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UFC Fight Night: Swanson vs Lobov - Apr 22


wandshogun09

Who wins and how?   

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Haven't caught up on the main event yet but Ray/Lauzon was a war, a proper barnburner. Dodson looked irritatingly good in comparison to Wineland, and Iaquinta's knockout of Sanchez was lethal. It pales in comparison to what Perry did to Ellenberger though, a genuinely sickening finish if there ever was one. Then Perry decides to do a fucking spineroonie whilst Ellenberger's on the floor, legs spasming out trying to remember which planet he's on. Cock.

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Hector Sandoval vs. Matt Schnell was hot and heavy for as long as lasted, which was just under a round. The initial flurry of punches exchanged garnered a well-earned Don Frye reference from Todd Grisham. This one ended with Sandoval in top position on Schnell but in a body triangle, but Sandoval was still dangerous, unleashing a flurry of hammerfists to knock Schnell out. Sandoval can generate some serious power.
Five Word Review: Hot fight whilst it lasted.

Bryan Barberena vs. Joe Proctor was another fight that ended too soon. Both fighters stood and banged, both calling on the other to do more. That backfired on Proctor who took a hard punch, was rocked, and then kneed and punched into oblivion by Barberena. It was funny when Barberena celebrated with Benson Henderson, who was in his corner, and Grisham only referred to him as a former UFC champion.
Five Word Review: Another short but good fight.

Alexis Davis vs. Cindy Dandois was a pretty competitive fight. Dandois was very stiff and awkward in the stand up, so that area of her game needs work. Dandois generally had the advantage in the clinch work and but David had the advantage on the ground, having Dandois in trouble with submissions early in the first round and right at the end of the third. Davis won the decision, which didn’t sit well with the crowd, but it was the right call.
Five Word Review: Fine but generally rather unremarkable.

Jessica Penne vs. Danielle Taylor was a decent fight. Taylor did a lot of moving backwards, not really staying still, and it took Penne a while to be able to counter this. Even though she was backing up a lot, I thought Taylor landed more enough, including some nice combinations, to win the first two rounds. Penne was having trouble being able to consistently land anything. Penne did a lot better in the third round and probably won it, but I have Taylor winning the fight. All three judges agree, giving Taylor the fight 29-28. Penne seemed incredulous over the result, but she shouldn’t be. It took her a while to get used to Taylor’s speed and movement, and in that time, Taylor was just too good. This is the biggest win of Taylor’s career, over a former Invicta champion and former UFC title challenger. I like Taylor a lot but I think she, like Michelle Waterson, would be better suited to an atomweight division where she isn’t giving up so much size.
Five Word Review: Speed and quickness over technique.

Scott Holtzman vs. Michael McBride was a scrappy fight but entertaining. McBride was the taller fighter, 6’1” to Holtzman’s 5’9” and with a six inch reach advantage, but he never made it count. Holtzman was landing almost at will, with McBride always having hands low and leaving himself open. Holtzman also chopped up the left leg of McBride, who ended up with a nasty looking welt on the back of the leg. Holtzman won all three rounds and one judge even scored one round 10-8 for Holtzman.
Five Word Review: Hands low equal bad times.

Dustin Ortiz vs.  Brandon Moreno was pretty one sided, with Ortiz just too good a wrestler for Moreno to deal with...and then Moreno landed a big switch kick just under three minutes into the second round that floored Ortiz. It looked like Ortiz suffered a flash knock out, and I expected the fight to get stopped, but Ortiz kept going. It was only a brief respite, though, because Moreno took Ortiz’s back, and locked in a tight body triangle. Moreno never let up control and after a struggle, got a tight rear naked choke and oritz passed out rather than tapped out and Moreno got another big win.
Five Word Review: One kick can change everything.

