UFC 294 Post Fight Analysis

Hello fight fans! UFC 294 took place this weekend at Etihad Arena, Yas Island Abu Dhabi, UAE. What a quick PPV this was!

Trivia (answer at end)

Who is the longest reigning UFC Heavyweight champion?

Said Nurmagomedov vs. Muin Gafurov

Recap: Less than a minute into the first round, Gafurov overreached with his punches and then tried to close the distance to get inside position for a potential takedown but Nurmagomedov got the guillotine choke locked in. Gafurov quickly tapped but the ref was on the opposite side to immediately see. Nurmagomedov released the choke, securing the win at 1:13 seconds. This is his 2nd fastest submission in UFC history.

What’s Next: This win puts Nurmagomedov back on the winning side after his loss to Jonathan Martinez and if he doesn’t break into the top 15 he’s coming extremely close. Nurmagomedov is known for these guillotine submissions so whoever he fights next should take caution on rushing in. We can expect Nurmagomedov to be back and ready to go early next year.

Ikram Aliskerov vs. Warlley Alves

Recap: The fight began with good exchanges on both sides until Aliskerov dropped Alves with his jab a little before two minutes in. Alves scrambled up and Aliskerov marched him to the edge of the octagon. Then, Aliskerov threw a head kick and followed it up with a beautiful flying knee, where he switched mid air, that landed clean to the face. Alves covered up with his back against the fence and Aliskerov came in and threw a slew of combinations until Alves crumbled to the floor. The fight ended by TKO at 2:07 in the first round.

What’s Next: Aliskerov wants a fighter in the top 10 and with this performance, I think he’s ready for that. He is on his 7th consecutive win and if you’re a betting person, I’d put my money on him. Alves is a tough competitor and will probably move back down to Welterweight. He moved up for this fight making it his first fight in Middleweight since 2014.

Magomed Ankalaev vs. Johnny Walker

Recap: Well this was an interesting fight with a shit outcome to say the least. Many fans were excited for this fight because this was a great stylistic matchup. Both are hard hitting strikers with high level grappling skills. Ankalaev’s grappling is better than Walker’s, but Walker is known to have an unorthodox striking style that makes fighting him very difficult.

The fight started with back and forth leg kicks (this was also Walker’s strategy). Then a little over two minutes in, it looked like Ankalaev hurt Walker with a body shot as Walker crouched down holding the right side of his body like he was hurt (I think he could have been acting). When Ankalaev came in, Walker shot up into a flying knee, but Ankalaev grabbed a hold of him and pushed him to the fence where Walker sat on his right shin and was fighting the hands. Then, Walker got up to his right knee and with a minute forty-nine left in the round, Ankalaev kneed Walker to the chin . . . dirty AF. The ref immediately stopped the fight as this is illegal. In my opinion, this illegal move should have disqualified Ankalaev and given Walker the win because it was intentional. However, that did not happen.

The ref called the doctor to come in to check on Walker. Then the next thing we know (it was hard to hear the questions the doctor asked) the doctor called the fight off! Walker went to the center of the octagon ready to fight but the ref told him the fight was off and Walker pushed him. After that, chaos ensued. More men came into the octagon to keep Walker and Ankalaev apart as both fighters were still wanting to fight and then things settled down when the boss Dana stepped in. When things calmed down, Bruce Buffer announced that the outcome was a no contest from an unintentional knee to the head.

Begin rant . . . . What a shit show. The ref and doctor both need to be fired. First, the ref should have called the fight as mentioned before. Second, this doctor is just all around terrible as he made a horrible call in the prelims.* After the fight, we found out the doctor asked Walker where he was, and he said “the desert.” The answer wasn’t good enough so he called it. Technically Walker is not wrong and as a former athlete myself, I forgot locations and easy things all the time especially when my mind was tunnel visioned on the game itself. Even the announcers mentioned they would have gotten that question wrong. Third, Walker’s English is not the strongest and he should have had a translator. A lot of miscommunication can occur when there’s a language barrier or an accent involved . . . I talk to IT all the time and my computer is still messed up. Finally, the fight was called and Walker didn’t even get the full 5 minutes of the official time out. All of this was rushed by the doctor and handled atrociously. End rant.

