UFC 239 delivered an incredible night of fights. History was made. Almost every fight was exciting and there were some big statement wins. Overall, I’d say UFC 239 lived up to the insane hype it was receiving.
BEST WINNERS:
Song Yadong. I had no idea what to expect from Yadong. He is very young, and hadn’t faced anyone I’ve ever heard of before. Alejandro Perez had a bunch of hype before losing his last fight to Cody Stamann. So what does Song Yadong do? He absolutely annihilates Perez with one of the most vicious, devastating KO’s in bantamweight history. One punch knockout power. It crazy.
Edmen Shahbazyan. This was another impressive showing by a young, rising prospect. Shahbazyan swarmed Marshman from the beginning and after a brief exchange on the feet, got an easy takedown. He quickly took Marshman’s back and choked him out. It was a great showing. Shahbazyan did whatever he wanted and finished Marshman in a little over a minute.
Jan Blachowicz. Well, Jan Blachowicz felt like Rockhold was overlooking him and that Rockhold would be in for a rude surprise when they finally square off in the octagon. Blachowicz started the trend of prophetic endings to fights with a second round TKO. Rockhold came out strong, but Blachowicz was able to defend takedown attempts, and was not affected by Rockhold’s striking. Blachowicz ended the first round with a solid flurry, and maybe a little late. Then in the second round, as Blachowicz predicted, he knocked Rockhold the fuck out with his left hand. This has to give Blachowicz the next shot at Jon Jones.
Amanda Nunes. There is no female fighter that is on the same level as Amanda Nunes. She proved that again with her KO win of Holly Holm. Holly had never been KO’d before. Now, Amanda has beaten every female bantamweight champion in UFC history. She already has wins over every female featherweight champion in UFC history (I know Germaine de Randamie doesn’t really count, but she does). And she has 2 wins over the current female flyweight UFC champion. That is an impressive resume. Icing on the cake, she worked on that head kick because she wanted to KO Holly with Holly’s trademark headkick.
Jorge Motherfucking Masvidal. He told teammates and friends he was going to open with a running, flying knee to win at least a week ago. Then he opened the fight with a running, flying knee and knocked out the previously undefeated Ben Askren in 5 seconds. And let’s be real, for a 5 second fight, the referee should have called the fight sooner. That was really a 1.5-2 second knockout. The punches on the ground weren’t necessary, but the referee was too far away to stop them, so shit happens.
WORST WINNER:
Jon Jones. I was not impressed by his showing. For the GOAT to come out and look like he did, is pretty embarrassing. He can talk about respecting Santos’ power all he wants, Jones did not show us his best. Santos’ knee was clearly compromised and Jones didn’t use his normal killer instinct to attack it for the finish. Jones’ performance was lackluster. I thought Santos won, but knew it wouldn’t be enough to take the belt from Jones. I wouldn’t have been shocked by the decision either way. But Jones did not look close to his normal self.
BEST LOSER:
Thiago Santos. Santos showed a ton of heart in this battle. He was never out of the fight. He never really seemed to be in much danger. His knee kept buckling. He could have found a way out of the fight, but he stood in front of Jones and threw whatever he could to try to end Jones. He even threw his injured leg throughout the fight. You have to wonder if a healthier Santos would beat Jones. A rematch won’t happen. Dana won’t want to put Jones in that much danger again for a while. Thiago should be proud of his performance.
MY FIGHTER OF THE NIGHT:
Julia Avila. Julia Avila showed up Saturday night and had a great performance. Her striking was great. Pannie Kianzad wanted to keep the fight on the feet, and Avila didn’t object. She kept getting the better of their exchanges. In the third round she tried to get the finish with a choke, but Kianzad held off. Avila won an unanimous decision. I’m a bit of a sucker for smart, respectable fighters and Avila is definitely one of them. She is a geologist and likes to fight in her free time. She put her knowledge in geology to use Friday night. She was at the casino Friday night when Las Vegas felt the massive earthquake and people were nervous and didn’t know what to do. Avila gave advice to people on what to do and helped calm people down. Her post fight interview was a nice moment. Then to top it off, her nickname is “The Raging Panda.” The nickname game of the rising talent has been awesome.
PERFORMANCE OF THE NIGHT:
Michael Chiesa. Chiesa put on the most dominant fight of the night, and probably recent history. Diego Sanchez could get nothing going. Chiesa just smothered him and didn’t let go. This fight reminds me of the movie Big Daddy, when Adam Sandler found out the guy with the old balls had a five year plan and Adam Sandler dropped this classic, “What’s his 5 year plan? Don’t die?” Sanchez’s game plan was, “don’t die.” All of Sanchez’s energy went to staving off a submission. Chiesa looks great at welterweight, and this was his biggest win yet. He should be getting better fights on the heels of this win. Chiesa won a unanimous decision with a score of 30-26 on all three judges’ scorecards.
ALL ABOARD THE HYPE TRAIN:
Edmen Shahbazyan. He put on an impressive display of dominant grappling. He looked like Ronda Rousey, which he happens to train at the same gym she did. Shahbazyan has started his professional career 10-0, with 8 TKO/KO, 1 Submission, and 1 decision. That is a great start to a professional MMA career. He ran straight through Jack Marshman and got Marshman to submit for just the second time in his 32 fight professional MMA career.
PRELIM FIGHTER MOST LIKELY TO WIN A TITLE:
Song Yadong. This guy is electric. He has insane power for a bantamweight. I can see him rise through the ranks quickly. I wouldn’t be shocked if he gets a ranked fighter next. He is the type of guy the UFC will push to the moon.
SAVAGE OF THE NIGHT:
Tie: Jan Blachowicz. Jorge Masvidal. Amanda Nunes. These three fighters all predicted how they would finish the fight, and they were correct. Jan Blachowicz, in an interview, said he would win by 2nd round KO with his left hand. That is exactly how it happened. Jorge Masvidal told friends, teammates, and family, that he was going to open with a running, flying knee. He did that and won by murdering the previously undefeated Ben Askren. Amanda Nunes worked on that head kick because that’s how Holly knocks people out, and she wanted to knock Holly out with the same move Holly uses. That is absolute savagery.
NOT FIGHT OF THE NIGHT:
Claudia Gadelha v. Randa Markos
FIGHT OF THE NIGHT:
Jan Blachowicz v. Luke Rockhold