Thales Leites vs. Sam Alvey wasn’t a particularly good fight. Leites landed some low kicks very early that hurt Alvey, especially his ankle, and that stifled what Alvey was capable of. Yet Leites never really made the most of an opponent with increasingly limited movement and speed, and Alvey was badly limping by the end of the first round. The fight rarely went to the ground although that was by Leites’ choice, and you’d think he’d be gunning to take the fight where he had a major advantage, and with an opponent with damaged joints. Leites won the fight, winning all three rounds on all three scorecard, but this wasn’t a win where he really gained anything, given the manner of his performance and the quality of the fight itself.
Five Word Review: This had bowling shoe tendencies.

Jake Ellenberger vs. Mike Perry was another scrappy fight but it wasn’t that entertaining until Perry landed a good left hook early in the second round that rocked Ellenberger. In the ensuing clinch, Perry landed a vicious elbow and it was time to yell ‘timber’ as Ellenberger fell to the mat unconscious. This was a highlight reel finish, especially given the short, tight angle of the strike, which tells you what kind of power Perry can generate. Despite  the win, however, there wasn’t a lot for Perry to celebrate about because he was never in the fight until that left hook. Perry has power, and is dangerous, but he has weaknesses, so he’ll struggle against fighters who can capitalize on them.
Five Word Review: A great finish from nowhere.

Joe Lauzon vs. Stevie Ray saw Lauzon dominate Ray whenever the fight was on the ground, which it was for the majority of its duration. Ray took a lot of punishment through ground and pound, especially in the first round, and he didn’t have a real answer for the ground game of Lauzon. Ray come on strong at the end of the third round and seemed to have Lauzon in trouble, but Lauzon held on until the round and the fight ended. Somehow, Ray won by majority decision. Nope. Not seeing that one at all.
Five Word Review: Sometimes, the judging raises questions.

John Dodson vs. Eddie Wineland was a fight I had high hopes for and they were not met. Dodson did enough to win the decision but Wineland was both good enough and fought defensively enough that Dodson, whilst able to hurt him, couldn’t land anything that was able to put Wineland in danger.
Five Word Review: Expectations were nowhere near met.

Ovince St. Preux vs. Marcos Rogerio De Lima saw OSP come in at disadvantage with De Lima having missed weight by a mile. The extra weight helped De Lima out in the first round, giving him a bigger bang to his punch, but it saw him tire in the second. OSP got De Lima down, bloodied him up, and managed to get him in the Von Flue choke and get the tap out. OSP now has two of the only three Von Flue choke finishes in UFC/PRIDE/WEC/Strikeforce history.
Five Word Review: It was OK; nothing more.

Al Iaquinta vs. Diego Sanchez was short, violent, and saw Iaquinta walk right through Sanchez. Sanchez has been in some wars and they’ve taken their toll because Sanchez can’t take the kind of shots he used to eat without problems; now, those same shots drop Sanchez and have him in danger. Iaquinta dropped Sanchez with one such shot and whilst Sanchez was able to get back up, a second shot finished him.
Five Word Review: A violent and vigorous scrap.

Cub Swanson vs. Artem Lobov was a main event that didn’t get much love when it was announced, due in part to Lobov not being in the official rankings, but mainly because of the perception he only got the spot because of being a training partner of Conor McGregor. That wasn’t true but the label stuck. The fight was a pretty good one, and whilst Swanson dominated virtually the entire fight, Lobov proved himself a tough customer who could take punishment from an opponent who was just too quick, too creative, and was just a far better fighter. Swanson easily earned the decision victory and  he called for the winner of the Aldo vs. Holloway fight, which he may get.
Five Word Review: Workmanlike fight from dominant Cub.

Other than the Leites vs. Alvey fight, nothing was bad, and there were some good fights and great moments. This wasn’t the greatest night of action but it was a pretty good card nonetheless and there was something for almost everyone.

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Really enjoyed this on the whole. The fights I didn't expect much from anyway were a bit crap but the rest was good stuff. 

I thought Swanson vs Lobov was a pleasant surprise in how competitive it was. Scores wise I had Cub winning fairly clearly but it was one of those fights where the rounds themselves were good little 5 minute battles. Lobov's stock went up a little bit even in defeat for me. To be honest, I expected him to get put out within 2 or 3 rounds tops. He wasn't quite ready for someone of Swanson's calibre but he's definitely better now than the guy we saw on TUF. 

