UFC 204
Michael "The Count" Bisping vs. Dan "Hendo" Henderson UFC world middleweight championship Dan Henderson made his final bow at UFC 204, just coming up short on adding the UFC middleweight belt to his collection as Michael "The Count" Bisping narrowly scraped a unanimous decision in Manchester. Leading up to the fight I personally thought Henderson would take the win with a KO victory and, in rounds 1 and 2 he very nearly did just that. A lot of the talk post-fight was about how Bisping looked compared to Henderson, with people saying Henderson won since he didn’t have a scratch on him and Bisping has taken a lot of damage. To an extent, I agree, but 2 big hits don't outweigh Bisping consistently landing significant strikes throughout the fight, that's not how any scoring system in the world works. Henderson clearly won the first 2 rounds due to the knockdowns. Rounds 1 and 2 are also where Bisping took the damage people are referring to, so I don't really understand why people are upset with the decision, you can’t give someone points in future rounds for damage dealt in earlier rounds. Round 1 was clearly in favour of Henderson, great knockdown and some great work on the ground. Some people were debating whether this was a 10/8 round, I personally don't agree, It wasn't like Henderson completely dominated the round, there have been more one-sided rounds that haven't been given a 10/8. Round 2 is clearly the round where the 49/46 score has come from. I think that this score is completely absurd, Bisping did control most of the round, but Henderson stole it with that knockdown in my opinion (as well as pretty much everyone else) Rounds 3 and 4 were very straightforward, Bisping controlled both rounds with Henderson not offering much he did in earlier rounds. I found round 5 hard to judge with it being so close and I was quite surprised that Henderson came back so strong after the previous two rounds. Henderson again probably had the bigger hits, but they were too far and few between so I think Bisping taking the win 3-2 is fair, you can’t just a fight by how someone's face looks, however, I would not have been surprised if Henderson took it or we ended with a draw. Overall the fight was fantastic and I take my hat off to Dan, he can hold his head high after his performance in which he could easily have taken it. Bisping also deserved some praise for bouncing back from the 2 early right hands to take the final 3 rounds. Bisping pretty much called out the entire division afterwards and it's unclear who he'll defend against next, it all depends on what happens with Rockhold and Weidman, if they both win their next fights they may face each other before facing Bisping, but if one loses and the other wins I think the winner will face Bisping. I'll end with again saying thank you to Dan Henderson for some amazing fights over the years and well done on an amazing career.
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Fight: Stipe Miocic (c) vs Alistair Overeem for the UFC World Heavyweight Championship Weight: Heavyweight The main event of UFC 203 was between Alistair Overeem and Stipe Miocic for the UFC World Heavyweight Championship. For some reason I don't have much affinity for many of the heavyweights, I've never seen a heavyweight fight that really captivated me, probably due to being a new fan, however I did find this fight quite enjoyable. Overeem started very well, dodging a nice kick from Miocic and followed up with an excellent left hand to take down Miocic. I think Miocic defended the guillotine superbly giving Overeem no chance to fully lock it in. In regards to Overeem's claim that he felt Miocic tap, from all the angle's it doesn’t seem like Overeem has much of a case, but I respect that he feels he felt a tap but I find it hard to believe based on the evidence from the replays. Once Miocic was back up I feel he controlled the fight, landing some great strikes and Overeem seemed to be overwhelmed and his ability to defend from Miocic seemed to deteriorate as the round went on. Overeem tried his best to get away from Miocic but Miocic was very aggressive and never gave Overeem anytime to recover, constantly raining shots down on Overeem. Near the end of the fight Miocic did well to catch Overeem's kick to take him down and again I think Miocic's aggression was key in beating Overeem, once Miocic has his leg he never looked like letting him go, and his ground striking was excellent to knock out Overeem. Overall I was very impressed with Miocic and the fight made me want to go back and watch more of his fights. He looks like he could go on to be a very dominant champion if he continues to put in performances like this. That being said, I take nothing away from Overeem his first shot to take down Miocic shows he has some real power, I just feel Miocic outclassed him on the day. In terms of where both fighters go next, in a post fight interview it seems likely that after Werdum's win earlier in the night Miocic will likely go on to have a rematch with Werdum for the title so good luck to both of them in the rematch, while Overeem's fighter will probably remain up in the air for now so I'll keep my eyes and ears open regarding that one. I'll close by saying again I found the fight very enjoyable and I am very impressed by Miocic's ability and I think I'll be paying more close attention to him in the future, good luck to him. Again as a new MMA fan, any feedback on my content would be much appreciated, thanks for reading. With UFC 203 now in the books, I'm am going to give you my opinions and do my best to analyse a couple of fights on the main card. As a relatively new MMA fan i'd love some feedback on my article. Fight: CM Punk vs Mickey Gall Weight: Welterweight First of all, I think it's fair to say CM Punk deserves a lot of respect for even attempting to transition into MMA from Pro Wrestling, anyone who is hating on him should really ask themselves if they would have the bottle to step into the octagon and fight a professional fighter. I admired Mickey Gall's comments post fight about ignoring there being too much hate and how we should ignore the hate and I completely agree, I understand fighters with 0-0 record and