby
collapsing face-first onto the mat just a bit over a minute and a half into the first round. Incredible fight and knockout.
Brown improves to 20-6 while Dalby drops to 23-6-1 with 2 No Contests.
Good win for Brown.

BAD/GOOD- Michel Pereira vs. Abus Magomedov
The fight starts with the referee warning both fighters for
outstretched fingers. Asexpected, they ignore him and the referee does
nothing. They start winging strikes at each other until Magomedov gets
a takedown. They’re immediately back to their feet and they continue sparring for the rest of the first round.

The second round begins with
more of the same. Pereira is moving backward and trying to avoid any notable contact and the second round ends. The third round starts with yet more of the same dreadful “action”. Magomedov is trying but that only does so much. The fight thankfully ends so we quickly go to the judges to render their verdict.
Magomedov wins the decision to improve to 28-6-1 and has won 3 straight fights while Pereira drops to 31-13 with 2 No Contests. It’s a win for Magomedov.

GOOD- Giga Chikadze vs. David Onama
Both men are connecting with powerful strikes throughout the first
round until Onama gets a takedown shortly before the first round ends.
The second round begins with more striking until Onama gets another takedown. The action slows ways down after that, as Onama is focused
on keeping Chikadze down. The third round starts with more striking
until Onama gets another takedown. Chikadze gets up but is immediately
taken back down and they grapple until the fight ends. We go to the judges to render their verdict.
Onama wins the decision to improve to 14-2 and has won 4 straight fights while Chikadze drops to 15-5. Good win for Onama.

GOOD- Zhang Mingyang stops Anthony Smith
This is supposedly Smith’s final fight. He’s had a very long and
successful career so let’s see what happens. Zhang starts with kicks.
They’re trading elbows now and Smith is cut. The blood is pouring quickly. Zhang overwhelms Smith and smashes him until the referee
jumps in just over four minutes into the first round.
Zhang improves to 19-6 and has won 12 straight fights (all but 3 of his fights have ended in the first round and those 3 were all losses)
while Smith drops to 38-22. Great win for Zhang.

GOOD- Anthony Smith retires
Smith has had a long and successful career, including six Performance of the Night and one Fight of the Night bonuses. I wish him well in his life after fighting.

GOOD- Ian Machado Garry vs. Carlos Prates
They start tentatively before firing kicks at each other. Garry tries a few times for a takedown but can’t get them and the first round ends. The second round begins with more of the same. They have multiple striking exchanges and Garry tries repeatedly for a takedown.
The third round starts with still more of the same. Garry is landing some powerful strikes but Prates is tough. Garry gets a few takedowns as well.

The fourth round opens with more striking exchanges and a Garry takedown. Prates lands some power punches that hurt Garry but the
fourth round ends. The fifth round commences with Prates avoiding several Garry takedown attempts. Prates reverses one of them and ends
up on top, hammering down on Garry and making him have to avoid getting his head caved in. It’s not enough, though, and the fight ends. We go to the judges to render their verdict.
Garry wins the decision to improve to 16-1 while Prates drops to 21-7
and has his 11 fight winning streak snapped. Good win for Garry.

*************

Former UFC Welterweight Champion Kamaru Usman (20-4) will face Joaquin
Buckley (21-6) in the main event of UFC Atlanta on June 14, 2025. That should be an exciting fight.
I think it’s Buckley’s time and he makes a statement in this fight.

In other fight announcements, former Interim UFC Lightweight Champion
Dustin Poirier (30-9, 1 NC) will face former UFC Featherweight
Champion Max Holloway (26-8) on July 19, 2025 at UFC 318. This will be Poirier’s retirement fight and will be the third bout between these men, with Poirier winning the first two.
I lean Poirier in this fight but I wouldn’t be surprised in the least if Holloway were to get the win.

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.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.