By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch Senior Columnist
PFL: Pettis vs. McKee and UFC 327 were this past weekend and featured some exciting fights and finishes, including a sure-fire Fight of the Year candidate. Who won and who lost? Let’s get to the rundown.
PFL: Pettis vs. McKee
GOOD- Gabriel Braga vs. Cheyden Leialoha
Leialoha wins the first round with his takedowns and grappling. Braga turns it around in the second round with his clinch and low kicks. Braga repeats this in the third round and the fight ends so we go to the judges to render their verdict.
Braga wins the decision to improve to 17-3 while Leialoha drops to 11-3 and has his 4 fight winning streak snapped. Good win for Braga.
GOOD- Viviane Araujo vs. Shanna Young
They trade a lot of strikes in the first round, with Araujo pulling ahead. Araujo continues her assault in the second round and also gets a takedown. The third round starts with Young showing a lot more fire and she damages Araujo a few times. However, Araujo turns things around and starts battering Young and also gets a takedown to close the fight. We go to the judges to render their verdict.
Araujo wins the decision to improve to 14-7 while Young drops to 11-9. Good win for Araujo.
GOOD- Raufeon Stots vs. Renat Khavalov
Each fighter lands some good strikes and the first round is close. The second round is more of the same, but Khavalov controls the pace more and gets a takedown at the end of the second round. The third round starts with Stots coming out on fire and he lays into his opponent. It might not be enough, though, as the fight ends and we go to the judges to render their verdict.
Khavalov wins the decision to improve to a perfect 12-0 while Stots drops to 21-4. Good win for Khavalov.
GOOD- Sergio Pettis vs. Mitchell McKee
McKee gets an early takedown and controls the first round. It’s more of the same in the second round, though Pettis works back to his feet a few times. It’s still more of the same in the third round. McKee has been completely dominant here. Pettis can’t do anything while McKee is on top of him landing enough ground-and-pound to keep his position. McKee was also hunting for submissions but Pettis was able to defend. The fight ends so we go to the judges to render their verdict. Not the most exciting of fights but undeniably effective.
McKee wins the decision to improve to a perfect 11-0 while Pettis drops to 25-8. Good win for McKee.
UFC Fight Night: Moicano vs. Duncan
GOOD- Cub Swanson stops Nate Landwehr
This was Swanson’s retirement fight.
They’re trading strikes right away and Swanson is looking good as he staggers Landwehr a few times. Swanson pushes forward and drops Landwehr with a big left hand to the temple. Landwehr recovers for a moment but Swanson nails him with a big right hand to the temple that knocks him out that forces the referee to jump in to stop the fight a little over four minutes into the first round.
Swanson is given a cool video package and his family is there to celebrate with him. He retires with an amazing 15 post-fight bonuses. I wish him well in his post-fight life.
Swanson improves to 31-14 while Landwehr drops to 18-8 and has lost 3 straight fights.
UGLY- Dominick Reyes vs. Johnny Walker
The first round is nothing but them trading single kicks. The second round is more of the same and the crowd has turned on this fight. The third round is still more of the same boring garbage. The fight ends so we go to the judges to render their verdict. I know what my verdict on this travesty is.
Reyes wins the Split Decision to improve to 16-5 while Walker drops to 22-10 with 1 No Contest. It’s a win for Reyes but not for anyone who had to watch this fight. Moving on…
GREAT- Curtis Blaydes vs. Josh Hokit
They’re smashing each other right away. Hokit is going wild and catches Blaydes a few times with power strikes. Blaydes gets a takedown but they’re back up and wailing away on each other. Blaydes is landing huge uppercuts but Hokit won’t go down. Blaydes continues smashing Hokit but Hokit won’t stop and the round ends. Wow. There was way more action in that single round than the last fight combined.
The second round begins with more of the same wild action. Hokit is crushing Blaydes with uppercuts but then Blaydes is attacking the body. They’re hammering away and this is unbelievable. The toughness on display here is unreal.There’s literally dozens of strikes that have landed in this fight that would have stopped other fighters. The tenacity of these two to keep going in the face of all this is just nuts.
The third round starts with more insane pace. These are heavyweights smashing each other like this. and it’s continuing in the third round. They’re smashing each other with repeated strikes from all angles. I don’t see how they’re doing this. At the risk of being a prisoner of the moment, this is one of the greatest fights I’ve ever seen. It’s hard to imagine that it won’t be Fight of the Year but you never know what can happen. Somehow these fighters reach the end of the third round and this fight is over. We go to the judges to render their verdict.
Hokit wins the decision to improve to a perfect 9-0 while Blaydes drops to 19-6 with 1 No Contest. Great win for Hokit.
GOOD- Paulo Costa stops Azamat Murzakanov
They trade a few strikes before Costa catches Murzakanov in the eye with his thumb. The rest of the first round is more tense and tentative, as each strike carries bad intentions. The second round begins with Costa continuing to attack with a lot of kicks. Murzakanov gets a takedown but nothing comes of it and he’s bleeding pretty well by the end of the second round. The third round starts with Murzakanov blocking a lot of Costa head kicks but they’re still hurting him a little and making him unprepared for a Costa right hand that stuns him. Costa follows with another head kick that sends Murzakanov crashing down to the mat unconscious not quite a minute and a half into the third round. Wow.
Costa improves to 16-4 while Murzakanov is handed his first loss and drops to 16-1. Good win for Costa.
GOOD- Carlos Ulberg stops Jiri Prochazka
This fight was to crown the new Light Heavyweight Championship that Alex Pereira (13-3) vacated in order to challenge for the Interim UFC Heavyweight Championship.
The intensity is immediate as these men start swinging with bad intentions at each other. Ulberg’s knee is damaged so Prochazka attacks it. Ulberg is really hurt so Prochazka offers to just slug it out with him. This proves to be a massive mistake, as Ulberg catches Prochazka with a massive left hand to the jaw that drops him and forces the referee to stop the fight a bit over three and a half minutes into the first round. Wow again.
Ulberg is your new UFC Light Heavyweight Champion and improves to 14-1 and has won 10 straight fights while Prochazka drops to 32-6-1.
I can respect Prochazka not wanting to win the fight and title due to a doctor stoppage, because there’s no way Ulberg would have been allowed to continue in between rounds.
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