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Merab dominates, Harrison claims her throne: UFC 316 recap and reactions

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JMD

The first two fight of the night weren’t as notable as Marquel Mederos and Quillan Salkilld claim victory by Unanimous Decision. In the third fight, JooSang Yoo shined in his UFC debut. This has a potential for knockout of the year and we’re barely getting our feet wet into a stacked fight month of June. Yoo came in at 8-0 and the heavy favorite against Jeka Saragih, but the finish in the first 30 seconds of the bout was impressive to watch. Yoo caught Saragih with a sexy left hook as Saragih was entering the danger zone while Yoo was backing up towards the cage. This guy has some POP to his hands and showed that he can snipe with some impeccable timing here. I think Yoo has the chance to get a nice name in his net fight…maybe not ranked, but he should be fighting someone everyone in the MMA world knows.

In a shocker, as Khaos Williams came in as a -195 favorite, Andreas Gustafsson claimed victory by Unanimous Decision in his UFC debut. I don’t mean shocker as in Williams got robbed, I mean I’m shocked that Williams got dominated the way he did. It’s an interesting road ahead for Williams, some may say chaotic, as he has now dropped both of his last two fights where he looked mediocre at best. For Gustaffson, a Dana White’s Contenders Series alumb, he now opens the door to move up in the Welterweight division. He is an older prospect (34), so I’m interested to see how active he will be and how quickly the UFC will push him up the rankings.

In a bout that I was all over, Waldo Cortes-Acosta dominated Serghei Spivac. Before the card, this was my favorite fight to bet on. There was no reason that Cortes-Acosta should have been getting money at +145, it should have been a pick em’ at best. Waldo out struck Spivac by 58 in total strikes and 52 in significant strikes. The only plus for Spivac was his +2:26 in total control, but that was not nearly enough to outshine the clinic that Cortes-Acosta put on the feet. Another winding road is ahead for Spivac, as this make a two fight losing streak for him.

Joshua Van, the up in coming Flyweight contender, put on a show against Brun Silva. I’m happy Van was able to get the finish in the 3rd round herre, as he needed to make a statement in order to get a big name…and a big name he did as he is going to step in on short notice to face #1 contender Brandon Royval LATER THIS MONTH on UFC 317. Van continues to shine on his road to UFC gold, and this kid has a real shot to be the one to dethrone Alexander Pantoja. An obvious nod from the UFC brass, I’m glad he is getting the recognition he deserves. His hands are quick, and he is a very technical striker that loves to stand in the pocket and throw some bombs. I’ll be interested to see if he can get another finish against Royval on June 28th as I would assume he is going to be a pretty heavy favorite.

The only thing I will say bout the Kevin Holland fight against Vicente Luque is that he needs to stay down at 170. He called out Colby Covington after the fight too, which would be a fun one to watch considering both love to talk a little bit of S*** to their opponents. It’s sad to say but I think Luque is toast, he looked great in the Gorimbo fight…but this one was just not his night. I just cant see him fighting in the top 10 again after this performance.

Patchy Mix got put into an absolute blender, I mean the guy was not as he was being advertised. Shoot, this guy was standing in the octagon, throwing the same punches, not really moving well at all and was just outmatched by Mario Bautista. As much s*** as everyone has talked about Bautista, myself included, he looked legit in this one. It marks his 8th straight win and should solidify a top 5 ranked opponent next time. As for Mix, brother he needs a reality check. This guy was talking WILD about Bautista before the fight…calling him a journeyman and himself a world champion caliber guy…uh…not after that bullshit. People were legitimately excited for his debut, and it looked like they picked a guy off of the street in some sort of gimmick promotion. Maybe it was just a bad night, something may have been off, but he needs a get right bout against someone that isn’t ranked. Hopefully he catches himself and is able to get back into the good graces with the match makers, otherwise this might be a short lived UFC career…

Nothing new here, Joe Pyfer throws haymakers and Kelvin Gastelum can take a punch…the two concerns with Pyfer are his gas tank and his one-trick approach to fighting. Either way, Joe Pyfer has insane power and claimed victory over a tough Gastelum…what impressed me the most is that Gastelum survived after taking two massive right hands from the powerful Pyfer…it was a UD for Joe, but watching it really made me think it was a split. I think they got the decision right, as Pyfer clearly won, but I thought Gastelum’s performance in rounds 2-3 were pushed out of sight by the judges…but hey, they get paid to do this not me..

Harrison is the queen of the bantamweights, finally!!! There’s not much to say about this fight other than she dominated. On the feet, on the ground, wherever. She won this bout in dominating fashion as she got Pena to tap to a Kimura in round 2. The best part, Amanda Nunes is coming out of retirement to take on the superstar Harrison. A lot of talk this week was about her hard weight cuts, but come fight night she absolutely shines. I’ll be interested to see who is favored in the books between Nunes and Harrison…but if the lioness is coming in as the favorite, put me on Harrisons side. This is her time, and I don’t see her giving this title up for a long, long time.

Does Suga have an expiration date? Because Merab certainly threw his title chances into the garbage. As long as Merab holds this belt, Sean O’Malley wont see another shot at it…and rightfully so after Saturday night. Merab again used his pressure wrestling style to smother the touted striker. He dominated on the ground, claiming a +6:29 control time on O’Malley and tallying nearly 100 more strikes than the former champ. The question going forward is who do each of these guys fight next? Merab made an interesting comment about Pantoja possibly coming up to challenge him for the belt…maybe a Freudian slip? Or possibly just smoke as Merab wants to cement his legacy as one of the greatest bantamweights of all time. Either way, I’d pay to see that fight. But as the bantamweight rankings sit currently, I’d have to think Cory Sandhagen gets his shot at the champ. For the Suga Show, he’s kind of in bantamweight purgatory. He’s a huge name, massive draw, but has shown zero competition to Merab…so, with something I have been wanting for a good while now…RUN IT BACK WITH YAN!! O’Malley vs Yan 2 would do some numbers. Again, I don’t get paid to make those matchups…but please someone forward this to Dana and Hunter…it just makes sense.

Overall, the card was pretty solid. I’d say it was a great stepping stone heading into UFC 317 where we get to see El Matador, Ilia Topuria, take on the Lion, Charles Oliveira. I cannot wait for this one. Look out for my preview the week of the event!

Until then, I’ll see you on the next tee box.

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