little experience shouldn't get a free pass to the UFC, but there's no need to belittle and make fun of Punk for giving MMA a go. That being said, I don't think there are many people who didn't see that fight coming. Punk well a truly looked outclassed from the start, the first punch Punk threw didn't look like it was going to threaten Gall and it gave Gall the perfect opportunity to get Punk on the ground and form then on Punk was never going to have much chance to turn this fight around. Credit to Punk he weathered the storm and I think he defended that choke longer than I thought he would, but in the end the result isn't surprising, it was textbook performance from Gall and he looked very impressive throughout. Just like in commentary it should be pointed out this was brown belt against a white belt, Gall did exactly what most people expected and dominated a fight against a less experienced opponent. Not that i'm taking anything away from Gall but I still don't think we've seen the best from him yet, nor has he been fully tested and hopefully in the coming years he gets the chance to prove himself against the best as he looks like he has some serious potential, it just makes it harder to judge how good he can be when he hasn't had many fights. In terms of where both fighters go next, Gall called out Sage Northcutt (20) who despite being 4 years younger actually has more pro fights. Northcutt's camp is apparently interested so this fight looks likely and it's a decent match up with 2 young, hungry fighters wanting to prove themselves, so I wish them both good luck. Where Punk goes next on the other hand is a bit harder. No matter how young the fighter they'd still have years of experience on him, but I still think another young fighter is the most likely choice. Makes sense for the UFC and for whichever young fighter they bring in to test Punk, and it gives Punk another chance to go away and train now he has some genuine experience. I think his continued drive to get better is admirable and I wish him the best in the future and I'll be watching cheering him on. I'll finish by again giving both fighters praise and credit Punk with having the balls to do what most people wouldn't. Again any feedback would be much appreciated, thanks for reading. Event: UFC 202
Fight: Nate Diaz vs. "The Notorious" Conor Mcgregor Weight Class: Welterweight (170 pounds) Winner: Mcgregor - Majority Decision In this review, I will be giving recap of the rematch between "The Notorious" Conor Mcgregor and Nate Diaz, the aftermath and where both fighters will go next. The hype for this fight had been building since the bell sounded back in march with Nate pulling of a very impressive Submission victory over Mcgregor back at UFC 196 and it was always going to be hard to live up to it, but it well and truly did. I think unsurprisingly Conor started the stronger just like the first fight, from the get go he was more reliant on his kicking than he was on his striking which ultimately payed off, if he had gone into this fight trying to KO Nate from the first second, I think Nate would have pulled off the win again. That's not to say Conor striking wasn't good in this fight, it was, as it always is. I was quite surprised Conor took Nate down as much as he did, especially in the first round and it was good strategy from Conor not to go to the ground with Nate, again I think Nate would have beat if easily if he had done. Onto the second round and it was again very similiar to the first fight, Conor seemingly on top for most of the round, however close to the end Nate came back so strong, and just like the the first fight, Nate looked like he could actually beat Conor. That being said, Conor took him down early and was on top longer than Nate which ultimately won Conor the fight, as Nate was virtually on top for the rest of the fight other than round 4. Overall I gave Conor the win with rounds 1,2 and 4. After the fight when I saw the judges score cards I was genuinely surprised Conor got an 8 for round 3. Nate clearly dominated the round, but i've watched fights such as Anderson Silva vs. Damian Maia in which Maia never looked for one second like winning and he didn't even score lower than an 8 in that fight. The fact that people actually think this fight was rigged also surprises me, i haven't seen one expert give it to Nate, but at the end of the day we will go with our heart and our favourites, and this just fuels the need for a third fight, this match was a joy to watch. Speaking of a third fight, onto what i think is next for both of them. Nate quite clearly said he isn't fighting anyone but Conor next which makes that one easy, but it wont be Conor's next fight. Names being banded around for Conor's next fight are the Jose Aldo rematch, Eddie Alvarez for the 155 title, maybe even GSP at UFC 205 in New York. While I admire Conor's ability, I can't see Conor winning the latter against GSP, not that Conor isn't good enough, but GSP is possibly the greatest of all time, so i can't see this happening just yet, he needs to prove himself at 170 more but it's still possible if they need a fight to put the card over the edge. That said i still think Conor's next fight is between Eddie Alvarez or Aldo, and i'd go with Alvarez. While Dana's has given Conor the ultimatum of fight Aldo or give up the 145 title, it makes no business sense. Only have to look at Cormier to see what would happen if Aldo won back the title without beating Conor. Therefore I can see Conor getting his shot at the Lightweight title like he was meant to have back before the first Diaz fight against then champion Rafael Dos Anjos. Wrapping up with a last word on Diaz vs Mcgregor 3. Whenever it happens it's gonna be huge and im already so excited to see it. At that point hopefully Conor's 170 cardio will be up to scratch, so we can see a bell to bell war, and i'll give a early prediction of Conor winning the third fight. Image taken from - https://cdn2.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/0xSsPKa-4gQMqmiVuTywN8T94bQ=/cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/6785423/027825_202_TMobile_Arena_Generic_600x600-0ea616cb88.0.jpg |
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