UFC 242 delivered an entertaining afternoon of fights. I am fully on board with more afternoon UFC pay-per-views. It was great having the rest of the day and night free after watching 6 hours of fights. I was able to watch every single fight, and go out to dinner for my wife’s friend’s birthday. Everyone was a winner.
BEST WINNERS
Curtis Blaydes. Curtis Blaydes might be the most overlooked heavyweight in recent memory. He’s 12-2, with both of those losses coming to the scariest man on the planet, Francis Ngannou. Of those 12 wins, 9 have come by KO/TKO. The guy is a monster. His wrestling is great. His striking has been improving each fight. I would have liked to see him fight Junior dos Santos next, but JDS just signed to fight Alexander Volkov. I know Ngannou is most likely fighting Stipe for the title next, but I am intrigued by a Curtis Blaydes v. Stipe Miocic matchup. Both guys are strong wrestlers. It would be a very interesting matchup.
Joanne Calderwood. Joanne Calderwood did not have a highlight reel knockout, or a crazy submission. But she won with a gritty ass fight. She went up against a tough Andrea Lee, and they split the first two rounds. When they came out for the third, Calderwood knew she had to win the round to win the fight. She turned up the heat, and Andrea Lee could not keep up. Calderwood had an excellent third round and won by split decision.
Muslim Salikhov. This was Muslim Salikhov’s toughest matchup of his career, his first time on a big card. Granted it was the early prelims, but he was still on a card in front of a “hometown” crowd and must have felt some pressure to perform. And perform he did. He had a devastating KO of Nordine Taleb. It was a highlight reel knockout, that would remain the knockout of the night for a couple of hours.
Belal Muhammad. Belal Muhammad said this would be a hometown crowd for him. It seemed that way, he had a lot of crowd support. He definitely did not disappoint the hometown crowd. Muhammad had a dominating first two rounds before getting Takashi Sato to tap out in the third round. Muhammad’s striking looked crisp and precise. His grappling was strong as usual. He was able to get a takedown, take Sato’s back and get the rear naked choke in the third round. This win should get him closer to rankings and ranked opponents.
Ottman Azaitar. Wow. Ottman Azaitar delivered one of the most vicious and devastating knockouts I have seen. Jorge Masvidal’s knee was incredible, but Azaitar got the same KO with one punch. That is impressive power. It was crazy to see. Azaitar made a name for himself and will have more fans now.
WORST WINNER
Sarah Moras. Sarah Moras had an impressive, dominating victory over Liana Jojua. Jojua was not able to mount much offense. She did not look like she even belonged in the UFC. Moras would have been one of the best winners, but she missed weight.
BEST LOSER
Lerone Murphy. I guess Lerone Murphy did not lose. It was a draw. Lerone got this fight on very short notice, not to mention it was his UFC debut. He was the biggest underdog on the card. He was going up against “hometown” guy Zubaira Tukhugov, who was making his return since being suspended for the McGregor incident. Not many people gave Murphy a chance in this fight. Tukhugov’s wrestling was impressive, but he did absolutely nothing when he got the takedown. Classic lay and pray fighter. Murphy’s takedown defense got better as the fight went on. Murphy put up a strong fight and was able to pull off the draw. I want to see what this guy can do on a full training camp.
MY FIGHTER OF THE NIGHT
Dustin Poirier. I’ve been a Dustin Poirier fan for a long time. Since his fight against Diego Brandao in 2013. Watching his journey from mediocre featherweight, to moving up to lightweight and finding his potential was quite awesome. Poirier’s resume is one of the most impressive in lightweight history. Since his loss to Michael Johnson in September 2016, he faced: Jim Miller, Eddie Alvarez, Anthony Pettis, Justin Gaethje, Eddie Alvarez, and Max Holloway. After winning all of those fights (well, first Alvarez match was a No Contest), he got his long awaited title shot against Khabib Nurmagomedov. Poirier showed up like he always does and tried to shock the world. Khabib was just too good. I will say though, that guillotine attempt in the third round was the closest we’ve seen anyone come to beating Khabib. That is something Poirier should hold on to while he tries to recover from this setback. If he doesn’t retire, he will be back for another title shot. He is just too good to not get another shot.
PERFORMANCE OF THE NIGHT
Paul Felder: third round. I will say, I didn’t think Felder won the fight. But watching that third round made me think Felder stole the fight. Felder came out for the third round like a coked up nut job. He just kept throwing the hardest shots he could. Punches, elbows, kicks, knees, whatever limb or body part he could throw, he threw. Barboza spent the third round running around like a little bitch, but Felder found the mark quite often. Felder had a gritty third round and you always love to see a guy show he wants it more, and that is exactly what Felder did. He should be getting a nice matchup next. Would have loved to finally get Paul Felder v. Raging Al Iaquinta, but Raging Al has a date with Dan Hooker in a month.
SAVAGE OF THE NIGHT
Khabib Nurmagomedov. What is there to say? Khabib is an absolute animal. He looks pretty unbeatable. Poirier had a guillotine in deep, probably the closest Khabib has come to losing, and what did Khabib do? Got out of it and choked Poirier out to get to 28-0. Khabib is at that point where it doesn’t look like anyone in the division is an actual challenge for him. But, we’ll see if he ever gets to fight Tony Ferguson. That’s the last challenger for Khabib.
BLUNDER OF THE NIGHT
Edson Barboza and his corner. In between the 2nd and 3rd round, they showed Barboza’s corner. Barboza’s coach said something close to, “you’re up 2-0. You’ve got this. He’s going to come out swinging.” The second I heard that, I knew he was going to lose. There is zero way to watch rounds 1 & 2 of that fight and say Barboza definitively won both rounds. I thought Barboza was up 2-0, but I wouldn’t bet any money on the judges agreeing with that. Barboza spent the third round running away and eating Paul Felder’s shots. Felder knew the fight was up for grabs and came out for the third round looking to get a finish. I wouldn’t be shocked if Barboza didn’t throw or land a single strike in the third round.
NOT FIGHT OF THE NIGHT
Zak Cummings v. Omari Akhmedov.
FIGHT OF THE NIGHT
Andrea Lee v. Joanne Calderwood.
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