MMA
UFC 295: Eight stoppages before the limit, the fall of Prochazka and King Aspinall. Watch all the highlights of the gala
The biggest MMA organization on the planet has returned to Madison Square Garden in New York City. UFC 295 offered attractive duels from the start. But the main card program was breathtaking. In the biggest draw of the event, Jiri Prochazka and Alex Pereira fought. What did the gala look like?
The biggest MMA organization on the planet has returned to Madison Square Garden in New York. UFC 295 offered attractive duels from the start. The main card program, however, was breathtaking. In the biggest draw of the event, Jiri Prochazka and Alex Pereira fought. What did the gala look like?
Early Prelims UFC 295
It didn’t take long for the first KO
Fighting at Madison Square Garden is a huge honor, whether it’s on the main card or early in the entire UFC gala. The history of the arena pushes fighters to give their best. That’s part of the reason why it didn’t take long at all for the first finish.
Those who sat up to watch the entirety of UFC 295 were treated to the first fight, even the first round and the first minute. Jamall Emmers confirmed his role as the favorite, defeating Dennis Buzuka by TKO in 49 seconds.
However, two duels followed that ended on points. In the first one, two hopefuls, namely 22-year-old Joshua Van from Myanmar and 25-year-old Kevin Borjas from Peru, faced off.
The first round could be considered evenly matched, but the second and third rounds were fairly dominated by the former, scoring his second UFC victory. Borjas scored an unsuccessful debut in the organization after winning Dana White’s Contender Series.
However, both fighters may have bright futures ahead of them. While Van improved his record to 9-1, his Peruvian opponent fell to 9-2.
John Castaneda and Kyung Ho Kang had a slightly more even fight, but it was won on points by the former, who had the slight edge and saw all the judges win. He confirmed his role as the favourite, improved his UFC record to 4-2 and can be satisfied. Ho Kang is now 8-4 overall in the UFC.
Jared Gordon and Mark Madsen provided the conclusion to the first third of the entire program. Gordon picked up the win in the first round, sending his opponent to the canvas at 4:42. Otherwise, it was a hard-fought battle on both sides. Both fighters landed over 70 significant punches combined.
UFC 295 Prelims
The second third of the gala was certainly not boring
The second portion of the card kicked off with a bout between Azerbaijan and Russia. Nazim Sadykhov was the favorite, his opponent was Viacheslav Borshchev. But it is impossible to say that either of them left the cage satisfied.
The Russian took the first round for himself in the stand-up, landing shot after shot. So the Azeri had to make changes in the second round and tried to take the fight to the ground. He also improved in his stand-up, delivering once to send his opponent to his butt. But then came round three. While Borshchev landed more punches, Sadykhov scored two takedowns and had more control on the ground.
The result? A draw. Both fighters tied for the first time in their careers. This leaves Sadykhov with a 9-1-1 record, while Borshchev boasts a 7-3-1 record.
But the next duel already had a winner. It was Mateusz Rebecki, who was the biggest favourite of the whole event. Roosevelt Roberts took the short-notice match with him and the Pole is certainly grateful. In the first round at 3:08 he already put on an armbar and scored his 16th win in a row. It was Rebecky’s third win in the UFC.
We then saw one of the two women’s bouts of the gala. In it, Loopy Godinez challenged the better ranked Tabatha Ricci for a spot in the top ten of her weight class. The duel was all standing and Godinez looked the better fighter for most of the fight.
Ricci in particular had the better end of the first and second rounds as she was able to get her opponent in trouble. But it wasn’t enough for her to win. A fairly even match ended on a split-decision in Godinez’s favor.
Even the last appetizer before the main card had to be decided by the scoring judges. Steve Erceg, as the conqueror of David Dvorak, faced his second challenge in the UFC and this time Alessandro Costa stood in his way. The until recently unknown Aussie handled him too after a three round battle that saw all the judges win.
UFC 295 main card
It paid not to blink from the start
The UFC’s new rising star? Diego Lopez is extremely well positioned to do so. He already got a big ovation at the weigh-ins, and he had one win and one loss before the UFC 295 gala. At Madison Square Garden, he was going to be tested at least in the organization by the more experienced Pat Sabatini.
It was a duel between two great grounders. But it didn’t last long. Lopes attempted a takedown, but Sabatini defended it and was able to stand up. The Brazilian got up a little quicker, though, and before the American fighter knew it, Lopes started hitting him. At 1:30, it was over.
