video review : Reinier De Ridder versus Bo Nickal at UFC Fight Night

video review : Reinier De Ridder versus Bo Nickal at UFC Fight Night

“Hype train derailed”, Billy Goff posts on X, but it’s not a total surprise. The wheels were getting wobbly in Bo Nickal’s last two fights. Cody Brundage and Paul Craig raised questions about a potential undefeated streak. Reinier De Ridder, his toughest opponent yet, answers them here by not only stifling his prestigious wrestling but defeating him “by knockout” via knees to the midsection.

my rating : 3 of 5

2025

video review : Anthony Smith versus Zhang Mingyang at UFC Fight Night

video review : Anthony Smith versus Zhang Mingyang at UFC Fight Night

Anthony Smith is past his prime and this was promoted as his retirement fight, so it’s no surprise nor shame that he’d lose to a knockout specialist like Zhang Mingyang. It’s the way he loses; giving up in the first round but having the gumption to go after a prodder in the crowd as his family watches on; that’s embarrassing, especially considering he loss in a similar way in his previous bout.

my rating : 3 of 5

2025

video review : Jaqueline Amorim versus Polyana Viana at UFC Fight Night

video review : Jaqueline Amorim versus Polyana Viana at UFC Fight Night

“This one’s gonna play out on the ground,” Laura Sanko predicts and thankfully it does. Who wants to see two sexy Brazilian women fight standing when they could be sixty-nining 35 seconds in? Jaqueline Amorim is the top as she dominates Polyana Viana for the whole bout before submitting her. The cutest moment is their confused reaction to Dan Miragliotta mistakenly ending the first round early.

my rating : 4 of 5

2025

video review : Jack Hermansson versus Joe Pyfer at UFC Fight Night

video review : Jack Hermansson versus Joe Pyfer at UFC Fight Night

Don’t be Joe Pyfer. The prospect downplayed Jack Hermansson during the prefight buildup; “I just don’t see him being able to hurt me, man”; and gets schooled. “Jack was better tonight,” the new bit goes as a humbled Pyfer accepts defeat.

He (Pyfer) clearly wins the first round and probably the second. That’s to his credit. As the bout goes on though, thanks in part to a punch to the eye and some crafty calf kicks, Hermansson, as Daniel Cormier so eloquently puts it, “kinda took over”.

my rating : 4 of 5

2024

video review : Polyana Viana versus Jinh Yu Frey at UFC Fight Night

video review : Polyana Viana versus Jinh Yu Frey at UFC Fight Night

This fight is short and sexy thanks mostly to Polyana Viana; easily one of the prettiest women in the UFC. Jinh Yu Frey isn’t bad herself; her skin tone is perfect; but, despite a clear arm-muscle advantage, she’s outmatched here. A “beautiful” combination of punches less than a minute in is all it takes to put her on her ass. Viana then takes a cue from Yoel Romero and follows it up with a kiss.

my rating : 4 of 5

2022

video review : Ion Cuțelaba versus Magomed Ankalaev at UFC Fight Night

video review : Ion Cuțelaba versus Magomed Ankalaev at UFC Fight Night

Ion Cuțelaba crosses the line by interrupting Bruce Buffer’s introduction to approach Magomed Ankalaev; it would’ve been funny if Ankalaev knocked him out right then; but his loss here is the result of a premature, albeit arguably justified, stoppage.

“Kevin MacDonald’s got his work cut out for him,” Brendan Fitzgerald observes, but though Ankalaev’s strikes appear to excessively wobble Cuțelaba, he steps in a bit too soon. It’s a decision made to look worse than it is when Cuțelaba immediately protests.

my rating : 3 of 5

2020

video review : The Korean Zombie versus Yair Rodríguez at UFC Fight Night

video review : The Korean Zombie versus Yair Rodríguez at UFC Fight Night

This bout is action-packed from the opening clap. It’s a barrage of back and forth kicks and punches featuring two of the best strikers in the Featherweight division. Yair Rodríguez wows the crowd with his flashy maneuvers, but Chan Sung Jung; The Korean Zombie; ultimately outstrikes him.

It looks like he’ll probably win a decision victory, but “I think you can expect something off the wall here towards the end of this fight from Rodríguez,” Paul Felder declares. With about a second left in the final round, we get just that. Yair Rodríguez lands an elbow uppercut and wins via knockout.

my rating : 4 of 5

2018

video review : Germaine De Randamie versus Aspen Ladd at UFC Fight Night

video review : Germaine De Randamie versus Aspen Ladd at UFC Fight Night

I don’t know what Herb Dean was thinking here. He stops the fight after Ladd goes down from a fist to the face; the first strike of the fight; but she wasn’t out. She seemed stunned; a bit slow to reset; but she was still in the fight.

“Aspen Ladd can’t believe the fight was stopped,” Brendan Fitzgerald declares and who could blame her. It’s her first official loss and probably a loss that will forever remain in quotation marks. This isn’t right, but it is what it is.

my rating : 3 of 5

2019