John Locher/Associated Press
So great for put up-pay-per-glance hangovers.
The UFC rolled out its Fight Island red carpet staunch seven days after a twin-title blockbuster, but the star energy stayed consistent at some stage in an 11-bout Fight Night level to in the wee hours of the morning native time.
ESPN+ every other time did the bleary-eyed broadcasting lifting for a card that began at 3: 30 a.m. in Abu Dhabi and ended smartly after 1 a.m. ET in the us.
It used to be the major octagonal vital event featuring a Mexican-born woman, Irene Aldana, and the major headliner between ladies of any background to be staged in the United Arab Emirates.
Weak UFC bantamweight champion Holly Holm shared high billing with Aldana, and the card additionally featured a feeble featherweight champion in Germaine de Randamie and a feeble length in-between welterweight champion in Carlos Condit, to not mumble four opponents taking their first steps throughout the Octagon.
Brendan Fitzgerald, Paul Felder and Dan Hardy shared the broadcast table, while Karyn Bryant used to be on locker-room and pre-strive in opposition to feature responsibility.
The Bleacher Narrative MMA team used to be readily available from open to must fulfill its responsibility of chronicling the level to’s biggest winners and losers. Read by to peek our picks, and allow us to perceive in the feedback half where we bought it factual and how your impressions stacked up.
Winner: Fooling the Calendar
Holly Holm’s birthday is bobbing up on October 17.
Whether or not or not she’ll with out a doubt be turning 39, although, is up for debate.
Already the writer of the vital consequence in UFC ladies’s historical past—a 2015 stoppage of supernova Ronda Rousey—Holm turned help the clock every other time in Saturday’s vital event, having a gaze solid and stuffed with life throughout a convincing defeat of Irene Aldana in a matchup of two ranked bantamweights.
She earned a unanimous resolution with ratings of 50-44, 50-45 and 50-45.
“You might well presumably not have greater than what Holly Holm did over 25 minutes,” Fitzgerald acknowledged. “She’s making her case for one other shot.”
It used to be the 2d derive in as many 2020 fights for Holm, who strung collectively consecutive victories for the major time since the Rousey upset pushed her then-derive move to 10.
She went staunch 3-5 in eight subsequent fights sooner than facing Aldana, on the other hand, alongside side a loss to Miesha Tate in her first title defense in 2016 and unsuccessfully hectic Amanda Nunes in 2019.
Nonetheless, she used to be ranked 2d at 135 pounds entering the strive in opposition to, while Aldana, who had won 5 of eight in the UFC, used to be four slots down at No. 6. Earlier on the card, No. 1 contender De Randamie defeated No. 4 Julianna Pena by third-round submission.
De Randamie beat Holm by unanimous resolution in the major event at UFC 208.
Holm strafed Aldana with 147 most distinguished strikes, nearly doubling her old easiest of 77. She additionally took down Aldana 5 times after the Mexican had most productive allowed two takedowns in her old eight fights.
“She’s chasing highlight reels,” Felder acknowledged. “In case you anticipated a altering of the guard, it hasn’t occurred. This has been an absolute health center.”
Holm acknowledged Aldana’s model reminded her of herself, which caused a different approach.
“I needed to deem what I’d have if I was battling myself and tonight,” she acknowledged. “We set a game thought collectively, and we were in a position to be victorious. I didn’t approach to be a boxer in MMA. I came to be a blended martial artist. I will preserve working laborious.”
Loser: Persevering with Weigh-In Venom
Normally, the weigh-in is more compelling than the strive in opposition to.
That would possibly well not were the case when it came to co-vital event heavyweights Carlos Felipe and Yorgan De Castro, but it wasn’t too a ways off.
The mountainous-boy heavyweights were plump of venom at their Friday face-off, and Felipe went forward and denied De Castro a handshake, but their Saturday violence used to be step by step interspersed with long stretches of dull mauling sooner than Felipe escaped the 15-minute scrap with a unanimous resolution.
The Brazilian bought 30-27 nods on two legit scorecards and 29-28 on the opposite.
“I deem I deserve efficiency of the night,” Felipe acknowledged.
Hardy needed to work to preserve a straight face, and Felder as we deliver snorted “smartly, he does have self belief” from his cage-aspect perch after a strive in opposition to wherein the two males blended for 126 most distinguished strikes—21 fewer than Holm in the major event.
To be beautiful, Felipe used to be the busier of the two heavyweights, the spend of his superior hand tempo and sneaky energy to preserve De Castro off balance. He used to be efficient with jabs and aggression by De Castro’s kicks in the hole round, landed a factual hand in the 2d round that wobbled his man and used to be on the total more supreme at any time when the two males engaged in prolonged flurries.
Referee Kevin Sataki warned the opponents several times about staying busy and broke up several clinches alongside the fence when the foes looked mumble material to merely lay on every other.
Felipe improved to 9-1 and picked up his first UFC derive in his 2d look, while De Castro fell to 6-2 overall and 1-2 in the UFC.
“I love doing this,” Felipe acknowledged. “I have some violence internal me.”
Winner: Violence in Many Kinds
Kyler Phillips is nicknamed The Matrix. Many other labels would possibly well also additionally note.
The 25-yr-gentle Arizonan resembled a Tasmanian satan, a twister and an all-around blur of violence while applying a entire beatdown to UFC newcomer Cameron Else at bantamweight.
Phillips bought a TKO—and a sixth have in eight wins—at 44 seconds of the 2d round, staying unblemished in two appearances in the Octagon and impressing Fitzgerald.
“I’m telling you, secret agent out for this child,” he acknowledged. “He has made factual every time out in most modern years.”