I'd be up for Swanson getting the winner of Aldo vs Holloway. It'd be a rematch either way but I think it's deserved. Nobody else really jumps out as an obvious, head and shoulders above, number one contender. I guess if Yair beats Edgar though, he's actually got a strong case. You beat Frankie, you're ready for the shot. End of. We'll see what happens. All great fights though however it shakes out. 

Raging Al fucked Diego up quick. Diego's definitely starting to buckle under these shots now that he probably would've weathered a few years ago. He used to be able to walk through fire in there. Like Chuck Liddell, he relied on his durability so much in his career and now that's failing him, it's getting to the point now where you're expecting bad things when watching him. I love Diego, the nut. I'd hate to see him all fucked up when he retires. 

Really like Iaquinta though. He's one of the newer crew of guys who stands out to me. Even when he's kind of heeling it up post-fight I can't dislike him. It sounds bad but I hope he doesn't make too much money out of selling houses because I like him in MMA. 

OSP does nothing for me. 

John Dodson does nothing for me either. 

Fuck 'em. 

Ray vs Lauzon was great fun. Really really good fight. Lauzon looked like a total beast in round one. If he could've kept that pace Ray would've been fucked. But Ray hung in there. I had Lauzon winning myself. Had him 10-8ing the first obviously, and I thought he took the second 10-9 with his ground work in the second half of that round. Ray clearly took the third but I thought he needed a finish to win. But whatever, there's been way worse decisions and it was an excellent fight. Agreed with Stann that it says a lot about Ray's toughness that he came out for the second round so aggressive after the disaster of a first round. Despite me thinking he lost, I actually think this was his best performance to date because he had to dig deep against a real tough proven veteran and he showed what he's made of. I'd like to see him fight a Jim Miller or someone like that next. Could be an awesome fight that. 

Perry's KO on Ellenberger. Fuck. Me. That was amazing, scary, shocking, brutal etc. Whatever else you want to call it. I'm torn on Mike Perry because he's consistently so fucking entertaining to watch. But like Adam correctly points out above, he's such a knuckledragging, meatheaded, mouth breathing prick that I can't get behind him at all. I guess he's going to be a kind of a low rent Jon Jones figure to me where I love to watch him fight but I ALWAYS want him to get battered. Suppose at least with Perry there's a much higher chance of said battering actually happening. 

Wasn't in love with the prelims. Except for Brandon Moreno vs Dustin Ortiz. That was tremendous. I've become a bit of a Moreno fan over his last few fights. He seems like such a happy fucker all the time, you just want him to do good. And he's exciting as fuck in the cage as well so it's a win all round. I don't see why anyone wouldn't be a fan of his. He's nowhere near ready for Mighty Mouse, he might never be, but I fear they're going to end up rushing him into a title shot just because who else is there? I wouldn't even blame them to be fair. They don't have many options. Stick DJ vs Moreno on in Mexico or something and let DJ be the heel, seeing as nobody seems to want to cheer him anyway. Maybe that can be Mouse's thing. Crushing crowd favourites on their home turf. It's something. 

Thought Leites vs Alvey was pretty awful. I like both guys and I usually like the 'clash of styles' fights but this one just didn't click at all. 

Good show though. Way more hit than miss for me. 

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I saw a nice idea somewhere for the Flyweight belt, which suggested if Sergio Pettis gets past Cejudo (unlikely, but stranger things have happened) then have a FOX card with DJ/Sergio headlining and then Anthony fighting in the co-main. 

Caught up on Lobov/Swanson, and Lobov looked far more well-rounded than I seem to remember him being. Swanson was clearly the better fighter but it wasn't a monumental difference. Just a professional, good showing from him. The fact that Lobov, an unranked guy who's got the same amount of losses as he does wins managed to go the distance against the #4 ranked contender shows the leaps and bounds he's made in the last few years. I suppose it makes a big difference having McGregor in your corner. He's not somebody I ever see giving trouble to the top 5, but I could see him hanging in and around the top 15 pretty soon. 

