Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC
UFC Fight Island 4 went down last night (Sat., Oct. 3, 2020) from inside Flash Forum on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. In the main event of the evening, Holly Holm absolutely out-classed Irene Aldana to earn a unanimous decision win (see it again here). In the co-headlining act, Carlos Felipe won a unanimous decision over Yorgan de Castro in a wild Heavyweight brawl (recap here).
Biggest Winner: Holly Holm
Holm desperately wants to get back to another title fight, and after routing Aldana on “Fight Island” she took a huge step toward that goal. “The Preacher’s Daughter” absolutely dominated her Mexican-born opponent to the tune of a clean sweep on the judges scorecards, giving her back-to-back wins. Currently ranked No. 2 in the division, Holm may have to win one more fight before she gets back to the big dance again since Germaine de Randamie — ranked No. 1 — who also picked up a huge win on “Fight Island.” That said, a rematch between the two talented strikers seems to be on the horizon.
Runner Up: Germaine de Randamie
After coming up short against Amanda Nunes in her previous bout in a women’s Bantamweight title fight, de Randamie bounced back nicely with a huge win over Julianna Pena. “Iron Lady” choked out “Venezuelan Vixen” with a clean guillotine choke, putting her to sleep in the third and final round, proving that she isn’t just a striker. With the win, Germaine gets right back in the title hunt for the sheer fact that there aren’t a whole lot of contenders kicking down the door (other than Holm). “Iron Lady” is still ranked No. 1 so she has the edge on Holm, but a rematch between them simply makes sense. Remember, too, that Nunes has business to take care of at Featherweight, as well. So if de Randamie can take out Holm one more time, she should get another chance to dethrone “Lioness” from one of her thrones.
Honorable Mention: Carlos Condit
Welcome back to the win column, “Natural Born Killer,” it’s been a while! Actually it’s been five years and four months since Condit last tasted victory prior to last night’s win over Court McGee. Did he look like his old self? No, not exactly. But Condit’s win was much-needed for the former WEC and UFC Welterweight champion, who was either on the brink of getting cut from the promotion or retiring. As a result of his win, Condit will likely keep chugging along and hope to build on this momentum. Where you at … Nick?
Biggest Loser: Irene Aldana
Aldana came in with high hopes of earning her first-ever shot at UFC gold, but the Mexican sensation unfortunately couldn’t get anything going against the former pro boxer and ex-women’s Bantamweight champion. The experience factor clearly showed in this fight, as Aldana simply couldn’t make the proper adjustments to be able to find openings to put hands on Holm. To make matters worse, she was taken down more times in this fight than she had been in her previous UFC fights combined, which really took the wind out of her sails. It will be back to the drawing board and a long flight back home for Aldana who will have to work her way back up to another title eliminator bout, which could be a grueling task to say the least.
For complete UFC Fight Island 4: “Holm vs. Aldana” results and play-by-play, click HERE!