May 7th Combat Sports Recap

 RECAPPING A BIZARRE WEEKEND IN COMBAT SPORTS



UFC 274: Justice For Do Bronx

On Saturday May 7th, the combat sports world saw the highly anticipated UFC Lightweight Championship bout between Champion* Charles Oliveira and number one contender Justin Gaethje.

After a bizarre turn of events during the weigh-ins Friday morning where Charles Oliveira missed weight by a half a pound, "Do Bronx" silenced the doubters by submitting Justin Gaethje in the first round of UFC 274's main event in an all-time classic war. However, since he was stripped of his title on the scales, he was unable to win the belt on Saturday night. 

The fight played out very similar to Oliveira's first title defense against Dustin Poirier, where he was knocked down early in the fight but was able to survive because of his terrifying ground game. Gaethje clearly wanted nothing to do with him on the ground, so when Charles was knocked down he was able to have time to recover and get back in Gaethje's face. 

What ultimately won Oliveira the fight was his non-stop pace and underrated striking skills. He took all of Gaethje's powerful attacks, and gave it right back to him landing a huge right hand down the pipe dropping Gaethje in a way we've never seen Gaethje get dropped before. Oliveira jumped on the back and made Gaethje tap out to the rear naked choke. 

An ironic way to end a bizarre weekend, as Gaethje did a lot of talking over the last couple months calling Oliveira a quitter, saying "once a quitter, always a quitter". Yet, Gaethje was the one who quit when it mattered the most. 

It will be interesting to see what the UFC does next in the Lightweight title picture. With Oliveira technically no longer being the champion, it gives the UFC the excuse to potentially put Conor McGregor back in the picture. Many fans are reluctant to that idea and I believe that Oliveira's next fight should be against Islam Makhachev on the Abu Dhabi card in October. Makhachev, the protege of former champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, has yet to beat anyone in the top 5 of the lightweight division but is on a 12-fight winning streak and his scheduled fight against Beneil Dariush doesn't seem likely to happen due to Dariush's leg injury. 

Dmitry Bivol Shocks Canelo Alvarez

In what many combat sports fans saw as another notch on the belt for #1 pound-for-pound boxer Saul Canelo Alvarez, it seems he bit off more than he can chew.

Dmitry Bivol defeated Canelo Alvarez on Saturday night by unanimous decision (115-113 x3). This was Canelo's first loss since the 2013 bout with the undefeated and retired Floyd Mayweather Jr.

It was truly a shocking result for all boxing fans, as Bivol used his height and reach advantage to dominate Alvarez across the 12 rounds of action. Many fans are going to see this fight as a disappointing performance from Canelo, but we have to give credit to Bivol for defying the odds. 

Bivol was the defending champ at Light Heavyweight (175 lbs), and he used his constant jab and tempered gameplan to stifle Canelo. In fact there was a moment in the 5th round where Bivol unloaded a multi-punch combination which had Canelo leaning back on the ropes. Canelo pleaded Bivol to keep going, but Bivol composed himself and got back to work. 

This was definitely a setback for both Canelo and Matchroom Boxing, as promoter Eddie Hearn was reported to have the trilogy fight with Gennady Golovkin in the works. That fight may still be next, but the hype around it definitely has decreased. It'll be interesting to see how Bivol uses this monumentous win to catapult his stardom as a great boxer. 

Quick Hits

Michael Chandler's Incredible KO of Tony Ferguson

Poor Tony Ferguson.... damn. 

Michael Chandler knocks out Tony Ferguson in the second round of the feature fight of UFC 274 with a spectacular front kick that left Ferguson unconscious for multiple minutes. 

As a fan of "El Cucuy", it was awesome to see Tony Ferguson perform well in the first round, winning that round in many fans eyes after dropping Chandler. At the end of the round, he was smiling and it looked as if we were witnessing a vintage performance from Ferguson, which we haven't seen since his 2020 loss to Justin Gaethje. The second round started and Michael Chandler put his lights out in spectacular fashion. What a brutal sport. 

As for Michael Chandler, he's back on the winning side and called out names like Charles Oliveira and Conor McGregor for his next fight. For me personally, I think the McGregor fight would be perfect for both sides. McGregor needs a guy who can sell a fight along with him and is a winnable fight for Conor. The promotion for that fight would be awesome and McGregor is looking to comeback around August so let's make it happen. 

Yoel Romero's Buzzer-Beating First Win in Bellator





Yoel Romero wins his first fight under his new promotion in Bellator against Alex Polizzi in the co-main event of Bellator 280. The bout was originally scheduled to be against Melvin Manhoef, but Manhoef had to pull out after suffering injuries when apprehending three men who attempted to rob his home.

The bout has been rescheduled for September 23rd in Bellator's return to Dublin.

 

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