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UFC Vegas: Santos vs Hill - Aug 6 šŸ‡ŗšŸ‡ø


wandshogun09

Who wins and how?   

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I was convinced until a few days ago that this card was headlined by Talia Santos Vs Angela Hill. I enjoyed this main event a lot more. Thiago found some of his old inner mayhem for this one. After several lacklustre performances and results, it was good to see that willingness to pull the trigger was still there. Because of that, I would say this was a much more impressive win for Hill than the likes of Ankalaev's win over Santos.Ā 

What a performance from Neal. Beating Luque is no easy task, but going to war with him and stopping him shows a development in Neal's game. That straight left that he was landing repeatedly and those uppercuts in the finish were a thing of beauty. A very significant win for Neal. Hopefully Luque recovers ok, as he was really put through the wringer here, especially in the finish.Ā 

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So Berzerker Santos finally showed up and he gets stopped šŸ˜ž Jamahal Hill did well surviving the Santos onslaught. Thatā€™s the thing with Santos. More than winning and losing, the thing thatā€™s been the most sad to see watching him post-knee surgery has been that element of danger seemed to have disappeared. In recent fights he just looked like a pitbull that had been neutered. Like all his willingness to throw caution to the wind was gone. And thatā€™s what had brought him to the dance and saw him knock out Blachowicz and run Jones close. It was great to see the old Santos on display in this one, even just in bursts, despite the result not going his way. I think Hill putting the pressure on like he was had a lot to do with that and kind of forced Santos to up the aggression. Sadly I donā€™t think that Santos is coming back full time. Pushing 40 and banged up and gimpy kneed, the sand timer is running empty.

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Nice scalp on the record for Hill though. Finishing a game Santos is more impressive than winning a dull decision over a gun-shy Santos like Ankalaev and Rakic did. I donā€™t know what it is though, Iā€™m still not fully convinced by Hill. Heā€™s good and this win answered some questions. But I canā€™t help feeling like this is probably as good as itā€™s getting for him. I wouldnā€™t be confident picking him against a Blachowicz, Rakic, Ankalaev etc. And those are the kind of names heā€™s gonna be mixing with now. Not sure how theyā€™re gonna match everyone up. Personally, Iā€™d like to see Jiri vs Glover 2 and Blachowicz vs Ankalaev next. So not sure where that leaves Hill. Rakic wouldā€™ve been the obvious choice but I donā€™t know how long heā€™s out with the injury. Fuck knows? As for Santos, I actually wouldnā€™t mind seeing him and Shogun throw down. I donā€™t want to see it. Iā€™d rather Shogun just stop now. But heā€™s got one fight left on his UFC contract, Dana already said theyā€™re gonna honour it, thereā€™s no dream matches left for Shogun but Santos kind of fits the bill to me. Whack them on a Brazil card and maybe even make it a double retirement fight.

Geoff Neal looked really good in the co-main event. Probably the best heā€™s ever looked, to be honest. When you consider the level of opponent he was up against here and that heā€™d not looked great himself in a while, it was a real return to form. And then a bit extra. Right from the off he was tagging Luque up and hurting him more then I expected. Wobbled him, dropped him, the lot. Finishing a guy as tough as Luque was quite an achievement.

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Seen some pisstaking about this because Neal was just spamming that left uppercut and seemed to forget he even had a right hand, plus Luque just kept eating them like Pac-Man. But I think Luque was scrambled and foggy from very early in the fight and he never really got in it after that rough opening round. He was landing a bit later but that first round seemed to put him in his shell a bit and by the time he started trying to mount an offence, the damage was done and Neal just put it on him big time with that series or uppercuts. Luque was fucked at that point. This was a funny matchup in a way because at one time or another, both of these two were being talked about as serious potential future contenders at 170. They both kind of became forgotten men more recently after some setbacks and/or less than stellar performances. But Neal especially, heā€™d gone through some really serious health problems over the last 18 months or so and I donā€™t think heā€™s been firing on all cylinders since then. Hopefully this was a sign that heā€™s finally over that hump and back to his best.

Despite having watched sod all of TUF, I did enjoy the two finale fights even though I had no real investment in any of the four finalists going in.

Big Mo Usman absolutely flattening Zac Pauga was terrifying.

