http://ifttt.com/images/no_image_card.png
The first UFC event of 2018 is complete, and it was a night capped off by Jeremy Stephens stopping Doo Ho Choi in the second-round of their featherweight showdown. Stephens dropped the opening round, but once he started coming forward and finding his timing on the “Korean Superboy,” it was bad news for Choi. While Stephens hasn’t had a lot of knockouts over the years, he has plenty of knockdowns and no doubt hits hard, and Choi found out when he got floored with a big right hand. “Lil’ Heathen” ended proceedings with absolutely savage ground-and-pound that left Keith Peterson no choice but to intervene.
Stephens notches consecutive wins for the first time since taking three straight from 2013-2014, while the much-adored Choi has dropped consecutive bouts, and unlike his war with Cub Swanson, he was actually stopped. It was a great adjustment by Stephens in round 2, particularly his use of the jab and effective pressuring footwork, and he’s still very much among the top-10 at featherweight. For Choi, who has looming military service in his home country, he’s realistically nowhere near title contention, and the aforementioned military duties mean that status won’t change any time soon.
More thoughts on tonight’s event:
Main Card
- FS1 pacing remains as slow as ever. Four-fight main card, six-fight main card, it doesn’t matter. It royally sucks. At least it ended an hour earlier than normal, right?
- Paul Felder is a great analyst, in addition to being a damn good fighter. He’s an enjoyable listen and the closest thing to Brian Stann the UFC has right now. Felder is apparently going to fight Al Iaquinta at UFC 223 in April, and that should be a great contest.
- It was an emotional week for Jessica-Rose Clark, as she had her house robbed just days ago, with her cat needing to be put down as a result of injuries from that robbery. The Australian prevailed over Paige VanZant by unanimous decision, as Paige struggled to stop the takedowns, and also suffered an apparent broken arm in round 1. Not to downplay the seriousness of the injury, especially since she gutted out those last two rounds and won round 3, but VanZant doesn’t appear to be getting better with her fundamentals, and for someone the UFC hoped would be a big star, that’s concerning.
- Kamaru Usman is a terrific wrestler and an absolute nightmare (a Nigerian nightmare?) to deal with when he’s got top control. Emil Weber Meek tried to deter Usman with elbows, but Usman was relentless and took home a unanimous decision. Usman is 7-0 in the UFC and it’s more than time for him to be given top-10 competition. Unfortunately for him, this wasn’t a scintillating performance — evidently we got Usman at 30% — so the UFC won’t be too eager to give him any promotional push.
- Kudos to the UFC for their tribute package to legendary ex-welterweight champion Matt Hughes, who was in a near-fatal accident when his truck collided with a train last June. Hughes, sporting a “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler shirt, made his way towards the Octagon, to the roar of the appreciative St. Louis crowd. That was a touching moment and I highly recommend watching the full video.
- Darren Elkins does it again! Michael Johnson dominated him on the feet throughout round 1, but as ever, Elkins rallied and got the takedown early in round 2, eventually tapping Michael out with a rear-naked choke. Johnson’s featherweight debut ends in a loss, while Elkins has won six straight. “The Damage” should be in line for a major opponent next, and he suggested a #1 contender fight in the post-fight interview.
- The frequency in which Johnson loses fights he’s winning is Melvin Guillard-esque. At 1-5 in his last six, the wheels have really fallen off for The Ultimate Fighter 12 runner-up.
Prelims
- James Krause got the 29-28 x3 nod over Alex White in a really close, exciting fight. White clearly got the better of Krause on the feet, but Krause did his best work off of his takedowns. Giving White round 2 (and thus the fight) is justifiable in my view, although I have a feeling that White’s willingness to engage in the grappling exchanges cost him the decision. Krause has won four in a row, but don’t sleep on the improvements White has made over the past few years.
- Contender Series signing Matt Frevola was rendered unconscious in just 60 seconds against Marco Polo Reyes. That was an extremely violent KO and not exactly great fight strategy from Frevola, especially given Reyes’ history in brawls. What a vicious finish that was from the Mexican, who rebounds from his TKO defeat to James Vick in impressive style.
- On her third attempt, women’s bantamweight prospect Irene Aldana got her first win inside the Octagon, winning a 30-27 x3 unanimous decision over Talita Bernardo. Aldana had a strong opening round, showing off her potent offensive boxing and hurting the Brazilian, and also had some effective offense on her back when Bernardo took her down in round 2. Bernardo wasn’t without her positive moments in the fight, but she’s now 0-2 in the UFC.
- While most people (self included) were rightfully losing their freaking minds over the end of the New Orleans Saints-Minnesota Vikings NFL playoff game, South Korea’s Kyung Ho Kang returned from military service to get a first-round triangle-choke finish of Guido Cannetti, who is back from his USADA ban. Sweet comeback for Kang after getting hurt early in the fight.
- Jessica Eye got rocked badly by a Kalindra Faria head kick, then the rest of the round was just 50-50 guard and trading leg lock attempts. Eye dominated round 2, then was outstruck in round 3 before getting some late takedowns. The split decision went Eye’s way, saving her UFC career, and then she said “takedowns win fights” in a really painful post-fight interview.
- JJ Aldrich looked sharp on the feet, outclassing the undersized Danielle Taylor on her way to a unanimous decision. Definitely wasn’t very entertaining, but Aldrich did her best work in round 3, including a hard spinning backfirst and a right hook that stunned Taylor.
- Mads Burnell won a compelling and absolutely grueling bout with Mike Santiago, as the Danish fighter outgrappled his foe in the second-half of the contest to win a unanimous decision. Unfortunately, Burnell missed the featherweight limit, so he’s not getting all of his money.
from Sports - Google News https://www.bloodyelbow.com/2018/1/15/16891324/ufc-fight-night-stephens-vs-choi-post-fight-results-and-analysis
#sport #nba #nfl #usa #base #ball
