UFC Nashville: About Saturday's Action...
Detailing and breaking down what transpired inside the Octagon in Music City USA
Sandhagen Shines, Everyone Complains
Cory Sandhagen went 7-for-7 on takedowns en route to a clean sweep of the scorecards in his main event clash with Rob Font.
Saturday was a tactical, technical masterclass from Sandhagen, who mentioned elbow issues and a possible triceps tear in his post-fight interview with Michael Bisping. He took Font down with ease in every round and rarely let him back to his feet, spending long stretches in top position, navigating the sweep attempts from the New England Cartel member. It was lather, rinse, repeat each successive round, and it was a sharp, intelligent approach for the Colorado native.
The fans in attendance didn’t like it, just about everyone online didn’t like, and apparently UFC President Dana White walked to the back during the contest, all of which is fine. No one is obligated to like any particular fight and everyone has their own opinions, which they’re obviously entitle to, now and forever.
Personally, I didn’t have an issue with it, at all.
Sandhagen was originally scheduled to face Umar Nurmagomedov, a completely different stylistic opponent than Font, which tagged into the matchup only a couple of weeks ago. The wrestling display was a massive sign of growth, development, and improvement from the bantamweight standout, who has primarily been a striker for the majority of his career. Furthermore, dude has zero obligation to fight in a particular style, and why are there rarely discussions about the guy getting wrestled into oblivion having no answers whenever fights like this happen?
It’s disheartening to me see this effort get crushed online, by folks that should understand everything I just laid out and how difficult it is to neutralize a Top 10 opponent like font on the canvas, but nothing surprises me any more. People seem to only want to see chaos and all-out action, and don’t care about any of the divisional ramifications of wins and losses, not in the moment at least.
To each their own, of course, but I think I’m done having social media up during events for a while.
Suarez is The Real Deal
Tatiana Suarez made it look easy against Jessica Andrade in the co-main event, locking up a second-round submission win over the former champion to remain unbeaten and take another step closer to challenging for championship gold herself.
Suarez went 2-for-2 with her takedowns, working to dominant positions each time, but she was also content to stand and mix it up on the feet a little with the Brazilian, showing greater fluidity in that realm than she has in the past. Andrade had no answers for the former Ultimate Fighter winner, who locked up the fight-ending choke despite not getting her hands connected; that’s how good her positioning and squeeze are in there, and each time out, she’s fighting with greater confidence.
Prior to her 40-month absence, Suarez was on the cusp of title contention, and now with consecutive second-round stoppage wins since returning, she’s right back in that same position, and looks the part of someone that could very well sit atop the division in the not too distant future. Suarez will be paying close attention to the UFC 292 title bout between Zhang Weili and Amanda Lemos, and feels like she should be next in line to challenge the winner.
She has the third longest active winning streak in the UFC and is 7-0 inside the Octagon. She just choked out a former champion, and owns previous victories over Carla Esparza and Alexa Grasso. If that’s not enough to merit a championship opportunity next time out, I don’t know what more there is for her to do.
Questions Answered
Dustin Jacoby ended the three-fight winning streak of Kennedy Nzechukwu in a hurry, connecting with a counter right hand down the pipe jsut over a minute into their light heavyweight contest in Nashville.
Nzechukwu was dictating the terms of engagement to start the contest, backing Jacoby into the fence and finding a home for good, clean strikes. But he was slow to react after throwing, and Jacoby took full advantage, driving a right hand home after the Fortis MMA man connected with a right hand of his own. Nzechukwu fell, Jacoby swarmed, and referee Gary Copeland jumped in to halt the action.
My question heading into this one was whether Nzechukwu had turned a corner, and the answer is no. He’s going to remain a big, dangerous competitor on the fringes of the Top 15, but this feels like where he’s destined to live, as he doesn’t take shots particularly well and just lacks some of the instinctual elements needed to take those next steps. Jacoby is a perfect yardstick in the light heavyweight ranks, and Nzechukwu just didn’t measure up.
Diego Lopes is So Much Fun
Diego Lopes showed in his short-notice debut that he can hang with top UFC talents and on Saturday night, the Brazilian showed he’s going to continue being an entertaining addition to the 145-pound ranks.
