Tag: Daniel Cormier

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

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 : 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 : Jéssica Andrade versus Mackenzie Dern at UFC 295

video review : Jéssica Andrade versus Mackenzie Dern at UFC 295

I don’t know about some of these stoppages. Mackenzie Dern was still in this bout when the referee decided to call it. Granted she’d been knocked down four times and was probably on her way to unconsciousness, but she should’ve been given the chance to go out on her shield. Both fighters are going thru divorce; I’d like to think I’m the reason for Dern’s; but, based on her fists of fury, Andrade is more scorn.

my rating : 4 of 5

2023

video review : Alexa Grasso versus Valentina Shevchenko at UFC Fight Night

video review : Alexa Grasso versus Valentina Shevchenko at UFC Fight Night

This is a close fight that results in a draw. Valentina Shevchenko suggests she would’ve won if not for the judges feeling pressured not to make Alexa Grasso lose her Championship title on Mexican Independence Day. A “10-8” Round 5 score for Grasso, which even the commentators imply is ridiculous, suggests she’s probably right.

Grasso wins in cuteness, even when bloody and bruised, but not much else as Shevchenko is generally the better fighter. It’s no blowout though by any means. Grasso fights like a champion, ending the bout with an impressively snappy submission attempt, and seems to think she actually (literally) won during her post-fight interview.

my rating : 4 of 5

2023