<>By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch Senior Columnist
UFC 323 was this past weekend and featured two title fights and some exciting fights and finishes. Who won and who lost? Let’s get to the
rundown.
UFC 323
GOOD- Jan Blachowicz vs. Bogdan Guskov
The first round is nearly all jabs and leg kicks. The second round
begins with more of the same until Guskov drops Blachowicz and starts
working some of his ground-and-pound. Guskov is landing some painful
elbows but Blachowicz survives. The third round starts with the
fighters teeing off on each other. Straight rights and jabs are
flying, along with hooks and leg kicks. Blachowicz is fighting with
urgency and manages to drop Guskov in the final few seconds. Guskov survives and the fight ends. We go to the judges to render their verdict.
The fight is ruled a Majority Draw. Blachowicz’s record is now 29-11-2
while Guskov’s record is now 18-3-1 and he has his 4 fight winning
streak snapped. Good fight.
GOOD- Henry Cejudo vs. Payton Talbott
Cejudo is attacking with a stream of leg kicks while Talbott
retaliates with long punches. They clinch and knees fly before Talbott
gets a trip takedown. Cejudo works his way back to his feet but
Talbott gets another takedown before the first round ends. The second round begins with the fighters trading strikes before Cejudo gets the
fight to the ground. Talbott eventually gets up and bloodies Cejudo
with strikes before the second round ends. The third round starts with the fighters trading constant strikes before Cejudo gets a takedown.
Talbott is back up immediately and starts battering Cejudo. The
Olympic Gold Medalist is too tough to finish and the fight ends. We go
to the judges to render their verdict.
Talbott wins the decision to improve to 11-1 while Cejudo drops to
16-6 and has lost 4 straight fights and retired for the second time
after the fight, presumably for the last time this time. Good win for
Talbott.
GOOD- Tatsuro Taira stops Brandon Moreno
Taira goes for a takedown but Moreno reverses and ends up on Taira’s
back. Moreno stays there for the entire first round as he looks to
wear his opponent down. The second round begins with the fighters
trading strikes until Taira doggedly pursues a takedown and finally
gets it. Taira takes Moreno’s back and starts punching until the
referee jumps in to stop the fight not quite halfway through the
second round.
Taira improves to 18-1 while Moreno drops to 23-9-2. Good win for Taira.
UGLY- Joshua Van stops Alexandre Pantoja by injury
Pantoja was looking to defend his UFC Flyweight Championship for the fifth time here. They trade a few strikes until Van catches a Pantoja kick and pushes him back. When Pantoja lands, he dislocates his left elbow in a manner very similar to Jayden Daniels of the Washington Commanders. There might also have been a fracture of some sort, I’m not a doctor so I don’t know. Regardless, it was a gruesome injury and if you’re squeamish about this kind of stuff, don’t watch it.
The fight is obviously stopped and Van wins the UFC Flyweight
Championship. Perhaps you can chalk it up to youthful exuberance but Van celebrates like you would at the end of a Rocky movie.
Van improves to 16-2 and has won 6 straight fights while Pantoja drops to 30-6 and has his 8 fight winning streak ended. Joshua Van is your new UFC Flyweight Champion.
The UGLY for this is for the injury and this next part.
The UFC’s Chief Medical Physician Dr. Jeff Davidson told Megan Olivi
that Pantoja suffered a shoulder injury. Maybe that was in addition to
the obvious elbow injury and that’s what he meant but Megan said she was told the injury was to his shoulder.
All I know is that hearing that means I would never go to that doctor
for directions, let alone medical treatment. Apparently the UFC’s
Chief Medical Physician is as blind as some of these judges the state
athletic commissions select to judge a fight. Moving on.
GOOD- Merab Dvalishvili vs. Petr Yan
Dvalishvili was looking to defend his UFC Bantamweight Championship
for the fourth time in this fight, all within one calendar year. They
start off trading jabs. Dvalishvili can’t get a takedown and they keep
jabbing until the first round ends. The second round begins with both
fighters trading strikes and Yan defending takedown attempts from
Dvalishvili. Yan gets a takedown of his own but Dvalishvili grabs a
submission so Yan has to abort and get back to his feet and the second round ends. The third round starts with Yan throwing some kicks before grabbing Dvalishvili and slamming him to the mat. Dvalishvili is right back up and gets a slam of his own. They’re up and down a few times before Yan hurts Dvalishvili a few times before the third round ends.
The fourth round opens with more striking exchanges before Yan gets
another takedown. They separate and go back to trading strikes until
the fourth round ends. The fifth round commences with Yan continuing
to land the more damaging strikes. Dvalishvili won’t give up, though,
and he continues throwing strikes as well. Yan gets a few more
takedowns and stuffs any attempts from his opponent and the fight
ends. We go to the judges to render their verdict.
Yan wins the decision to improve to 20-5 and has won 4 straight fights
while Dvalishvili drops to 21-5 and has his 14 fight winning streak
snapped. Petr Yan is your new UFC Bantamweight Champion, his second time winning the title and he also won the Interim UFC Bantamweight Championship once. Statement win for him.
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more), you should check out
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It’s an incredible tool that you can use and there’s so much more I
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interested in collecting should join. Thank you.
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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