video review : UFC 309

video review : UFC 309

Jon Jones should’ve retired here. It would’ve been a fairytale ending to his nearly impeccable career. Instead he retires his opponent; heavyweight “goat” Stipe Miocic; and does “the Trump dance” as the former/future president cheers him on from the audience. It is perhaps the event’s most endearing moment and, make no mistake about it, those two; Jon Jones and Donald Trump; are the stars of the show.

The most entertaining fight honor goes to Charles Oliveira and Michael Chandler as expected. Paul Craig and James Llontop do much better than expected, putting a damper on the hype of their prospect victors. The “overrated” Bo Nickal actually gets booed by the finicky crowd. Viviane Araújo also defeats a tired Karine Silva, though Silva scores points on my card every time she lays on her back with her legs open.

my rating : 4 of 5

2024 November 16

UFC 309 Embedded

2024 November 15

ufc.com

video review : UFC 300

video review : UFC 300

If we’re including all the Prelims, 300 is indeed the most stacked UFC event ever. It’s the main card that disappointed fans around the world, particularly the main event. It should’ve been Conor McGregor versus Michael Chandler. An Israel Adesanya title bout against Dricus Du Plessis or Alex Pereira would’ve also sufficed. The announcement of Pereira versus Jamahal Hill was, at best, anticlimactic.

It was also odd to include Bo Nickal; a bout that, though more competitive than expected, rather because of it, disappoints even the prospect himself. Still he remains undefeated. It gets better from there as Arman Tsarukyan and Charles Oliveira provide perhaps the best fight of the night. The best moment happens in the next bout as BMF Max Holloway ends Justin Gaethje in spectacular fashion.

The other best moment; Zhang choking Yan earns an honorable mention; is Jamahal Hill getting knocked out. He claimed, in a prefight interview, that Pereira “is not on my level”. He’s right in a sense as the bout ends with Pereira standing and Hill on his ass. The champ further marks his legacy as a future goat. Hopefully the aforementioned Adesanya trilogy (pentalogy) happens eventually.

my rating : 4 of 5

2024

video review : UFC 290

video review : UFC 290

Without even factoring in Robbie Lawler’s “perfect” career-ending victory over Niko Price or any of the other impressive knockouts from the Prelims, UFC 290 stands as one of their better events. Newcomer Bo Nickal actually matches Lawler by taking out his opponent in the same amount of time. A revamped Dan Hooker also impresses with a split decision victory over Jalin Turner.

The biggest surprise of the night, other than Dana White arriving with President Trump, is Robert Whittaker’s second-round TKO loss to Dricus Du Plessis, though it’s no surprise to Du Plessis. He predicted he’d do exactly what he did. Still it’s odd seeing Whittaker lose to someone other than Israel Adesanya, who promotes his upcoming bout with Du Plessis with a post-fight encounter.

What ends up being perhaps the best fight is the one I cared the least about; Flyweight Champion Brandon Moreno putting his belt on the line against Alexandre Pantoja. Pantoja beat him twice before and does it again here, but they’re well matched. The main event goes about as I expected with Alexander Volkanovski retaining his (Featherweight) title relatively easily against Yair Rodríguez.

my rating : 4 of 5

2023