In the lead up to UFC 200, the unpredictable fight-landscape was moving a million miles a minute. At UFC 198, Stipe Miocic shocked the world when he flatlined then-Heavyweight Champion Fabricio Werdum to bring a world title to Cleveland. Next, Cody Garbrandt shocked Thomas Almeida in the main event of UFC Fight Night prior to UFC 199. At 199, Michael Bisping found himself in a short-notice Middleweight Title fight against Luke Rockhold. Then, Wonderboy Thompson faced off with Rory MacDonald.
Starting July 7th, the UFC unleashed one of the craziest three days worth of events in the promotion’s history. On July 7th, UFC Lightweight Champion Rafael Dos Anjos took on MMA veteran and former Bellator Lightweight Champion Eddie Alvarez for the UFC title. On July 8th, season 23 of The Ultimate Fighter came to its conclusion as UFC Strawweight Champion Joanna Jędrzejczyk faced Claudia Gadelha.
On the UFC Fight Night Las Vegas card back on May 29th, a long card of fights went to decisions until the main event, when 21-0 Thomas Almeida took on 8-0 Cody Garbrandt and the two undefeated gentlemen did not disappoint.
Garbrandt put it on Almeida early and often as Cody “No Love” found a home for his right-hand. Almeida fought well, but could not win the striking exchanges before Garbrandt’s pressure brought him down with a thunderous right-hook. This makes Garbrandt 9-0 (8 T/KO’s) in his professional career and 4-0 in the UFC.
Also of note on this UFCFN card was 4x World/Olympic Medalist Sara McMann picking up a decision victory over Jessica Eye. In the second round, McMann was able to secure the takedown and eventually finished the round with back-control, raining down strikes on Jessica Eye. In the third and final round, McMann again secured a takedown and scored big from referee’s position (in wrestling speak), keeping Eye on the bottom and using ground-and-pound to win the fight.
Rick Story made his return to the Octagon for the first time since 2014, beating Tarec Saffiedine in a physical affair. Story, a past NAIA national runner-up wrestler, used his grappling to muscle Saffiedine to the cage and was relentless with his cage-clinch. Saffiedine was able to land in some exchanges pretty cleanly, but he was never able to dictate the fight in light of Story’s wrestling.
Former Bantamweight champion Renan Barao found himself in the Fight of the Night against Jeremy Stephens in Barao’s return to Featherweight. In the first, Barao was able to land a huge combo early to Stephens’s head and was able to employ a successful grappling strategy. In the second round, however, Stephens scored huge with multiple uppercuts that left Barao back-stepping for much of the rest of the round. With the fight hanging in the balance, Barao came out in the third jabbing, continuing to push Stephens to the cage. The men fought pretty evenly in the third, with Barao getting a takedown but failing to score much damage before Stephens came back to his feet, with the striking exchanges continuing to the final bell. Jeremy Stephens would win a 29-28x3 Unanimous Decision.
UFC 199: Bisping Completes His Vision Quest
Prior to the 3-day run from July 7th-9th, UFC199 again made fight-fans’ jaws drop as a ridiculous card was topped off by a UFC veteran fulfilling his dream.
At the bottom of the main card, Dustin Poirier knocked out Bobby Green to make it 4-straight wins, with 3 T/KO’s, since losing to Conor McGregor in 2014 and returning to Lightweight. Green slides after losing 2-straight now (albeit to elite fighters in Edson Barboza and Poirier).
Next, Dan Henderson and Hector Lombard met in a true-fan’s dream fight (both Henderson, 45, and Lombard, 38, have been in the sport since the PRIDE days). Lombard, a former Bellator Middleweight champion and multiple-time Cuban national champion judoka, had been fighting at Welterweight for much of his UFC tenure, but returned to Middleweight for this fight. Henderson, 2x Greco-Roman Olympian for the USA, UFC 17 tournament winner, former PRIDE Middleweight champion and Strikeforce Light Heavyweight champion, is the oldest active fighter on the UFC roster. Early in the fight, it was clear that we would get what we wanted. Both fighters had very even skillsets: extremely strong grappling bases with historic striking-power. In the first round, Lombard led kept the center of the Octagon, but it was Henderson that was finding distance with his jab and legkicks. Near mid-way in the first, Henderson landed his patented legkick, right-hand that stumbled Lombard big. Reeling backward, Lombard managed to land a big left-hand of his own on a pressing Henderson. When Hendo clinched, Lombard saw his opening and bodylock’d Henderson down for a takedown right into side-control. From here, Lombard would take over the round, almost completing an americana, almost keeping Hendo in a mounted-crucifix. As Henderson hipped-out to his feet, he ate a knee and punches on the way up and Lombard was all over him. At one point, Lombard landed multiple hooks and floored Henderson to even up the knockdown count. When Henderson was finally able to clinch up Lombard, he essentially gave up a takedown and pulled guard to survive the first round. Into the second, both men were content to stay on their feet, and the exchanges continued to be fiery but evenly contested. With a little over two minutes elapsed in the second, Dan Henderson threw a headkick that landed but was caught. Lombard held on to the single-leg, but Henderson, on one foot, threw a back-elbow that landed behind Lombard’s right-ear and flattened the judoka. Henderson, in classic fashion, pounced, dropping two more elbows before referee Herb Dean was able to stop the damage.
