Very exciting night of fights in Vancouver, and the main event certainly did not disappoint. Several fighters took a step forward, while others took a step back. This is a breakdown of what’s next for all fighters, and a deep analysis for the main card fighters.
Losing Fighters:
Prelim Losers
Kyle Prepolec: Firas Ziam or Devonte Smith
Ryan MacDonald: Andre Soukhamthath or Brandon Davis
Jordan Griffin: Lerone Murphy or Gavin Tucker
Brad Katona: Danaa Batgerel or Jin Soo Sin
Cole Smith: Domingo Pilarte or Gabriel Silva
Marcin Tybura: Greg Hardy or Maurice Greene
Main Card Losers
Jimmy Crute: Da Un Jung or John Allan
Crute came out swinging early and was met with a takedown. He eventually reversed position and landed some hard shots hurting Misha. He got a little overzealous, and was caught in a transition peruvian necktie. Forced to tap and losing for the first time.
Antonio Carlos Junior: Omari Akhmedov or Marvin Vettori
Junior struggled on the feet, and found himself getting busted up with jabs. He was able to take the back in the first round, but wasn’t able to advance the position. He was dropped, and hurt badly by a big right in round two. He had Hall’s back the majority of round three, but lost a close fight. Junior had his moments in terms of control, but struggled on the feet and fell behind in terms of damage.
Michel Pereira: Nordine Taleb or Takashi Sato
Pereira was crazy to start doing a lot of goofy, acrobatic moves that took a toll on his cardio. He landed a few good shots, but was more interested in doing flips in the middle of the fight. He shot for takedowns later in the fight because his gas tank was gone. He found himself shooting for desperate takedowns and fighting off submissions. This was a case of a fighter underestimating their opponent, and getting to cute before and during the fight
Jeff Hughes: Todd Duffee or Raphael Nunes
Hughes took some heavy shots from Duffee, and was dropped in the opening round. Hughes landed his own big shots wobbling Duffee in return. However, Hughes poked Duffee in the clinch, and Duffee could not continue. Tough way to end what was a action packed fight.
Nikita Krylov: Mauricio Rua or Khalil Rountree
Krylov struggled early with the takedowns. He had some success striking from the outside, and used good movement to avoid Glover’s shots. Krylov just seemed to be behind in terms of the scrambles. This was a very close fight that could have gone either way. I believe the pressure and top control was too much for Nikita.
Donald Cerrone: Edson Barboza or Gregor Gillespie
Donald landed some good combinations, but seemed to be at a disadvantage in terms of power. He ate some heavy leg kicks, and was hit with some big power shots. Gaethje caught him with a big right hand, and Cowboy couldn’t recover. This is a tough loss for Cerrone but he is still a top contender.
Winning Fighters:
Prelim Winners
Austin Hubbard: Thiago Moises or Christos Giagos
Louis Smolka: Su Mudaerji or Chris Gutierrez
Chas Skelly: Zubaira Tukhugov or Alex Caceres
Hunter Azure: Mario Bautista or Kyung Ho Kang
Miles Johns: Geraldo de Freitas or Ray Borg
Augusto Sakai: Aleksei Oleinik or Shamil Abdurakhimov
Main Card Winners
Misha Cirkunov: Ilir Latifi or Aleksander Rakic
Misha landed a takedown early, and was able to have some control time. Crute was able to reverse position and landed some hard ground shots. However, Cirkunov was able to sweep Crute, and land a Peruvian necktie in transition. He finished the choke from the mount position.
Uriah Hall: Ian Heinisch or Yoel Romero
Hall dominated on the feet with a stiff jab. He hurt Junior, and was able drop him multiple times in the second round. Hall found himself with his back taken multiple times, but was able to avoid submissions. Hall may have lost some ground in terms of control, but landed the more damaging shots. Hall looked great on the feet, and beat a real contender at Middleweight.
Tristan Connelly: Don Madge or Teemu Packalen
Connelly stuck to the gameplan and avoided the wild Michel. He landed some good shots on the feet pressing the action. He forced Michal to back up, and never gave him a chance to breath. He struggled early, but took over with his pace and grappling in round three. He was in better shape, and dominated in round three against the gassed Pereira. Connelly nearly submitted Michel with a tight gulliotine in round three as well. What a win for a guy fighting above his natural weight, and taking the bout on short notice.
Todd Duffee: Jeff Hughes or Ciryl Gabe
Duffee landed some heavy shots early on. He was aggressive dropping Hughes with power shots. He landed a takedown as well, and was clearly landing the better shots. However, Duffee was poked in the eye in the clinch. He wasn’t able to continue and this fight was ended before it ever really started.
Glover Teixeira: Volkan Oezdemir or Anthony Smith
Glover used his takedowns early to control the fight. He struggled in the striking as Krylov stayed on the outside. He used his pressure however to cut Krylov off, and won the exchanges on the ground. Krylov had his moments, but Glover had more control and landed good shots on the mat. Glover just seemed to be slightly ahead in terms of the grappling.
Justin Gaethje: Conor McGregor or Khabib Nurmagomedov/Tony Ferguson winner
Gaethje was touching Cerrone up with heavy leg kicks. He landed some heavy shots on the feet as well, and seemed to have the power advantage. Gaethje was patient, and didn’t put himself in danger by being too aggressive. He caught Donald with a big right hand, and finished the fight with hard shots on the ground. The new Gaethje has become dangerous and earned a title shot.
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