By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch Senior Columnist
UFC 316 was this past weekend and featured two big title fights and some exciting finishes. Who won and who lost? Let’s get to the rundown.
UFC 316
GOOD- Kevin Holland submits Vicente Luque
Holland starts off quick, peppering Luque with punches before Luque
fires back with some strikes of his own. Holland lands a strong elbow
that raises a knot on Luque’s head and they trade strikes for the rest
of the first round. The second round begins with Holland continuing to
attack aggressively. Holland gets a takedown and locks in a Brabo
choke that forces Luque to tap just over a minute into the second round.
Holland improves to 28-13 with 1 No Contest while Luque drops to 23-11-1. Good win for Holland.
GOOD- Mario Bautista vs. Patchy Mix
Bautista comes out on fire, lighting Mix up with repeated strikes from
all angles. Mix is throwing some jabs and kicks but Bautista is dominating him so far and the first round ends. The second round
begins with them trading kicks. Mix is showing more this round but
Bautista is still connecting with strikes from every angle. Mix’s UFC
debut isn’t going the way he planned, I’m sure. His corner is calling
for takedown attempts but Mix hasn’t tried grappling at all. Bautista
lands a big left hand but Mix continues connecting with stiff jabs
that have bloodied Bautista under his right eye shortly before the
second round ends. The third round starts with Mix going for a
takedown but he eats a bunch of strikes instead. Bautista is showing
very good footwork and that’s helping him avoid a lot of Mix’s punches. They’re still cracking each other good but are too tough to
be stopped and this fight ends. We go to the judges to render their
verdict.
Bautista wins the decision to improve to 16-2 and has won 8 straight
fights while Mix drops to 20-2 and has his 7 fight winning streak snapped. Good win for Bautista.
GOOD- Kelvin Gastelum vs. Joe Pyfer
Pyfer kicks Gastelum then drops him with a big right hand. Pyfer lets
him up and things slow down as they trade a few strikes for quite a
while before Pyfer drops Gastelum again with a big right hook. He lets
Gastelum up again and the first round ends. The second round begins
with a few connected strikes but a lot of misses. Pyfer’s power is the
difference and has likely led to this slow-paced round. The third
round starts with Gastelum coming out more aggressively and landing
some good punches. Gastelum is having more success striking in this
round, which makes Pyfer go for and complete a takedown. Gastelum works his way back to his feet and is landing a lot more strikes than
Pyfer this round. It’s too late, though, and the fight ends. We go to
the judges to render their verdict.
Pyfer wins the decision to improve to 14-3 while Gastelum drops to
19-10 with 1 No Contest. Good win for Pyfer.
Quick judging complaint. Only one judge gave Pyfer a 10-8 in that first round, where he dropped Gastelum twice. If dominating a guy and
dropping him twice in the same round doesn’t get you a 10-8 round,
what does? I don’t know why judges are so stingy with these scores?
Anyway, moving on.
GOOD- Mark Kerr will be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame
Kerr finished his career with a record of 15-11 with 1 No Contest. In
his early career, Kerr won the UFC 14 and UFC 15 Heavyweight Tournaments. Kerr was also an extremely accomplished collegiate
wrestling competitor. Congratulations to Mark.
GOOD- Kayla Harrison submits Julianna Pena
Pena was trying to defend the UFC Bantamweight Championship for the
first time here, in her second title reign. Hesitant start to the
fight before Harrison starts throwing strikes while Pena answers with
punches. Harrison gets a trip takedown and is in side control. She starts working some ground-and-pound but Pena nails her with two
upkicks, which are illegal on this card because the New Jersey State Athletic Commission, where this event is taking place, hasn’t ratified
the unified MMA rules. So 12-6 elbows and the grounded opponent
changes (fighter is only grounded if any part of the body except hands
or feet are in contact with the ground).
Anyway, a point gets deducted from Pena and they’re restarted on the
feet but the first rounds before anything happens. The second round
begins with Harrison connecting with a punch and several leg kicks.
They clinch on the cage and Pena is able to stifle a Harrison takedown attempt for quite a while before Harrison finally completes it.
Harrison goes to work with her ground-and-pound and eventually locks
in a tight kimura that forces Pena to tap with only seconds to go in
the second round. Kayla Harrison is your new UFC Bantamweight Champion.
Harrison improves to 19-1 and has won 4 straight fights while Pena
drops to 12-6. Good win for Harrison, who faced off with the returning
Amanda Nunes (23-5) after the fight.
GOOD- Merab Dvalishvili submits Sean O’Malley
Dvalishvili successfully defended his UFC Bantamweight Championship
for the second time here. O’Malley is connecting with some nice strikes early. Dvalishvili is trying to close the distance but keeps
getting popped for his trouble. As I write that, Dvalishvili gets a
takedown. O’Malley grabs the cage to get back up. Dvalishvili lands
some powerful strikes and gets another takedown shortly before the
first round ends. The second round begins with both men landing some
strong strikes. Dvalishvili keeps trying to get a takedown but
O’Malley defends well. They keep trading strikes and the second round
ends. The third round starts with Dvalishvili getting a quick takedown. Dvalishvili hammers away with his ground-and-pound until
O’Malley manages to stand up. Dvalishvili immediately takes him back
down and starts beating on O’Malley as he moves to north-south and
locks in a guillotine choke that forces the tap with about twenty
seconds to go in the third round. Dvalishvili earns the second submission victory in his career.
Dvalishvili improves to 20-4 and has won 13 straight fights while
O’Malley drops to 18-3 with 1 No Contest. Good win for Dvalishvili.
*************
Ben Askren (19-2, 1 No Contest) has developed pneumonia and is
hospitalized as I write this. I join everyone else who’s been hoping/praying/sending good thoughts and vibes/etc. to Ben and his
family.
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.
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