By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch Senior Columnist
Bellator 260 and UFC 263 were this weekend and featured several big fights. Let’s get to the rundown.
Bellator 260
GOOD- Mark Lemminger stops Demarques Jackson
Jackson got an early takedown but couldn’t do anything with it. Lemminger then got a takedown of his own and threatened with a submission attempt and some fine ground-and-pound but they went to the second round. They went to the ground in the second round and Lemminger unloaded a barrage of ground-and-pound and got the stoppage. Good win for Lemminger.
GOOD- Aaron Pico submits Aidan Lee
Pico got six takedowns in the first round. That’s not a typo folks, he got 6 freaking takedowns in one round. Pico hit some good ground-and-pound and tried a few submissions and the round ended. Pico got a few more takedowns in the second round and did some more damage to Lee. Pico got his ninth takedown of the fight in the third round and locks in the choke to get the submission victory. Good win for Pico, who looked great in this fight.
GOOD/BAD- Jason Jackson vs. Paul Daley
Jackson got an early takedown in the first round and stayed on top for the rest of the round. Jackson got an immediate takedown in the second round. Daley managed to get up a few times, but Jackson took him down shortly after each time. Same thing for the third round, Jackson gets a takedown then hugs him for the rest of the fight. Smart strategy by Jackson and it was what he needed to do to win, but incredibly boring to watch. Good win for Jackson, though.
GOOD/BAD- Douglas Lima vs. Yaroslav Amosov
This was just like the previous fight, except two rounds longer. So yeah, it was even more tedious. Again, if a guy win the first four rounds in a five-round fight, the fight should be over. There’s no reason to have that fifth round, unless you want to root for a flash knockout or something. After seeing fights like the last two, I’d be in favor of saying if a guy wins the first three rounds in a five-round fight, it’s over. That’s probably too extreme, though, but damn those fights can be hard to watch. Amosov won the Bellator Welterweight Championship here, good win for him. I respect the skill from Amosov.
UFC 263
GOOD- Paul Craig submits Jamahal Hill
They were grappling in the first round and Craig broke Hill’s arm but the referee didn’t notice right away so Hill got smashed a bit before the fight was stopped. Good win for Craig.
GOOD/BAD- Demian Maia vs. Belal Muhammad
There was some nice grappling in this fight. There was also a few striking moments but nothing great. Muhammad won the decision. I didn’t care for this fight myself but if you really like grappling you might really like this fight. Good win for Muhammad.
GOOD- Leon Edwards vs. Nate Diaz
Edwards had some good striking moments but we all know how tough Diaz is so it’s going to take a lot more than that to stop him. For some reason, this was a five-round fight. Edwards won the first four rounds as he laid it on Diaz. Under the rules I would like implemented, the fight would have been over. Diaz came back some in the fifth round and hurt Edwards and possibly had a chance to finish him, but that doesn’t sway me. If you want that fifth round, you better do something in the first four rounds to deserve it. I don’t want to sit through another boring or predictable fifth round on the off-chance some guy mounts a huge comeback. Anyway, good win for Edwards.
GOOD- Brandon Moreno submits Deiveson Figueiredo
Moreno came out firing in the first round, taking the fight to Figueiredo. It was much closer in the second round, but I would still give Moreno the edge. His striking is more crisp and he’s grappling well. The third round saw Moreno get the fight to the ground, where he started hunting for a choke. He was able to lock one in tight and force the tap. Moreno is the new UFC Flyweight Champion and he looked so good in this fight that I could see him being the champion for the next year or so at a minimum. Good win for Moreno.
GOOD/BAD- Israel Adesanya vs. Marvin Vettori
Adesanya was clearly the better fighter but this reminded of some of the worst Anderson Silva fights. Adesanya was just so much better that he started goofing around and clowning Vettori. This isn’t so much an old man “Get off my lawn!” thing, it’s more that I don’t find that all that impressive. If you really want to make a statement, if you really want to show what a badass you are, then go out there and destroy your opponent. Don’t fondle his butt like you’re expecting Dusty’s muffler to fall out. Don’t dance or flop or mimic getting poked in the eye.
I’m not complaining because I think it’s disrespectful or anything like that, I’m complaining because it’s frustrating to watch a guy who’s so much better than his opponent toy with him the whole fight. If you’re going to do that, if you’re going to toy with a guy, you better finish him off. Otherwise it makes you look kind of lazy. I hate saying that because Adesanya is fantastic, just like Silva was fantastic. I just don’t get how Adesanya can put effort into his entrances and making them cool, then drop the ball during the fight. I don’t know, maybe I’m totally wrong here, but I didn’t care for this fight. Thanks for reading.
Comments and suggestions can be emailed to me at hydenfrank@gmail.com and you can follow me on Twitter at @hydenfrank
Leave a Reply