Noche UFC Post Fight Analysis

Hola fight fans! Noche UFC took place this weekend at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. VAMOS!!!

Trivia (answer at end)

Who is the first Mexican born UFC fighter to win a belt?

Fernando Padilla vs. Kyle Nelson

Recap: This opening fight went the full three rounds. In round 1 Padilla showed octagon control by constantly staying in front of Nelson and delivering jabs that caused a little bit of damage to Nelson’s face. Padilla was moving well and ended the first round with a combination of powerful strikes. In round 2, Nelson came out strong while Padilla wasn’t moving nearly as fluidly as he was before. Within the opening minute, Nelson hurt Padilla with a strong right and a kick to the head. Nelson maintained his aggression by pressuring and utilizing his punishing leg kicks to Padilla. In the final round, Padilla wasn’t moving that well and you could see the visible damage from Nelson’s previous kicks. Padilla stood in front of Nelson waiting to counter and box while Nelson put everything together utilizing all his offensive weapons and defense. The fight ended with Nelson winning by unanimous decision.

What’s Next: Nelson wants Cub Swanson next. Cub Swanson is known for his striking and Nelson has good striking and defense. That would be a great test for Nelson against the UFC veteran. This was Padilla’s second fight in the UFC. He needs to keep fighting and utilize his length as he’s very long for this division.

Daniel Zellhuber vs. Christos Giagos

Recap: Coming into this fight, Zellhuber had a significant reach advantage of 5.5 inches. With that being said, we knew Giagos was going to have to get in and out fast against Zellhuber (who has great distance management). In round 1, Giagos executed the strategy very well. He was closing the distance, mixing in some takedown attempts, and getting in hard combos. At one point, he almost dropped Zellhuber but Zellhuber showed great resilience and recovered. Great first round for Giagos. However, things took a turn in round 2. Zellhuber began to find his distance and at an opportune moment caught Giagos with his right hook that moved Giagos back. This blow hurt Giagos badly and caused him to go in for a takedown. Zellhuber, a BJJ black belt, demonstrated his skills and got him in an Anaconda choke within seconds, securing the first victory for Mexico of the night.

What’s Next: Giagos is coming close to breaking into the top 15 but has a couple more fights before he can secure that position. Zellhuber is very well rounded and secured his second win in the UFC with this fight - and he’s only 24 years old. He has a ways to go to climb the ranks in this stacked lightweight division but he’s going to give these fighters a run for their money as he moves up.

Raul Rosas Jr. vs. Terrence Mitchell

Recap: Both these guys came out throwing hard. Then, Rosas Jr. knocked Mitchell down with a huge left that completely stiffed him (it looked like something you’d see on a video game). Once Mitchell hit the ground, Rosas Jr. got on top of Mitchell and ended the fight with ground and pound. Rosas Jr. definitely made a statement with a 54 second TKO!

What’s Next: This was Terrence Mitchell’s second UFC fight (he was knocked out in his debut) however, he has won 11 out of his last 13 fights. It’s still very early in his career so we’ll see what’s next for him. This was Rosas Jr.’s third fight in the UFC. People doubted him after his loss against Christian Rodriguez saying he’s too young (he’s currently 18 years old and the youngest fighter to ever fight in the UFC), but I think this kid has a lot of potential and growth ahead of him and he’s handling the fame pretty well.

Kevin Holland vs. Jack Della Maddalena

Recap: This fight looked like a sparring match. There was a lot of back and forth striking for all three rounds with JDM winning by split decision. I think JDM won the first and third, and got caught playing Holland’s game in the second. After the second round, JDM’s coaches even said to stop talking during the fight. Holland has a way of getting fighters to play into his game. There was only one takedown attempt by Holland and the rest was high output striking. Although Holland had more output (127/356), JDM had more accuracy (105/190). JDM also had a lot of success with his bursts and combos, and I would have liked to see him do that a bit more along with the leg kicks.

What’s Next: JDM wants to fight anyone by the end of the year and said he’ll take the first person they offer. I could see Brady (if he’s healthy) or Neal happening in December. I would REALLY like to see JDM vs. Garry (who also wants to fight before the end of the year), but I don’t think that’s going to happen. With Garry on the rise and having a strong fan base, I could see him turning that fight down for a higher ranked opponent or a headliner fight. Also, I think JDM is a liiiiiitle boring and this is an entertainment business. He had his chance to call his shot and he didn’t. As for Holland, he mentioned he’s not going to go for the title and wants to fight. Whoever Holland fights next, I would really just like to see a bit more intent in his strikes rather than just the peppering he does. I’ll say it . . . I want to see that fire in him where he wants to kill someone. So much talent but no consistent fire.

