UFC 212 emanated from Jeunesse Arena tonight (Saturday, June 3, 2017) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The main event featured the best featherweight of all time and two of the best strikers doing it today in Jose Aldo and Max Holloway. And the two featherweights took home Fight of the Night honors for their epic brawl. […]
UFC 212 emanated from Jeunesse Arena tonight (Saturday, June 3, 2017) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The main event featured the best featherweight of all time and two of the best strikers doing it today in Jose Aldo and Max Holloway. And the two featherweights took home Fight of the Night honors for their epic brawl.
Aldo got off to a good start, peppering the interim champion with multi-punch combinations and kicks. He took the first round and arguably won the second, as well. But the challenger turned things up in the third, smashing Aldo with punches and kicks. The Brazilian wilted under the relentless pressure and volume of the interim champion. The back-and-forth affair earned both men $50,000 Fight of the Night honors.
The first Performance of the Night bonus check went to co-main event winner Claudia Gadelha, who submitted Karolina Kowalkiewicz via Rear-Naked Choke. Gadelha ran roughshod over Kowalkiewicz, passed the guard, took the back, and wrapped up the neck of the Polish striker. She left $50,000 richer for her efforts.
The second Performance of the Night bonus check went to UFC newcomer Brian Kelleher, who submitted long-time veteran Iuri Alcantara via Guillotine Choke submission. The back-and-forth battle resulted in Iuri giving up his neck and Kelleher jumping on it. Shockingly, the American debutante elicited the tap, winning an extra $50,000 for his efforts.
Keep it locked to LowKickMMA.com for all your post-fight analysis of UFC 212.
UFC 212 popped off tonight (Saturday, June 3, 2017) from Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The headliner was an absolutely incredible matchup between the undisputed featherweight champion Jose Aldo and interim titleholder Max “Blessed” Holloway, two of the very best strikers in MMA. Holloway shocked the world. A competitive first two rounds changed up […]
UFC 212 popped off tonight (Saturday, June 3, 2017) from Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The headliner was an absolutely incredible matchup between the undisputed featherweight champion Jose Aldo and interim titleholder Max “Blessed” Holloway, two of the very best strikers in MMA.
Holloway shocked the world. A competitive first two rounds changed up in round three: Holloway started taking over. A 1-2-1-2 combination dropped Aldo and Holloway pounced. The punches and elbows came fast and furious until referee Big John McCarthy was forced to step in to save the Brazilian. The unexpected beating silenced the pro-Aldo crowd.
The co-headliner pit two of the very best strawweights in the world against each other, as Claudia Gadelha welcomed Pole Karolina Kowalkiewicz to Brazil. It was not much of a competition, though. Gadelha took Kowalkiewicz’s back in round one and cinched up the rear-naked choke finish to reestablish herself as the number-one contender to Joanna Champion’s throne.
See how Twitter reacted to these fantastic scraps below:
He gassed ONCE 6 years ago when he was sick. Since then he won 5 rounders vs cardio machines Edgar (2x) and Mendes. He won R5 in all 3 https://t.co/TUtwbMkT3i
— Fury's Fight Picks (@FurysFightPicks) June 4, 2017
Pace will be the key here. Fast, and Holloway wears Aldo down by round three; slow, and Aldo outthinks him a shot at a time the whole fight.
Police scanner: Reports of a woman that took another down and applied a savage choke hold to render her victim helpless at #UFC212. pic.twitter.com/WDLRikiQNn
No. 1 and No. 2-ranked women’s strawweights Claudia Gadelha and Karolina Kowalkiewicz battled to keep a spot right below dominant champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk when they fought in the co-main event of tonight’s (June 3, 2017) UFC 212 from Rio. With the full pressure of fighting in her homeland heaped upon her shoulders, the general opinion […]
No. 1 and No. 2-ranked women’s strawweights Claudia Gadelha and Karolina Kowalkiewicz battled to keep a spot right below dominant champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk when they fought in the co-main event of tonight’s (June 3, 2017) UFC 212 from Rio.
With the full pressure of fighting in her homeland heaped upon her shoulders, the general opinion was that Gadelha would look to use her grappling and submission skills while Kowalkiewicz would look to keep it standing with her pinpoint Muay Thai skill.
The former proved true in jaw-dropping fashion in the end when Gadelha used a grinding takedown to ground Kowalkiewicz and immediately transition to her the Polish fighter’s back for a fight-ending rear-naked choke.
