UFC Vegas 50: About Last Night...
Tracking what transpired inside the Octagon at the UFC APEX on Saturday and what it means for the athletes and divisions going forward
Patient, Effective Ankalaev Earns Eighth Straight Win
Magomed Ankalaev ran his winning streak to eight on Saturday, sweeping the scorecards in a five-round main event clash against former title challenger and Top 5 staple Thiago Santos.
In four of the five rounds, the streaking fighter from Dagestan controlled the action and got the better of the exchanges, landing good counters, an assortment of kicks, and largely steering clear of the big power shots being offered by the hulking Santos. In the other round — Round 2 — he caught a Santos left hand to the temple late in the frame and tumbled to the canvas, with the knockdown dictating his approach the rest of the way home. While not the barnburner some were expecting or hoping for from these two contenders, this was a smart, patient victory for Ankalaev, who has all the tools to be a genuine title threat in the light heavyweight division.
The 29-year-old dictated the terms of engagement throughout the contest, pressing forward, working from range, only completing one takedown late in the fourth round and working from the clinch down the stretch to ice the fight. It’s a wrinkle of his game that could have been better utilized, but he had success on the feet against a vaunted powerhouse, and the kind of win that should elevate Ankalaev to a title eliminator fight next at the absolute worst.
For Santos, it’s a fourth loss in five fights, and another hesitant effort where his offensive output was somewhat limited and he seemed all too willing to allow his opponent to control the action. What made him a force initially was his marauding style, but it has been absent since his fight with Jon Jones, and it seems unlike that he’ll ever return to that style full time.
Song Yadong is a Problem
Song Yadong collected the biggest victory of his career on Saturday, knocking out Marlon Moraes with a vicious uppercut just two minutes into their co-main event clash.
The 24-year-old from China stung Moraes with the first right hand he landed and he never stopped hunting the finish. Each time he landed, it stiffened up the Brazilian and forced him to reset hard, and when Moraes tried to fire back as the two got close, Song found a home for the fight-ending blow.
More needs to be made of Song’s position in the division and upside in the sport. He’s now 8-1-1 in the UFC and climbing the ranks in the ultra-competitive bantamweight division. He has proven power, trains with an outstanding team with a history of developing contenders and champions, especially in the lighter weight classes (Team Alpha Male), and is clearly still getting better, yet Song gets nowhere near the shine as some of his less accomplished, but louder contemporaries.
Not only is he already a Top 10 fighter in arguably the most competitive division in the UFC at the moment, but he’s still got plenty of room to grow and time is on his side. He’s three years younger than Sean O’Malley and four years younger than Adrian Yanez, two of the more prominent “young” bantamweights, and already boasts a more impressive resume than each of them.
Song is already a problem, and he’s only going to become more of a problem as he continues to develop and improve.
Yusuff Successful in Return, Caceres Still Impresses
Sodiq Yusuff took a patient, tactical approach to his fight with Alex Caceres on Saturday, attacking his lead leg from start to finish and staying away from clinch and grappling exchanges en route to getting back into the win column.
After another extended layoff due to long-haul COVID issues, this was a sharp performance to get the Contender Series graduate moving in the right direction again. He’s a powerful striker and proven Top 15 talent, issuing a call-out to Bryce Mitchell following his victory, and someone who needs to be mentioned whenever running down the names of emerging talents in the division.
While he landed on the wrong side of the results, Caceres still showed that his sharp form prior to this one wasn't simply a function of the opposition he was facing. He had several good moments on the feet throughout, and was hunting for chokes in a couple different instances, pushing Yusuff to have a sharp performance in order to get the victory.
This is one of those fights where each man’s stock should rise coming out of this one, with Yusuff’s victory making things even more interesting into the Top 15, and Caceres cementing himself as a dangerous assignment for anyone looking to climb the divisional ladder at his expense.
Violent & Intense
Khalil Rountree Jr. is an articulate, introspective, thoughtful human being and one of the people I enjoy interviewing most in this sport. But when he’s at his best inside the Octagon, he is violent and intense and downright scary. We saw both sides on Saturday, as Rountree savagely finished Karl Roberson in the second before giving an impassioned post-fight speech address his desire to share his story and inspire others.
