| | | | | | | |
| Middleweight | Sean Strickland | def. | Israel Adesanya (c) | Decision (unanimous) (49–46, 49–46, 49–46) | 5 | 5:00 | |
| Heavyweight | Alexander Volkov | def. | Tai Tuivasa | Submission (ezekial choke) | 2 | 4:37 | |
| Flyweight | Manel Kape | def. | Felipe dos Santos | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Heavyweight | Justin Tafa | def. | Austen Lane | KO (punches) | 1 | 1:22 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Tyson Pedro | def. | Anton Turkalj | KO (punches) | 1 | 2:12 | |
- Fight of the Night: Manel Kape vs. Felipe dos Santos
- Performance of the Night: Sean Strickland and Justin Tafa
BROS! WHAT AN UPSET! Some guy bet close to $250K on Izzy to win as if it was a lock to win $36K. NOPE! Lost $250K
Sean had the perfect gameplan. Stand in front, pressure and parry shots. I think he was conservative in the first 3 even with the knock down then added to the volume in 4-5. His kick checking should be a 101 course for all fighters. Yeah it HURTS so bad to check a kick. But your leg will still work. Unlike if you take a bunch of un-checked calf/leg kicks. Like I said, it hurts but the kicker hurts just as much. Some say that a checked leg kick led to the loss to Pereria . (Looks it up, it is a very plausible theory). Hell I am glad Sean won, the dude is sincere with all he says, he truly believes. Also I like it when a champ gets de-throned. (See O'Malley vs Sterling for a perfect example)
Anyway, forwards pressure is tiring, with your back against the fence or ring ropes it is hard to feel comfortable. I think Izzy is probably one of the best at dealing with this but Strickland encroached upon his longer range and it made Izzy uncomfortable. Was it a barn burner? No. But was it filled with intensity and skill from both guys? YES! Strickland's patience was incredible, the dude is so disciplined. Long live the champ!
Volkov was just too much for Tai. There have been lots of rumors that Tai just does not take training all that seriously. This was a bad match for him. He struggles vs taller opponents with bug reach and Volkov is so tall and rangy. That Ezekiel choke was awesome. Honestly I was not sure what it was until they said it. I am not very current on my subs for sure.
Kape vs FDS. Fight of the night! BMJ, you said it. This kid has a bright future, with a good coach, he can reduce damage taken and increase accuracy. I cannot wait to see him in just 2 years. Kape's after fight interview with DC was hilarious! Calling out Kai Kara-France and his antics were entertaining. I busted out laughing when he said "You team are a bunch of faggots". I think Kai beats him personally. But now I wanna see it.
Tafa vs Lane: He got his $50k for that one. Lane was doing what he was supposed to. Used longer range weapons and the jab to keep at a longer range. but Tafa's career has been made by closing that range very quickly and throwing that overhand (either side). that was all she wrote.
Pedro made quick work of "the pleasure man" I think that maybe something is lost in translation in that nickname from Swedish to English. I think it is supposed to convey that hew is fun to watch. Anyway, Pedro looked really great...but vs a lower unranked guy. He has never fought a real ranked opponent. Only names he has won vs was Paul Craig and Khalil Roundtree. Way back 5-6 years ago. Both guys have come on strong and would win now I think. Hey, best of luck to hiim.
I wish I would have put a $100 on Strickland!!! DAMN! I almost never would bet against Izzy, but with those odds, and knowing Strickland's patience and defense, I should have thought of it
lol! Izzy is almost unbeatable versus the whole division, but sometimes styles can win fights. He had never fought somebody like Strickland, maybe Pereira to a degree, but Sean is a whole different beast in the standup. My whole liking this fight was to see how the styles matched up. It was something different. In the back of my mind, I was thinking this same scenario could play out like it did, but with Izzy, he is usually good at adjusting, and he is always just one punch away from KO'ing somebody with his counter-punching, so it made the fight interesting to me. Strickland is a VERY smart fighter, and he is a VERY patient fighter, which helped him win this fight. His other supreme strength is his conditioning, he mentioned he wasn't even a little bit tired at the end of the fight. DC mentioned that he was fighting 20-30 rounds in his camp to prepare for this fight...with fresh fighters!!! He was smart in knowing that Izzy wasn't ready to go down in the first round, he was smart in his overall approach, and Izzy never could figure out a plan, it was a masterful fight imo.
There were times when the crowd was booing during the fight, and I was like WTF is wrong with you guys!?! If Sean would have fought with super aggression, he would have gotten KO'd like all the rest of Izzy's opponents. He admitted to being too cautious the first 3 rounds, but he still won 2 of those 3. I think his experience is from getting the crap kicked out of himself and knowing how to deal with adversity....he has turned it into a major strength for himself.
Now...whether he is champ for very long, I doubt it, but who knows. For the rest of his life, the white trash kid won the UFC middleweight belt, convincingly, and nobody can take that from him. He beat the 1-2 best of all time in doing it. I love it when a major underdog comes out on top, it is so cool. I say that as somebody who likes watching Izzy fight as well.
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I can't add anything else. I am super glad the FOTN went to Kape/FDS, it was an awesome fight and possibly the break-out of a future champion in the making...for both guys. Tafa is so much like Mark Hunt, it's pretty cool to see. Hunt had an impenetrable dome though when he got clobbered, and I am not sure Tafa has that same benefit, lol.
