Monday, July 23, 2018

UFC Hamburg: Smith Stops Shogun Rua, Teixiera Falters, & Tybura Notches a Win

FightPass Prelims:
Stasiak vs Pingyuan
Stasiak eventually drags Pingyuan down to the mat. Doesn't advance position until Pingyuan looks for an amrbar, Stasiak finishes the round looking for a guillotine.
Pingyuan wobbles Stasiak with a spinning backfist but then gets dragged down again after falling back on a guillotine that Stasiak escapes. Round 2 ends with Stasiak on top landing punches.
Wow....Pingyuan gets the nod....frankly, he got outwrestled and lost positionally for much of the fight. Interesting. Hamburg judges giving it to a few big strikes rather than the majority of control of the round. That or UFC needed another Chinese star to build the brand. Neither of which would surprise me.

Kimball vs Stosic
Kimball moving and sticking and using some surprising speed for his size to not allow Stosic to set his feet/plant and land the heat. Kimball shots a double, gets shrugged off with ease, and Stosic drops an elbow or two and Kimball straight covers up immediately and it's over with a few more punches.

Narimani vs Taha - Narimani outwrestled him with key takedowns midway through the rounds. Both guys have a future winning fights in the UFC based on what I saw.

Fabinski vs Meek - Meek got dragged down by Fabinski in each of the 3 rounds. Fabinski didn't do a whole lot to be honest, once they were on the ground. Meek is a guy I want to see win more fights, but Fabinski sucked his hips off the cage once he locked his hands and dragged him down. I don't see Fabinski doing much in the division as if this gameplan doesn't work against a superior grappler, I didn't see much else in his game to be proud of. He didn't advance position even when on the ground, nor did I see much of a submission oriented approach to doing much once he dragged his opponent down.

Hadzovic vs Hein
Hein never put together much variety in his punching or kicking or striking for that matter. Hadzovic for his part utilized a solid jab to pick Hein apart who never really got off the backfoot.

Haqparast vs Diakese
Haqparast had Diakese on the ropes at the end of rounds 1 and 2. Haqparast never gave Diakese the room he needed nor the space to work the potent offense he normally utilizes to bewilder and finish his opponents. An excellent showing for Haqparast.

Tybura vs Struve
Struve got held down by Tybura who dragged him down midway through each round for 3 rounds. Honestly, not much else to say about this fight.

Azaltar vs Miranda
Miranda seemed a bit gun shy against Azaltar, though Azaltar's ground game gives me real concerns about him in this weight class. Azaltar's escapes and reversals simply won't work against a heavier wrestler or ground technician, and certainly not as he tires over the course of 3 rounds.

Anderson vs Teixeira
Anderson looked as good as he's looked in a long time, better perhaps than in many of his UFC showings (and I saw that as someone who was a fan from the outset of his time in the UFC). He outclassed and outworked a championship level fighter in Glover and never seemed to be sidetracked from his gameplan.

Shogun vs Smith
Ouch. Shogun sure does have me biting my nails every time he fights these days. He put together 3 wins in a row....walked into a heavy shot, and the sight of him out on his feet/against the cage in front of Smith was tough to watch, man. Had me hurting to see him unable to defend himself whilst out on his feet. 

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