After catching a gnarly kick below the belt to start his fight with Gavin Tucker, Lopes jumped a triangle as soon as the Canadian looked at for a single leg pick up. When they hit the ground, Lopes adjusted his connection, and when Tucker’s left hand slipped out from inside the choke, the finish was all but assured. Lopes tightened down on the choke and extended Tucker’s arm, hyper-extending the elbow and securing the tap as he rolled through into mount.
What makes Lopes so dangerous and so much fun to watch is that he’s always attacking; always. He’s so comfortable off his back that he’s willing to throw up flying triangles, and he showed in his fight with Movsar Evloev earlier this year that he’s got the tank to work at a rapid pace for 15 minutes, even with no time to prepare. He’s pushing for a place in the rankings, and should be on everyone’s “must watch” list from this point forward.
Solid Effort, But Limited Upside for Boser at Light Heavyweight
Canadian Tanner Boser registered his first victory in the light heavyweight division, taking the fight to Aleksa Camur and distancing himself from the Contender Series alum the longer the fight went on.
It was a solid effort for the Alberta native, as he showed an ability to work at a steady clip, throw and land combinations, and move well, all of which will continue to serve him well against lower tier talents in the 205-pound weight class. Unfortunately for Boser, that’s about as far as I see him climbing at this point of his career, as he doesn’t have one-shot power and his “death by a thousand cuts” approach will be harder to implement against better competition.
Camur is now on a three-fight losing streak, and I felt like he lost his debut to Justin Ledet all those years ago too, so it could even be a four-fight slide. Boser to did well to batter him, but it doesn’t tell us much, meaning we’ll need to tune into the next one and see if he’s able to improve upon this effort against a more talented opponent.
Klein Looks Sharp, Bahamondes Not as Much
Ludovit Klein is now unbeaten in four starts at lightweight after registering a unanimous decision win over Ignacio Bahamondes in the main card opener.
The Slovakian stung Bahamondes in the opening stanza, splitting him open with an elbow when the duo landed on the canvas later in the frame. Over the second and third, Klein continued to out-work his younger, taller opponent, mixing in timely takedowns and a variety of strikes, forcing Bahamondes to fight at his range. This was a sharp effort from Klein, who is now 3-0-1 at lightweight and looking like someone to keep tabs on going forward.
During the broadcast, Michael Bisping said that Bahamondes keeps improving every time out, and I couldn’t disagree more. This fight was reminiscent of his debut loss to John Makdessi, as he continues to waste his natural advantages and doesn’t look any different five fights into his UFC run. As a kickboxer, he has to find ways to still utilize his kicks even with the threat of takedowns being ever-present, and it’s not like he’s out here running away from fools on the feet either.
Bahamondes is only 25 years old, so there is certainly time for him to address these issues and grow, but for me, it’s now an “I have to see it” scenario for the Chicago-based fighter.
Preliminary Card Thoughts
Kyler Phillips looked strong for two rounds before holding on down the stretch to register a unanimous decision win over Raoni Barcelos.
The MMA Lab representative was the quicker, cleaner of the two over the first two rounds, driving home clean right hands routinely, including dropping Barcelos in the first. He did well to avoid prolonged grappling entanglements with the Brazilian and was clearly ahead after two rounds. But the veteran Barcelos just kept coming and Phillips’ output waned, making the final round a countdown to the final horn for the talented 28-year-old.
Saturday’s fight was exactly what frustrates me about Phillips as a prospect and fighter going forward, as there were terrific moments, but also questionable elements that limit how far I think he can climb. The first 10 minutes were excellent, but he had very little left in the third, and if he hopes to keep moving up the ranks, he had to address that as the competition is only going to keep getting stiffer.
It’s a good win, and Phillips is now 5-1 in the UFC, which is excellent… and yet I’m still sitting here wondering if he’s ever going to get to that next level, and I’m not sure.
What a tremendous finish from Carlston Harris, who barely managed to land a strike through the first two rounds against Jeremiah Wells.
The battle of 36-year-old welterweights was one-sided for the first 10 minutes, with Wells wrestling well and controlling every second of the action. He hunted for subs in the first, but couldn’t find anything, and was content to rough up Harris from top position in the middle frame, seemingly on his way to victory. But “Moçambique” came out swinging to start the third and latched onto an anaconda choke when Wells left his neck exposed, putting the Philadelphia native to sleep.
