By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch Senior Columnist
UFC 313 was this past weekend and it featured some exciting fights and finishes and a huge title fight in the Light Heavyweight division. Who won and who lost? Let’s get to the rundown.
UFC 313
GOOD- Mauricio Ruffy stops King Green
There’s nothing happening early until Ruffy does a picture-perfect
spin kick that catches Green upside his head and knocks him out just over two minutes into the first round. Wow, that was incredible.
Ruffy improves to 12-1 and has won 7 straight fights while Green drops to 32-17-1 with 1 No Contest. Good win for Ruffy.
UGLY- Amanda Lemos vs. Iasmin Lucindo
Not much happens in the first round. They grind in the clinch for a while and a Lemos elbow is probably the best thing in the entire first
round. The second round begins and ends with more of the same, as does
the third round. This was an incredibly boring fight that damages the
reputation of both fighters. Lemos might have had more successful
takedown attempts than Lucindo had significant strikes. For a full three rounds that’s terrible. We go to the judges to render their verdict before we all bury both women’s careers in the desert like those E.T. cartridges.
Lemos wins the decision to improve to 15-4-1 while Lucindo drops to
17-6 and has her 4 fight winning streak snapped. This fight sucked.
Moving on.
GOOD- Ignacio Bahamondes submits Jalin Turner
They trade some strikes until Turner throws Bahamondes to the mat.
They grapple for a bit until Bahamondes wraps up a tight triangle choke that draws the tap nearly halfway through the first round.
Bahamondes improves to 17-5 and has won 3 straight fights while Turner drops to 14-9. Good win for Bahamondes.
GOOD- Justin Gaethje vs. Rafael Fiziev
It’s a slow start until Fiziev gets a few takedowns, immediately
getting up from the first while the second time takes him a little longer to get up from. Both fighters are slinging heavy leather in
short spurts until the first round ends. The second round begins with
more dangerous striking exchanges. Things turn into a brawl until Gaethje uppercuts Fiziev and drops him. Gaethje jumps him but Fiziev
survives until the end of the second round. The third round starts with Fiziev hitting some strong kicks while Gaethje is landing some
powerful punches. Incredible toughness on display from both men here.
This continues as they just keep crushing each other with strikes that
would end a normal fight. The power of these strikes is only outdone
by the toughness of these men. This crazy fight ends so we go to the
judges to render their verdict.
Gaethje wins the decision to improve to 26-5 while Fiziev drops to
12-4 and has lost 3 straight fights. Good win for Gaethje.
GOOD/BAD- Alex Pereira vs. Magomed Ankalaev
Pereira was looking to defend his UFC Light Heavyweight Championship
for the fourth time in this fight. Pereira favors more kicks early while Ankalaev tries to mix it up with punches and kicks until the
first round ends. The second round begins with more of the same,
though Pereira is also landing some solid punches. Strikes are coming from all angles by both men. Ankalaev is landing some heavy punches
that are damaging Pereira and he gets staggered shortly before the
second round ends. The third round starts with both fighters having
more success with kicks. Ankalaev keeps moving forward and likely takes the slower third round.
The fourth round opens with some dull clinch work. The referee separates them and there’s a little striking exchanged until Ankalaev
hugs Pereira again and the fourth round ends. The fifth round
commences with more striking attempts. Many of them are missing (barely) and Ankalaev goes back to clinching. Yuck. This disappointing
fight ends so we go to the judges to render their verdict.
Ankalaev wins the decision to become the new UFC Light Heavyweight
Champion and improve to 20-1-1, with 1 No Contest, while Pereira drops
to 12-3 and has his 5 fight winning streak snapped. The fight started off very promising then fell off quickly. You hate to see a title
change hands after a disappointing fight like this but Pereira didn’t do much to retain it. He looked way too hesitant. There’s talk about an immediate rematch. Yay?
GOOD- Robbie Lawler inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame
This is incredibly well-deserved and earned. Lawler is a former UFC
Welterweight Champion with two successful title defenses. He finished
his career with a record of 30-16, with 1 No Contest. However, that doesn’t even tell the full story. Lawler had multiple legendary fights
and even has a fight already in the UFC Hall of Fame, against Rory MacDonald (23-10-1) at UFC 189.
Lawler had a tremendous career and I’m glad to see this for him.
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. Also, here’s the link to my
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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