Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson should have been a part of the UFC 189 fight card. A night after the UFC put on a show at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Thompson scored a highlight-reel KO over Jake Ellenberger with a Power Ranger-like spinning hook kick.
ABS-CBN Sports has the kick that ended Ellenberger’s night:
Thompson had floored Ellenberger with the same maneuver just moments before. With Ellenberger still dazed, Thompson’s coaches urges him to go back to the move and he did. The shot landed on top of Ellenberger’s head, and he crumpled to the mat. Referee John McCarthy called an end to the bout almost immediately.
Thompson could very well find himself ranked in the top 10 after this performance. He’s won four fights in a row since losing a unanimous decision to Matt Brown back in 2012. Thompson’s crowd-pleasing style should make him an attractive prospect for the UFC to find an opponent for in his next fight.
As for Ellenberger, things aren’t looking good. This was his fourth loss in five fights with his only win coming over Josh Koscheck. In an effort to continue to fight, Koscheck recently signed with Bellator. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Ellenberger follow suit.
Usman and Blackzilians Reign Supreme over Hassan and American Top Team
With a suffocating attack, Kamaru Usman controlled Hayder Hassan for all of the first round. In the second round, he seemed buzzed by an uppercut, and the Blackzilians representative quickly took Hassan down again. Usman sunk in the arm-triangle choke from the mount position and forced the tapout.
Usman is only going to get better. That’s scary news for other 170-pounders in the UFC. He now has a 6-1 record in his MMA career with all of his wins coming by stoppage. On Sunday, he won the Blackzilians the $300,000 grand prize for The Ultimate Fighter Season 21 finale.
In a few years, he could be going for individual gold. Bloody Elbow likes his potential:
Here’s a look at the results table and a breakdown of the other fights on the card.
Gates Lives Up to His Nickname
Willie “Whoop Ass” Gates made quick work of Darrell Montague in the opening fight of the evening. Gates came out with a variety of kicks and punches that led to the stoppage win just 1:36 into the fight.
Speed was the biggest factor and figures to be Gates’ biggest advantage in most fights. It was a nice bounce-back win after being submitted by John Moraga in his UFC debut, but we need to see much more before we’ll know if the 28-year-old from Los Angeles can grow into a contender.
Sullivan Muddies Waters
For three rounds, George Sullivan outlanded Dominic Waters by a wide marginSunday. Neither man looked exceptionally skilled on their feet, but Sullivan got the better of most of the exchanges and looked to have a shot at finishing Waters late in the third.
He couldn’t get it done, but he still took the lopsided unanimous decision
Smith Dominates Miller
Without question, Trevor Smith dominated Dan Miller, but some of the scorecards were odd. Clearly, Bleacher Report’s Jeremy Botter agrees:
You can see from the fight stats Smith dominated the striking, but a 30-25 score seemed strange. Nonetheless, the right man won the fight and continues to alternate wins and losses in the UFC.
In six fights, Smith has yet to win or lose two in a row. That’s not exactly a formula for advancement.
Sanders Wins Terrible Fight
After UFC 189 Saturday night, fights like the one Jerrod Sanders had with Russell Doane should be banned. Saturday’s action was great almost from start to finish, but this fight had a total of 28 significant strikes.
Sanders’ wrestling was the biggest factor in his win, but I promise you there was nothing much to discuss about this fight. If you saw it live, you have my condolences. I’m sorry for your loss…of time.
Samman Continues to Sizzle
After a highlight-reel KO of Eddie “Truck” Gordon at UFC 182, Josh Samman won his fourth straight fight—all by stoppage—on Sunday night. Samman submitted Caio Magalhaes in the first round.
Magalhaes is known as a solid submission artist, but it was Samman who obtained his back in a scramble and secured the finish.
Suddenly, Samman has become an interesting contender at 185 pounds. He’s not just winning, he’s also finishing opponents in spectacular fashion. Keep an eye on him as he attempts to progress toward a top-15 ranking.
Per MMA Fighting and John Morgan of MMA Junkie, Magalhaes wasn’t exactly a good sport before or after he was made to tap out:
Well then.
Blanco Wins By Premature Stoppage
Just 16 seconds into the fight, Maximo Blanco landed a hard right hand that wobbled Mike De La Torre. The latter looked to be headed for serious trouble, but he was about two punches away from being totally out of the fight.
Referee Yves Lavigne seemed to think the dazed fighter had already been damaged beyond recovery. He stopped the fight and the crowd booed…loudly.
Bleacher Report’s Duane Finley and Jeremy Botter shared their disappointment in Lavigne’s decision:
Was De La Torre probably going to get stopped? Yes, but the referee has to give a hurt fighter a reasonable chance to recover. Lavigne is a good referee, but this was a bad call.
The Karate Hottie is More Than a Pretty Face
Michelle “The Karate Hottie” Waterson was excellent in her UFC debut against Angela Magana. She fought off a strong armbar submission attempt in the first round and dominated on the feet and in the grappling department en route to the third-round submission victory.
Here’s what Waterson said about the submission attempt she escaped, per MMA Fighting’s Shaheen Al-Shatti:
We knew Waterson was a dynamic striker, but her wrestling and submission defense were also solid. She’s about three fights away from being ready to challenge UFC strawweight champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk. That said, the competition will get much tougher than what Magana provided.
Masvidal Mashes Mutante
The most underrated fighter in the UFC again proved himself. Jorge Masvidal scored the stoppage win that has eluded him for much of his UFC career when he knocked out Cezar “Mutante” Ferreira. A short left elbow dazed Ferreira. A followup right hand sent him to the mat, and Masvidal landed four nasty punches to his downed opponent to get the stoppage win.
This was Masvidal’s first fight at welterweight, and he looked solid. It was just his second win by stoppage since 2009.
Obviously, the 170-pound division is stacked, but don’t bet against Masvidal becoming a ranked and legit contender with two more wins. Al-Shatti is appropriately excited about Masvidal’s opportunities at welterweight.
During the post-fight interview, Masvidal called out Matt Brown. Yes, please.
Graves Outworks Luque
With a relentless wrestling attack, Michael Graves took the first two rounds before gassing in the final frame. He was still able to protect himself against Vicente Luque’s submission attempts and win a unanimous decision.
Graves’ six takedowns showed off his impressive ground game, but in order to take the next step, he will need to improve his striking. He still looks a little clumsy in that area.
All stat images from Sportz Visionz on Twitter, per UFC.com.
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