Good morning and welcome to another edition of Laying Down Leather, the casual blog post discussing my thoughts on events throughout the past week. Happy Martin Luther King day.
MMA
I watched three MMA events this weekend, those being Future MMA 11, LFA 80 and of course UFC 246. I’ll get to UFC in a second.
Future MMA was a fun card with some real exciting fights. Honestly, LFA wasn’t worth watching, mostly because of the horrible reffing throughout.
UFC was a weak card on paper, but in general was fun to watch. Maybe I am giving it more credit cause I haven’t watched a UFC show in quite a while. It’s possible.
Three Stars
Star 1: Conor McGregor
Many people were confident that Conor McGregor would come back and beat Donald Cerrone. With that being said, not many predicted that he would win in 40 seconds. Actually, Straight Blast Gym member James Gallagher got it perfectly right a few months back, but besides him not many saw it ending that way. Without a scratch on him, McGregor should be seen again in 2020
Star 2: Drew Dober
Drew Dober was the most discussed name from the UFC 246 undercard, stopping Nasrat Haqparast in the first round. The impressive win deservedly gave him some press. Unfortunately, the referee gave Haqparast one too many chances at the end, letting him eat more than 10 unanswered shots.
Star 3: Alexey Oleinik
The gassed and slow moving Alexey Oleinik had some trouble against Maurice Greene, but nonetheless got it done within two rounds. I can’t put it any better, so I’ll borrow the words of Mike Bohn by saying he’s the “Vince Carter of MMA.”
Fight of the Night: Roxanne Modafferi vs. Maycee Barber
The classic veteran versus up-and-comer booking for Roxanne Modafferi versus Maycee Barber proved to be entertaining. Upsetting the Vegas odds which put her at +550, Roxanne Modafferi beat Maycee Barber in a bloody and dominant fashion. Also, props to Barber, who endured a torn ACL and becoming a mess, showing pure toughness. With that being said, a case could be made that her corner or Barber herself should have thrown in the towel. For the many possible first losses a fighter could experience, Barber went through a pretty good one.
This week, I’ll have some articles leading up to Bellator 238 and UFC on ESPN+ 4, which take place this weekend. And of course expect coverage of those events afterwards as well. Sadly, not live due to work.
A little side note. No more cryptic stuff, folks. Next week on Laying Down Leather, I’ll announce the next big project I’ll be undertaking, which starts in February. Stay tuned.
Have a great week.
JackWannan.com 