It was a dominant win that solidified Gadelha’s rank as the top 115-pound female other than ‘Joanna Champion,’ whom she will most likely face a third time some point down the road. For now, watch the full fight video highlights of Gadelha’s successful homecoming right here:
UFC 212 went down Saturday from one of the world’s true capitals of combat sports: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
In a lot of minds, the evening’s main event lost some luster before it was ever booked. Jose Aldo, widely considered the greatest featherweight o…
UFC 212 went down Saturday from one of the world’s true capitals of combat sports: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
In a lot of minds, the evening’s main event lost some luster before it was ever booked. Jose Aldo, widely considered the greatest featherweight of all time, lost his UFC title and more than a little of mystique back on December 12, 2015 at UFC 194. Before that night, he had only one pro loss on his record, and that was back in 2005. But Conor McGregor only needed 13 seconds to hand him his second defeat by way of a stunning knockout.
Aldo’s career has been mercurial, but it’s been marked far more deeply by greatness. Before his loss to McGregor, no other fighter had ever even held the UFC featherweight belt.
Saturday he faced one of the best featherweights of this or any other era in Hawaiian Max Holloway. All he’s done is win 10 in a row over the division’s best fighters. Still only 25 years old, Holloway improves with every contest despite already being considered a legitimately great fighter.
Aldo has the lineal championship again after UFC brass stripped McGregor (long story). Holloway has the interim title after he defeated Anthony Pettis. UFC belts don’t mean as much as they used to because of all the various interim shenanigans and what have you, but the chance to unify the straps is enticing. We’ll have that after the UFC 212 main event.
In the co-main event, strawweight contenders Claudia Gadelha and Karolina Kowalkiewicz battled it out in an exciting women’s bout.
And there were 10 other bouts besides. As usual, the final stat lines don’t reveal everything. Read on for the real winners and losers from UFC 212.
Claudia Gadelha and Karolina Kowalkiewicz entered as the top two contenders in the strawweight division, and their three combined losses all came at the hands of its champion—Joanna Jedrzejczyk.
3:03 would all it take for Gadelha to put a second …
Claudia Gadelha and Karolina Kowalkiewicz entered as the top two contenders in the strawweight division, and their three combined losses all came at the hands of its champion—Joanna Jedrzejczyk.
3:03 would all it take for Gadelha to put a second loss on Kowalkiewicz’s career.
Kowalkiewicz and Gadelha had early exchanges, and Kowalkiewicz’s length allowed her to score more early. Gadelha had to get Kowalkiewicz’s respect, and she did that with elbows from the clinch. Gadelha was able to get the double-underhooks and put Kowalkiewicz on her back.
Gadelha got to the back and sunk in a rear-naked choke for the easy win.
Kowalkiewicz was in tears after tapping, and Gadelha came over to console her opponent. The two embraced as they enter new paths in the strawweight division.
Gadelha had changed camps and moved to the United States to continually improve as she marches back toward a title shot. Saturday’s performance in her home of Rio de Janeiro showed those improvements. Gadelha walked through a true top contender as if she were an unranked foe.
The win for Gadelha should almost assure that Rose Namajunas is next in line for a title shot. Gadelha, having suffered two losses to Jedrzejczyk, will still need another fight or two before she gets her call. In the post-fight interview, Gadelha made no callout, saying only that she plans on moving full-time to Albuquerque, buying a new car and a fancy dog. Fair enough.
Kowalkiewicz will have to go back into the pack as she falls off the pace for her title chance. Meeting Viviane Pereira, who won on the UFC 212 undercard, would be an appropriate fight.
Gadelha will no doubt fight another contender. Of those top contenders, only Tecia Torres is coming off a win. That makes her the logical choice.
Gadelha’s move to Albuquerque paid off in a massive way with one of her most impressive performances to date. No matter who the UFC chooses for both women in their next outings, we can expect both to be perennial contenders for the foreseeable future.
UFC 212 is not about Conor McGregor. It is about the real undisputed, UFC featherweight championship of the world between Max Holloway vs. Jose Aldo.
The storyline that McGregor is still the 145-pound champion needs to be thrown out the windo…
UFC 212 is not about ConorMcGregor. It is about the real undisputed, UFC featherweight championship of the world between Max Holloway vs. Jose Aldo.
