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It modified into as soon as the very finest fight card for folk in a bustle.
The UFC positioned on a nine-bout demonstrate on August’s penultimate Saturday at its APEX facility in Las Vegas and hundreds of of the opponents performed as if they’d deliberate to be in varied locations.
Six of the nine fights ended in KO or TKO and none of them even reached the two-minute trace of the 2d spherical. Genuinely, of a that you just can have the ability to be ready to focus on 29 fleshy rounds, the demonstrate hurt up completing finest 13 from discontinuance to total and parts of six others.
“I will’t take into account we’re already right here,” mentioned ESPN analyst Dominick Cruz, as the critical match modified into as soon as about to launch quickly sooner than 11 p.m. ET. Indeed, the demonstrate modified into as soon as over long sooner than 11: 30 p.m., leaving Cruz and broadcast partner Jon Anik—along with within the support of the curtain reporter Heidi Androl—to in any other case preserve themselves.
Bleacher File build together its usual checklist of perceived winners and losers from the demonstrate and we motivate you to scroll via and designate what we came with.
Loser: Winning Clearly Against a Gigantic-Title Foe
It’s no longer very in overall a fighter drops a weight class.
It’s ever rarer when the plunge nears 20 pounds.
Yet that’s exactly what extinct UFC gentle-weight champion Frankie Edgar did in Saturday’s critical match, debuting the total ability down at bantamweight—135 pounds—and escaping with a rupture up determination over No. 5 contender Pedro Munhoz.
Lower than two months from his 39th birthday, Edgar gained with ratings of 48-47 on two exhaust’s scorecards.
The third exhaust had it 49-46 for Munhoz, as did Bleacher File.
“I unruffled bought some fight in this tank. This would possibly perhaps well well well build me objective within the pause 5,” Edgar mentioned. “I confirmed I would compete with the correct at 38 years customary. I don’t bag to listen to nothing from nobody.”
Edgar modified into as soon as effective in spots ensuing from fluid foot motion and combination punching early on, however Munhoz, overwhelmed in his last fight, scored successfully gradual after successfully chopping off the cage and ensuing from this truth landing heavy blows. Edgar scored a takedown at three minutes of the 2d and landed a kick at the discontinuance of the sequence that rattled Munhoz, leaving what perceived to be a tied fight up for grabs.
Munhoz modified into as soon as the more aggressive and busier fighter all the procedure in which via the final 15 minutes and commenced to impact Edgar’s movements with kicks to the lead leg. He shook off every other takedown sequence within the fourth and seemed more effective all the procedure in which via the fight’s 2d half.
Nevertheless two of the playing cards saw Edgar a winner in three of 5 rounds, while Munhoz captured the opposite by a four-rounds-to-one margin.
“What a job for Frankie Edgar,” Cruz mentioned. “What gained Frankie that fight modified into as soon as his motion, the takedowns jumbled in, and the non-conclude accumulation of punches.
The snatch modified into as soon as the 18th within the UFC for Edgar, who’s the busiest fighter within the promotion’s ancient previous in the case of minutes spent contained within the Octagon. He arrived at the firm in 2007 and has been serious about nine title fights, winning three.
“I objective bought my feet wet. Pedro’s a high dogs and that makes me a high dogs,” Edgar mentioned. “The future would possibly perhaps be within the Hall of Fame, however the present is magnificent relevant, too.”
Winner: Mixing Up The Assault
His nickname is “Slo.” Nevertheless his output modified into as soon as no longer.
Veteran Mike Rodriguez bought to commerce as if he had a put up-fight airplane to snatch, at as soon as build his nook’s strategies to work, and walked away with a vicious KO of Marcin Prochnia in their scheduled three-rounder at gentle heavyweight.
The fight modified into as soon as elevated to co-critical match design after Ovince Saint Preux fell out of the characteristic with a sure COVID-19 check, and Rodriguez performed as if it will been his hold build to launch with.
The 31-one year-customary labored successfully in clinches along with his foe, preserving Prochnia off stability with alternate strikes via elbows and knees. He dropped the rugged Pole with the third in a flurry of left-aspect elbows, then blasted him with two left-hand strikes on the ground to score a conclude from Jason Herzog.
The raise out modified into as soon as Rodriguez’s ninth in 12 profession wins.
“He fought exactly how he informed us he wished to score,” Cruz mentioned. “He’s within the objective mindset and he made it occur.”
It modified into as soon as Rodriguez’s first snatch since December 2018 and objective his 2d since August 2017.
“It feels objective to be support within the winning column. It’s where I belong,” he mentioned. “I needed to profit from of my utility to position him away. Knee, elbow, knee, elbow. I tried to swap up the rhythm a shrimp bit. And when I landed the third elbow he felt limp in my palms and I objective poured it on.”
Loser: Adrenaline Dumps
Shana Dobson talked the controversy and walked the shuffle.
So primary so, if fact be told, that her 2d-spherical erasure of Kazakhstan-basically based prospect Mariya Agapova modified into as soon as precisely what every person had anticipated—and no longer, as Anik labeled it, “considered one of many wonderful singular upsets in UFC ancient previous.”
Indeed, Dobson modified into as soon as the wonderful underdog on the cardboard after coming into with a plus-800 line, however the lanky flyweight modified into as soon as ready to gamely fight off a whirling dervish attack that left her opponent’s gas tank dry sooner than she capitalized and compelled an intervention from referee Trace Smith at 1: 38 of Spherical 2.