Lopes is now 2-1 in the UFC, with a solid 23-6 overall record. At 28 years old, he definitely still has great years ahead of him. Sabatini was the favorite, but he didn’t confirm his role.
The second fight also ended early in the first round. Benoit Saint Denis did not give Matt Frevol a chance. This time it was over in 1:31. The Frenchman hit his American opponent with a high kick and he staggered to the ground. Saint Denis threw a few more punches and there was nothing to worry about.
The 27-year-old Nimes native lost only his first fight in the UFC. He now has five wins in a row, defeating fighters such as Octagon fighter Niklas Stolze. It’s worth noting that he only scored his first professional fight in 2019, according to Tapology.
Currently, Saint-Denis has a record of 13-1. He revealed that he would like to get to fight stars like Justin Gaethje and Dustin Poirier as soon as possible. He snapped Frevola’s streak of three wins in a row.
Women’s War delivered another KO
The second and final women’s bout at the event catered to Jessica Andrade and Mackenzie Dern. While things have been rather downhill with the Brazilian fighter of late, having lost her last three fights, the American sympathizer had two wins and two losses from her last four bouts.
However, both of them are facing different problems in their personal lives. They talked a lot openly before the fight about their divorces and the fact that they are still paying divorce costs from this fight.
So their motivation was taken care of. Dern went into the match as a great groundskeeper, Andrade for a change stands out with her precise attitude. But from the start, Mackenzie looked great on her feet. She was moving well, she was hitting her shots, she was sending in longer combinations at times.
But things started to change in the second half of the first round. Jessica was patiently kicking her opponent’s legs, limiting her opponent’s movement and then she started landing the hard shots. The bell saved Dern at the end of the first five minutes as the Brazilian put her on her ass.
In the second round, things weren’t looking good for Mackenzie. She was still shaky, unsteady on her feet and Andrade was well aware of that. She gradually dismantled her until she finally finished her. Dern didn’t like the punches from the former champion, and by the time 3:15 rolled around, the match was over.
Pavlovich down, Aspinall the new king
Could you have asked for a better replacement in a heavyweight belt battle, albeit an interim one? No. Legends and veterans Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic were originally supposed to dominate the gala, but due to an injury to the former, the fight didn’t happen and the UFC wasn’t even looking for another opponent for Miocic.
Instead, they came up with a great solution. Sergei Pavlovich and Tom Aspinall facing each other. Both fighters are the future of the heavyweight division, both have great qualities, both finish their opponents before the limit with great ease, especially in the early rounds.
Aspinall is great on the feet, he’s more complete. Pavlovich has tremendous punching power for a change. They spoke of each other with humility and respect. And how did it all turn out? By stopping him in the first round, of course.
The fight lasted only one minute and nine seconds. Pavlovich landed the first punching combinations and you could tell Aspinall had respect for him. Gradually, though, the Englishman found the right distance and once he got it right, he attacked so that he wouldn’t have to again.
Pavlovich went down and lost for only the second time in his career. Aspinall is the interim UFC champion and will likely challenge the winner of Jones vs Miocic in his next fight.
It’s definitely worth noting that while Pavlovich was the official replacement for the Jones vs Miocic fight and thus had a longer preparation period, Aspinall took the fight two weeks early. That’s all the more respect he deserves.
Pereira finished off Prochazka
This was the fight in which Jiri Procházka fought for the UFC title for the second time in history. He was challenged by Alex Pereira in the main event of the night at Madison Square Garden.
Once the fight got underway, the tension was palpable. Both fighters added a great atmosphere to the fight with their entrances to the cage. Jiri Prochazka started the duel better and even hit one good uppercut. Alex Pereira, however, kicked the Moravian samurai’s left leg and he felt it.
Overall, Procházka was hinting a lot and looking for ways to attack without cashing in. He delivered a takedown with two minutes left and held a dominant position for the remainder of the round. Except for the last few seconds, he stood up.
The second round was all standup. Pereira continued to kick the legs, but Prochazka was better with his hands. However, after managing to hit the Brazilian a few times and driving him to the canvas, the Moravian landed two hard shots that sent him to the ground.
He instinctively tried for a takedown, but Pereira continued to land punches and rolled Prochazka. The referee eventually stopped the fight. Prematurely? There’s going to be a lot of debate about that. What is certain is that he is the new UFC light heavyweight champion.
Source: UFC, Twitter
