Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) made its presence known to Greenville, South Carolina, last night (Sat., June 22, 2019) for UFC Fight Night 154. If we’re all being honest, last night was — on paper at least — one of the least interesting events of the year, and it suffered even worse when John Lineker fell off the event just a couple days before. On the bright side, the main event guaranteed action, and many of the undercard bouts were scraps as well.
Let’s take a look at the best techniques and performances of the night!
The Korean Zombie Walks Through Moicano
Whether you predicted Jung to win or not, did anyone expect this main event to last less than 60 seconds?
Two tough as nails, battle-tested veterans walked right up to each other with obvious confidence that there were the better man. Neither man danced around or feinted all that much to open the fight. Standing, staring, they dared each other to make the first move. Jung struck first, a hard calf kick that was made irrelevant 30 seconds later by the finish.
Moicano fired back not long after, shooting forth a quick, hard jab. Jung was more than ready for that strike, however, squatting low and slipping his head inside the punch while simultaneously launching a monstrous overhand into the jaw of his foe. Moicano’s knees failed to hold him up, allowing Jung to jump into back mount quickly as his opponent hit the mat. A few punches and some hip pressure later from Jung, and the bout was over.
After this win, Jung should be recognized as a top contender. Were it not for his lovable-but-awful decision to swing wildly at Yair Rodriguez one last time in the final 10 seconds, “The Korean Zombie” would be riding a three-fight win streak in 2019 — with all of those victories being extraordinary.
Jung just massacred a top five-ranked contender. It might just be time for another title eliminator, perhaps with someone like Zabit Magomedsharipov.
9 Second KO!
Jairzinho Rozenstruik is 2019’s most exciting addition to the Heavyweight roster.
“Bigi Boy” — who absolutely lives up to that name — transitioned to mixed martial arts (MMA) with 76 professional kickboxing wins on his record. The Surinamese athlete debuted earlier in the year, getting out-wrestled by Junior Albini early before shutting out the big “Baby’s” lights in the second.
Albini is a better fighter than last night’s opponent, Allen Crowder, and it showed. Crowder charged forward, and Rozenstruick struck quickly with a hard jab down the middle. Crowder hit the mat, rattled but aware. Immediately, Rozenstruick threw the legs aside and slammed a right directly into the jaw, sending Crowder limp.
Despite all that kickboxing experience, Rozenstruick remains just 31 years old — an adolescent compared to many heavyweights. While the Albini fight showed there is work to be done regarding his wrestling/grappling, the sky appears the limit for the knockout artist.
Additional Thoughts
- Randy Brown defeats Bryan Barberena via third-round TKO: This was something of an odd fight, but an impressive win for Brown nonetheless. In the first, Barberena was inactive, allowing Brown to land more shots in a generally slow-paced round. Things heated up in the second, as Barberena forced a clinch war and seemed to get the better of those exchanges. Brown did not leave it to the judges, however, turning it up in the third to crack Barberena repeatedly with hard punches, snap kicks to the belly, and knees in the clinch. Once Brown hurt his foe, he remained composed but poured it with seriously hard shots, picking his weapons well to force a very durable man to crumble.
- Dan Ige defeats Kevin Aguilar via decision: In an absolute war, Ige looked better than ever. The Hawaiian’s kickboxing was exceptionally smooth, as he drew Aguilar forward and ripped off beautiful combinations. Ige simply flowed well, transitioning between hard counter shots and takedowns very well. Aguilar made it a scrap, but Ige’s timing and distance control were very much on point, making every bit of momentum Aguilar earned pretty painful.
- Luis Pena defeats Matt Wiman via third-round TKO: In the four years since Wiman competed last, the game has changed. The difference in footwork between these two was immediately obvious, as Wiman clunkily circled and charged in, whereas Pena stayed light on his feet and within his stance. Even so, Wiman held his own on his feet for the most part, landing some hard low kicks and decent punches. When the fight hit the mat, however, Wiman rushed and tried to force leg locks, allowing Pena to pull ahead and score massive punches and worsening a cut. Wiman kept putting himself on his back, and the damage added up over three rounds.
- Deron Winn defeats Eric Spicely via decision: Winn made headlines as a 5’5” middleweight, but the American Kickboxing Academy prospect proved his grit, pushing a hard pace and landing lots of combinations opposite Spicely. Spicely did his best to stay in the fight, sticking the shorter man with jabs and looking for knees from the clinch. He even rallied back in the third, making this a fun brawl overall. Winn has potential, but he’s also better suited for welterweight and has plenty to work on.
For complete UFC Fight Night 154 ‘Moicano vs. Jung’ results and play-by-play, click HERE!