Alexa Grasso vs. Valentina “Bullet” Shevchenko

Recap: What an INCREDIBLE Flyweight title fight along with some controversy!

Bullet came out really strong and composed in round 1 throwing a liver kick and having very aggressive punches. Grasso started off in her orthodox stance but switched to southpaw. This stance worked very well for her in her previous fight against Bullet so it wasn’t too much of a surprise that she switched. Also by going southpaw, it took away Bullet’s body kicks. Bullet controlled the rest of the round with her grappling and clinch work.

Grasso came out more aggressive in the second round and threw more combinations. Bullet tried to take her down, but she showed excellent takedown defense by getting to the fence and getting out of Bullet’s clinch. About a minute and a half in, Grasso showed off her power by knocking Bullet down. It was so powerful that Bullet was able to roll backwards into a stand, but Grasso made the mistake of coming in too fast. Bullet got her in the clinch which gave her some time to recover (Grasso should’ve taken a second to set something up to inflict more strikes because Bullet needed to buy time for recovery). Grasso then controlled Bullet with hard knees and punches before the two separated. Bullet eventually got Grasso back to the ground where she tried to get in some ground and pound before the round ended.

Bullet had good inside leg kicks before dominating with her grappling in round 3. She almost had a guillotine choke but Grasso got out and survived. Bullet kept Grasso in a body triangle and had her back the rest of the round.

Going into round 4, the scorecards were easily 2-1 Shevchenko. In the beginning of round 4, Bullet used her jab to get ahead and it was landing. Then after two minutes, Bullet went in for a takedown. Grasso was able to defend it and get her in a position where she was able to knee her head while Bullet backed up to the fence. Bullet protested the knees were illegal because her hand was down, but the rule states that one hand down does not constitute a grounded opponent and you need to have pressure on that hand (you can’t knee a downed opponent in the head). Grasso then got the takedown on Bullet but nothing came of it. Bullet was able to stand up and get in an elbow that cut Grasso’s eye before separating with 1:37 left, which Bullet controlled with her striking and grappling until the last ten seconds where Grasso had an ankle lock before the bell.

In the final round, Bullet’s jab was causing damage to Grasso for the first 3:30 and it was clear that Bullet had control of the fight. Then, she went for an unsuccessful takedown where Grasso got her back and inflicted punches to her head. For a second, it looked like Grasso was going to submit Bullet but Grasso had nothing. The fight ended with Grasso having Bullet’s back with her body triangle and the two punching back and forth.

Now the fight ended in a draw but that wasn’t the controversy. The controversy was HOW it ended in a draw. The last two rounds could have gone either way IMO. Two judges had Shevchenko 10-9 and one judge had Grasso 10-9 in round 4. In round 5, all the judges had Grasso winning it, but Mike Bell scored the 5th round a 10-8. He must have been paid off by the cartel or something because even a casual knows that the 5th round was NOT a 10-8 round. A judge should only give a 10-8 round if there was a CLEAR winner and usually that means a fighter dominated the ENTIRE round. Bullet dominated the first 3:30 of the 5th round, so a 10-8 is not warranted whatsoever. Unfortunately because of that abysmal scoring, Bullet wasn’t able to get her title back. If the judge scored the round 10-9 then Bullet would have been the new undisputed champion again.

What’s Next: After this fight, I really think the UFC needs to do something about the judging. It’s been a long time coming. They either need to get more judges and place them in different places around the octagon and/or put them in soundproof booths. Also, if there’s any controversy they need to be held accountable and explain their reasoning in the post fight conference.

As for the fighters, Bullet fractured her thumb so once it’s healed I’m sure we’re going to see a third fight between these two to settle the controversy. If Bullet’s recovery takes longer than expected, the fight that makes the most sense for Grasso is Blanchfield.

Trivia Answer

The Baby Assassin Brandon Moreno

Until next time fight fans!

BMF

Anything you like / dislike? Send me your comments at [email protected]