The derive boosted Phillips to eight-1 and came after a first round that had been aggressive early on but veered in the winner’s route when he bought a takedown and dished out some heavy punishment in the final minute—coming shut to a stoppage sooner than the buzzer saved Else on the shut of the round.
The Englishman wobbled help to his corner and used to be as we deliver inclined to open the 2d, getting taken down every other time factual away and giving up his help while Phillips pounded away. Two heavy elbows to the aspect of the head were followed by a left-hand punch and two more factual-hand shots sooner than referee Marc Goddard intervened.
“I was ready for something,” Phillips acknowledged. “I knew he used to be going to scheme help out laborious. I needed to preserve mixing it up on him. Elbows, knees and kicks.”
The strive in opposition to used to be Phillips’ first since February, but he is having a gaze forward to a short turnaround.
“I wanna dwell right here at Fight Island,” he acknowledged. “I derive free meals. I lollygag around. Or not it’s love being on a cruise ship out right here. I will strive in opposition to someone, any model. Let’s saunter.”
Loser: Taking a Man’s 0
He is not a excellent fighter. But Dusko Todorovic has a excellent file.
And he will not be drawn to giving it up anytime soon.
The Serbian middleweight maintained his unblemished sign and made his UFC debut in violent model, grinding by American extinct Dequan Townsend to derive a 2d-round TKO.
“We knew Dequan used to be a fancy fighter, and he can retract punishment,” Todorovic acknowledged. “So after I went help to my corner, they told me to wrestle, to derive him to the bottom and spend my jiu-jitsu.”
The 26-yr-gentle impress followed instructions to the letter, stepping into shut ample to attain a double-leg takedown 90 seconds into the 2d round and attributable to this truth working from aspect and plump mount to batter his opponent with a barrage of heavy ground-and-pound shots.
Townsend tried desperately to fend off Todorovic’s attack but couldn’t spoil out the vulnerable catch 22 situation and saw the strive in opposition to stopped by referee Jason Herzog at 3: 15.
“Or not it’s very unreal to me now,” acknowledged Todorovic, who’d executed eight of his 9 victories sooner than assembly Townsend. “In a couple days when my emotions settle, I would possibly be totally responsive to what occurred.
“For me, the final purpose is to preserve my 0. I are looking to be undefeated for the the rest of my career. I will have something I can to preserve it that manner.”
He executed with an 85-13 edge in most distinguished strikes, alongside side a 32-2 edge in the decisive round.
“[Staying unbeaten is] more straightforward acknowledged than accomplished,” Felder acknowledged. “But if he retains going love this and battling at this price, it be most likely. Why not? Supreme stoppage, gentle undefeated, enormous manner to manufacture a UFC debut.”
Winner: Ending a Half-Decade Skid
A single derive doth not a championship lunge manufacture.
But it used to be greater than the outcomes Carlos Condit had been getting.
The ex-length in-between champion returned to the welterweight derive column for the major time in 5 years, ending a 5-strive in opposition to skid with a unanimous resolution over Court docket McGee in the featured prelim bout.
“Or not it has been a truly long time,” he acknowledged. “I‘ve had some usaand downs. Your next step forward, no topic it’s miles, I’ve bought to preserve working and preserve focusing on what I’ve bought to have.”
Now 36, Condit had long past 1,953 days and nights since his final victory, which came by TKO in Could possibly additionally 2015 in opposition to Thiago Alves. He had dropped a pair of choices and been submitted thrice in 5 appearances since, the most most modern of which came at UFC 232 in opposition to Michael Chiesa.
He and McGee spent practically all of the major round at distance, with Condit making an try to land punches while McGee strafed his legs with kicks. The most decisive 2d occurred a spoil up 2d sooner than the buzzer, when Condit dipped to his factual and realized with a hook that dropped McGee to the seat of his pants and perceived to have broken his nostril.
The shot looked to preserve shut Condit’s self belief staunch somewhat, and he used to be more fluid alongside with his inserting at some stage in the final two rounds—although neither fighter landed one other strive in opposition to-defining shot or set his opponent in most distinguished threat. Condit held a slim 88-84 advantage in strikes.
All three judges gave Condit a 30-27 on the scorecards, matching Bleacher Narrative’s totals.
“Court docket’s orderly complicated,” he acknowledged. “I knew that he’d be there from bell to bell.”
UFC Fight Night 179 Corpulent Card Results
Well-known Card
Holly Holm def. Irene Aldana by unanimous resolution (50-44, 50-45, 50-45).
Carlos Felipe def. Yorgan De Castro by unanimous resolution (30-27, 30-27, 39-28).
Germaine de Randamie def. Julianna Pena by submission, 3: 25, Spherical 3.
Kyler Phillips def. Cameron Else by TKO, 0: 44, Spherical 2.
Dusko Todorovic def. Dequan Townsend by TKO, 3: 15, Spherical 2.
Preliminary Card
Carlos Condit def. Court docket McGee by unanimous resolution (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).
Charles Jourdain drew with Josh Culibao (28-28, 28-29, 30-27).
Nassourdine Imavov def. Jordan Williams by unanimous resolution (29-28, 29-27, 29-27).
Loma Lookboonmee def. Jinh Yu Frey by unanimous resolution (29-28, 30-27, 30-27).
Casey Kenney def. Heili Alateng by unanimous resolution (30-27, 30-26, 30-25).
Luigi Vendramini def. Jessin Ayari by TKO, 1: 20, Spherical 1.
Performances of the Night
Germaine de Randamie, Kyler Phillips, Dusko Todorovic, Luigi Vendramini
