Light-Heavyweight Division has a Ruler on the Throne Again, Alex Pereira
Las Vegas, The Light-Heavyweight division has finally moved on from Jon Jones. We are in the ear of “Chama”.
Since “Bones” left the division, it had been in flux. The belt a preverbal hot potato. That is until it got wrapped around the waist of “Potan”. Alex Pereira is now 4-0 at 205 lbs. after successfully defending his title for a second time.
The first win over Jiri Prochazka was an explosive finish but was no walk in the park. All three judges had Prochazka ahead after the first round. Pereira landed his fable left hook when Prochazka came in for the finish thinking her had hurt Pereira. This second fight was a much different tale as Pereira paid little attention to the awkward faints of Prochazka. Pereira would hammer home his calf kicks and found the big shot right at the bell dropping Prochazka with a left hook. Any more time left on the clock and the fight probably would have ended in a few seconds. It wouldn’t take long for Pereira to put the nail in Prochazka’s coffin landing a lead leg head kick and finishing with follow up punches on the ground for a stoppage 0:13 into the second round.
In eleven months at Light-Heavyweight Alex Pereira has beaten almost every man to hold the Light-Heavyweight title since Jon Jones with the exception of his mentor Glover Teixeria. And we could be seeing the first man to realistically challenge for a UFC title in a third weight class.
The co-main event for UFC 303 had a life of its own. We started with Jamhal Hill vs. Khalil Rountree that turned into Jamhal Hill vs. Carlos Ulberg. That got turned into Carlos Ulberg vs. Anthony Smith. When Ulberg fell out Anthony Smith against Roman Dolidze was moved to the feature fight. We then had Brian Ortega vs. Diego Lopes at Featherweight. Issue with the weight cut changed that fight to a Lightweight bout. Illness on fight night then eliminated Brain Ortega from competing on. In unprecedented fashion on hours’ notice Dan Ige, who was scheduled to fight in July replaced Brian Ortega making a 165 lbs. catchweight bout.
The short notice, the change of weight-class, and opponent couldn’t stop the momentum of rising Featherweight contender Diego Lopes. Siff calf kicks opening the lane for Lopes takedowns and back takes in the first two rounds. The lack of a camp showed as Lopes slowed in third frame. Ige’s body work paying off, forcing Lopes to shoot for a takedown. Lopes survived on his back to the final bell. Ige’s Cinderella story fell just short as Lopes had banked the first two rounds.
But the lor of Dan Ige will only grow. Going from a message at 4:30 to fighting in the co-main event of UFC 303 at 9:30.
Number ten ranked Middleweight contender Roman Dolidze beat number 10 ranked Light-Heavyweight Anthony Smith by unanimous decision. A tentative start to the fight saw both men flicking kicks. Dolidze found his takedown in the second implementing some very successful ground & pound. A spinning back kick in the final minute of the fight is icing on the cake to secure the unanimous decision to enter his way into the rankings in a second division.
Macy Chiasson will find herself in the top five of the Women’s Bantamweight rankings after scoring the biggest win of her career over Mayra Bueno Silva. Chiasson and the former title challenger brawled in the clinch exchanging body shots. Chiasson reversed the number three ranked contenders’ attempts to take the fight to the ground. From inside the guard Chiasson landed a slashing elbow that split Bueno Silva’s right eyebrow into two forcing a doctor stoppage.
Ian Garry kept his unbeaten record intact while showing off a new wrinkle to his game. If you were disappointed that Ian Garry and Michael Page didn’t trade on the feet for 15-minutews no one could blame you, but Ian Garry showed a mature approach. Garry catching an MVP kick got the take down and took “MVP’s” back. After a slow paced second round that Page stole with a couple of right hands in the last thirty seconds. Garry again jumped on Pages’ back when he saw the chance to seal the victory.
Joe Pyfer rebounded from his first UFC set back with a devastating knockout of Canada’s Marc-Andre Barriault. Pyfer walking down Barriault with disdain. A right hand over the Barriault guard was the beginning of the end. Clubbing right off the top of the head freezes the 34-year-old and another right hook turned out the lights.
Andre Fili got the judges nod in a back-and-forth battle with Cub Swanson that could have gone either way and was Fight of the Night. The Fili counter left hands and a few timely takedowns were crucial. Swanson was the party applying the forward pressure, his straight punches pushing back Fili leading to thrilling exchanging of hooks on the fence with both men narrowly avoiding the others haymaker.
Super prospect Payton Talbott somehow exceeded the massive expectations people have for him. Talbott sitting down Yanis Ghemmouri with a straight right-hand counter to a low kick. Follow up ground strikes separating Ghemmouri from consciousness in the first thirty seconds of their fight.
It’s now three wins in four fights at Strawweight for Gillian Robertson. The Canadian grappler took the fight right to the mat looking close to a finish in the first having Waterson-Gomez in crucifix. The former Invicta champion was doing enough on the bottom to keep the fight going while Robertson was unloading heavy strikes and hunting for an arm. A win that should have Robertson fighting for a ranking in her next outing.
JacksonWink Hall of Famer Michelle Waterson-Gomez thanking her family after the fight for sacrificing to be in her corner for so many years. “The Karate Hottie” took off the gloves leaving them in the center of the octagon. The end of the competitive MMA journey for a true pioneer of Women’s MMA.
A 15-minute battle in the clinch saw Martin Buday take a split decision win over former Heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski. A much need win for the Slovakian who had a uninspiring loss this past December.
Road to UFC winner Rei Tsuruya got his first official UFC win taking a split decision over Carlos Hernandez. The Japanese fighter had a dominate second round putting Hernandez in a couple of pretzels and was close on a twister.
Brazilian prospect Vinicus Oliveira made it two wins in two appearances for the UFC defeating the formerly top 15 ranked bantamweight Ricky Simon by unanimous decision. Oliveira battering Simon’s lead calf and launching punches from his hip.
The performance bonuses went to Alex Pereira, Joe Pyfer, Macy Chiasson, & Payton Talbott
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