March MMAdness: Day 10 - The Round Of 32 Continues! | UFC Betting Sites

March may be coming to a close, but Mania’s March MMAdness ends when we say it ends.

Robbie Lawler vs. Rory MacDonald 2 (#1) defeats Chan Sung Jung vs. Dustin Poirier (#32) with 91 percent of Maniac votes
Jim Miller vs. Joe Lauzon 1 (#48) defeats Jose Aldo vs. Chad Mendes 2 (#16) with 52 percent of Maniac votes
Robbie Lawler vs. Carlos Condit (#9) defeats Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz 1 (#24) with 53 percent of Maniac votes
Don Frye vs. Yoshihiro Takayama (#25) defeats Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz 2 (#8) with 57 percent of Maniac votes

Miller vs. Lauzon 1 continues its Cinderella run, though it’ll have the fight of its life in the next round. In addition, Lawler vs. Condit and Frye vs. Takayama ensured that we’re not going to have McGregor vs. Diaz 1 vs. McGregor vs. Diaz 2.

Match 5: Jon Jones vs. Alexander Gustafsson 1 (#4) vs. Shogun Rua vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira 1 (#36)

VS.

The greatest Light Heavyweight title fight in Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) history performed up to expectations in the opening round, taking a comfortable 32-point victory over No. 61-seeded Eddie Alvarez vs. Michael Chandler 2. The greatest Light Heavyweight fight in Pride FC history, meanwhile, pulled off a minor upset over Johny Hendricks vs. Robbie Lawler 1, becoming the first (and thus far only) match up to take out a “Ruthless” fight in the opening round.

Jones vs. Gustafsson certainly has the technical edge here — Shogun and “Minotouro” were plenty skilled, sure, but their bout largely came down to aggression and persistence rather than strategy. That said, “Shogun’s” flying stomps have a definite charm and the pace, at least in their most furious exchanges, outstrips any of Jones-Gustafsson’s wilder moments.

Match 6: Nick Diaz vs. Takanori Gomi (#20) vs. Yair Rodriguez vs. Chan Sung Jung (#52)

VS.

The Diaz vs. Gomi donnybrook started its run by slaying an “Immortal,” more than doubling up on No. 45-ranked Matt Brown vs. Erick Silva’s vote count to join Nate’s two bouts with Conor McGregor in the Round of 32. On the other side, one of the most shocking endings in UFC history was enough for Rodriguez vs. Jung to score the tournament’s biggest upset so far at the expense of No. 13 seed Cub Swanson vs. Doo Ho Choi.

Two rounds of balls-out slugging versus 4.99 rounds of tense, back-and-forth action. Rodriguez vs. Jung’s secret weapon — the one-of-a-kind finish — may have met its match in Diaz’s gogoplata, which only Shinya Aoki’s submission of Joachim Hansen can rival in terms of landing that technique on a high-level opponent. This could come down to your preference between crazy haymakers and flying/spinning sh*t.

Match 7: Gilbert Melendez vs. Diego Sanchez (#12) vs. Israel Adesanya vs. Kelvin Gastelum (#21)

VS.

It came down to a margin of just seven votes out of 269 total, but Melendez vs. Sanchez managed to turn aside a terrific underdog effort from No. 53 seed Tony Ferguson vs. Anthony Pettis. Meanwhile, even an executive substitution wasn’t enough to save the No. 44 seed from 2019’s “Fight of the Year,” though I still implore you to watch Jorge Santiago vs. Kazuo Misaki 2 if you haven’t already.

This is just a straight-up clash between violence and technique. Though Melendez largely kept his cool enough to box Sanchez’s ears off, their fight was unquestionably a brawl. Adesanya vs. Gastelum didn’t have anywhere near that sort of breakneck pace, but it did have more consistent competitiveness, more knockdowns, and higher-level kickboxing. Which type of battle tickles your fancy?

Match 8: Nick Diaz vs. Paul Daley (#28) vs. Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard 2 (#5)

VS.

The Diaz brothers’ perfect (4-0) run in the Round of 64 culminated with Nick’s beatdown of Paul Daley soundly overpowering the clash of Heavyweight legends that was No. 37-ranked Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Randy Couture. Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard 2 had an even more dominant performance, bouncing No. 60 seed Diego Sanchez vs. Karo Parisyan from the tournament with a cool 84 percent of the Maniac vote.

Two all-time-great first rounds go head-to-head in this match up. Diaz vs. Daley had the more shocking momentum swings, but Edgar vs. Maynard 2 had another four competitive rounds to support the insanity of its first five minutes. In terms of pure violence, it’s a toss-up — you’ll have you ask yourself how much you value compactness.

To reiterate: spread the word, share socially … do whatever grassroots / viral “Get Out The Vote” campaign needed to ensure your favorite fights advance to the next round. Complaining in the comments section about seeding and whatnot will not impact the results and will just make you look like an unappreciative dick.

Same time tomorrow, Maniacs.

Be sure to also check out our March MMAdness archive — which includes the entire bracket — to catch up on the tournament right here.