By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch Senior Columnist
PFL Champion Series 4 and UFC Fight Night: Royval vs. Kape were both
this past week and featured plenty of exciting fights and finishes,
including two title fights in the PFL. Who won and who lost? Let’s get
to the rundown.
PFL Champions Series 4
GOOD- Taylor Lapilus vs. Liam Gittins
They start off trading strikes before Lapilus dumps Gittins to the
mat. He’s right back up, though, and neither man is retreating. They
trade strikes for the rest of the first round. The second round begins
with more of the same. Lapilus is getting the better of the striking
but Gittins is right there. The third round starts with Gittins
continuing to come forward but Lapilus is battering him and making him bleed. Gittins is too tough to finish, though, and the fight ends. We go to the judges to render their verdict.
Lapilus wins the decision to improve to 23-4 and has won 4 straight
fights while Gittins drops to 13-5 with 1 No Contest. Great win for
Lapilus.
GOOD- Patrick Habirora stops Kevin Jousset
Habirora comes out firing and they’re both swinging away. Habirora
drops Jousset with a hard left hook and swarms him with
ground-and-pound until the referee jumps in to stop the fight a bit
over halfway through the first round.
Habirora improves to a perfect 8-0 while Jousset drops to 10-5 and has lost 3 straight fights. Strong win for Habirora.
GOOD- Cris Cyborg submits Sara Collins
Depending on your viewpoint, Cyborg was either looking to win the PFL Featherweight Championship or defend it for the first time (she had won the PFL Super Fights Featherweight Championship in her last
fight).
They’re trading leg kicks early before mixing in punches. Collins gets
eyepoked but can continue. Cyborg gets a takedown but they’re right back up and firing away at each other before the first round ends. The second round begins with more kicks before they start punching also.
Collins gets a takedown and lands a few big elbows but Cyborg is able to stymy most of her ground-and-pound so they stand. Cyborg lands some powerful clinch knees before the second round ends. The third round starts with some kicks but a lot of punches follow. They clinch and Collins gets the fight to the ground. Collins is working her
ground-and-pound until Cyborg takes her back and wraps up a rear-naked choke. It’s not under her chin, though, and turns into a face crank that forces Collins to tap not quite three minutes into the third round.
Cyborg improves to 29-2 with 1 No Contest and has won 9 straight
fights while Collins drops to 6-1. Cris Cyborg is the (new) PFL
Featherweight Champion. Impressive win for her.
GOOD- Vadim Nemkov submits Renan Ferreira
This fight is for the inaugural PFL Heavyweight Championship. Nemkov gets an immediate takedown and starts grinding away with punches and elbows. Nemkov moves to mount and is throwing punches but Ferreira
reverses for a moment and lands some heavy punches of his own before Nemkov reverses back. Nemkov locks in an arm-triangle choke that forces Ferreira to tap four minutes into the first round.
Nemkov improves to 19-2 with 1 No Contest and has won 5 straight
fights while Ferreira drops to 13-5 with 3 No Contests. Vadim Nemkov
is your new PFL Heavyweight Champion. Amazing win for him.
UFC Fight Night: Royval vs. Kape
GOOD- King Green vs. Lance Gibson Jr.
Gibson starts off with kicks while Green showboats and largely ignores him. They trade a few more strikes and Green continues talking until the first round ends. The second round begins with the fighters trading strikes until Green knocks Gibson down, though he’s quickly back up, then Green kicks him low. When they resume, Gibson gets a takedown but Green is quickly back to his feet and they exchange some strikes until the second round ends. The third round starts with more of the same, some exchanging of strikes and green constantly trash talking. Green gets a takedown toward the end of the fight. We go to the judges to render their verdict.
Green wins the Split Decision to improve to 33-17-1 with 1 No Contest
while Gibson drops to 9-2. Good win for Green.
GOOD/BAD- Kennedy Nzechukwu vs. Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida
The fight starts with Buchecha doggedly pursuing a takedown. Nzechukwu
gets up but is brought back down to the mat before standing again.
Nzechukwu knees Almeida in the groin. They exchange a few strikes
until the first round ends. The second round begins with Nzechukwu
poking Almeida in both of his eyes. He actually gets deducted a point.
Wow, I’m stunned. The slow, purposeful fight continues and Almeida
gets a takedown and does some ground-and-pound until the second round ends. The third round starts with Almeida again getting the fight to the ground. Nzechukwu lands some strikes but there’s not a lot happening and the fight ends. We go to the judges to render their
verdict. This was just kind of there.
The fight is ruled a Unanimous Draw so Nzechukwu’s record is now
14-6-1 while Almeida’s record is now 5-2-1. This was one of the fights
tonight.
GOOD- Melquizael Costa stops Morgan Charriere
They’re trading kicks right off the bat until suddenly, Costa cracks
Charriere with a left head kick that ends the fight, despite it being
blocked by Charriere. The force was so great that it still delivered
the knockout blow. Costa stops before he follows up, seeing that he
doesn’t need to, and this fight is over in seventy-four seconds of the
first round. Wow.
Costa improves to 25-7 and has won 5 straight fights while Charriere
drops to 21-12-1. Great win for Costa.
GOOD/BAD- Cesar Almeida vs. Cezary Oleksiejczuk
Almeida lands a few kicks before Oleksiejczuk gets a takedown and
works his methodical ground-and-pound for the rest of the first round.
The second round begins with the fighters trading strikes for a bit
until Oleksiejczuk gets another takedown. They’re up and down and
Oleksiejczuk again works a little bit of his ground-and-pound until
the second round ends. The third round starts with an immediate
takedown from Oleksiejczuk. Oleksiejczuk elbows Almeida in the groin
and also had kneed him in the head when they were grounded earlier.
Take a point, ref. Or take two, you got to do something here about
fouls. Oleksiejczuk stays on top and stops Almeida from getting up for the rest of the fight. We go to the judges to render their verdict.
Not very exciting but you do what you have to in order to get the win,
I guess.
Oleksiejczuk wins the decision to improve to 17-3 and has won 5
straight fights while Almeida drops to 7-2. It’s a win for
Oleksiejczuk.
GOOD- Kevin Vallejos stops Giga Chikadze
They’re trading a few kicks in the opening couple minutes and
Chikadze’s shin is split open and bleeding heavily. Not much happens
and the first round ends. The second round begins with more
tentativeness until Chikadze starts kicking away. During an exchange
near the cage, Vallejos spins and smashes Chikadze in the face with
his fist, dropping him. Vallejos follows with three quick elbows
before the referee can jump in to stop the fight about a minute and a
half into the second round. Wow.
Vallejos improves to 17-1 and has won 6 straight fights while Chikadze drops to 15-6 and has lost 3 straight fights. Good win for Vallejos.
GOOD- Manel Kape stops Brandon Royval
They’re trading kicks early and often until Royval begins mixing in
some punches as well. Kape drops Royval and unleashes a barrage of
punches on him until the referee jumps in to stop the fight not quite
three and a half minutes into the first round. Wow. Kape has just tied
the UFC Flyweight record with five knockouts.
Kape improves to 22-7 and has won 3 straight fights while Royval drops to 17-9.
Kape calls out the new UFC Flyweight Champion Joshua Van (16-2) and says he’ll take his diapers. Okay.
If you’re a collector (action figures, statues, comics, cards, and
more), you should check out
Nibble on the Toyrat website!
It’s an amazing experience that allows you to catalog your own
collection, search for items you want (across multiple storefronts!),
and buy/sell items with other users! You can even create and order
your own custom toys!
It’s an incredible tool that you can use and there’s so much more I
haven’t even mentioned. I would highly recommend that anyone
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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