Adesanya Continues to Run Middleweight While a Former Foe Awaits
Israel Adesanya successfully defended UFC Middleweight Title for the fifth consecutive time after his unanimous decision win over Jared Cannonier. It wasn’t the dynamic finish you would expect from someone who did his best Undertaker walkout in what is likely the most legendary fight entrance in UFC history, but it was still a mostly one sided affair.
“The Last Stylebender” avoided nearly any damage thanks to elite distance control and continuous movement which never allowed for Cannonier’s heavy hands to lock on. As with some of Adesanya’s previous fights, this wasn’t the most exciting matchup. Izzy is so technical and has such a large reach that opponents often seem mesmerized and can’t calculate how to close on him. This posed a problem for Cannonier as his best efforts were when he was able to grapple with Adesanya against the cage. Unfortunately for the former heavyweight, he was never able to truly take advantage of those opportunities with any form of serious damage. Each time the champion was able to escape and get back to picking apart Cannonier.
Adesanya’s next title fight will almost certainly be against Alex Pereira, who owns two kickboxing wins over him and also won a big fight at UFC 276. Kickboxing and mixed martial arts are certainly two different types of combat sports, but Pereira makes for an interest challenger as he would be Adesanya’s first opponent that would essentially nullify his biggest strengths. Izzy and Pereira will have their moment, but for now Stylebender continues to dominate the 185 lbs division while simultaneously being one of the sports most identifiable stars.
Volkanovski Closes Book On Holloway Trilogy
Alexander Volkanovski has made it clear that he is without a doubt the best there currently is at 145 pounds in the UFC. After his unanimous five round sweep victory over previous champion Max Holloway, it’s hard to argue there is anyone even really close to his level. With cardio for days, lightning speed strikes, and heavy hands at a smaller stature, Volkanovski looks like he is ready for a move up to lightweight in search of a title in another weight class.
The third and likely final fight between Volkanovski and Holloway was the third win for the champ and his most dominant. He left no doubt by winning every round on each judges card. Each round nearly mimicked the other with Holloway having trouble closing on the impressive defense of Alexander “The Great”. Nearly every time Holloway did close, he was met with quick and accurate striking combinations from the champion, including one in the second round that opened a large cut above Holloway’s left eye and caused blood to blur his vision the rest of the fight. Holloway had some small wins in a few exchanges, but rest assured, this fight was all Volkanovski.
The conclusion of the trilogy poses interesting dilemmas for both fighters. Volkanovski has beat the best of the best right now at featherweight. A move up to lightweight seems like a logical experiment for him. The problem is there is no shortage of talent and challengers there so an immediate title shot might not be warranted.
Holloway, on the other hand finds himself in maybe an even more difficult position. He is on an island as the clear second best fighter in his division. Where does he go from here? He’s only 30 years old and still extremely talented, but he has been in some absolute wars. His fight life might be farther along than his age would make a person think.
“Hello Middleweight Title Contenders, Alex Pereira Has Entered the Chat.”
We can officially put Alex Pereira’s name in the ring when it comes to next Middleweight Title challengers. He walked right through the #4 ranked Sean Strickland in route to a knockout first round win. What seemed like a big leap in competition for Pereira at first considering he is still pretty green when it comes to MMA, proved to be barely a challenge for the former kickboxer. Unexpectedly, Strickland was marching Pereira down for the entirety of the fight, but Pereira was the one releasing quick and precise strikes. The fight ended when Pereira landed a left hook right on the button of Strickland’s chin. As a dazed Strickland attempted to recover to his feet, Pereira landed a snipe of a straight right that put the lights out for Strickland.
Pereira, who own two kickboxing victories over Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya, now finds himself in the rare position of going from unranked to possible title shot. The past history of Adesanya and Pereira alone would be enough to market this fight. Whether a title shot awaits, we will all wait to see. One thing is certain though. Israel Adesanya can officially see Alex Pereira in his rearview mirror.
