MAIN CARD REVIEW
Magomed Ankalaev def. Kidson Farias de Abreu( Decision) / LHW Bout
Score: 👍
Though Anklaev landed twice as many significant strikes as his opponent, Abreu was never out of the fight, landing a nice head kick, scrambling for position, and pushing his opponent up against the fence. I like seeing competitive bouts like these.
Petr Yan def. John Dodson ( Decision) / BW Bout
Score: 👍👍
This is one of the fastest moving and most dynamic fights I’ve seen in a while. Yan kept cutting off the octagon to Dodson with brilliant footwork, which isn’t easy to do given his speed. He also kept finding a home for that left parry followed by a right hand to Dodson’s face. I’d never watched Yan fight before, but I’m going to keep my eye on him from now on. The only draw back was Dodson wasting time and losing position because he kept griping to the referee. Dodson landed the most significant strike and only knockdown of the fight, but I saw it the same way the judges did. Congrats to Petr Yan.
Liz Carmouche def. Lucie Pudilová (Decision)/ WFW Bout
Score:🤢👎
Watching this felt like watching a girl practice her yellow belt Kata routine in front of a mirror at half speed while the other girl watched from a safe distance. The one highlight ( i.e. what amused me) was a close call at the of the final round where Carmouche almost secured a heel hook, at which point the Czech Republic native proceeded to do some kind semi-erotic dry humping motion to jerk her leg out from under Carmouche.
Oh. That’s what you’re going with? Erotic thrusting motions? Oh, OK.
When that failed, she pulled out a technique from her tool bag that I’ve never seen; repeated elbow strikes to her opponent’s buttock( Seriously. Watch the end of the fight).
You know Herb Dean’s all like: “Should I be stopping this? I mean…she’s not intelligently defending her coccyx.”
Apparently the heretofore unseen elbow-to-ass technique works. She got out and ended up in top position with 30 seconds to go. That caused the only uproar and cheers from the audience that was even remotely justified in my opinion ( they were cheering in unison any time their compatriot connected). I was surprised- some what pleasantly- that the judges scored the fight in Liz’s favor despite Lucie being he hometown favorite. I did not like that the boo’s were so loud that Greg Hardy couldn’t even conduct his post-fight interview of the winner. I get being a loyal fan to your fellow countryman, but that’s just a bad crowd if you’re stealing her moment of glory. I’ll end with at least one positive: I liked the respect between the fighters and the good sportsmanship after the bout.
Stefan Struve def. Marcos Rogério de Lima (Submission)/ Co-Main HW Bout.
Score: 👍
Mad props to Stefan. The human skyscraper got caught with an overhand, went light’s out for a fraction of a second, then came to with a large Brazilian man on top of him trying to swarm and get the finish. Great composure in the face of adversity and riding out the first round to come back the second round and win via head&arm choke from the top in half guard. The tearful giant hinted during his post fight interview that this may have been his last fight, but that nothing was set in stone. If it’s true then way to go out on top, Skyscraper! We’ll miss you.
Thiago Santos def. Jan Blachwicz( TKO)/ Main Event LWH Bout
Score: 😴
To be honest, I was too busy writing my previous blog post to pay attention to the headliner. The only thing worth noting was the ending, a right-left counter punch from Santos while walking backwards that stunned the rushing Blachwicz. It was enough to compel me to tweet him congrats. Both fighters were smart and cautions. Congrats to Santos but neither fighter made waves in the 205 lbs division in my opinion. But again, I wasn’t watching that closely. So take this final note with a grain of salt.
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