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That left was deceptively fast for a man his size. I wasnā€™t seeing much in Usman that opening round. Thought he was well on his way to getting outclassed. Then he just waffled Pauga early in round two and that was that. Kind of fitting that Deontay Wilder was in attendance because it had that Wilder feel to it for me. That game changer punch that renders the scorecards useless in an instant. Donā€™t know if Usman was seen as a massive hitter on the actual TUF show but just looking at him, you definitely wouldnā€™t want a dig off him would you? Cool to see him win and especially for the history of him and his brother both winning TUF. I canā€™t see him doing particularly well though going forward. Heā€™ll probably settle in trading wins and losses with the Jake Colliers and Justin Tafas of the world. Could throw up some fun slobberknockers though to liven up some of those Apex cards.

Got to say, I really liked Juliana Miller. Like I say, I saw nothing of either woman prior to this but just going by things Iā€™d read and the way they were talking about both women, I got the impression Brogan Walker was thought to be the favourite. Miller was lacking experience and Bisping was bigging up Walkerā€™s grappling. But then the fight started and Miller just took it to her and dominated the grappling. Wasnā€™t the most exciting fight to watch until the third round but Millerā€™s clearly not the finished article, think this was just her fourth pro fight? So it was pretty impressive. The finish helped though. If she just won a lopsided decision it wouldā€™ve still been impressive but getting that stoppage is obviously always better. Especially just coming in the door.

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What was this about? šŸ¤£ I heard the commentators mention there was some bad blood coming in but didnā€™t expect her to go all DX at the end! Anyway yeah, she could be a good addition to the Flyweight division. It might be all happening too soon for her though, she even kind of said as much at the press conference. But from what I saw here, her grappling could cause some issues and her attitude might ruffle a few feathers. Might be just whatā€™s needed at Flyweight.

Sergey Spivak had his way with Sakai didnā€™t he? Looked a bit of a handful. Sakai had nothing really for him on the ground, he was mostly in survival mode. It felt like a matter of time and, sure enough, Spivak wound up stopping him with ground and pound. Spivakā€™s decent. You look back at his record and heā€™s already beat the likes of Tuivasa and Oleynik. Now heā€™s dominated and finished Sakai. Still only 27 as well. By Heavyweight standards heā€™s a baby! Wouldnā€™t mind seeing him against my boy Romanov later in the year. If Romanov gets past Tybura at 278 that is, and thatā€™s not a gimme. Iā€™d be very interested to see how Spivak vs Romanov would play out, especially in the grappling.

Terrance McKinney ran through Erick Gonzalez in typical quick fashion. Heā€™s firmly established himself as one of the strongest starters on the roster in a pretty short time. Not without his flaws and the loss against Drew Dober showed that if youā€™re tough enough to weather the storm you can turn the tide on him. But itā€™s quite a storm to weather, at this level anyway. As he fights better opposition, again as Dober showed, heā€™s not just gonna be blitzing guys out of there. But heā€™s a whirlwind. Seen he called out Pimblett after. Iā€™d like to see it but Iā€™ll be surprised if the UFC go that route next. Pimblett against McKinney or Dober sound about right to me at this stage but weā€™ll see. Iā€™ve got a feeling theyā€™ll be feeding Paddy another low risk fight next and McKinney and Dober, while winnable for Paddy, are risky due to their combination of power/toughness respectively.

Oleksiejczuk walloping Alvey was sweet. Thoroughly enjoyed allĀ 1:56Ā of that.

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Now get out. I was starting to think we were all being a tad harsh on Alvey going in. All rooting for his downfall. But then I saw a tweet of his thatā€™s being shared around of him celebrating the Roe vs Wade verdict so fuck him. I read a quote from him saying heā€™s ā€œlikely getting his jaw wired shutā€ as a result of the clobbering Oleksiejczuk gave him. So yeah, good stuff. I donā€™t feel like Oleksiejczuk has a particularly high ceiling at 185, a lot of what he does looks so wild and crude and itā€™s not pretty. And heā€™s so non-stop with the aggression that heā€™ll probably only ever have about a 7 minute gas tank before he punches either the opponent or himself out. But Christ heā€™s fun to watch. I certainly like him better at 185 than 205 where he was way too small and out of shape. Physically at least, you can definitely see heā€™s better suited to Middleweight. Plenty of fun scraps to throw him in at 185 as well. Just off the top of my head, Iā€™d be all over Oleksiejczuk vs Gregory Rodrigues, Punahele Soriano, Julian Marquez, Roman Dolidze and that lot.

Bryan Battle. For fuckā€™s sake man!