After a first round where the two strikers felt each other out and picked their spots, Rountree came out firing to start the second, dropping Roberson with a lead right hook. While he had him hurt, Rountree buried a thudding kick to his midsection and then dropped him with a left to secure the victory. That’s now consecutive wins for the former Ultimate Fighter contestant, who has flashed upside throughout his career, but struggled to find consistency, which now seems to be coming.
Rountree got into training in order to lose weight and combat bouts of depression, shedding pounds and becoming a highly regarded prospect training at various gyms in Las Vegas. He’s a multi-faceted individual with an inspiring story and a genuine desire to have an impact on others, and hopefully he gets that opportunity.
And hopefully we get more performances like this going forward.
Dober Impresses, McKinney Gets a Teachable Moment
Drew Dober and Terrance McKinney engaged in the round of the year on Saturday, with McKinney putting the veteran on skates early, only to have Dober storm back and secure the finish with a little under two minutes remaining in the round.
This was a wild three minutes and change where it seemed like McKinney was going to finish the Nebraska native early. He stung Dober with a pair of stepping knees and clean left hands, but after getting him hurt, McKinney struggled to pick his shots and find one that could finishing things, allowing Dober time to recover. He cut McKinney with an elbow from the bottom, knocking his mouthguard of out of his mouth, and once they were back on their feet, Dober dropped the youngster with a knee to the head in the clinch. As McKinney hit the deck, Dober followed, pounding out the finish.
Two things stand out about this fight for me:
This is further evidence of how much talent there is in the lightweight division and how difficult it is to find consistent success in the division, and
McKinney will benefit from this setback
Dober is a dangerous, game veteran living on the fringes of the Top 15, and he reminded everyone of that by snapping his two-fight slide in memorable fashion on Saturday.
Pereira Out-Hustles Silva, Shows He Still Needs Tons of Work
Glory kickboxing superstar Alex Pereira secured his second straight UFC victory, getting the better of a slugfest with fellow Brazilian Bruno Silva to open the main card.
Pereira was forces to showcase some defensive wrestling and clinch work, getting back to his feet or into space without taking much real damage whenever Silva did work inside, but for the most part, this played out in Pereira’s domain, and his brilliance on the feet was on full display. So too, however, was the fact that he is still a long way away from being a contender in the middleweight division.
“Poatan” had plenty to say about former kickboxing opponent and current UFC middleweight champ Israel Adesanya, and listen: it’s a fun story, they have a little rivalry, but Adesanya would crush him right now. Anyone with a modicum of actual wrestling skills would have a great deal of success against him at this point, honestly.
Pereira’s size is always going to be a major factor — he’s gigantic (six-foot-four) and all legs and arms, which means he can work from range and make it miserable for guys to get inside, but he’s still an MMA neophyte and talk of anything but a small step up in competition after having a more difficult time with Silva than most anticipated is foolhardy.
He has promise, but he still has a great deal to prove as well.
Matthew Semelsberger and AJ Fletcher went 15 hard minutes in the final preliminary card fight, battling it out in an entertaining scrap that resulted in “Semi the Jedi” securing his second straight victory.
A graduate of the Contender Series, Fletcher started well, winning the first after putting Semelsberger on the deck and keeping him there for the duration. But Semelsberger started rallying back in the second, finding his way to top position and landing some heavy ground-and-pound to even things up heading into the final frame. While Fletcher got a takedown early, Semelsberger got back up quickly, hit a high amplitude slam, and busted up “The Ghost” from top position, leading to 29-28 scores across the board.
Both of these men are still in the “figuring things out, putting it all together” stage of their careers and should continue to deliver entertaining scraps like this every time out. And if they start putting those pieces together in the future, look out.
JJ Aldrich did what JJ Aldrich does in her preliminary card clash with Gillian Robertson, picking at the submission fighter with a steady diet of jabs and strong takedown defence, resulting in a third straight victory.
The 29-year-old Colorado native is the kind of competitor that never gets enough credit or attention — a steady, professional fighter that knows who she is, plays to her strengths, and wins more often than she loses. She’s now 4-2 since shifting to flyweight and 11-4 overall, working behind clean hands, sound movement, and quality takedown defence.
This was a real professional effort from an unheralded, tenured member of the 125-pound ranks who is continuing to make steady progress up the ranks.
Javid Basharat maintained his unbeaten record through his first UFC appearance, securing a unanimous decision victory over a very game Trevin Jones on Saturday.
