Johnson over Milstead via split decision
Daniel Cormier being on the call right after TUF, and right before his training camp is impressive. The ref was quick to break Johnson and Milstead up against the cage, kind of oddly. This just wasn't a good fight. It's nice to see Milstead back in the cage. Jordan Johnson is 9-0 as a pro, and 3-0 in the UFC, but hasn't finished anyone there. You have to wonder if that'll affect any possibility of a push he'll get. He's a 29 year old undefeated light heavyweight with no buzz.
Here's a heatless and Tateless Bryan Caraway, buried on the UFC Fight Pass prelims after rejecting about 274 fights, but seriously, it's 10 fights he's pulled out of or turned down that we know of.. He looks slow on the feet but fast on his shot and baited Stamann into walking into a double. Caraway with a super smooth pass and step over. In round two, we're back on the feet and that's bad news for Caraway. Caraway occasionally found success with an uppercut, but Stamann was quick to counter it with a right hand, which seems to be Stamann's game. In round 3, Stamann turns up the speed and keeps catching Caraway with counters. Caraway would be best served to not throw strikes whatsoever, because every single time he does, he eats a counter right. Caraway tried to make it dirty at the end. Worth noting Stamann's one loss was a very, very controversial split decision.
Hernandez avoids touching gloves and takes a cheap shot, then knocks Dariush out with a two-piece special. Hot dog. There's really no upside to taking a short notice or replacement fight for a guy like Dariush. Jesus.
Ottow defeated Pyle
Ottow ends Pyle's career with a huge overhand right. It's sad to see a guy put down, but Pyle's had a great career, spanning back to his 1999 debut against Rampage Jackson. Some of my favorite Pyle moments: His great fight with Sean Spencer, sick KO of Josh Neer, tapping Shonie Carter, putting Jesse Lennox down, and "Gym Mike Pyle" being in the same breath as Sea Level Cain, Motivated BJ Penn, Kimbo With Six Months Of Sprawl Training, Healthy Brock.
What do you do when you can't box very well, can't get inside for fear of being countered, and don't want to clinch because of your opponent's judo? Nothing, apparently. That's what Dollaway did. Hector Lombard connected with a big combo as the horn sounded, with no ref in between them. He was appropriately DQ'd, but may have a case as the ref didn't do his job properly. Ten minutes later, Dollaway is out there saying 'WHAT HAPPENED.' C'mon bro, you got knocked out, but you knew what happened by then. Of course the end of a Lombard/Dollaway fight would be one where Lombard doesn't win even though Dollaway didn't do anything.
This is the last fight of Dodson's contract, and he's going to be in demand. Dodson is just way too fast for Munhoz. The hilarious thing is the fact that this fight is on this show because Munhoz didn't have hot water for his bathtub when cutting weight recently -- Dodson didn't even have a bathtub in his hotel room, but still was on weight. Dodson kept moving to his left and throwing, which Munhoz didn't catch until round 3. Two penis kicks and no point deduction. Okay. Dodson really got weathered in the third round when Munhoz turned up the heat and figured out Dodson's game plan. Dodson has alternated wins and losses since moving back to bantamweight in 2016. His two losses in the division are via split decision to John Lineker and Marlon Moraes.
Dern quickly closed the distance and threw a knee. This is a make or break fight for Yoder, who is 0-2 in the UFC. Yoder is doing a good job with footwork and setting up her kick, but she's still getting tagged. Mackenzie Dern is really raw everywhere but the ground, and has a decent chin, at least by this test. I know this because she never moves her head unless it's being snapped back by a counter from Yoder. Dern finally gets Yoder down in round 3, but can't capitalize. She's still smothering though. Byrd with a terrible scorecard. Yuck.
I could see the winner of Vieira/Zingano getting crack at Cyborg if not Nunes or Anderson. Zingano has some really nice kicks and decent trips, but a lot of what she does is problematic from a technical standpoint -- bad footwork, hands down, elbows way out. Vieira uses her range fairly well at times and abandons it at others. She paws at Zingano with her hooks, and lands a nice trip of her own. Zingano taking a year to a year and a half between fights all the time doesn't help, and she's done that five times. Staying low in someone's guard like that is a nice invitation to eat a bunch of elbows. Vieira recognized that pretty quickly. Zingano comes out fighting the way she needed to in round three, but got hurt on a checked kick. Zingano manages to fight back, and the ref breaks up the clinch that Vieira dominated for no reason. Of course one terrible judge gives it to Zingano.
#12 Arlovski defeated #10 Struve
Struve is fighting with length much better than previous fights, but he still gets taken down. Struve loads up the right hand and finds success, but enters a lazy clinch and gets taken down. Struve manages a nice sweep and tries to smother Arlovski in round two. This fight is going up against Wilder and Ortiz, and just doesn't click.
O'Malley defeated Soukhamthath
O'Malley steps into his right hand well and uses his length. He has Andre in trouble with a bevy of different strikes in the first round. It was a dominant, ass kicking of a round, possibly even a 10-8. Soukhamthath can't get off his back foot, and almost gets triangled and armbarred on the ground. "Go get this motherfucker" is exactly the corner advice that Soukhamthath needs after being styled on for the first two rounds. Soukhamthath has his opponent with an injured leg......and then takes him down to where he doesn't have to stand on it. Jesus Christ.
There's a noticeable size difference, but Edgar is backing Ortega up with great jabs. Edgar's head movement is such a far cry from everything else we've seen on this show.Frankie just saw his life flash in front of his eyes when Ortega had OH MY GOD ORTEGA KNOCKS OUT EDGAR. Yeah, I'm leaving that. Ortega just earned a title fight with a sick elbow and a horror move uppercut.
Champion Cyborg over Kunitskaya
Holm was able to muscle Cyborg around a little bit. Outside of a hail mary swing, that's Kunitskaya's best bet. After getting clipped, Kunitskaya hits a low single and lands a takedown! That doesn't last too long, and Kunitskaya has the standup of a TODDLER. Cyborg finishes her not long after. Vieira, Nunes, Reneau or Anderson next for Cyborg.
