Tonight the UFC presents UFC 259 and what is probably the biggest UFC event of the year so far. Three titles are up for grabs in three magnificent fights.
The Bantamweight Championship is up for grabs as Petr ‘no mercy’ Yan takes on Aljamain ‘The Funkmaster’ Sterling.
Then the Featherweight Title is up for grabs as the champion, and widely considered greatest female fighter of all time, Amanda Nunes takes on a tough test in Megan Anderson.
Finally the main event of the evening sees two champions go toe-to toe as Jan Blachowicz (the Light Heavyweight Champion) takes on Israel ‘The Last Stylebender’ Adesanya (the Middleweight Champion) for the Light Heavyweight Title.
Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty ImagesBefore these fights took place we saw two other fights. Here are the results of those:
Aleksander Rakic v Thiago Santos – Rakic wins by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Drew Dober v Islam Makhachev – Makhachev wins by third round submission (arm triangle)
Yan v Sterling –
Round One – An interesting first round with both fighters approaching this fight in very different ways. Sterling is moving a lot and throwing plenty of different strikes. Yan, in comparison, staying calm and collected as he so often does. A couple of flying knees thrown by Sterling and a huge right hand from Yan set this fight up as an interesting watch as we go through into the later rounds.
Round Two – Sterling keeping up the pace in this one. If he can keep this up for five rounds we might be seeing a new Bantamweight Champion. That is a big “if” for Sterling though. Yan certainly doesn’t want this fight going to the ground with him allowing Sterling to stand up on a couple of occasions. Some beautiful takedowns for Yan but Sterling certainly looking like he won the round, landing plenty of strikes.
Interesting between Round two and three here as Sterling appears incredibly tired in the corner. Ray Longo asking Sterling how he is doing and Sterling responds with a huge in breathe. He is certainly tiring out.
Embed from Getty ImagesRound Three – Yan certainly starting to control the fight more. Landing a couple of nice right hands and big combinations. He also landed a few takedowns and once again let Sterling stand up. Sterling doing better as the round came to a close though, landing some nice leg kicks. Despite this, he is definitely fatigued after the fast paced style.
This is the first time Sterling has gone into the championship rounds since 2011. He is incredibly tired so I will be interested to see how he tackles the last two rounds of this fight.
Round Four – Yan was doing well once again in this round landing some decent strikes and defending takedowns outstandingly. Sterling seems in danger for a lot of this round. He has no energy and took some huge shots. Hooks and right hands specifically. It is surprising he wasn’t dropped. But after an interesting series of events Yan might have just lost his title.
Yan threw an illegal knee. Sterling was down and the referee let him know that. It appears that Yan asked something to his corner and then he throws a knee to the head of Sterling – whilst he was down. Sterling is severely hurt here. Sterling might be done as he can’t stand up. Will be interesting to see what will happen.
The fight is over! It looks as though Yan is going to be disqualified. Sterling in tears on the ground – certainly not the way he wanted this fight to end.
Winner: Aljamain ‘Funkmaster’ Sterling wins following a disqualification for Petr Yan
Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty ImagesSterling is in tears and is clearly frustrated by the way the fight ended. He throws the Bantamweight Title on the floor. It was over though as Sterling couldn’t even stand up – he is having to be walked off by his coaches.
Nunes v Anderson
Round One – It is over before it has even truly started. Anderson a top fighter but Nunes on another level once again. Huge punches from Nunes wobbles Anderson early on. An armbar forces Anderson to tap out and it is over just like that. Nunes makes it looks easy once again.
Embed from Getty ImagesWinner: Amanda Nunes wins via a first round armbar
Nunes emphasising her G.O.A.T status with this win. She has wiped out everyone in her path and there is clearly nobody left for her to conquer. The double champ is clearly the best of the best in the UFC
Blachowicz v Adesanya
Round One – This one is a close affair early on. Both fighters sizing each other up. Adesanya is showing Blachowicz a lot of different faints. He is throwing and Blachowicz is really reacting to each one. Adesanya has the fight right where he wants it right now. No real heavy shots being thrown as of yet but when these two are involved you can expect real fireworks.
Round Two – A very even affair in this one. Both fighters landing more strikes and bigger strikes at that. Blachowicz throwing his jab well and landing a couple of times in this round. Adesanya also landing a couple of decent strikes including a few decent leg kicks and jabs also. Some combinations thrown but mostly just one shot and done for both these fighters right now. The faints from Adesanya continuing to cause a reaction – this might become an issue for Blachowicz.
Embed from Getty ImagesRound Three – Adesanya landed a huge strike early on which rocks Blachowicz. Throwing plenty of jabs throughout the round as well, looking on form. Blachowicz starting to mix it up a little bit. Mixing in some takedowns and some clinches. Clearly this is an attempt to slow down and tire out Adesanya. He did well to get out of these clinches though.
We are needing the championship rounds again here tonight with this one looking like a very close affair. Really could go either way.
Round Four – Blachowicz looked to engage in the clinch early on. Adesanya got away fairly easily and landed some strikes. Blachowicz landed a huge double leg takedown though with about three minutes left in the round. He is using his weight by leaning on Adesanya and keeping the fight on the ground. Adesanya will get more and more tired and by being on top Blachowicz can hold Adesanya down and strike. This is his round for sure.
Embed from Getty ImagesRound Five – The final round came to a close and another very interesting round. Will love to see what the scorecards say about this fight. At the start of the round Adesanya kept throwing fake shots and eventually landed some big strikes. Notably a huge backhand and a big jumping spinning back kick to the body. Blachowicz got a takedown though with about two minutes 30 to go and managed to hold Adesanya down for the rest of the round. Could that takedown be the turning point to give Blachowicz the win?
Winner: Jan Blachowicz by unanimous decision (49-46, 49-45, 49-45)
What a night of fighting! Three titles up for grabs and one new champion crowned. Some fantastic performances and fights and a bit of controversy all round made this night just as good as expected.
Here is a recap of all three title fights:
Petr Yan v Aljamain Sterling – Sterling wins following a disqualification due to an illegal knee
Amanda Nunes v Megan Anderson – Nunes wins by arm bar in round one
Jan Blachowicz v Israel Adesanya – Blachowicz wins by unanimous decision (49-46, 49-45, 49-45)
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