A member of the DWCS Class of ‘21, the London-based “Snow Leopard” showed smooth, diverse striking and fluid movement throughout the contest, getting the best of the stand-up affair opposite the power hitter from Guam. This was a major step up in competition for Basharat and he passed with flying colours, showcasing the full complement of his striking game and sound takedown defence.
Bantamweight is an absolute shark tank right now, but the 26-year-old is definitely someone to keep close eyes on going forward. As good as he looked on the feet here, Basharat is a very strong grappler as well, so don’t be surprised to see more from him next time out.
Veteran Damon Jackson waited until late in the first round to bring his fight with Kamuela Kirk to the canvas, but after closing the opening round in dominant fashion, he wasted little time getting back there in the second, and made sure they didn’t see the third.
Jackson’s takedown in the first was a thing of beauty — a body lock where he transitioned straight into mount — and he quickly put Kirk on the deck again to start the middle stanza. He stayed active and looked to advance, hunting an arm-triangle choke while stuck in guard, but couldn’t get it. But a minute later, the opportunity presented itself again and Jackson made the most of it, clamping down on the choke from half-guard, forcing Kirk to tap.
After going without a victory in his initial three-fight run in the UFC, Jackson has gone 11-3 since, including posting three wins in four starts inside the Octagon. He’s as battle-tested as they come in that space just outside the Top 15 and should continue to entertain going forward.
Miranda Maverick got beaten at her own game last time out, losing a physical battle against Erin Blanchfield. Saturday afternoon, Sabina Mazo paid for that result as the powerhouse 24-year-old turned to her grappling and finished the fight with a second-round rear-naked choke.
The talented prospect controlled the action from the outset, finding success with her hands early before mixing in her takedowns. She dictated the terms of engagement with the taller, rangier Mazo, and when she looked to take it to the deck in the second, she showed how skilled she is as a grappler as well. After securing a clean takedown in the center of the Octagon, Maverick got under the neck mid-scramble, lock up the choke before fully taking the back or sinking in any hooks.
It was a beautiful display of transition grappling for the Virginia native and Elevation Fight Team member. After a couple setbacks last year, this is the kind of dominant effort that puts Maverick back on track and re-positions her as one of the top emerging talents in both the division and the UFC as a whole.
For a little over three-and-a-half minutes, Cody Brundage was getting whipped on by Dalcha Lungiambula, hunting takedowns and eating heavy shots in return. But when the South African powerhouse looked to secure a double-leg takedown midway through the frame, Brundage clamped onto a guillotine choke, quickly drawing out the tap from Lungiambula.
Brundage is a bit of throwback to the days of old — someone with a clear dominant skill and tons of room to work elsewhere — but he did a good job of sinking in the choke and securing the tap to get his first UFC win. It’s a good thing he got the tap though, as Lungiambula was already on his way to a 10-8 round and would have likely continued pounding the life out of him from top position if Brundage didn’t have the choke in place.
It’s a solid victory, but there is still a great deal for Brundage to work on before he can become someone to keep close tabs on in the light heavyweight division.
Guido Cannetti showed on Saturday that there is still a little bark left in the old dog, taking out Kris Moutinho in just over two minutes to halt a three-fight slide.
“Ninja” came out firing right out of the gate and never stopped looking to touch up the advancing Moutinho, who gained a ton of respect from the MMA community for taking a hellacious beating at the hands of Sean O’Malley on short notice last summer. This was his chance to prove he can really hang at this level, and Cannetti showed that the Massachusetts native does’t have the defensive wherewithal to hang with UFC level bantamweights.
This was a great performance from Cannetti, who is always game, always in shape, and always leaves it all in the Octagon. While his stock rises, Moutinho’s takes a major hit.
Azamat Murzakanov started strong, but was fading hard going into the third round of his debut opposite Tafon Nchukwi on Saturday afternoon. Seconds into the third, however, the unbeaten newcomer found another gear and made a clean read, attacking Nchukwi with a perfect flying knee to secure the knockout finish.
The soon-to-be 33-year-old light heavyweight is now 11-0 with nine finishes, including a first-round finish of rising middleweight contender Andre Muniz. He’ll need to address his conditioning given the way he noticeably slowed here, but he’s a well-rounded talent and showed he can carry his power into the third round, which makes him an intriguing name to track going forward.