UFC Fight Night 172 Post-Fight Analysis
Pretty good event, lots of finishes in the main card, particularly leglocks seemed unusually effective, and of course I was left with good vibes cause I snapped my losing streak.
It wasn't going to be even that though, as first shot sat him down and if MMA gods had been merciful, that would have been it. He should have just let Figueiredo RNC him immediately after, but instead he toughed it out and got back to his feet only to get knocked back down with the next solid shot that connected. Eventually it was the third knockdown that was too much and he got choked completely unconscious shortly after. Utterly dominant from Figueiredo who will be a tough guy to beat in the division, but let's also accept that big part of his dominance tonight was down to Benavidez just being done.
In the co-main event we saw prime example of how Kelvin Gastelum is kinda hopelessly too small for the weight class. When your style is so boxing-based, you can't be at this much of a size disadvantage against bigger grapplers. Sure, he wen't toe-to-toe with Adesanya, but Adesanya is fellow striker so it becomes more of a timing game. Not so much with guys like Hermansson who will just grab hold of you as soon as you come in.
Now to be fair, Kelvin did reverse the original takedown well, but Hermansson showed some expert grappling once again to find the leg lock only one minute into the fight and finished it.
Rafael Fiziev put on a fucking clinic and showed exactly why he is the striking coach at one of the best gyms in the world. This was the kind of standout performance he needed to push up in the rankings. I was a bit skeptical cause coaching is one thing and actually putting together world class fighting performance is another, but Fiziev truly delivered and only the fact Diakiese himself is great fighter prevented him from getting completely dominated.
Ariane Lipski pulled off a slick kneebar on the ground after steamrolling Carolina to the ground (I did write that to my preview, didn't I? The steamrolling part, not the kneebar). The scream Carolina let out to reveal her pain was horrible, one of the nastiest things one has seen in a while. You almost rather get KOd hard than get your knee destroyed like that.
Askarov and Pantoja put together a very close fight which I again called just right. The decision was very close, but clinch and top control tend to be enough to win fights in this sport, and to be fair the first round took a lot out of Pantoja, he could not really match Askarov's volume as the fight went deep.
Speaking of hard KOs, Khadis Ibragimov will have a hole in his memory of this night as he was headkicked to another dimension by Roman Dolidze. Well, technically it was a knee that landed on Khadis' head as he leaned over. Either way he went unconscious and didn't know what was going on for a while. Khadis seemed to have learned from gassing out in his previous two fights, he did not bull rush with crazy 20-punch combos but had a very cautious approach. Either way he still lost and in a bad way too.
Joe Duffy started the fight against Joel Alvarez well enough, exchanging pretty evenly on the feet before going for a takedown, which I and many others I am sure figured would be his easiest path to victory. Unfortunately Alvarez got hold of a guillotine and surprisingly got a quick tap from Duffy. Guess he really has a tight grip but at this level you rarely see those finished, usually guys are able to tough it out and pop their heads out. Either way Duffy's losing streak continues and despite looking alright as long as it lasted, it is hard to imagine his UFC career continuing.
Brett Johns and Montel Jackson fight was another example of clinch and top control winning rounds. Jackson was so much better in striking and seemed to land every time they exchanged, but completely failed to maintain any distance between them. He managed to match John's grappling in the first round, but as the match progressed on, the constant pressure wore him out and he just stayed glued on the fence by Johns for the latter rounds.
Amir Albazi made quick work of Malcolm Gordon, he dominated most of the round before getting reversed, but even then managed to snap up the triangle submission. Arman Tsakuryan was not afraid to engage in grappling with BJJ ace Davi Ramos and was much the sharper striker as well. Goes to show that generally, good wrestlers beat grapplers in MMA even if the fight is grappling heavy.
Sergey Spivak was much more technical and polished striker than Carlos Felipe. He kept a patient approach, kept a good defence and popped Felipe with safe shots. Spivak might not be great but he is solid enough to beat regional brawlers. He does struggle with UFC level guys who have any wrestling though.
All in all I managed to come back up for about three bets, so it is a solid winning night. I am largely happy with my picks, there wasn't any complete brainfarts. I seemed to get my bigger bets right and the wrong picks were ones that I wasn't so sure of anyway.
Guess my dumbest pick was Narimani, but to be fair it was mostly chasing odds and for what it was worth, he did catch Dawson with few good shots. Best pick? Hard to say, I am very happy with calling the main event correct (though like I said, it was even less competitive than I expected), but perhaps even better was semi-big bet on Askarov and catching him as an underdog.
All in all the huge marathon of events that had me watch almost 100 fights in space of little over a week is over and I get to have a little break happily for having a win.
