MMA
On Saturday I watched UFC 240 and RIZIN 17 back-to-back. It was quite an experience. I had never watched a RIZIN show start to finish live, and I would say I enjoyed it. Of course, I can’t do it for every show, but it was fun to do it for this one.
UFC 240 was pretty good. While the main card was mostly dull, the co-main and main event were fun to watch. Max Holloway put on a good performance, as did Cris Cyborg and her prospect opponent Felicia Spencer. The prelims had some really fun fights, with Canadians Gillian Robertson, Hakeem Dawodu and Gavin Tucker having great bouts.
I was disappointed how long on the card Deiveson Figueiredo versus Alexandre Pantoja was, as it was two high ranked flyweights facing off. Also, it was an exciting bout. The show lacked star power apart from it’s final acts, but it still put on a good show.
You can see the full report of UFC 240 here.
I have quite a lot of thoughts on RIZIN so bare with me here. Let’s start with the two women’s fights first. I was disappointed in KING Reina’s performance. Not that I expect her to be an amazing fighter, but her bizarre gimmick makes her someone you want to see go to the top. Seo Hee Ham’s performance was amazing, with her finish taking full advantage of the PRIDE rules that RIZIN allows. Also, it was cool to see her wear the outfit she used to wear in DEEP Jewels as opposed to what she wears in Road FC.
I wanted Jake Heun and Vitaly Shemetov to win, so I was pretty split on that fight. Obviously, the cut stoppage bummed me out. Roberto de Souza, Ali Abdulkhalikov and Johnny Case had good performances, but their opponents are too old to be in there, man. I don’t know the status of Satoru Kitaoka, but I am worried for him after the finish to his bout where he was carried off in a gurney.
I usually love the kickboxing on the RIZIN cards, but there wasn’t much to see in the two bouts tonight. Ivan Shtyrkov looks terrifying, but his highlight reel didn’t show in his performance.
While I like Ulka Sasaki, I have to give credit to how good the finishing sequence from Shintaro Ishiwatari was. The other bantamweight match was the best fight that went the distance, as Yuki Motoya and Hiromasa Ogikubo were very evenly matched. Motoya’s final round was electric.
The bad blood main event between Mikuru Asakura and Yusuke Yachi wasn’t as good as we expected, but still not bad. The finishing exchange was cool on Asakura’s behalf. This was Yachi’s fight to lose, and now makes it his third loss in a row.
You can see the full report for RIZIN 17 here.‘
Boxing
Gervonta Davis’ victory over Ricardo Nunes was an expected and quick one. I don’t have much more to say about it since it was just a showcase bout.
You can see the report for this fight here.
This Week On The Site And Beyond!
This week I’ll be able to cover the UFC Fight Night. Along with that will be my usual music writing at lwos.life. Have a good week.
JackWannan.com 