By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch Senior Columnist
UFC Fight Night: Whittaker vs. de Ridder was this past weekend and all
but the first fight on the main card went to decision. Who won and who
lost? Let’s get to the rundown.
UFC Fight Night: Whittaker vs. de Ridder
GOOD- Bogdan Guskov stops Nikita Krylov
Krylov starts off throwing a bunch of kicks, mixing in the occasional
punch. Guskov responds with a good body shot to Krylov. Guskov drops
Krylov with a big right hand and pounds on him until the referee is
forced to jump in the stop the fight a bit over four minutes into the
first round.
Guskov improves to 18-3 and has won 4 straight fights while Krylov
drops to 30-11. Good win for Guskov.
GOOD- Asu Almabayev vs. Jose Ochoa
Ochoa is attacking with strikes from all angles before Almabayev can
get the fight to the ground. They’re up and down a few times and
grapple for a bit before the first round ends. The second round begins
with a repeat of the first, as Almabayev gets some takedowns that
Ochoa fights off before he gets another one and they grapple for the
rest of the second round. The third round starts with more of the
same, though Almabayev goes for more striking this round. He still
controls things, though. The fight ends so we go to the judges to render their verdict.
Almabayev wins the decision to improve to 22-3 while Ochoa drops to
8-2 with 1 No Contest. Good win for Almabayev.
GOOD- Sharaputdin Magomedov vs. Marc-Andre Barriault
They trade strikes throughout the first round, with Magomedov
outpacing Barriault. The second round begins with Magomedov throwing a
lot of kicks while mixing in other strikes from all angles. Barriault hurts Magomedov with a big right hand and takes him down. Magomedov
leaps to his feet and now he hurts Barriault but he survives until the
second round ends. The third round starts with Magomedov attacking
Barriault from all angles with his striking. Barriault is too tough to
finish, though, so the fight ends and we go to the judges to render
their verdict.
Magomedov wins the decision to improve to 16-1 while Barriault drops
to 17-10 with 1 No Contest. Good win for Magomedov.
GOOD- Petr Yan vs. Marcus McGhee
They start off trading quick strikes. Yan wobbles McGhee but he
recovers and they continue striking for the rest of the first round.
The second round begins with more fast striking exchanges. Both men
are cracking the other with stiff punches that are doing damage.
McGhee is fighting hard but Yan seems to have a bit more power behind
his punches as the second round ends. The third round starts with more
striking before they grab each other and won’t let go. Yan gets a
takedown from the clinch but McGhee is right back up and the fight
ends so we go to the judges to render their verdict.
Yan wins the decision to improve to 19-5 and has won 3 straight fights
while McGhee drops to 10-2 and has his 6 fight winning streak snapped.
Good win for Yan.
GOOD- Robert Whittaker vs. Reinier de Ridder
They start off trading some strikes, with Whittaker stuffing repeated
de Ridder takedown attempts. Whittaker looks sharp as the first round
ends. The second round begins with more striking exchanges, with
Whittaker staying on the move. However, de Ridder is able to connect
with some good strikes before the second round ends. The third round
starts with de Ridder landing some powerful knees that get Whittaker’s
attention. However, Whittaker drops de Ridder and unloads some good
ground-and-pound. De Ridder fights his way back to his feet, though,
and they clinch before de Ridder gets a takedown and works some
ground-and-pound of his own before the third round ends.
The fourth round opens with some nice striking, as de Ridder tries to
get the fight to the ground but Whittaker won’t oblige. They spend the
rest of the fourth round trading strikes. The fifth round commences
with Whittaker landing more strikes as de Ridder tries to get a
takedown and keeps grabbing a clinch. The fight ends and this is very
close. We go to the judges to render their verdict.
De Ridder wins the Split Decision to improve to 21-2 and has won 5
straight fights while Whittaker drops to 26-9. Good win for de Ridder.
*************
Wrestling superstar Hulk Hogan died last week. I know this is a MMA
blog but I’m a big wrestling fan so I want to quickly send my
condolences to his family and friends. I was also a big Cosby Show fan
so condolences to the family and friends of Malcolm-Jamal Warner as
well.
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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