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Brutal headkick in less than a minute. Cro Cop would be proud of that one. Hadnā€™t been blown away by the first couple of fights I saw from Battle and obviously this was over so quick you canā€™t read too much into it. But a finish like this goes a long way when it comes to sticking in the memory. Didnā€™t even realise he was making his Welterweight debut here until I saw Ebb mention it the other day. Perfect intro to a new weight class for him. Statement made. Shame he spent half his post-fight interview giving Barberena shit for ā€œspelling his name wrongā€ when they both spell it the same, ā€˜Bryanā€™ šŸ˜‚ wouldnā€™t mind seeing Bryan vs Bryan but surely Bam Bamā€™s past that after stopping Robbie Fucking Lawler in one of the best fights of the year. I liked him calling a name out but that oneā€™s not happening is it? The Ian Garry callout sounds much more realistic though. Iā€™d be well up for that.

Was pleased to see Cory McKenna back to winning ways and with an impressive performance and a decisive finish to boot.

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The opposition wasnā€™t the best so you have to take that into account. But as far as McKennaā€™s own performance goes, this was the best sheā€™s looked so far in her UFC stint. Think they said it was the first ever Von Flue/Saint Preux choke finish by a woman in UFC history as well. Not sure how far she can go but I really like McKenna. The fact sheā€™s only 23 and training at Team Alpha Male goes in her favour. Just get the feeling sheā€™ll struggle as she moves up in levels due to her lack of size/reach and her striking not being anything special. Sheā€™s got skills and sheā€™s got time to improve but Strawweight is by far the strongest division in the womenā€™s game and I can see her getting matched up tough before sheā€™s ready.

Bit of a weird ending to the Mayra Bueno Silva vs Stephanie Egger curtain jerker on Fight Pass. It was over in around a minute via Silva armbar but then Egger was denying she tapped when Silva released it. You couldnā€™t see shit from the angle we got and with them wedged against the fence. Luckily for Silva, one of the judges and Herb Dean cageside said they 100% saw the tap. Lesson learned for Silva though. The only mistake she made was letting go when she felt the tap rather than waiting for the ref to step in. I feel sorry for the next woman she gets in that position because I think sheā€™ll be trying to break shit next time.

Fun show. A card with all finishes is never a bad thing and there were some good ones on this card. Iā€™ve seen some comments about it being the ā€˜best Fight Night in yearsā€™ and stuff and I get that itā€™s all a matter of opinion. But for me, as much as I did enjoy this, it wasnā€™t even the best Fight Night so far this year, let alone in years. Personally, I felt like the London card in March (Aspinall vs Volkov) and the Austin card in June (Kattar vs Emmett) were much better overall cards. Like I always say, finishes are fun but theyā€™re not the be all/end all when it comes to fight quality. I enjoyed this way more than I expected to though.Ā 

Edited by wandshogun09
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i was completely wrong about the TUF Finale's.Ā 

Pauga really just got caught with a money punch, he was comfortably winning until that point. I still don't really rate Usman, and he seemed massively undersized for a heavyweight, so I don't see much coming out of his UFC run, but it was a nice story to see him win it.

Brogan Walker just shit the bed against Miller. She seemed to be doing ok on the feet but continually initiated the clinch where Miller was just schooling her. Really bad decision making during the fight and frustrating to watch someone continuously give up an advantageous position.

Neil/Luque was great stuff. I've slept on Geoff Neal, but he's in the mix now. Whilst watching the fight I was thinking how if Vicente Luque was around during the Pride-era he'd probably he be seen in the same Brazilian legend category as Wanderlei, Shogun, Ninja etc. just a blood and guts warrior willing to go out on his shield, warrior.

Bryan Battle and Terrance McKinney maximised their nights both in ring and on the mic, great performances, great callouts.

Ā 

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An article from some MMA news site popped up on my feed about Miller doing the DX crotch chop - apparently she's a big fan of pro-wrestling, and wanted to be a wrestler at one point.

Also, on SBNation, there was an article asking why Sam Alvey still has a contract, and apparently he told the journalists it's because the UFC love his attitude:

Quote

ā€œThey kind of said, ā€˜Youā€™ve taken a lot of fights that most people would not have taken,ā€™ā€ Alvey told MMA Fighting. ā€œā€˜Short notice, youā€™ve gone across seas, youā€™ve always showed up and your fights are always entertaining and on top of all that, he said you are a joy to work with. When you come to fight week, when you come to the UFC PI, when you do anything like that, your team is someone everyone is excited to see, everyone is excited to work with. You bring a positivity with you that most fighters donā€™t. We appreciate that.ā€™ā€

https://www.mmamania.com/2022/8/7/23295699/sam-alvey-releases-statement-following-ninth-non-victory-in-a-row-at-ufc-vegas-59

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