* Victor Henry was kicked so hard in his junk that he fell over and was completely debilitated. The same doctor had the nerve to tell him that he wasn’t kicked there. Henry is not the type of fighter who is going to be screaming from pain just because. The man legit had to be carried out of the octagon, and we learned that he was vomiting backstage after the fight and had to be taken to the hospital for an ultrasound.

What’s Next: This fight needs to be rerun.

Kamaru “The Nigerian Nightmare” Usman vs. Khamzat Chimaev

Recap: This was the only fight in the main card that went the distance. Right away in the first round, Chimaev got a successful takedown on Usman and completely controlled his back. With a little over 1:30 left in the round, Chimaev got in a standing body triangle with the choke locked in but Usman slammed him to the ground to get out. The rest of the round proceeded with Chimaev controlling Usman’s back again, giving him a 10-8 round from the judges. In the second round, Usman kicked it up a notch with his striking. Chimaev broke his hand in the first round so that definitely impacted his performance, but I also think he was tired. Chimaev has only had 2 fights in the UFC that went past the first round, his UFC debut against John Phillips that ended via submission at 1:13 in round 2 and his fight against Gilbert Burns that went the distance. The third round was close. Usman controlled the beginning of the round and dominated with his striking but halfway through the round Chimaev got the takedown and controlled Usman. With 30 seconds left, Usman got out and ended the fight with striking, but unfortunately it wasn’t enough to secure him the win.

What’s Next: Chimaev is supposed to get the Middleweight title shot, but we’ll see if Strickland actually accepts. Strickland said “He hasn’t f*cking deserved it, but here we are. Give it to him. He sells a lot of fights. I’ll go fight the f*cking man for five rounds. But no, he’s not earned it. He doesn’t f*cking deserve it. Getting a decision with a Welterweight off the couch is not f*king earning it.” I don’t disagree with Strickland. I’d like to see Chimaev main event a 5 round fight before a title shot. If this were a 5 round fight or if Usman had a full training camp (he took this fight on 10 days notice), I don’t know if the outcome would have been the same. Usman seemed pretty down on himself in the post fight show interview but I don’t think he has anything to hang his head about. He moved up a weight class, took the fight on short notice, and he won the striking battle. He said he needs to believe in himself and his coaches more and he mentioned fighting DDP. I hope he figures everything out mentally and does what he needs to come back strong.

Islam Makhachev vs. Alexander “The Great” Volkanovski

Recap: What a way for Makhachev to make a statement, leave no doubt that he’s one of the best pound for pound fighters, and close the door to this rivalry. The fight started off with leg kick exchanges and then turned into a lot of clinching after Volk defended a takedown. Then with two minutes left to go, Makhachev threw a quick head kick that went right above Volk’s glove and hit his temple. Makhachev came in and finished the fight with ground and pound at 3:06.

What’s Next: Volkanovski was really down in the post fight conference interview but he also shouldn’t be hanging his head. He took this fight on 11 days notice and fought like a champ. When he was knocked out, his hand was placed correctly, but Makhachev’s kick just found the sweet spot. Volk said he needs to stay fighting and disclosed in the post fight conference that he’s battling some mental health issues and he wants to fight Topuria next in the Featherweight division. Whatever is going on with him, we can only wish him the best so he can figure everything out and beat whatever demons are arising as he continues being “The Great.” As for Makhachev, Oliveira is still next in line but another great contender will be Gaethje. As we know, MMA math doesn’t work but I think both fights will be worth watching.

Trivia Answer

Stipe Miocic

Until next time fight fans!

BMF

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