Main Card
The only thing surprising about the main event was just how uncompetitive it was. I figured Benavidez does not have the durability to survive five rounds with Figueiredo, but I did expect that just like in the first fight, he would at least have some good moments before getting caught with a big shot and getting KOd.It wasn't going to be even that though, as first shot sat him down and if MMA gods had been merciful, that would have been it. He should have just let Figueiredo RNC him immediately after, but instead he toughed it out and got back to his feet only to get knocked back down with the next solid shot that connected. Eventually it was the third knockdown that was too much and he got choked completely unconscious shortly after. Utterly dominant from Figueiredo who will be a tough guy to beat in the division, but let's also accept that big part of his dominance tonight was down to Benavidez just being done.
In the co-main event we saw prime example of how Kelvin Gastelum is kinda hopelessly too small for the weight class. When your style is so boxing-based, you can't be at this much of a size disadvantage against bigger grapplers. Sure, he wen't toe-to-toe with Adesanya, but Adesanya is fellow striker so it becomes more of a timing game. Not so much with guys like Hermansson who will just grab hold of you as soon as you come in.
Now to be fair, Kelvin did reverse the original takedown well, but Hermansson showed some expert grappling once again to find the leg lock only one minute into the fight and finished it.
Rafael Fiziev put on a fucking clinic and showed exactly why he is the striking coach at one of the best gyms in the world. This was the kind of standout performance he needed to push up in the rankings. I was a bit skeptical cause coaching is one thing and actually putting together world class fighting performance is another, but Fiziev truly delivered and only the fact Diakiese himself is great fighter prevented him from getting completely dominated.
Ariane Lipski pulled off a slick kneebar on the ground after steamrolling Carolina to the ground (I did write that to my preview, didn't I? The steamrolling part, not the kneebar). The scream Carolina let out to reveal her pain was horrible, one of the nastiest things one has seen in a while. You almost rather get KOd hard than get your knee destroyed like that.
Askarov and Pantoja put together a very close fight which I again called just right. The decision was very close, but clinch and top control tend to be enough to win fights in this sport, and to be fair the first round took a lot out of Pantoja, he could not really match Askarov's volume as the fight went deep.
Speaking of hard KOs, Khadis Ibragimov will have a hole in his memory of this night as he was headkicked to another dimension by Roman Dolidze. Well, technically it was a knee that landed on Khadis' head as he leaned over. Either way he went unconscious and didn't know what was going on for a while. Khadis seemed to have learned from gassing out in his previous two fights, he did not bull rush with crazy 20-punch combos but had a very cautious approach. Either way he still lost and in a bad way too.
Prelims
Grant Dawson got caught with a few good shots but aside that had pretty dominant performance against Nad Narimani. Narimani got pretty bloodied up and top controlled, but credit for heart and not giving up at any point.Joe Duffy started the fight against Joel Alvarez well enough, exchanging pretty evenly on the feet before going for a takedown, which I and many others I am sure figured would be his easiest path to victory. Unfortunately Alvarez got hold of a guillotine and surprisingly got a quick tap from Duffy. Guess he really has a tight grip but at this level you rarely see those finished, usually guys are able to tough it out and pop their heads out. Either way Duffy's losing streak continues and despite looking alright as long as it lasted, it is hard to imagine his UFC career continuing.
Brett Johns and Montel Jackson fight was another example of clinch and top control winning rounds. Jackson was so much better in striking and seemed to land every time they exchanged, but completely failed to maintain any distance between them. He managed to match John's grappling in the first round, but as the match progressed on, the constant pressure wore him out and he just stayed glued on the fence by Johns for the latter rounds.
Amir Albazi made quick work of Malcolm Gordon, he dominated most of the round before getting reversed, but even then managed to snap up the triangle submission. Arman Tsakuryan was not afraid to engage in grappling with BJJ ace Davi Ramos and was much the sharper striker as well. Goes to show that generally, good wrestlers beat grapplers in MMA even if the fight is grappling heavy.
Sergey Spivak was much more technical and polished striker than Carlos Felipe. He kept a patient approach, kept a good defence and popped Felipe with safe shots. Spivak might not be great but he is solid enough to beat regional brawlers. He does struggle with UFC level guys who have any wrestling though.
My picks
I turned my fortunes around by getting 7 out 12 picks right, snapping up a few underdog victories in the process. When you bet on some of the underdogs successfully, it is enough to get about half right for a winning night, whereas just picking favorites requires very high rate of correct picks.All in all I managed to come back up for about three bets, so it is a solid winning night. I am largely happy with my picks, there wasn't any complete brainfarts. I seemed to get my bigger bets right and the wrong picks were ones that I wasn't so sure of anyway.
Guess my dumbest pick was Narimani, but to be fair it was mostly chasing odds and for what it was worth, he did catch Dawson with few good shots. Best pick? Hard to say, I am very happy with calling the main event correct (though like I said, it was even less competitive than I expected), but perhaps even better was semi-big bet on Askarov and catching him as an underdog.
All in all the huge marathon of events that had me watch almost 100 fights in space of little over a week is over and I get to have a little break happily for having a win.
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