UFC Singapore: Holloway vs Zombie - Aug 26 🇸🇬

[wandshogun09]

Holloway vs Zombie was what the word ‘bittersweet’ was made for. As much as I love these two and as fun as it’d have been years ago, I was half dreading it here. I’m the type of fight fan who wants to see everyone fight everyone, so for completion’s sake, this needed to happen. But it felt like it came a few years too late. I was expecting a depressing, one sided massacre here. But Zombie made a bit of a scrap of it while it lasted. Ultimately it ended how I always imagined though…

Well, kind of. I didn’t really picture a one punch knockout just because Max’s style has never been about that. But I’d rather that than see Zombie subjected to a drawn out, sadistic beating where he eats a zillion punches like Ortega and Kattar. This almost felt like a fitting way for Zombie to go out. The way he came out in that third round and just said ‘fuck it, let’s just go mad and see what happens’ was a gamble but it was the only way he might’ve won this one. He went down swinging, went out on his shield, ‘live by the sword’ etc. He landed some solid shots of his own at points and appeared to wobble Max early on. He had his little moments. But I think from the second this fight was announced, there was only ever gonna be one winner. And with everything going on in Hawaii at the moment, it would’ve been just as sad to see Max lose as it was to see Zombie faceplant in his final fight.

As it turned out, this was actually kind of perfect. As much as we’d like to see our favourites go out on a win, it very rarely plays out like Robbie Lawler’s last fight. As far as going out on a KO loss goes, this didn’t feel as sad as I expected. I don’t know if that’s because he lost to a good egg in Max or what. But seeing Max show him so much respect post-fight, then him getting his moment with the interview and leaving his gloves on the canvas, leaving the cage with ‘Zombie’ playing and the crowd singing along, it still felt like a special moment and a fitting farewell. I hope that is it. He didn’t fully commit all the way in his post-fight interview though, did he? Sure he just said it was ‘maybe’ his last fight. But the glove thing and the emotion when he left the cage and hugged his wife made it seem final.

What the fuck do you do with Max Holloway now though? He’s so clearly the second best Featherweight in the world behind Volk but he’s 0-3 to Volk now and the last one was Volk’s clearest win over him. It feels like the gap between them is widening. But what else is there? You can’t do Holloway vs Topuria and risk eliminating the most interesting contender in the division. I think Volk vs Topuria is next anyway. But he’s already schooled Yair, Ortega, Kattar, Allen etc. Feeding a Chikadze or Bryce Mitchell or whoever to him seems counterproductive at this point. Maybe a fight at 155? If Charles Oliveira loses to Makhachev again in October, I’d say do Holloway vs Oliveira 2. They fought years ago and it ended early when Charles got injured. Unfinished business and a guaranteed banger. Why not? If Charles ties 1-1 with Islam though, I don’t have a clue. 

Smith vs Spann 2 didn’t hold my attention for long at all. Just couldn’t be arsed with it from the off. The fight peaked when Smith walked out to Eazy-E and went downhill from there. Once I realised it wasn’t gonna end quick like the first fight, my mind started wandering. No idea why this was either booked again or billed so high up the card. Needless to say I didn’t keep track of the scoring. Saw Spann looked shocked that Smith got the decision but whatever. Seen the usual shite about it being a robbery because ‘look at Smith’s eye’ but that’s not how it works. Facial damage from one exchange doesn’t mean you automatically win the decision. Didn’t feel like either put enough of a stamp on the rounds to cry robbery if it went against them. There’ll probably be a fucking third fight at some point just because they’re both treading water and there’s nothing else going on for either of them.

Giga Chikadze is back in the game. Wasn’t overly impressed but given his time away it’s to be expected that he wasn’t gonna be in peak form. Wasn’t bad though and Caceres is tricky at the best of times. He’s calling out Yair for the December PPV. Wouldn’t mind seeing that. Caceres broke his forearm blocking the first kick Giga threw, according to Bruce Leroy himself.