Barbarena Finishes Lawler in Phone Booth Battle
It didn’t last all three rounds, but Bryan Barbarena and Robbie Lawler put on a show in their welterweight match up. Barbarena pulled out the TKO victory after nearly two rounds of “rock’em sock ‘em robot” style fighting between the two. Nearly the entire fight was fought within the pocket with Lawler often landing more of the power strikes while Barbarena had more by quantity. Barbarena eventually caught Lawler and even though the veteran tried to hang on eventually the flurry of strikes he was receiving was just too much to hold off.
Much respect must be given to the 40 year old Lawler who still continues to put on amazing fights even after years of damage. He looked good for a majority of the fight too, with great head movement and boxing. It does make you wonder though, just how much time he has left to fight.
Barbarena comes away with the biggest win of his career against a former champion and absolute legend in the sport. At the very least, he may be able to carry this entertaining war into more fights of similar style and become a fan favorite on his own. He may not win every fight, but he certainly gained some fans with tonight’s performance.
Munhoz and O’Malley Ends in Disappointing and Early Fashion
A highly anticipated bantamweight bout between ranked fighters Pedro Munoz and Sean O’Malley ended in a no contest after Munhoz was unable to continue due to an accidental eye poke in the second round. The fight wasn’t too eventful prior to the eye poke as both fighters seemed to respect each other’s weapons. Every Munhoz strike was a leg kick as he obviously must have been following the formula Marlon Vera used to defeat O’Malley. “Suga” Sean on the other hand landed a few strikes, but was very limited due to Munhoz ability to stay at safe distance. It was a very disappointing end to a fight that was looking to be the biggest test of O’Malley’s young career. Now fight fans will need to wait a little longer to find out just how good one of the UFC’s most popular stars is.
Other Notes
Jalin Turner will likely find himself in the lightweight rankings as of next week after his dominant victory over a very good fighter in Brad Riddell. It took Turner less than a minute to land a strong right hook to Riddell’s head that stunned him and then followed up with bout clinching guillotine. The win is the 6’3”, 155 pounder’s fourth straight victory in the division with all coming by finish. The lightweight division continues to be the UFC’s cream of the crop division with never-ending amounts of talent.
In a battle between the two fighters at the top of the career UFC wins total, Jim Miller snuck in a second round guillotine choke to finish Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone. The first round turned out some fun ground game transitions between the two longtime veterans and fan favorites. Miller was able to sneak his choke in when both fighters attempted head kicks at the same time in the second round. Cerrone ended up losing his footing on his kick and that short amount of time gave Miller just enough time to sneak in the finish. The win put Miller in the sole position of the all time wins leader in the organization. “Cowboy” decided to hang up an amazing career after the fight by placing his iconic cowboy hat in the middle of the ring with his gloves. Cerrone will certainly go down as one of the greatest fighters in history to never win a UFC title, but more importantly, an all time fan favorite.
Ian Garry moved to 10-0 and continues to look like one of the UFCs bright young stars after the 24 year old defeated Gabe Green by unanimous decision. Green pressured Garry most of the fight, but “The Future” showed the patience of a veteran by not getting drawn into a firefight. Instead, Garry waited for openings in which he landed crisp jab and knee combos right down the middle. His long and wiry frame was able to bloody up the tough Green by the end of the fight. Now 3-0 in the UFC welterweight division, Garry seems like he should work his way up the cards so that his young talents can be showcased more for a wider range of fans to see.
Maycee Barber continues to work her way up the Women’s Flyweight rankings as she came away with a unanimous decision victory over former title challenger Jessica Eye. Barber dominated in the clinch early with a combination of heavy punches and elbows. Eye made it interesting in the second round with a takedown, but didn’t come away with much damage. Barber stayed more at bay in the third and won most of the striking exchanges. The 24 year old is one of the brightest female prospects in the UFC and should earn a matchup against a borderline top five ranked opponent. With her fourth straight loss, Eye left her gloves in the Octagon and stated she would be stepping away from the sport after a strong career.
Julija Stoliarenko opened UFC 276 with one of its best performances as she pulled out a submission victory by armbar over Jessica-Rose Clark in just 42 seconds. The women’s bantamweight fight opened with fire works at Clark came out of the gates on fire with strikes. Stoliarenko weathered the storm and was able to transition into a beautiful far side armbar that appeared to have dislocated or broke Clark’s arm before she could tap. It was a graphic way to open one of the biggest fight nights of the year.