By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch Senior Columnist
UFC 322 was this past weekend and featured two big title fights that
were dominations and some exciting fights and finishes. Who won and who lost? Let’s get to the rundown.
UFC 322
GOOD- Benoit Saint-Denis stops Beneil Dariush
Dariush lands some good leg kicks that make Saint-Denis stumble so
Dariush rushes forward…right into a big left hand that knocks him out and sends him face-first to the canvas. Saint-Denis lands one more
(unnecessary maybe?) follow-up strike before the referee can jump in
to stop the fight sixteen seconds into the first round. Wow.
Saint-Denis improves to 16-3 with 1 No Contest and has won 3 straight
fights while Dariush drops to 23-7-1. Good win for Saint-Denis.
GOOD- Carlos Prates stops Leon Edwards
They start trading leg kicks before they clinch up on the fence and
eventually have to be separated for lack of activity. Edwards gets a
takedown and works a bit before Prates stands. Edwards remains on his
back until he jumps off to get another takedown and the first round ends. The second round begins with more kicks being traded and Prates
talking a lot to Edwards, a running theme so far. Prates drops Edwards
with a big left hand that knocks him loopy and adds another strike on
the ground to ensure victory a minute and a half into the second round. Prates is the first man to knock Edwards out.
Prates improves to 23-7 while Edwards drops to 22-6 with 1 No Contest and has lost 3 straight fights. Good win for Prates.
GOOD- Michael Morales stops Sean Brady
Brady starts with leg kicks while Morales jabs. Brady lands a good
hook and leg kick combo but gets staggered by a Morales counter right
hand that he follows with more thudding punches. Brady shoves him away
but he’s hurt so Morales follows him with confidence and is piecing him up. Morales drops Brady with another combination and follows with
some hammerfists before the referee can jump in to stop the fight nearly three and a half minutes into the first round.
Morales improves to a perfect 19-0 while Brady drops to 18-2 and has his 3 fight winning streak snapped. Good win for Morales.
UGLY/GOOD- Valentina Shevchenko vs. Weili Zhang
Shevchenko was looking to defend her UFC Flyweight Championship for
the eighth time here, while Zhang vacated her UFC Strawweight
Championship in order to fight for this title.
To be blunt, this fight largely sucked. Zhang is trying to find her range early against the larger Shevchenko, who gets a takedown. Zhang
is immediately back to her feet. Shevchenko lands a spinning backfist
and they clinch, where Shevchenko gets another takedown and the first
round ends. The second round begins with some strikes being landed
before Shevchenko gets another takedown and stays on top for the rest
of the round, landing the occasional strike. The third round starts
with both women trading kicks. They clinch then Shevchenko gets another takedown and remains on top for the rest of the third round.
This fight is over, just end it now and save us the time.
The fourth round opens with striking exchanges where Shevchenko uses
her size to control things. They actually strike for much of the round, with Shevchenko landing the more damaging strikes, before
Shevchenko gets another takedown and stays on top for the rest of the
fourth round. The fifth round commences with more of the same,
Shevchenko controlling the striking before taking the fight to ground
and controlling things there as well. The fight ends so we go to the judges.
Shevchenko wins the decision to improve to 26-4-1 and has won 3
straight fights while Zhang drops to 26-4 and has her 5 fight winning
streak snapped. Good win for Shevchenko, I just don’t want to see any of her fights again.
UGLY/GOOD- Jack Della Maddalena vs. Islam Makhachev
Della Maddalena was looking to defend his UFC Welterweight
Championship for the first time here, while Makhachev vacated his UFC
Lightweight Championship in order to fight for this title.
To be even more blunt, this fight was god awful. They trade kicks early before Makhachev gets a quick takedown and spends the rest of
the first round on top throwing little strikes. The second round is more of the same, as is the third round. I saw some people saying that
Makhachev was trying all these submissions but I didn’t notice, I was pretty checked out, but it sure didn’t look like it to me. It looked like he was choosing position over submission every time. Which I
completely understand, by the way. You’ve got to get the win, no
matter how you do it. But fights like this are why the UFC is making the smart move and going away from pay-per-view. The amount of people
willing to plunk down a bunch of money for these kinds of fights are very small. They’re ardent and very vocal but they’re also very small.
It was painfully obvious who was going to win so this shouldn’t have gone five rounds. It should have ended after the third round. Make no
mistake, I also blame Della Maddalena for this fight being so boring.
He was just holding on for dear life.
The fourth round is more of the same, as is the fifth round. I’m glad
the partisan crowd in the arena liked this but the others in the arena
and most of those watching at home (especially those who paid for this
dreck) want their time and/or money back. This took a lot of talent
from Makhachev but no one wants to watch this stuff. If this was happening in your backyard, you’d close the curtains.
Makhachev wins the decision to improve to 28-1 and has won 16 straight
fights while Della Maddalena drops to 18-3 and has his 18 fight winning streak snapped. Good win for Makhachev, I just don’t want to
see any of his fights again.
I didn’t see urgency from either Shevchenko or Makhachev. Of course,
you’ve got your people arguing in bad faith “What do you want them to do? Be reckless and just go for anything?” That’s not what anyone is
asking for. Just try to win, that’s all.
I’m old enough to remember when people would complain vehemently about
“boring lay-and-pray” wrestlers and were glad when they were cut or retired. Yet now some of those same people praise fighters who do
essentially the same thing. It always took a high level of skill to do so I wonder what the difference is now?
Anyway, I’m done ranting.
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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