Getty Images/UFC
The Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight division is one to watch, and Joe Pifer is a fearsome character.
In a featured preliminary bout at UFC 303 on Saturday in Las Vegas, “The Body Bag” nearly lived up to his nickname, pounding Marc-Andre Barrio against the fence and knocking “The Power Bar” unconscious on the cage floor. It was barely a fight, as Pifer quickly advanced and landed a barrage of hard punches on Barrio. With the Canadian backed up against the fence, the rest was theory. Pifer unleashed a flurry of hard punches, including a right hand that snuck behind Barrio’s raised guard and landed on his ear. Pifer followed up with a left as his opponent collapsed, leaving Barrio lying face-down with his hands at his sides and completely unconscious. Referee Herb Dean called off the bout at 1 minute, 25 seconds. With the gruesome knockout, Pifer bounced back from his first UFC loss to Jack Hermansson and improved his record with the promotion to 4-1. Meanwhile, Barrio is now 5-7 with one no-contest at UFC.
Fili defeats Swanson
A battle between two veterans so closely associated with the UFC featherweight division that it’s a bit surprising they’ve never met before, the bout ended in a three-round battle in which Andre Fili (24-11, 1 no-hitter) defeated Cub Swanson (29-14). Fili, nearly 10 years younger, controlled the bout early, out-punching the 40-year-old Swanson with punches for much of the first round while also toying with his opponent by attempting takedowns. As the bout progressed, Swanson began to land more strikes with more power, thwarting Fili’s ground attacks and gradually taking control, which seemed like an entertaining, easy win for “Touchy” until things started to change. The second and third rounds were closely fought, with Swanson’s crisp jabs, crosses and constant forward pressure, combined with Fili’s sharp check hooks. The judges scored the decision in Fili’s favor on split scorecards 28-29, 29-28, 29-28, bringing his record in the Octagon to 12-10-1 draw, while Swanson is now 14-10 since joining UFC when he acquired World Extreme Cagefighting over a decade ago.
Silva one-shots Jourdan
Jean Silva stepped up in a big way at featherweight. He fell short of the division limit, forcing him to be booked at a catchweight of 148 pounds, but in the process, he became the first man to knock out Charles Jardine. “Lord” (13-2 MMA, 2-0 UFC)’s paralyzing power was evident from the start, as he challenged “Air” Jardine (15-8-1 MMA, 6-7-1 UFC) to his preferred high-energy kickboxing bout, but the French-Canadian switched to wrestling midway through the round. Silva seemed to have a slight lead in a wild first round, and the second round played out more of the same. That was until Silva escaped a takedown attempt near the cage and landed a pinpoint uppercut to Jardine’s jaw on the break. Jourdain fell to his back, his head bouncing off the Octagon floor. That was enough for referee Marc Goddard to stop the bout at 1 minute, 22 seconds into the second round. The sensational win marked Silva’s second consecutive UFC victory and his 10th overall, and although Saturday’s win was marred by his failure to make weight, Silva looks set to be one to watch in the featherweight division.
Talbot attacks Gemmouri
The buzz surrounding Peyton Talbot is deafening. The 9-0 bantamweight sensation knocked out Giannis Gemli (12-3) in just 19 seconds. The 25-year-old from Reno, Nevada, was sharp from the opening exchange, spurring off a leg kick from Gemli and taking down the Frenchman with a ferocious one-two. After Gemli looked up in shock and referee Chris Tognoni paused for a second in case he wanted to stop the bout, Talbot landed two standing punches on the ground to put the win beyond doubt. The quick finish, Talbot’s second Octagon bout since joining the UFC this year, likely sets him up for another bout or two against a ranked fighter. Gemli has now lost his first two UFC bouts.