The fact he was able to still go 3 rounds after that just shows what he’s made of. Mixed feelings on this. I’m glad to see Giga back in the mix after that Kattar beating and the subsequent massive layoff. But under any other circumstances I’d be rooting for Caceres so I’m always sad to see him lose. He’ll be back though. He’ll be propping up Fight Night undercards long after we’re all dead and gone. The fucker’s timeless it seems.

Rinya Nakamura looked an absolute beast. How Fernie Garcia made it through 15 minutes of this I don’t know. He had no quit in him but he got completely and utterly dominated from start to finish. Glad we got to see more of Nakamura here. His debut was short and sweet, which was ideal as his intro on the big stage. But this gave us a better idea what he’s about and he looks like he might be a real problem down the line. That wrestling base alone is gonna be enough to contend with and some of his grappling here was beautiful to watch. But we also know he’s got KO power on the feet. Still undefeated and the right side of 30 as well. Bantamweight is such a strong division, I hope they don’t rush him too fast. But just thinking about some of the possibilities as far as matchmaking goes for him at 135 is mouthwatering.

Really enjoyed the Erin Blanchfield vs Taila Santos co-main that wasn’t actually co-main. Close fight and clearly some things Blanchfield can improve on but I did think she edged it. Saw enough from Santos here as well that I think she can still hang in the title mix as well. Good stuff here. It was one of those close fights though, where after 3 rounds it really felt like it needed a 4th and 5th. Would’ve been interesting to see how those ‘championship rounds’ would’ve played out.

She’s probably next for a title shot now, depending on how this Grasso-Shev rematch goes in a couple of weeks. If Shev wins, I can see them going straight into the rubber match. You know what they’re like with the rematches. If Grasso wins again though, I reckon it’ll be Grasso vs Blanchfield next. The wildcard could be Manon Fiorot though, she fights Rose Namajunas in Paris next weekend and is ranked #2 currently. If she goes out there and smokes Rose, she might get the shot. All seems up in the air at 125 at the moment. After years of Shevchenko dominance, it’s quite refreshing to have a title picture that feels like it could go a bunch of different ways.

Junior Tafa continues the Tafa family tradition of smashing up Parker Porter. His brother Justin waffled him in February and Junior did the same here.

Took him a whopping 1:24 of the first round. 18 seconds longer than Justin though so you know there’s been some piss taking from big bro when they got backstage. Quite like Tafa. He’s probably got a low ceiling but you never know at Heavyweight. I think he’s definitely got more upside than his brother. He’s younger but more experienced and he’s just…better from what I’ve seen so far. Porky Parker’s surely gone now? Just complete arse.

Prelims were mostly fun as well. Couple of nice first round finishes from Garrett Armfield and Billy Goff. Especially enjoyed Goff’s bodyshot stoppage. Don’t remember seeing him before but I’ll be keeping an eye out for his next fight. Even Waldo Cortes-Acosta, who I’ve shat on in the opening post, delivered a hell of a finish.

No doubt he’ll be back to boring us shitless next time but for once I watched him and didn’t instantly regret it.

Highlight of the prelims though was definitely the Michal Oleksiejczuk vs Chidi Njokuani one round shootout. Wild back and forth and was looking like Chidi was gonna chop him down with the leg kicks early on. And had the fight gone longer I think they’d have paid off eventually. Then Chidi wobbled him on the feet but Oleksiejczuk just kept coming at him, rocked him back and once he got him down it was a matter of time. Crazy comeback for Oleksiejczuk. Still don’t see him going far at 185, he’s tough and dangerous but overall he’s just too limited. But 185 is definitely a better fit for him than 205 was.

Good show. Couple of fights dragged it down but there was enough about the card overall that it didn’t feel like a waste of a Saturday morning/afternoon. And Holloway vs Zombie was more enjoyable than I expected, despite the way it ended being pretty much how everyone thought.

What a year for retirements. I felt like it was the right time for all of them to call it a day but with Glover, Shogun, Lawler and now Zombie all jacking it in this year, all my favourites are retiring. 

[wandshogun09]

Wouldn’t usually bump a thread but thought this was cool. These are two of the rare exceptions who restore my faith that not all MMA fighters are arseholes.

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