This was an incredible rally for Harris, and a great finish, as the setup to the choke wasn’t perfect. But Harris’ squeeze is insane, now the veteran from Guyana is 4-1 in the UFC and riding a two-fight winning streak once again.
If you sign up to face Billy Quarantillo, you better get him out of there early, because if you don’t, he’s going to just keep coming. Damon Jackson found that out in Nashville, as the two combined for a terrific back-and-forth battle.
Jackson was all over “Billy Q” in the opening stanza, getting the better of the striking exchanges and threatening on the canvas as well, but the TUF and DWCS alum stayed locked in, made it to the end of the round, and then turned things up. Over the final 10 minutes, he was clearly the fresher fighter, never affording Jackson a chance to breathe. While the Fortis MMA representative still had positive moments, especially in the third, the constant output and pressure of Quarantillo ruled the day.
The 34-year-old from Ransomville, New York has alternated wins and losses over his last seven starts, and fits as someone that lives just outside the Top 15, which makes him an indispensable piece of the featherweight ecosystem. While he has ambitions of fighting into the rankings, the more likely scenario is Quarantillo continuing to be a veteran litmus test for ascending fighters and a dance partner for veterans in need of a reset.
And there is nothing wrong with being that guy.
Make it four straight for Cody Durden, who navigated a gnarly belly-down armbar in the second to secure a unanimous decision win over Jake Hadley in Saturday’s second flyweight contest.
The American wrestler got the better of things in the first and third, showing better recognition and application when it comes to mixing up his attacks inside the Octagon. Hadley seemingly had him dead-to-rights with the armbar, which was accompanied by a triangle choke for a portion of the time, but Durden gutted it out, finished the round attacking, and was the fresher of the two in the third.
For me, this fight was more about the areas where Hadley needs to improve and less about Durden’s success and upside. The brash British fighter overwhelmed opponents on the regional ranks and still thinks he can do it every time out, but that’s not going to happen. Din Thomas wisely pointed out that Hadley is too focused on his offence at times and it costs him, but he also just needs to mature a bunch and work to be the unstoppable monster he believes himself to be.
He just turned 27 on Thursday, so there is certainly time; let’s see if Hadley can make the adjustments and get closer to reaching his full potential.
Sean Woodson turned in a dominant effort against short-notice replacement Dennis Buzukja in Nashville, dominating in every phase en route to collecting a unanimous decision victory over the promotional newcomer.
On the feet, Woodson boxed up Buzukja, landing clean to the body and head while mixing in those long, tall knees that only someone his size can utilize without elevating. On the ground, he was a step ahead of the LAW MMA representative, threatening with chokes for much of the second half of the second round, and continuing to grapple in the third despite his corner urging him to keep it standing.
As much as this was a clean, clear victory for Woodson, it’s difficult to put too much stock in this triumph, as Buzukja took the fight on Tuesday and isn’t someone that feels like a future factor at this level. Additionally, there are still elements of Woodson’s approach and execution that feel troublesome to me, so while this was a solid effort, I’m more interested in seeing what he does next time out before making a greater assessment on where he fits within the featherweight ranks.
So Assu Almabaev looks like another interesting addition to the flyweight division, as the 29-year-old from Kazakhstan cruised through Ode’ Osbourne in Saturday’s opener.
The streaking newcomer put Osbourne on the deck with ease in the first, keeping his shoulders on the mat and roughing him up from top position before locking onto a Peruvian Necktie late in the frame, with the horn potentially keeping Osbourne from having to tap out. Almabaev worked the fight back to the ground in the second, hitting a lovely inside trip before taking the back when the DWCS alum tried to work to his feet. From there, it was academic.
It’s always difficult to know what to expect from promotional newcomers like Almabaev, but he looked like the good here. Osbourne is a solid test, and he passed with flying colours. Flyweight continues to get deeper with each passing month, and Almabaev appears to be someone that could make some noise in the not too distant future.
I absolutely agree with you on Sandhagen. He fought what was probably the smartest fight against a late replacement. Why risk striking with someone just to satisfy online pundits?
I enjoyed your thoughts here. Thank you!