(via UFC on FOX)
In Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson vs. Rory “I Refuse to Write His Nickname” MacDonald, we were expecting one of the more technical battles you’ll ever see in the octagon; one was a kickboxing and karate master with a wealth of experience behind him, the other an archetype of the modern MMA fighter whose only losses had come to the top 1% of his division. Suffice it to say, a sloppy haymaker-fest it would not end up being (not that there’s anything wrong with that).
Our predictions, as it turns out, were mostly spot-on. What we might not have expected, however, is that Thompson would almost completely shut down MacDonald’s attack over the the course of five rounds and reduce his face to the mashed-up pile of blood and gore that only Robbie Lawler before him was able to do.
It was quite possibly Thompson’s best performance to date, and one that cemented his name as the next title contender (after Tyron Woodley, for whatever reason). As for the “Red King” (dammit, I said it!), well, it looks like it’s back to the drawing board, by which I mean that he may very well have to hire a team of scientists and graphic artists to draw him up a new nose, because he won’t have much of a fighting future left with the one he’s got.
Head after the jump for a complete recap of Fight Night 89.
The post Fight Night 89 Results/Highlights: Thompson Outguns MacDonald, Cerrone Batters Cote + More appeared first on Cagepotato.
(via UFC on FOX)
In Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson vs. Rory “I Refuse to Write His Nickname” MacDonald, we were expecting one of the more technical battles you’ll ever see in the octagon; one was a kickboxing and karate master with a wealth of experience behind him, the other an archetype of the modern MMA fighter whose only losses had come to the top 1% of his division. Suffice it to say, a sloppy haymaker-fest it would not end up being (not that there’s anything wrong with that).
Our predictions, as it turns out, were mostly spot-on. What we might not have expected, however, is that Thompson would almost completely shut down MacDonald’s attack over the the course of five rounds and reduce his face to the mashed-up pile of blood and gore that only Robbie Lawler before him was able to do.
It was quite possibly Thompson’s best performance to date, and one that cemented his name as the next title contender (after Tyron Woodley, for whatever reason). As for the “Red King” (dammit, I said it!), well, it looks like it’s back to the drawing board, by which I mean that he may very well have to hire a team of scientists and graphic artists to draw him up a new nose, because he won’t have much of a fighting future left with the one he’s got.
Head after the jump for a complete recap of Fight Night 89.
In the evening’s co-main event, Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone improved to 2-0 as a welterweight with a surprisingly dominant performance over Patrick “Look Into My Eyes and See The Wellspring of All Creation” Cote. Known the world across for his notoriously tough chin — which has stood up to the likes of Anderson Silva, Stephen Thompson, and Tito Ortiz — the Canadian “Predator” was dropped on numerous occasions by Cerrone, finally succumbing to a flourish of strikes in the third round. The sky appears to be the limit for Cerrone at 170 for now, which begs the question: With USADA’s recently-implemented weight-cutting rules now in place, are we about to enter the era of fighters going *up* a weight-class to save their careers? Details at 11.
You know that thing I said early about haymaker-fests? Well that’s more or less what the light heavyweight battle between Steve “The Boss” Bosse and Sean “The New Tom Lawler of Weigh-Ins” O’Connell was (are these nickname jokes working for you at all?), and it was fantastic. After nearly getting slept in the first round — well, actually getting slept, then somehow recovering — Bosse managed to rally in the second and third to deliver some brutal punishment of his own. How either guy had the stamina or strength left to engage in that final exchange is beyond impressive, and the UFC should probably do the sensible thing and book them in a rematch on every other card for the rest of eternity.
But it wouldn’t be a night of MMA without some horrific judging and/or refereeing, amiright Nation? On Saturday, that came in the form of referee Jerin Valel, who you might remember as the guy who nearly got Ruan Potts, Josh Koscheck *and* Mark Munoz killed back at UFC 184, who all but forced Valerie Letourneau to go out on her shield against Joanna Calderwood after she had clearly given up. You’d think that a fighter turning her back on his/her opponent and fleeing would be enough of a sign that they were unable to fight back, but not for Jerin Valel. Because Jerin Valel does not operate under the assumptions that you or I do. No, when he sees a man being choked within an inch of his life, he makes sure that he sees his soul dip its toes into the Netherrealm before bringing him back to life. He’s basically the Red Priestess of MMA in that regard.
The full results for Fight night 89 are below.
Main card
Stephen Thompson def. Rory MacDonald via unanimous decision (50-45 x2, 48-47)
Donald Cerrone def. Patrick Cote via third-round TKO (2:35)
Steve Bosse def. Sean O’Connell via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-27)
Olivier Aubin-Mercier def. Thibault Gouti via submission (rear-naked choke) (R3, 2:28)
Joanne Calderwood def. Valerie Letourneau via third-round TKO (2:51)
Undercard
Jason Saggo def. Leandro Silva via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Misha Cirkunov def. Ion Cutelaba via submission (arm triangle) (R3, 1:22)
Krzysztof Jotko def. Tamdan McCrory via first-round TKO (0:59)
Joe Soto def. Chris Beal via submission (rear-naked choke) (R3, 3:39)
Elias Theodorou def. Sam Alvey via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27 x2)
Randa Markos def. Jocelyn Jones-Lybarger via UD (30-27, 29-28 x2)
Colby Covington def. Jonathan Meunier via submission (rear-naked choke) (R3, :54)
Ali Bagautinov def. Geane Herrera via unanimous decision (30-27 x3)
The post Fight Night 89 Results/Highlights: Thompson Outguns MacDonald, Cerrone Batters Cote + More appeared first on Cagepotato.
