UFC 293 Post Fight Analysis

Hello fight fans! UFC 293 took place this weekend at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia and a lot of people lost money!

Trivia (answer at end)

Who is the first man in the UFC to knock down Israel Adesanya?

Tyson Pedro vs. Anton “The Pleasure Man” Turkalj

Recap: What a big win for Tyson Pedro at home! Turkalj who came in as a slight favorite started with good pressure against Pedro and had success early on with the leg kicks. Then, just shy of two minutes in, Pedro stung Turkalj with a solid 1-2, followed up by a few more jabs, a cross, and a right leg kick to the body. Turkalj never recovered and Pedro caught him with a damaging right cross followed by a jab and another right cross that knocked Turkalj to the ground. Once he was down, Pedro smashed his face again with a right hammerfist. What a win and what a right hand!!!

What’s Next: Pedro really leveled up his striking and as a spectator it was awesome to see. He said “I’m just a beginner at City Kickboxing.” If this is him as a beginner I can’t wait to see how he pushes himself to continue to level up for his opponents in front of him. As for Turkalj, he is now 0-3 in the UFC. My only advice for him would be to focus more on his training and less time talking about his opponent's wife.

Justin “Bad Man” Tafa vs. Austen Lane

Recap: This bout was a highly anticipated rematch from June which was abruptly halted just 29 seconds in due to Lane's eye poke on Tafa. Astonishingly, not even 30 seconds into the first round of this fight, Lane repeated an eye poke to Tafa. Fortunately, Tafa was able to continue and put on a show in his home country establishing his nickname as “Bad Man.” Lane threw a ton of leg kicks but Tafa kept his composure and pressured. With 3:44 left in the fight, Tafa threw a HUGE overhand left that dropped Lane to the ground. Unlike his last fight against Porter where he had a walk off knockout (he was robbed of a 50k bonus), Tafa approached Lane and destroyed him with some NAAASTY ground and pound. When all was done, Lane was struggling to get to his feet and as Anik said “Austen Lane still not sure what country he’s in.”

What’s Next: Tafa can go and enjoy his hard earned 50k Performance of the Night bonus! This is his 3rd consecutive win and I’m looking forward to seeing him and that left of his climb up the ladder in this division. This was the first completed fight for Austen Lane in the UFC. This former NFL linebacker is so athletic so I’d keep an eye out for him. No pun intended.

Manel “Starboy” Kape vs. Felipe dos Santos

Recap: What a spectacular debut it was for Felipe dos Santos! Originally scheduled to face Kai Kara-France, who unfortunately withdrew due to a training camp concussion, Dos Santos stepped into the octagon and delivered a thrilling three-round showdown characterized by high-level striking exchanges.

Dos Santos displayed an impressive level of confidence and unwavering energy throughout all three rounds, defying my expectations. I anticipated him to fade, especially against a high level opponent like Kape, but dos Santos remained composed and took risks, giving the impression that he already had experience in the UFC.

Kape unleashed impressive counters and combinations, creating moments where it appeared he might tee off and secure a TKO victory. Yet, dos Santos refused to back down. Unfortunately for the debuting fighter, Kape's power became increasingly evident as the fight progressed. Both fighters exchanged relentless punches, kicks, and elbows, and Kape took down dos Santos and attempted some ground and pound before the final bell rang.

What’s Next: Enjoy your 50k bonuses gentlemen because this was a well deserved Fight of the Night! Dana has to reschedule Kape and Kai Kara-France. Manel is unhinged, talks so much shit, insulted Kara-France’s teammates, and threw a water bottle at Kara-France during the UFC 293 press conference. The beef between these two needs to be settled. LFG!!! As for Felipe dos Santos . . . fight fans, be on the lookout for this 23 year old. After this fight, his next opponent should be in the top 20 and arguably top 15.

Tai “Bam Bam” Tuivasa vs. Alexander “Drago” Volkov

Recap: What an intense heavyweight division showdown. From the get go, Tuivasa relentlessly attacked Volkov’s lead leg, but Volkov displayed strong accurate counter strikes and effectively utilized his reach advantage. Volkov slowly chipped away at Tuivasa and the first round ended with Tuivasa being saved by the bell from a TKO.

