Tim B. takes a look at a decision-filled UFC Greenville that ended with a bang.
I’ve been a huge Korean Zombie fan for a very long time. Even before he was lighting things up in the WEC, he was entertaining everyone in DEEP and Sengoku. Through his WEC run, he gained popularity for his fighting style, and that has never changed. Win or lose, he always comes to fight.
Tonight, Renato Moicano wasn’t ready for the Zombie.
They had barely got started before Zombie landed the PERFECT shot. Moicano’s eyes rolled back in his head and it’s a testament to his toughness that he didn’t go out at that exact second. Somehow he held on for a little while on the ground, but once KZ flattened him out, it was over. 58 seconds. The Korean Zombie is back, folks!
- I’m not really sure where Moicano goes from here. That was a really, really damaging loss for his career.
- Randy Brown and Bryan Barberena didn’t exactly light it up. Brown used his reach advantage well and did some damage in the clinch. Barberena tried to walk Rude Boy down but couldn’t really get anywhere. Finally in the third round Brown started getting the best of his opponent, hurting him with a body kick and then finishing him off with a flurry of punches and knees. Great win for Brown.
- Andre Ewell and Anderson dos Santos went out there and did their job in a fight that was supposed to open the event, but ended up in a featured spot. They threw down like it was a hockey fight at times. Ewell used his length to very good effect. Dos Santos showed off some excellent grappling and tenacity. Ultimately Ewell earned the decision, but Dos Santos looked good coming out of this as well.
- Andrea Lee looked awesome against Montana De La Rosa. Her striking was on point, but what really impressed me was her improved grappling ability. She got taken down a few times, but never got put flat on her back and used some deft escapes and straight strength to get back up. She even engaged in the grappling with De La Rosa herself at times. She’s got a big future at flyweight.
- There were two stories of Kevin Holland vs. Alessio Di Chirico. One is that Holland blew out his shoulder and still fought another half of a fight that way. The other is that Di Chirico pretty clearly took two rounds, but Holland was awarded a decision. It was bad. I had it 30-27 Di Chirico.
- Man, Kevin Aguilar has some kind of chin. Dan Ige put in on him, particularly in the third round, and he survived a ton of hellacious shots. He even fought back. He was right there. He dropped a decision, but he greatly impressed me with his tenacity. And Ige hits HARD. He’s scary.
- Ashley Yoder completely dominated Syuri Condo on the ground for three rounds. One of the scores was 30-24. That’s all you need to know.
- Matt Wiman was making his return to the UFC after five years. It was a nice story. Well it was for about 30 seconds, until Luis Pena busted Wiman wide open above the eye. It looked like the fight would get stopped right there. It didn’t, and Wiman lasted to the third round trying to attack with leg locks, but he seemed a step behind the whole time. Finally “Violent Bob Ross” pounded him out in the third round.
- Holy hell, Jairzinho Rozenstruik. The fighter from Suriname immediately dropped Allen Crowder with jab, then one shot put him out on the floor. He landed two more for good measure before the ref got there. Nine seconds. Extremely impressive.
- Molly McCann put it on Ariane Lipski. She did get cut up and had a lot of blood on her face, but she largely dominated a fun fight that went to the final horn.
- The card sure started off with a bang. Eric Spicely came in on six days of notice to fight Deron Winn, and they went to war. Winn won all three rounds, but they threw an absolute ton of strikes and both put on a great performance. If you didn’t see the card, this is the fight you should go back and watch.