By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch Senior Columnist
UFC Fight Night: Vera vs. Sandhagen was this past weekend and featured
some interesting fights. Who won and who lost? Let’s get to the
rundown.
UFC Fight Night: Vera vs. Sandhagen
GOOD- Daniel Pineda submits Tucker Lutz
They exchange strikes early, with Pineda getting a trip takedown. Lutz
is quickly back up and they go back to trading strikes. They’re both
fighting hard and an overhand right from Pineda drops Lutz. Pineda
lets him up and they exchange punches until the end of the first
round. The second round starts with more of the same striking
exchanges. Lutz drops to a knee after absorbing some strong knees from
Pineda. They grapple around for a bit before Pineda locks in a
guillotine and gets the submission win almost three minutes into the
second round. Pineda improves to 28-14 with 3 No Contests while Lutz
drops to 12-3. Good win for Pineda.
GOOD/BAD- Albert Duraev vs. Chidi Njokuani
Duraev gets an early takedown and they grapple on the ground for a
while before Njokuani stands up. Ddduraev gets another takedown and
the first round ends. The second round was pretty boring as it was
mainly just sparring. Njokuani had a few nice punches land but nothing
else of note happened. The third round started with some good kicks
from Njokuani. Duraev kind of just seems to be hanging back. I don’t
know if he’s hurt or just gassed. Njokuani lands a few nice strikes
and we go to the judges. Duraev wins the Split Decision and improves
to 16-4 while Njokuani drops to 22-9 with 1 No Contest. I thought
Njokuani won but I might be wrong. Regardless, good win for Duraev.
GOOD- Maycee Barber vs. Andrea Lee
They trade strikes early before Lee drags Barber down to the mat. They
grapple for a while before Barber is able to stand up. They trade head
kicks and a few more strikes before the first round ends. The second
round starts with another striking exchange until Barber gets a
takedown. Lee quickly gets back up and they trade more kicks until Lee
gets another takedown and the second round ends. The third round opens
with Barber landing some strong strikes. Lee gets another takedown but
Barber is quickly back up. Barber then gets a takedown of her own
before Lee fires back with another takedown and we’re going to the
judges. Barber wins the Split Decision in an ultra-close fight and
improves to 12-2 and has won 4 straight fights while Lee drops to
13-7. Good win for Barber.
GOOD- Nate Landwehr submits Austin Lingo
Lingo comes out firing and Landwehr has a cut by his right eye. They
trade strikes for the rest of the first round, including some heavy
exchanges near the bell. The second round begins with Lingo landing
some good punches. Landwehr fires back with some kicks and his volume
has increased by quite a bit. They keep trading until Landwehr gets a
trip takedown and locks on a rear-naked choke to get the tap a little
over four minutes into the second round. Landwehr improves to 17-4 and
has won 3 straight fights while Lingo drops to 9-2. Good win for
Landwehr.
GOOD- Holly Holm vs. Yana Santos
They fight in the clinch for a long time before separating and trading
kicks. Holm gets a late takedown as the first round ends. The second
round begins with Holm getting a takedown and working a little
ground-and-pound. She’s not doing a ton of damage but it’s enough
until she opens up toward the end of the second round, where she
starts laying into Santos. The third round opens with a little clinch
work before Holm gets a trip takedown. They grapple for a while as
Holm works her ground-and-pound. Santos eats a lot of punches but she
manages to stand up. However, Holm gets another takedown right as the
fight ends and we go to the judges. Holm wins the decision and
improves to 15-6 while Santos drops to 14-7 with 1 No Contest. Good
win for Holm.
GOOD- Cory Sandhagen vs. Marlon Vera
They trade strikes early in the first round. Sandhagen lands some nice
strikes before a trip takedown puts him on top and he lands some
strong elbows before the first round ends. The second round starts
with Sandhagen blasting Vera with more strikes before getting another
takedown. They fight on the ground for a while before Vera gets up.
Sandhagen’s cut on the cheek as we move to the third round. Sandhagen
is just throwing a lot more volume than Vera, who stuffs a few
takedown attempts. Vera is showing good toughness but this is all
Sandhagen so far. The fourth round starts with Sandhagen shooting in
for a few takedowns but Vera denies him. Most of the round was slow
but it heats up at the end, as Sandhagen blasts Vera a few times.
However, Vera fights back and we’re going to the final round. The
fifth round opens with Sandhagen getting a takedown. They fight on the
ground for a while before Vera stands up. They fight hard for the rest
of the fight and we go to the judges. Sandhagen has to settle for a
Split Decision victory and he improves to 16-4 while Vera drops to
20-8-1. Somehow one of the judges (Joel Ojeda) gave the fight to Vera.
I don’t see how that’s even remotely possible. I always say maybe I’m
wrong about these things because you never truly know. Maybe I missed
something vital that tipped a close fight one way or the other. I
don’t think that’s the case here. This fight didn’t feel close. I
agree more with giving Sandhagen a 50-45 score than anything else.
Now, I might be wrong about that and it’s more of a 49-46 score but I
definitely don’t see how you can score this fight for Vera.
Regardless, good win for Sandhagen.
GOOD- Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone announced for the UFC Hall of Fame
Cerrone definitely deserves it. He retired with a record of 36-17 with
2 No Contests, with 6 of those losses coming at the end of his career.
He fought a lot of very talented guys and was always good for a scrap.
You have to respect someone who always comes to fight and gives their
all every time.
A comic book anthology that I’m a part of is opening a Kickstarter on
April 1st. It’s called Team Canaveral Blastoff #1. Here’s the link-
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/teamcanaveral/team-canaveral-blastoff-1
If you could check it out and back it or spread the word, I would appreciate it.
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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