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On Saturday evening, the UFC returned from a two-week hiatus with the 13-fight UFC Fight Night time 189 card.
The card was topped by a heavyweight clash between No. 6-ranked contender Jairzinho Rozenstruik and the No. 9-ranked Augusto Sakai. Rozenstruik won the fight with a fundamental-round knockout, rebounding from a forgettable possibility loss to Ciryl Gane in the assignment.
The UFC Fight Night time 189 co-fundamental match furthermore came about at heavyweight, where Marcin Tybura picked up a fundamental-round TKO utilize over Walt Harris. Other highlights of the card, at closing, incorporated commendable wins from the likes of Roman Dolidze, Santiago Ponzinibbio, Montana De La Rosa, and Manon Fiorot.
Nevertheless who essentially won the most ground by the time the circulation concluded? And who essentially sustained the toughest losses?
Preserve scrolling for our utilize.
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Jairzinho Rozenstruik has made a behavior of beating the clock.
Lend a hand in 2019, the Surinamese kickboxing specialist, who is for the time being ranked No. 6 at heavyweight, wowed viewers by knocking out Alistair Overeem at 4: 56 of the fifth round, narrowly warding off what would had been a possibility loss in the assignment.
Within the UFC Fight Night time 189 fundamental match, he executed a the same feat, scoring a brutal knockout utilize over Brazilian contender August Sakai in the final 2d of the fundamental round.
It was precisely the form of efficiency Rozenstruik wanted after an especially disappointing possibility loss to Ciryl Gane, and one which ought to peaceful originate him one other mountainous fight in the increasingly more aggressive heavyweight division.
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When Poland’s Marcin Tybura signed with the UFC motivate in 2016, he was broadly considered as a future title contender. He’d already won the heavyweight title in M-1 in Russia, and regarded cherish he would possibly possibly possibly possibly wish the talents required to copy that feat in the UFC.
Unfortunately, the fundamental few years of Tybura’s UFC sprint were the rest but a condominium sprint. Between 2016 and 2019, he tallied correct four victories amongst 9 fights.
The upright news is that Tybura, now 35, at closing appears to be like to be residing up to his attainable.
Within the UFC Fight Night time 189 co-fundamental match, he weathered some early adversity to attain a fundamental-round TKO utilize over knockout artist Walt Harris. With that utilize, he prolonged his most contemporary utilize whisk to five—a feat that most curious surging contender Ciryl Gane and reigning champion Francis Ngannou can match in the heavyweight division.
It remains to be seen how shut to the belt Tybura will in truth gain, but he would possibly possibly possibly possibly quickly be within arm’s reach. It’s about time.
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Forward of UFC Fight Night time 189, Santiago Ponzinibbio and Miguel Baeza’s fundamental card welterweight scrap was seen as a frontrunner for the evening’s Fight of the Night time honors. It surpassed those lofty expectations, going down as an on the spot Fight of the 300 and sixty five days contender.
The 2 welterweights traded heavy artillery from bell to bell, lovely all who were lustrous enough to tune in. Within the tip, Ponzinibbio won the fight by unanimous possibility—his first victory since procedure motivate in November of 2018—but it indubitably was the form of fight with no precise losers. The 2 males can return to their training properties in Florida with their heads held excessive—and $50,000 Fight of the Night time bonuses in their bank accounts.
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After UFC Fight Night time 189, damaged-down gentle heavyweight contender Ilir Latifi is now 1-1 in the UFC heavyweight division. No topic his hitting the .500 save in the burden class, alternatively, he’s regarded rather underwhelming.
Latifi made his debut in the division motivate in February of 2020, losing a nap-inducing possibility to Derrick Lewis. At UFC Fight Night time 189, he rebounded from that loss with a wreck up possibility utilize over Canadian expertise Tanner Boser. Unfortunately, that utilize was extremely controversial, with many viewers feeling the judges bought it incorrect.
To make issues worse, Latifi has proven a ridiculous aversion to inserting at heavyweight, landing correct 15 vital strikes in the 30 minutes he’s spent competing in the burden class.
No topic the kind you swing it, he’s been the rest but spectacular as a heavyweight, and he’ll be lustrous to fall motivate down to 205 kilos.
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The dreaded gaze poke made one other examine UFC Fight Night time 189—with vital ramifications.
Within the fourth bout of the undercard, Welsh prospect Mason Jones was disadvantaged of what would possibly possibly possibly possibly had been a essentially spectacular utilize after he inadvertently poked Alan Patrick in the gaze with fight-ending severity. He’ll now return to Wales with a disappointing No Contest on his file—rarely rate the day out to Las Vegas.
To make issues worse, we bought one other gaze poke plenty of fights later, when Francisco Trinaldo inadvertently bought his digits into the gaze of Muslim Salikhov. Thankfully, that one didn’t power the tip of the fight, but it indubitably sure didn’t survey relaxing either.
It’s laborious to shriek what the diagram to MMA’s hyper-frequent gaze pokes is. Some imagine a glove redesign is the associated fee. Others imagine referees ought to peaceful assemble a bigger job of warning and disciplining warring parties for fouls. Regardless of the case, these sad incidents are inclined to preserve stinking up our cherished UFC cards unless one thing adjustments. And it doesn’t seem cherish the rest goes to vary any time quickly.
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UFC females’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko has been so dominant that she’s running out of contemporary challengers, which makes new flyweight prospects are particularly priceless at this stage.
On the UFC Fight Night time 189 undercard, we witnessed an spectacular efficiency from an excellent flyweight prospect in Nice, France’s Manon Fiorot, who picked up a TKO utilize over brief-see change opponent Tabatha Ricci.
Whereas a utilize over a transient-see foe cherish Ricci isn’t going originate Fiorot a title shot, or even a voice in the division’s top 15, it was one other indication that she’s destined for huge things. She’s now 7-1 general with all but one in all those wins coming by knockout or TKO.
Stats cherish that can likely gain Shevchenko’s attention in the no longer-too-a long way-off future.
