By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch Senior Columnist
UFC Fight Night: Tsarukyan vs. Hooker was this past weekend and featured some exciting fights and finishes. Who won and who lost?
Let’s get to the rundown.
UFC Fight Night: Tsarukyan vs. Hooker
GOOD- Kyoji Horiguchi submits Tagir Ulanbekov
They trade kicks early before Ulanbekov tries for a takedown but can’t
get it. Horiguchi continues to attack the lead leg until Ulanbekov gets the fight to the ground for a bit. Horiguchi gets up before the first round ends. The second round begins with Horiguchi knocking
Ulanbekov down with a leg kick. Horiguchi works his ground-and-pound
until Ulanbekov can get up and try for a takedown of his own but he can’t complete it. Horiguchi batters him until the second round ends.
The third round starts with Horiguchi nailing Ulanbekov with a big
left hook that drops him so Horiguchi beats on him until Ulanbekov stands up. Horiguchi connects with a big head kick/right hand
combination that drops Ulanbekov again. Horiguchi grabs a rear-naked
choke and Ulanbekov passes out a bit over two minutes into the third round. Very nice.
Horiguchi improves to 35-5 with 1 No Contest and has won three
straight fights while Ulanbekov drops to 17-3 and has his 4 fight winning streak snapped. Good win for Horiguchi.
GOOD- Waldo Cortes-Acosta stops Shamil Gaziev
They start off firing away at each other until Cortes-Acosta staggers
and drops Gaziev with a big counter right. Gaziev is quickly back up
but Cortes-Acosta nails him with a quick right hand to the temple that
drops Gaziev again. The referee brilliantly and quickly jumps in to
save Gaziev and to stop the fight not quite a minute and a half into
the first round before Cortes-Acosta can land any unneeded blows. Wow.
Cortes-Acosta improves to 16-2 and hopes to fight again in a handful of weeks, wanting to fight six times in 2025, while Gaziev drops to 14-2. Good win for Cortes-Acosta.
GOOD- Myktybek Orolbai stops Jack Hermansson
They’re swinging punches at each other right away before both men
start adding in kicks. Heavy strikes are flying and they clinch a few
times. Suddenly, Orolbai catches Hermansson with some punches that
make him retreat but Orolbai follows and cracks Hermansson with a big
right hand to the ear that drops Hermansson and knocks him out. The
referee can’t get there in time to stop Orolbai from landing a final
unnecessary blow and this fight is over not quite three minutes into the first round. Wow.
Orolbai improves to 15-2-1 while Hermansson drops to 24-10. Good win for Orolbai.
GOOD- Volkan Oezdemir stops Alonzo Menifield
Oezdemir is aggressively coming after Menifield with punches and kicks
before nailing him with a knee to the chest. Oezdemir continues his
onslaught until Menifield slumps against the cage unconscious and the
referee quickly jumps in to stop the fight about a minute and a half into the first round. Wow.
Oezdemir improves to 21-8 while Menifield drops to 17-6-1. Fantastic win for Oezdemir.
GOOD/BAD- Belal Muhammad vs. Ian Machado Garry
They trade some strikes until Garry pokes Muhammad in the eye. Not this junk again. Take a point, ref. The cageside doctor is brought in
to examine Muhammad’s eye but they start tending to a cut instead.
Huh? Anyway, they get back to striking and Garry uses his jab and kicks to keep his distance as Muhammad is swinging with power. They
trade strikes for the rest of the first round. The second round begins with Garry using his kicks and his jabs to damage Muhammad, who gets
warned for outstretched fingers. Now Garry has his fingers outstretched and he pokes Muhammad in the eye again. No point or
points are taken, nothing. Why bother having rules? This fight should
be over and ruled either a DQ or a No Contest, I don’t really care which. Muhammad has been doing some not-so-good stuff as well. The
UFC, and MMA in general, should be doing everything they can to get
this garbage out of the sport. You all have heard this rant before so
I’ll just move on but this is ridiculous.
The third round starts with the fighters trading strikes. Garry’s getting the upper hand but Muhammad is tough and won’t stop. Garry’s
reach is proving too much to overcome, though. Garry slashes out with
an elbow and a wild brawl erupts at the end of the fight. They throw
everything they have at each other until time expires. We go to the judges to render their verdict.
Garry wins the decision to improve to 17-1 while Muhammad drops to
24-5 with 1 No Contest. I think the UFC really needs to do something about the rule-breaking with impunity that sometimes runs amok. It’s a win for Garry.
GOOD- Arman Tsarukyan submits Dan Hooker
They start off trading kicks until Tsarukyan shoots in for a takedown
attempt that Hooker fights off. They trade knees before Hooker grabs a
guillotine but Tsarukyan fights it off and works his ground-and-pound
on the mat. Hooker puts his toes in the fence to move but Tsarukyan remains on top of him until the first round ends. The second round
begins with the fighters again trading kicks until Tsarukyan gets a
takedown and begins working his ground-and-pound before grabbing a
tight arm-triangle choke that forces the tap three and a half minutes into the second round. Good work from Tsarukyan.
Tsarukyan improves to 23-3 and has won 5 straight fights and is certainly in line for a title shot, though only the UFC knows his exact spot in that line, while Hooker drops to 24-13 and has his 3 fight winning streak snapped. Good win for Tsarukyan.
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Thanks for reading and have a good day.
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