Too much going on Saturday night, I haven't even watched the Quintet event yet. Friday night I watched the LFA event, Saturday I rotated back and forth between UFC & Kasai after working 2 of my jobs.
Demian proved he's still the kryptonite of basically anyone who doesn't have the style of Covington or Woodley. Aldo looked all kinds of spry when he can rehydrate away from prying eyes in Brazil. Weird. Moraes made Assuncao look not like a guy who I think is/was tied for the longest active win streak at Bantamweight, and capped it with a submission no less. Amazing work. I'm kinda bummed Dillashaw is tied up in this Cejudo business because Moraes has axed his way through his most recent spate of opponents and clearly deserves a title shot in this UFC run he's on.
Kasai had some submission less matches that were a chore to watch, but Canuto finally had a NoGi match that wasn't a shuck and jive and breakdance fest of him dancing around and circling, thank God. I'm always glad when a quality event in terms of production is put on, but I'd be remiss to not admit, I found myself scrolling through my phone and doing other stuff during a number of the matches. Demente, who hasn't competed recently in NoGi memory avoided Johnson's leg lock entries, rotating the knee and clearing any real heel hook danger, despite Johnson claiming that he popped his ankle in the post fight interview...but if I had a dollar for every ankle I made pop in a match and the guy cleared and escaped I'd have enough to buy one of those grappling dummy's marketed at the start of the BJJ Scout Digest episodes. Despite the dearth of grappling on Kasai, I had more fun watching the UFC down in Brazil. The biggest part of Kasai was announcing some of the big names for the Kasai 205 lb Grand Prix coming up in a few months. It was a plus to see a women's black belt Gi match on the main card and there were some tense exchanges, but not so much in the Valente and Barbosa match in the Gi. Valente shot an early omoplata to armbar/triangle, but afterward largely Barbosa stacking Valente and aaaaalmost getting a guard pass going as time ran out. DeBlass looked directly into the camera and promised he would look for the submission in the promo then pulled half-guard and attempted exactly zero submissions. Bastos stayed on top in half-guard, laying on top of DeBlass' floating knee shield-esque hook, and did almost no passing. It was.....tough to watch, but then again, if promoters will pay them to have the exacty same match 3 times in a row.....what the &%$# do I know?
Demian proved he's still the kryptonite of basically anyone who doesn't have the style of Covington or Woodley. Aldo looked all kinds of spry when he can rehydrate away from prying eyes in Brazil. Weird. Moraes made Assuncao look not like a guy who I think is/was tied for the longest active win streak at Bantamweight, and capped it with a submission no less. Amazing work. I'm kinda bummed Dillashaw is tied up in this Cejudo business because Moraes has axed his way through his most recent spate of opponents and clearly deserves a title shot in this UFC run he's on.
Kasai had some submission less matches that were a chore to watch, but Canuto finally had a NoGi match that wasn't a shuck and jive and breakdance fest of him dancing around and circling, thank God. I'm always glad when a quality event in terms of production is put on, but I'd be remiss to not admit, I found myself scrolling through my phone and doing other stuff during a number of the matches. Demente, who hasn't competed recently in NoGi memory avoided Johnson's leg lock entries, rotating the knee and clearing any real heel hook danger, despite Johnson claiming that he popped his ankle in the post fight interview...but if I had a dollar for every ankle I made pop in a match and the guy cleared and escaped I'd have enough to buy one of those grappling dummy's marketed at the start of the BJJ Scout Digest episodes. Despite the dearth of grappling on Kasai, I had more fun watching the UFC down in Brazil. The biggest part of Kasai was announcing some of the big names for the Kasai 205 lb Grand Prix coming up in a few months. It was a plus to see a women's black belt Gi match on the main card and there were some tense exchanges, but not so much in the Valente and Barbosa match in the Gi. Valente shot an early omoplata to armbar/triangle, but afterward largely Barbosa stacking Valente and aaaaalmost getting a guard pass going as time ran out. DeBlass looked directly into the camera and promised he would look for the submission in the promo then pulled half-guard and attempted exactly zero submissions. Bastos stayed on top in half-guard, laying on top of DeBlass' floating knee shield-esque hook, and did almost no passing. It was.....tough to watch, but then again, if promoters will pay them to have the exacty same match 3 times in a row.....what the &%$# do I know?