After the fight, Henderson suggested he may be retiring from the sport. The future (i.e., the main event result) had other plans for him.
The young-star Max Holloway continued to rise as he beat NCAA Division III All-American wrestler Ricardo Lamas via unanimous decision. Holloway has continued to win since losing two-straight to Dennis Bermudez and Conor McGregor back in 2013, and now owns a 9-0 winning streak in the Featherweight division. Holloway is likely to find himself in a 5-round fight soon for either the title or a title-contender spot on the line.
In his first title defense since returning from an ACL injury and regaining the title from TJ Dillashaw, Dominick Cruz faced the only man to beat him in professional MMA, Urijah Faber, in a rubber-match for the Bantamweight title. Cruz, though he vacated the title in back in 2011 due to injury, is undefeated in the UFC. He continued to show his dominance here against Faber, out grappling him and landing big shots on the feet. Cruz cemented a lop-sided unanimous decision.
In the main event, The Ultimate Fighter 3 winner and UFC fighter since 2006 Michael Bisping replaced former-Middleweight champion Chris Weidman in a title-fight against Middleweight Champion Luke Rockhold. Weidman was set to have a rematch with Rockhold after losing the title back at UFC 194. Because of an injury, Weidman was unable to make the card, and Bisping took the fight on two-weeks’ notice for a change at the title. After losing twice in #1 contender fights (to Dan Henderson, famously, and Chael Sonnen), the Briton would make this fight count. In the ultimate lesson of not underestimating your opponent, Bisping caught a lackadaisical Rockhold flat and overreaching.
“The Count” saw his opening and never let up, rocking Luke Rockhold twice before sitting the champion down against the cage before earning the T/KO stoppage victory and become the first British fighter to win a UFC championship.
MacDonald vs. Wonderboy
In the co-main event, “The Cowboy” Donald Cerrone continued his winning ways after his move to the Welterweight division as he stopped UFC veteran Patrick Cote and snapped a three-fight win-streak. Cerrone dominated the stand-up and caught Cote often, earning the stoppage in the third round.
In the main event, Rory MacDonald, once seen as the heir-apparent to former UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre, returned after his 2015 Fight of the Year performance against current Welterweight Champion Robbie Lawler (in which Lawler won by TKO in the 5th round). MacDonald was unable to break the code against “Wonderboy” Thompson, who was slicker on the feet and avoided falling into MacDonald’s savage-style. Thompson earned a unanimous decision victory and extends his winning streak to seven fights, enough to put him in the conversation for a title shot.
On July 7th, 2x Bellator Lightweight Champion Eddie Alvarez turned the UFC Lightweight division upside-down. Facing a new-and-improved Rafael Dos Anjos, who had a five-fight winning streak including knocking out former Lightweight Champion Benson Henderson, winning the title over Anthony Pettis, and defending the title against Donald Cerrone, Alvarez was a man on a mission. The longtime MMA fighter, once infamous for being one of the best fighters not inside the UFC, rocked dos Anjos big with a right-hook that started a sequence that RDA would never see the end of.
Clearly hurt and rocked, RDA never got knocked down as Alvarez threw haymakers, hooks, and uppercuts that continued to land. When RDA back-stepped to the other side cage, Alvarez timed a huge flying-knee and fell to his back, RDA in side-control. Alvarez quickly reversed the position and re-shot a takedown and started raining down huge strikes into RDA’s guard. The champion refused to be defeated, finding his feet and attempting to strike back. It would not be enough, though, as Herb Dean had seen enough and stopped the fight, with Rafael dos Anjos out on his feet.
Jedrzejczyk vs. Gadelha
July 8th, Women’s Strawweight Champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk met rival Claudia Gadelha in the finale of The Ultimate Fighter 23. This fight was a rematch of a Dec 2014 3-round fight that Joanna won via split decision, staying undefeated and becoming the only person to beat Gadelha. Fast-forward to fight night, JJ is the defending Strawweight Champion with two successful defenses, Gadelha with a win since her first loss. For the second time, the fight went the distance. Gadelha, the more decorated grappler between the two, rocked the champion early in the first round and knocked JJ down. Soon after, Gadelha was able to score a bodylock takedown from the cage-clinch and dominate from top position. In the second, it was much of the same, as the challenger again successfully got the takedown from the cage, then isolating a leg to land punches over and over to the champion’s face.
In the third and championship rounds, the 5x World Muay Thai champion came alive, as Joanna found her range and rhythm. Although she gave up another takedown in the third, JJ had changed the momentum in her favor and Gadelha was out-matched on the feet.
Landing cleanly and often, the champion-striker’s combinations were enough to win her the final three rounds and the unanimous decision, staying a perfect 12-0 in her MMA career.