“Right here’s awesome, and I feeble that as ammunition,” Dobson mentioned. “I’m an underdog, however I mentioned I’d raise the dogs out of the cage tonight. We’re livid however we’re no longer stunned.”
Agapova had arrived 9-1 and looked primed for a immediate stoppage after landing a series of strikes within the critical two minutes and working her ability into a that you just can have the ability to be ready to focus on submission characteristic on the ground later within the spherical. Nevertheless the barrage left her weakened to launch the 2d, and Dobson swiftly reversed every other takedown sooner than prompting the discontinuance with a barrage of unanswered ground photographs.
Agapova left the cage condo on a stretcher.
“The dogs are barking tonight,” Anik mentioned. “Right here’s a snatch careers are manufactured from.”
Winner: Single Violent Rounds
It modified into as soon as no longer up to half a spherical, however with three fights’ value of action.
Welterweight Daniel Grant sprang from his nook and quickly learned himself on the verge of a victory as he rained extremely effective strikes down on a almost inclined Daniel Rodriguez.
Nevertheless objective as it seemed Rodriguez’s eight-fight snatch shuffle modified into as soon as over, it wasn’t.
The 33-one year-customary managed to score to his feet and quickly modified into the tide with about a extremely effective punches of his hold, within the raze pinning his man in opposition to the fence and leaving him limp with a fusillade of objective palms sooner than referee Chris Tognoni pulled the residing off at 2: 24 of the critical.
Rodriguez improved to 13-1 and scored his 11th profession raise out in a bout build together Friday after every men had their at the beginning scheduled opponents eradicated from the cardboard.
He also grew to vary into the third fighter to snatch three UFC fights in 2020.
“That modified into as soon as intense. We had been slinging them,” Rodriguez mentioned. “That is how I score. I recovered like a flash and I modified into as soon as ready to land a immediate hook and I capitalized. I am 33 years customary. I am in my high. I am in my finest form ever. Let’s preserve it rolling.”
Loser: Blocking Knees With Your Face
Imagine catching an inadvertent knee within the face.
Then take into account catching a series of them, finest with the fleshy intent of the deliverer.
That is the characteristic Ike Villanueva learned himself in in opposition to immediate-glimpse substitute foe Jordan Wright, who feeble the punishing blows to rating a surprise victory objective 91 seconds into their scheduled three-rounder at gentle heavyweight.
Wright dumped Villavueva with a spinning head kick early within the spherical, then fought via his foe’s makes an are attempting at a clinch with the critical of the aforementioned knees that opened a bloody lower over his objective note.
A 36-one year-customary from Houston, Villanueva tried to rally his ability support into the fray however Herzog called for the physician, who called a conclude to the fray at 1: 31.
“With a purpose to attain support in a weight class above, weighing underweight and inserting on a efficiency esteem that, it feels magnificent awesome,” Wright mentioned. “I knew the raise out would possibly perhaps be inevitable. I’m a finisher. All my wins had been by raise out and I objective know how to position americans out.”
Winner: Mistake-Erasing Vitality
Vitality is the correct deodorant.
Though Trevin Jones had been on the immediate discontinuance of a fleshy spherical and a piece more in opposition to rugged outmoded Timur Valiev, his secret weapon modified into as soon as by no plot a long way from inserting a sure odor on things.
The 30-one year-customary from Guam caught Valiev with a sweeping objective hand that at as soon as modified the Russian’s potentialities, losing him straight to his support where Jones followed up with a series of ground strikes and introduced on an intervention from Tognoni.
“One among the upsets of the one year objective there,” Anik mentioned. “‘5-Megastar Jones, welcome to the mountainous demonstrate.”
The discontinuance came at 1: 59 of the 2d spherical and made Jones’ UFC debut a memorable one, even after a tumultuous urge-up that incorporated a failed weigh-in are attempting sooner than he hit the 140-pound intention.
“He hit the ground flat and I came down with the harsh objective hand, ground-and-pound, smashing, smashing and smashing,” Jones mentioned. “And I modified into as soon as taking a compare to position him away objective there. He bought me with that objective push kick within the critical spherical and I wished to make him pay for that.”
UFC on ESPN 15 Bulky Card Results
Main Card
Frankie Edgar def. Pedro Munhoz by rupture up determination (48-47, 46-49, 48-47)
Mike Rodriguez def. Marcin Prachnio by KO (punches), 2: 17, Spherical 1
Joe Solecki def. Austin Hubbard by submission (rear-naked choke), 3: 51, Spherical 1
Shana Dobson def. Mariya Agapova by TKO (punches), 1: 38, Spherical 2
Daniel Rodriguez def. Dwight Grant by TKO (punches), 2: 24, Spherical 1
Preliminary Card
Amanda Lemos def. Mizuki Inoue by unanimous determination (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Jordan Wright def. Ike Villanueva by TKO (physician stoppage), 1: 31, Spherical 1
Matthew Semelsberger def. Carlton Minus by unanimous determination (29-28, 30-27, 30-26)
Trevin Jones def. Timur Valiev by TKO (punches), 1: 59, Spherical 2
Performances of the Evening: Shana Dobson, Trevin Jones
Fight of the Evening: Edgar-Munhoz
