The UFC returned to the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas tonight and some of the best fighters in the world absolutely put on a show. While there were no big title fights on the card, like in many recent events, it was still an exciting night of fights headlined by what turned out to be a thrilling grudge match.
Let’s take a look at some of the highlights of the night and break down the three fights we looked at in our UFC 272 preview.
Prelim Highlights
In a really powerful moment, Ukranian Maryna Moroz scored a huge victory over Mariya Agapova. The underdog controlled the fight right form the word go and found herself in multiple advantageous positions. Late in the second round, she managed to lock in a rear naked choke and get the stoppage. After the fight, the understandably emotional fighter showed how happy she was with her performance given everything going on in her home country.
Kennedy Nzechukwu and Nicolae Negumereanu put on a fantastic show that almost came to a very unfortunate finish. After being warned multiple times about outstretched fingers, Nzechukwu lost a point after poking Negumereanu in the eye in the third round. In the end, that didn’t matter as two judges gave Negumereanu two of the three rounds for a split decision victory. It was a puzzling decision from the judges that left a lot of people, myself included, wondering exactly what they were watching. I do want to give some credit to a position that doesn’t typically get any – the referee. This was a perfectly officiated fight by referee Mark Smith and he deserves some recognition.
In a fight that probably shouldn’t have been a prelim, third-ranked women’s strawweight contender Marina Rodriguez and fourth-ranked Yan Xiaonan went the distance in an absolute war. Yan proved to have a speed advantage and moved expertly throughout the fight, bouncing in and out of range before Rodriguez could do anything about it. Rodgriguez really opened up in the third round though, landing some huge shots in several wild exchanges. That late performance was enough to earn her a split decision victory. It was a great showing from both fighters and they’re both likely heading to a championship opportunity in the future, but we’ll have to see if this was enough to earn Rodriguez the next title shot against Rose Namajunas.
And in the final prelim before the pay per view, up and coming lightweight prospect Jalin Turner looked outstanding against Jamie Mullarkey. Both guys showcased an impossible pace right from the beginning and never really let up. Mullarkey proved to be very game and incredibly tough as he got hit with everything in the book from Turner. The most impressively skill displayed though was the composure of Turner, who calmly stalked Mullarkey through every exchange and got the better of almost all of them. It was a very impressive performance for this young lightweight, who scored his ninth knockout victory after he landed some big punches that finally put Mullarkey down in the second round. He’ll be seeing a number next to his name very soon and is definitely someone to keep an eye on.
Main Card Highlights
In a clash of styles in the opening fight of the main card, Greg Hardy looked great in the opening seconds against Serghei Spivac. The power puncher landed some thunderous low kicks in the early going and appeared to have a massive power advantage. Less than a minute in though, Spivac secured a takedown and took Hardy completely out of his element. From there, Spivac never let Hardy completely get away, eventually secured mount and landed some big punches to get the knockout win. It was a dominant performance for Spivac, who could be looking at a big fight his next time out.
Moving down from the middleweight division to welterweight, Kevin Holland was the biggest betting favorite on the main card. Charles Oliveira clearly didn’t get that memo as he looked great in the early going, beating Holland to the punch and scoring a few big takedowns. Holland was clearly frustrated with his performance as he walked back to his corner between rounds. He did have some success with a calf kick to the lead leg and he went back to it early in the second. That opened up the punches and Holland landed some big ones that dropped Oliveira and allowed him to get the finish. After the fight, Holland got the crowd excited by indirectly calling out “Cowboy” Cerrone. He also definitely earned some fans by explaining that the reason he didn’t drop to welterweight sooner was because he wanted to eat cookies. This guy is not only a star in the fight, but also on the microphone.
Bryce Mitchell def. Edson Barboza
This was an obvious clash of styles with two guys who came in with very obvious gameplans. Barboza wanted to keep this fight on the feet where he could chip away at Mitchell with his devastating kicks. Mitchell wanted to get the fight to the floor where he could work his submission game ore grind out a decision. Barboza looked great in the very early going, landing some ugly-looking calf kicks that really looked like they hurt Mitchell. However, it wasn’t much later that Mitchell scored a takedown and began pounding away on Barboza. From then on, that was the story of the fight. Mitchell was a perfect four of four with his takedown attempts and he dominated all three rounds on the floor. Barboza was never really able to get anything going in the striking game before he found himself one his back once again. It was a perfectly executed gameplan for Mitchell en route to a decision victory.
My pick: Mitchell via decision
Result: Mitchell via decision
Rafael Dos Anjos def. Renato Moicano
I have been watching the UFC for about 15 years now and I have never seen a fighter’s stock go up more in a loss that Renato Moicano’s did tonight. It felt like a sure thing that former lightweight champion Rafael Dos Anjos would win this fight, with Moicano stepping up to take the challenge on less than a week’s notice. Dos Anjos absolutely dominated this contest, scoring takedowns in every round and just pounding away on Moicano. It got to the point where the commentary team was assuming the fight would be stopped on multiple occasions as a bloodied Moicano stumbled back to his corner. The ref, the doctor and Moicano’s own corner gave him every opportunity to turn it around though and he showed a tremendous amount of heart to miraculously last all five rounds. And he did more than just survive. He actually landed some huge punches in the closing minutes and got the fans on their feet as they hoped to see what would have been the greatest comeback in the history of the UFC and maybe sports in general. It wasn’t to be though and Dos Anjos got the big decision victory and went on to call out Jorge Masvidal after the fight. While it was a big night for Dos Anjos, you could argue it was equally as big for Moicano who definitely earned himself some fans with this showing.
My pick: Dos Anjos via decision
Result: Dos Anjos via decision
Colby Covington def. Jorge Masvidal
We often hear about all the bad blood between two guys in the main event of a pay per view, but this one felt different. Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal genuinely seem to hate each other and that created a whole lot of buzz and energy in the crowd.
Again, there were clear gameplans in this one. Masvidal wanted to strike and Covington wanted to take the fight to the ground. It didn’t take long for Covington to succeed in that goal and the story of the fight was the grappling dominance of the top-ranked welterweight contender. Late in the fourth round, Masvidal landed a huge right hand that dropped Covington momentarily but he was unable to capitalize on his one real opportunity he had to win this fight. In the opening seconds of the fifth round, Covington got another takedown and that was the end. Masvidal was never able to recover and the fight resulted in a one-sided decision. After the fight, both fighters proved that their personal rivalry was far from over, but Covington moved on to his next opponent by calling out Dustin Poirier.
My pick: Covington via decision
Result: Covington via decision
The UFC will return to ESPN on Saturday, March 12th for UFC Fight Night: Santos vs. Ankalaev. Be sure to check back for a preview of the event.