Amanda’s back! Moreno takes on Figueiredo for the fourth time, Ankalaev has claimed a duel with Prochazka. What did UFC 277 look like?

UFC 277 is over. The first two cards may not have enticed as much, but the fights on the main card delivered a good dose of entertainment. Amanda Nunes is back on the throne, Brandon Moreno takes on Deiveson Figueiredo for the fourth time, and Magomed Ankalaev scores an important win. What did the gala look like?

Early prelims and prelims

As usual, this numbered tournament had two prelims cards on the schedule before the main card, offering 8 matches. The first match of the entire gala certainly didn’t bore the fans, even though it ended on points. Orion Cosce won by unanimous decision at the judges’ scorecards, taking on Mike Diamond.

The first early stoppage was offered by the second fight, taken care of by Nicolae Negumeranu, who used his punches to dispose of Ihor Potierio in the second round.

The first women’s match of the tournament then ended on points. Joselyne Edwards defeated Ji Yeon Kim on split-decision. But in the bout that ended the early prelims, we saw another early end. Michael Morales finished Adam Fugitt after one minute of the third round.

The prelims card offered the only early finish. It was taken care of by Drew Dober, who defeated Rafael Alves in the third round after a hard punch to the ribs.

For a change, Drakkar Klose defeated Rafa Garcia by unanimous decision on points, and Don’Tale Mayes lost to Hamby Abdelwahab on split-decision. The last fight before the main card was dominated by Alex Moreno, who won a unanimous decision over Matthew Semelsberger.

The main card

That main card went off rather quickly. The very first bout ended in the second round. Magomed Ankalaev took on Anthony Smith. However, it is worth mentioning that Smith got injured in the first round and his performance was greatly affected. Ankalaev thus scored his ninth win in a row and quite possibly claimed a title fight with Jiri Prochazka.

The next fight didn’t even last two minutes. In a battle of the two top flyweights, Alexandre Pantoja proved why he is ahead of Alex Perez in the rankings. He flew into the duel fast and fierce, taking his opponent’s back early on. He locked up a body-triangle and eventually forced Perez to tap out. After the fight, he understandably asked for a title shot.

The race for the fastest finish continued with Sergei Pavlovich, who defeated the popular Derrick Lewis in 55 seconds after a wild start in the stand-up. The American crowd couldn’t accept the result and there were mostly deafening boos as the Russian cage fighter spoke.

That, however, was understandable. While Lewis clearly didn’t like Pavlovich’s punches, Lewis didn’t look all that shaken when the referee stopped the fight. He was angry at the premature end to the fight, still determined to continue.

Moreno again (interim) champion

Brandon Moreno and Kai Kara-France fought for the interim flyweight championship belt. Moreno was already a regular champion as well, but was unable to defend. He faced Deiveson Figueiredo three times and three times the fight ended in different results. The last time the Brazilian won on points.

Moreno was supposed to face Figueiredo for the fourth time, but the Brazilian was injured. Kara-France, who has been performing well in recent fights, was given the chance to fight for the interim title. But as it turned out, Moreno is still not up to the mark.

In the first two rounds, the Mexican looked better, the New Zealander couldn’t find a recipe for Moreno. It’s interesting how each judge perceived the two rounds differently.

Then in the third round Kara-France started to turn the fight in his favour. But with half a minute left in the round Moreno hit him with a kick to the ribs and that was the difference. He stopped a runaway train, and he’s going to fight Figueiredo a fourth time.

The sensation was not repeated, Amanda Nunes is back on the throne!

A big and anticipated rematch. Amanda Nunes lost one of her titles in December when she was sensationally defeated by Julianna Peña. It was probably the biggest surprise in the history of the organization. With the way the Brazilian dominated women’s MMA, she got a quick rematch.

After all, at least until that loss, she was regarded as the best fighter of all time. She wanted to prove it in the rematch. And she started in full force. For the first two rounds, the fight was standing and Amanda showed incredible poise. She sent the champion down several times with hard punches.

In the second round, Peña went down three times. Midway through the third round, Nunes took her down with her first takedown and found she could defend any submission attempts and dominate. Peña kept trying to mount an armbar, but Nunes wasn’t going to get caught. She got out of everything.

The fourth and fifth rounds were pretty much the same. Amanda was in a dominant position, opening Julianna up like a can of worms. She deserves the utmost admiration for what she did. But Nunes was disposing of her and making the fight a one-punch affair. Winning on points may be disappointing after a great performance, but otherwise Amanda will hopefully have nothing to complain about.

So the world is right again. Amanda Nunes reigns supreme once again and is the new champion. She has repaired her reputation and shown that she is definitely not done yet.

Source: UFC, Twitter