In round two, Tuivasa persisted in targeting Volkov's lead leg, but Volkov quickly adapted by catching Tuivasa's kicks and successfully bringing him to the canvas. This maneuver also provided a much needed break for Volkov's battered leg. While on the ground, Volkov maintained total control inflicting more damage on Tuivasa in the mount position and then ultimately securing a submission victory via Ezekial choke, a feat not seen since 2016.

What’s Next: This heavyweight division has a lot of talent. I think we need to see what happens in November between Blaydes and Almeida and Jones and Stipe because Tuivasa and Volkov have already fought many of the fighters ranked above and below them.

Israel “The Last Stylebender” Adesanya vs. Sean “Tarzan” Strickland

Recap: Here’s the thing you guys . . . SEAN STRICKLAND IS THE NEW UNDISPUTED MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPION!!! Bring that belt back to America baby because the American has beaten the China man by unanimous decision!!! I don’t know if ya’ll can tell but I am so fucking excited for this win. I absolutely love a great upset and this was a GREAT upset (Izzy came in a -675 favorite). Look, Izzy is hands down one of the best strikers and fighters ever. He’s definitely a GOAT, BUT . . . Sean Strickland is the People’s champion and I have loved watching him make his way up the Middleweight division for years.

If you don’t know already, there was a lot of tension leading up to this fight especially since UFC 276 when Strickland was his normal unhinged self and gave Izzy A LOT of shit during the press conference. If you don’t follow Strickland you should. He’s unhinged but you always know where this man stands. So, leading up to this fight there was a lot of shit talking and tension. So much that these two didn’t even touch gloves before the fight started.

In round 1, the two were feeling each other out and finding their rhythm with Izzy playing the perimeter and throwing a lot of faints and Strickland marching down his opponent as usual until the last 20 seconds when BOOM Izzy went down from Strickland’s 1-2 and Strickland proceeded to attack him with more punches when Izzy was against the fence. Izzy came back to tie up the scorecard in round 2. Although Strickland controlled the pace of the round, Izzy threw more significant strikes giving him the slight edge.

The last three rounds were extremely high level. Izzy could not find his rhythm and was on his back foot a lot from Strickland’s pressure. He even mentioned to his coach after the fourth round that he couldn’t find his jab. Sean remained disciplined, had SOLID defense, and landed really good shots, causing the most amount of damage I’ve ever seen Izzy take after the Gastelum fight.

People are trying to figure out how Strickland beat Izzy at his own game and my insight is that he won with incredible defense and forced Izzy off his game with his unique fighting style. First, Strickland spars with 4 ounce gloves. The extra inches between 4 ounce and 7 ounce gloves makes the world of a difference and that’s why Sean has such great distance management. Izzy couldn’t find his jab and got frustrated because Sean knows how to stay in the pocket, march you down, and move just enough to either not get hit or let the punches roll off him. I don’t think Izzy was off and slow especially when he threw more strikes than Strickland at 271 (only 94 landed) and Strickland landed 137 of 259 strikes. Second, whenever Izzy was trying to control Strickland’s hand or try to find his rhythm, Strickland would push kick. If you rewatch the fight, you’ll notice the push kicks and he utilized it a lot especially in the fourth round. Lastly, Strickland has such a unique style that it’s hard to replicate during a training camp.

What’s Next: I’m just going to say it. Izzy should take a well deserved break, get his nails done, and watch some cartoons with his dog (IYKYK) . . . if his dog is alive or has a new one. Strickland said that after the fight in the octagon, Izzy was mad at him for talking shit about his dog. Izzy, you are a legend but c’mon dude. You’ve become the undisputed petty-weight champion. Also, Izzy passed his post fight press conference on to his coach so if you fight fans were hoping to get some insight from that I’ll save you the time. Izzy, please stop being such a little bitch and suck it up buttercup. A lot of champs have lost and done their post fight press conferences.

As for D’Sean, I hope this man does not change and goes on JRE again. He is a national treasure and deserves his Hyundai Accent and spinners (watch his post fight conference). As for fights, the next fight for Strickland should be DDP. DDP deserves this fight and is on a 6 fight winning streak. Izzy lost 4 out of 5 rounds. There is no need for an immediate rematch. Against Pereira it made sense since he was winning before the TKO but this time around Izzy straight up lost.

Trivia Answer

Your new Middleweight champ Sean Strickland! Pereira TKO’d Izzy standing and the cage saved Izzy against Gastelum.

Until next time fight fans!

BMF

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