By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch Senior Columnist
UFC 286 was this past weekend and featured a UFC Welterweight
Championship fight that went the distance. Who won and who lost? Let’s
get to the rundown.
UFC 286
GOOD- Marvin Vettori vs. Roman Dolidze
They’re exchanging strikes early in the first round. They’re both
showing good toughness as some of these punches are hitting hard. The
first round ends as it began, with flurries of punches. The second
round opens with Vettori utilizing his kicks while Dolidze is winging
heavy punches in return. The third round begins with more of the same
striking as before, just not as much as fatigue has set in. It’s close
as we finish the third round and go to the judges. Vettori wins the
decision and improves to 19-6-1 while Dolidze drops to 12-2 and has
his 4 fight winning streak snapped. Good win for Vettori.
GOOD- Jennifer Maia vs. Casey O’Neill
They’re trading punches early and often in the first round before
mixing in some other strikes. Neither woman is backing down as we head
to the second round, where we get more of the same striking exchanges.
They’re both throwing heavy leather here and this is a war. We move to
the third round and the story remains the same, Maia throws a lot of
counters every time O’Neill comes in close. This is a total slugfest
as the fight ends and we go to the judges. Maia wins the decision and
improves to 21-9-1 while O’Neill is given her first loss at 9-1. Great
effort in her return from a torn ACL but a good win for Maia.
GOOD- Gunnar Nelson submits Bryan Barberena
They exchange a few strikes before they move into the clinch and
Nelson gets the fight to the ground. Nelson works some
ground-and-pound elbows as Barberena fights off his back. Nelson spins
and locks in an armbar for the tap with just under ten seconds to go
in the first round. Nelson improves to 19-5-1 while Barberena drops to
18-10. Good win for Nelson.
GOOD- Anderson Silva to be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame
This is an obvious choice. He had a nearly 7 year title reign as the
UFC Middleweight Champion and a 17 fight winning streak in total at
one point. He’ll join Jose Aldo and Jens Pulver as inductees in the
2023 class.
GOOD- Justin Gaethje vs. Rafael Fiziev
They trade kicks early before mixing in some punches. They each work
the body some and exchange more strikes as the first round ends. The
second round begins with more heavy striking. They’re both mixing up
their punches and kicks well and the second round ends. The third
round starts the same, with more huge strikes landing. Fiziev is cut
and bleeding like crazy but keeps coming. He’s got a crimson mask
going. Some heavy strikes land here before Gaethje gets a takedown as
the third round ends. We go to the judges and they award Gaethje the
Majority Decision. Gaethje improves to 24-4 while Fiziev drops to 12-2
and has his 6 fight winning streak snapped. Good win for Gaethje.
GOOD- Leon Edwards vs. Kamaru Usman
Edwards is defending his UFC Welterweight Championship for the first
time here, after having won it from Usman at UFC 278 last August with
a late fifth round knockout. The first round starts slow, as many of
these five round fights do. Edwards is landing some good kicks and the
first round ends. The second round starts with Edwards using his
striking until Usman gets a takedown. Edwards quickly gets up and
lands some nice kicks before the second round ends. The third round
opens with an Usman takedown. Edwards quickly gets up but then grabs
the fence to avoid being taken down again. He’s deducted a point for
that. Edwards catches Usman low for the second time in the fight.
Shortly after that Usman claims it happened again but the ref doesn’t
agree. They exchange strikes for the rest of the third round. The
fourth round begins with Edwards throwing lots of kicks. Usman with a
takedown but Edwards fights back up and the fourth round ends. The
fifth round opens with Usman trying for a takedown but he can’t get
it. Edwards is very on point with his striking in this fight. Usman
gets another takedown but Edwards fights his way back up again and the
fight ends. The judges award Edwards the Majority Decision and he
improves to 21-3 with 1 No Contest and he’s won 3 straight fights and
is undefeated in his last 12 fights, counting the No Contest. Usman
drops to 20-3. Good win for Edwards.
My new fantasy book is now out. It’s called Kingdom of Zarias: A Fight For
Survival. It’s the third book in my epic fantasy Kingdom of Zarias
series and follows the adventures of the Summers siblings as they
fight to defend the world from an evil villain named Galren. This book
also introduces lots of other characters as the scope of the world
grows. 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. Also,
here’s the link to my new Compendium book about the Kingdom of Zarias
series- KoZ Compendium
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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