The storyline that McGregor is still the 145-pound champion needs to be thrown out the window at this point. Aldo is unfairly being called a fake champion, while Holloway has been waiting with incredible patience for his shot at the top of the totem poll after sweeping through the featherweight division on an incredible 10-fight win streak.
Tonight’s main event is bound to be an instant classic. How could it not be? Two diverse, athletic and fearless strikers going at each other for five rounds? That’s how you sell pay-per-views, ladies and gentlemen.
Speaking of PPVs, let’s take a quick look at UFC 212’s main card that will be seen live on PPV from Rio deJaneiro, Brazil, as well as the night’s preliminary bouts that can be seen on Fox Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass.
UFC 212 Fight Card and Odds
PPV at 10 p.m. ET
Jose Aldo -150 vs. Max Holloway -125
Claudia Gadelha -350 vs. Karolina Kowalkiewicz +265
Co-main event: Claudia Gadelha vs. Karolina Kowalkiewicz
Rose Namajunas may believe that she is in line for the next title shot, but the reality is that UFC 212’s co-main event is the title eliminator between the two best 115-pound fighters in the world not named Joanna Jedrzejczyk.
Both Gadelha and Kowalkiewicz have gone toe-to-toe with the champion and at times looked to be the better fighter. Gadelha has had two wars with Jedrzejczyk, and it can be argued that in a three-round fight, Gadelha would’ve won the rematch handily.
Unfortunately for her, fighting the champion puts you in deep waters with five rounds, which left Gadelha gassed. As for Kowalkiewicz, she came alive in rounds four and five against the champion last November and hurt Jedrzejczyk in a way we haven’t seen before. Both fighters have only lost to the champion, but this fight favors Gadelha because it’s three rounds, meaning she won’t be gassed when it matters most.
Furthermore, Gadelha is in a new camp where she feels she unstoppable, per Fox Sports:
“I didn’t want to go anywhere where I would change my game completely. That’s why I was studying all the possibilities, to find the best coach to add new tools to my game without changing me. Chris Luttrell is somebody that works perfect for what I do in MMA, plus I get to train at Jackson’s with all the amazing fighters and trainers and I think that’s the best thing I did.
“I feel different. I feel great. It’s kind hard to explain because it’s so new to me. I have to challenge myself and go somewhere that’s different. I’m trying different things 24/7. I’m excited to perform. I’m excited to see how I’m going to perform. I feel like I became a better athlete, I have more mobility, everything is in the right place. I feel much better than I used to.”
Gadelha 2.0? That’s a scary thought.
As good as Kowalkiewicz is, she won’t be able to execute her game plan in a three-round fight against a mauler like Gadelha. Expect Gadelha to bring Kowalkiewicz to the canvas with regularity en route to a unanimous-decision win, setting up a third fight with “Joanna Champion.”
Main event: Jose Aldo vs. Max Holloway
Finally, the UFC’s featherweight division will crown its undisputed champion without any interim or default belts. This is going to be a great fight, no matter who wins. Holloway is as fearless as they come, and he won’t be intimidated once he steps inside the Octagon.
Let’s not forget how much courage he showed against Ricardo Lamas at the end of a fight he had already one. The Waianae boy just likes to scrap.
Holloway is a very well-rounded fighter and has shown an ability to finish fights via submission, TKO or by decision. One of his most impressive victories came against Cub Swanson when he submitted him with a guillotine choke, solidifying his status as one of the sport’s rising stars.
But make no mistake about it: Holloway will come forward and put Aldo on the back foot and test out his chin. And he’s not intimidated by fighting in Aldo’s backyard, per MMA Fighting:
He may not have one-punch knockout power, but Holloway has the endurance to throw combinations of five-plus strikes at a time without wearing down. Aldo is in for a tough fight against the Hawaiian, even if he is a legend.
The general consensus is that Aldo will come out looking to take out Holloway’s legs with his lethal kicks, but that’s going to be difficult if Aldo is constantly on the back foot. Holloway hasn’t been walked down by an opponent since he fought McGregor as a young prospect, and he’s improved with every fight he’s had inside of the Octagon.
Aldo’s legacy won’t be defined by 13 seconds against McGregor, but his legacy as the world’s most dominant 145-pound fighter ends tonight as the new age of the featherweight division takes hold.
Holloway is the future of the division, and he will put on a show tonight, leaving no doubt that he is the best featherweight in the world in a scintillating five-round war that Holloway walks away from with the belt, via unanimous decision.