Featherweight would be a lot more interesting if Yair gets past Edgar at 211. Any combination of Yair vs Holloway/Edgar/Swanson is a million times more appealing than the possibility of Aldo/Edgar III.

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If Holloway beats Aldo though, then Edgar challenging Magic Max  for the title would be great as well, so many possibilities at 145. But yeah, the landscape will probably be more interesting and throw up more options if Yair beats Frankie at 211 in a few weeks. 

Oh yeah, happy to see Maurice Smith getting the HOF honours. Big Mo is one of the true OG's of MMA, he doesn't get talked about enough for me when the subject MMA pioneers get brought up. Probably the first striker to show that Muay Thai could work against the roidy wrestling silverbacks of the day. Hopefully Helwani will get some interviews with him when he comes in for the induction. 

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Featherweight really is a cracking little division at the moment. A lot of people, myself included, thought it would really suffer from losing Conor but it's in a lovely place at the moment. Similarly to Middleweight, I get the feeling that the best of the best (Aldo, Holloway, Edgar, Cub, Zombie) are all fairly interchangeable in their rankings positions and could all beat guys in that division depending who was having the better day. There's not one match-up that I get the feeling would be anything other than a barnburner, either. Aldo/Holloway, Cub/Yair, Zombie/Yair, Aldo/Cub, Edgar/Holloway, Choi/Zombie are all fights that could feasibly occur that I'd be all over. You've got a lot of new, fresh faces challenging for the belts unlike divisions such as Light Heavyweight where someone like Shogun is probably a win away from a title shot. Yair, Cub and Holloway still feel like relevant newcomers to the title chase, Zombie returning after so long in such excellent fashion feels like a new signing, Pettis if he can get his weight sorted, and I'd wager a lot of money Korean Superboy is going to be back amongst that mix in the not too distant future. 

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Christ, that knockout by Mike Perry into a spinnarooni is going to take some beating for KO of the year. Perfect.

I think Lobov went someway to proving a lot of people wrong. Granted, he did lose, but I think most were expecting domination from Swanson. As Rogan likes to say, MMA maths never makes sense.

I'm hoping Stevie Ray does well. He's from a part of Fife where I grew up, so it was hilarious hearing a proper Fifer accent on a UFC show in the States. A family member went to school with him and claims he's (surprisingly!) a bit of a nutter, which was in full view in this fight; very impressed with his resolve. His wrestling defence is clearly rubbish, but his boxing looked very good. I had him losing the fight, like most on here, but it will be interesting to see how the UFC handle his next fight - they run the risk of exposing him, like Paul Craig.

OSP's corner telling him to get his finger out, after the first, sums him up for me. Despite clearly having ability, he always seems to be really hesitant to engage too much. Fair enough, no one wants to get hit or exposed, but OSP hasn't really got he fight IQ to be a counter fighter, as his opponents usually always read him fairly easily. Going for the throat, like he did in the second, is something he needs to do more often, if he wishes to be anything more than "OSP does nothing for me" (and wand is right).

Gutted for Alvey, but those leg kicks made me knees sore. Those Nova Uniao drilled leg kicks are from another planet.

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I did laugh at OSP going "yeah Dana its time for me to get paid more now".

I've no problem with fighters talking about money but OSP was 1 win 4 losses in his previous 5, and is not a draw at all. He is lucky they weren't thinking of sending him off to Bellator. I doubt they are going to be getting the check book out just because he got a win.

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It's some kind of reference to his old football team, doesn't Titus do the same thing in the WWE?

Mike Perry continues to be a modern day Phil Baroni. He's clearly a bellend so he just makes a natural heel. Limited but devastating power, id like to see Ellenberger hang em up.

Artem Lobov was the perfect fight for Cub really in the end. It was a showcase but Lobov kept it competitive enough to make people think you get these wars everytime Cub fights. Momentum is on his side too so id like to see him get the winner of Aldo/Holloway.

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Random aside but it says absolutely everything that posters here talk about Perry as an entertaining fighter who comes over as a total cock yet if you venture over to Sherdog they're all totally in love with him.

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