The German prospect may have proven me wrong, securing a hard right hook that knocked Boston Salmon silly. I just thought the UFC called him up too soon. Granted, that will require the UFC keeping the division around longer than most of us expect, but a man can hope. Was it a fluke or has Pantoja developed some power? Regardless of what it was, Pantoja keeps his job and has an outside opportunity to get into the title picture. And yet, it was a straight punch from the Brazilian that floored Wilson Reis. While it wasn’t the prettiest performance, it required a lot of grit.Īlexandre Pantoja: Being a human backpack and his low kicks: the two things Pantoja is known for. Nonetheless, Frevola navigated Turner’s reach to grind out a hard-fought decision. Then again, Turner has a lot of kinks to iron out. Matt Frevola: It took three tries for the Contender Series alum to pick up a win in the UFC, but he may have succeded against the most talented of his opponents in Jalin Turner. Krylov will probably never be an actual contender – he’s too wild – but he will always be one of my favorites to watch. It made it easy for Krylov to get a takedown and secure a RNC and get back on track. He’s fortunate that Ovince Saint Preux always – and I mean always – gasses when he wrestles for an extended period of time as OSP had nothing left after three takedowns in the first round. Nikita Krylov: No matter what, Nicky Thrills is always fun to watch. Aside from that, Rountree is on the right track. I’m still anxious to see him do this against a decent wrestler as Anders isn’t the most technical wrestler. But the improved stamina and sprawl were aspects that had previously been lacking. He’s always been a hard hitter and that was easily the most apparent aspect of the contest. Khalil Rountree: Rountree’s destruction of Eryk Anders was the type of performance I expected to see out of Rountree when he was a scorching prospect a few years ago. It could be Gastelum will never come closer to gold than he came here, but I’m not as sure in that belief as I was before. He came close to it too, hurting Adesanya on several occasions. Gastelum took a vicious beating and kept coming forward, looking for the win every step of the way. It’s not like he beat a peak Jacare Souza either… and even that was debatable. His wins over Vitor Belfort, Tim Kennedy, and Michael Bisping all came when they were washed. Kelvin Gastelum: I wasn’t sold on Gastelum heading into this contest. The scary thing about Adesanya is that he is still getting better. That Adesanya won – and deservedly so – is just the tip of the iceberg. Whether Adesanya won it or not, everyone was in agreeance that it was a legendary performance from both competitors. The performance he put on with Gastelum was the most intense contest I’ve seen since Robbie Lawler and Rory MacDonald threw down. I don’t hear a single person making such a ludicrous statement at this point. Israel Adesanya: Many people were saying Adesanya’s push was too much, too soon. Holloway may have fallen short, but he fought like a champion and still has the belt to prove he is, even if it isn’t at 155. He took a brutal beating over the first two rounds at the hands of Poirier, only for Holloway to continue to come forward, coming close to taking the final three rounds. I understand that’s an argument to put Holloway in the neither category, but I can’t do that given the high level of performance Holloway put forth. I’m not saying it went up, but I don’ look at Holloway any less than I did before. Max Holloway: It’s rare that a fighter can have a 13-fight win streak snapped in a definitive loss and not have his stock hurt. I’ll be even more happy if this isn’t the crowning moment. I’m happy to see this crowning moment of his career. That’s just one indication of Poirier’s improvement over the course of his career. Poirier did slow some, but not to the levels I feared he would. After the first round, I worried Poirier’s energy levels would flag after the intense effort he made to put away the featherweight champion. He used his power to hurt Holloway several times, particularly over the first two rounds. While I’m still not completely cool with the slew of interim titles we’ve seen since the end of the Zuffa era, I’m happy to see Poirier proved me wrong by securing the interim gold. I never saw him becoming a champion, but I’m not the only one in that boat. Adesanya 6th Round Post-Fight Show – UFC 236 PPV ‘Holloway vs Poirier 2’ & ‘Gastelum vs Adesanya’ by Bloody Elbow Presents Winnersĭustin Poirier: I remember watching Poirier’s UFC debut against Josh Grispi back in 2011 and thinking this guy is fun. LIVE! UFC 236 Streaming Updates For Max Holloway vs.
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