Robertson blocks Waterson-Gomez’s ejection
Gillian Robertson put on one of the most impressive performances of her career, dominating Michelle Waterson-Gomez on the ground in a strawweight bout. The fight started brutally early, with Robertson (14-8 MMA, 11-6 UFC) taking Waterson-Gomez (18-13 MMA, 6-9 UFC) from a standing back position to the canvas early in the first round, landing in side control and launching a steady, measured positional attack that foreshadowed what was to come. Robertson spent the remainder of the bout hurting Waterson-Gomez with precise ground strikes, hurting her neck with forearms and elbows, and constantly working to get an armbar. Any or all of the three rounds could have been scored 10-8 in Robertson’s favor, but Robertson won by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26). Robertson left the Octagon after two consecutive dominant performances, while former Invicta Fighting Championship atomweight champion Waterson-Gomez retired at age 38 after suffering “Beatdown of the Year”-level losses in her last two bouts and five straight losses overall.
Budai beats Arlovski in 15-minute battle
The ageless Andrei Arlovski may be nearing the end of the road after losing a grueling 15-minute heavyweight bout to the much bigger and younger Martin Budai. The bout was difficult to score and difficult to watch. Former champion Arlovski (34-24, 2 NH; 23-18, 1 NH UFC) came into his bout against Budai (14-2, 5-1 UFC) on a three-fight losing streak, yet he has remained largely competitive since his 45th birthday, and Saturday was no exception. The bout featured lengthy clinch exchanges with Arlovski pressed up against the fence, drawing audible yells of disapproval from the T-Mobile Center crowd and several warnings from referee Mark Smith. All three rounds were individually close and competitive, reduced to a few notable punches, knees to the body, and a subjective question of who was “winning” in a clinch stalemate. The cageside judges, who had the unpleasant task of scoring the bout, were understandably divided, but they awarded “Badis” the victory by scores of 29-28, 28-29, 30-27. The win allowed the big Slovakian to bounce back from a loss to Shamil Gadzhiev, while it meant Arlovski suffered his fourth straight defeat.
Rei Tsuruta achieves success with a win over Hernandez in his debut match
Without tarnishing his professional record, Rei Tsuruya put on a grappling show in his flyweight preliminary bout against Carlos Hernandez. Tsuruya (10-0) unleashed a flurry of high-level wrestling techniques and exotic submission attempts against Hernandez (9-4), including belly-to-belly throws, calf slicers and twister variations, but the American mostly won the bout without being in serious danger. Hernandez held his own in stand-up combat, but looked to be losing two rounds 0-0 going into the final round. Hernandez got off to a good start there, landing in top position after a failed throw from Tsuruya and spending the first half of the round from top position, but Tsuruya was patient, exploding to his feet as Hernandez tried to position himself to land more powerful strikes. But Hernandez kept up the pressure, slamming a suddenly-tired Tsuruya against the fence to end the bout. The judges unanimously scored the decision 29-28 in favor of Tsuruya, giving Tsuruya his first win since joining UFC on the second season of “Road to UFC.” Meanwhile, Hernandez’s UFC record is now 2-3.
Oliveira blocks Simon
In the opening bout, Vinicius Oliveira proved himself a force to be reckoned with in the bantamweight division with a surprisingly easy win over veteran contender Ricky Simon. Entering the cage with over 2-1 odds, Simon struggled with the Brazilian’s speed and power for much of the first two rounds, but twice took the bout to the floor, where Oliveira quickly got back to his feet and didn’t take any significant damage. The turning point came late in the second round when Simon stumbled while blocking a low kick from Oliveira. A cageside doctor was called in between rounds to check Oliveira’s leg, but once the doctor deemed Oliveira clear to fight, Oliveira quickly got back to work, continuing to frustrate and disable his opponent. Oliveira capped his performance with a takedown of his own late in the third round, earning two scorecards of 30-27 and one of 29-28 for a unanimous decision victory. With the win, “The Rock Dog” improves to 21-3 overall and 2-0 in UFC. Simon falls to 20-6 (8-5 UFC).
Source link
