Combat Recap: May 20th, 2023
- project22unknown
- May 21, 2023
- 7 min read
Key Takeaways:
Chase Hooper put on a really dominant performance in his lightweight debut. Substantial improvement in his striking, putting on an exhausting pace confidently.
Kowalkiewicz looks as good as ever, outclassing Demopoulos pretty substantially in the striking department.
Maheshate loses his first stoppage loss after he was clearly affected by Borshchev’s power through the fight.
Ferreira with a huge KO, good lord.
Buckley gets another highlight reel KO and looks like a beast at 170.
Hernandez broke down Shahbazyan through the whole fight by draining his cardio with his wrestling, showing a stylistic matchup that can be problematic to so many fighters. He should now be a ranked fighter.
Mackenzie Dern is back on track with a dominant win against a ranked opponent who seemed to be finally putting it together in Hill. Her style of using positional-focused BJJ to lead into ground and pound can make for a problem to many fighters in the Women’s Straweight Division.
Boxing:
Katie Taylor defends her belts against Chantelle Cameron in front of her home crowd in Dublin.
Devin Haney pulls off a close decision victory over Lomachenko in a match that many say could have gone either way.
Breakdowns:
UFC Fight Night 72: Dern Vs. Hill
Chase Hooper Def. Nick Fiore via UD (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
Chase showed off his much improved striking through the entire fight. He put on a relentless pace and was landing accurately. On top of this, Hooper’s grappling was as sharp as always as his BJJ background showed through with plenty of excellent exchanges with another skilled grappler in Fiore. Overall it was a dominant performance by Hooper in his lightweight debut.
Omega’s score: 30-27 Hooper
Rodrigo Nascimento Def. IIr Latifi via SD (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Nascimento shows off his improved hands in round 1 connects on many power shots. IIr Latifi was connecting on many leg kicks but overall being outstruck. Latifi spent most of the time circling along the fence. Round two this continues, until Latifi gets a nice takedown around the midway point and spends the remainder of the round in Nascimento’s guard landing ground and pound strikes. Latifi puts together a pretty good round 3 with majority of it in grappling and clinch control.
Omega’s score: 30-27 Nascimento
Gilbert Urbina Def. Ryan Cosce via 2nd round TKO
Urbina connects early with a short right hook, followed by a big knee and elbow in the same exchange. Urbina looks fast. Urbina then gets a takedown straight into half guard along the fence. He then gets to full mount, raining down ground and pound. Hammers away to the horn. 2nd round, Urbina continues his striking dominance for about half the round, until he lands a kick to the solarplex to then finish him with a knee to follow up. Overall dominant performance for Urbina over a quality opponent.
Karolina Kowalkiewicz Def. Vanessa Demopoulos via UD (30-27 x3)
Coming into this one, it seemed like Demopoulos had a difficult weight cut, missing weight after weighing in at 117.5 lbs. Round 1, both come out swinging and landing. Kowalkiewicz seems like she’s landing jus a bit more quality shots and short combos in the exchanges. She gets a bit rocked after Demopoulos stuffs a takedown about midway thru the round, but gets right back to it in the striking department. She continues to land some huge strikes that seem to start bothering Demopoulos around 4 minutes in. Both land a bit to end the round. 10-9 Kowalkiewicz. Round 2, Kowalkiewicz continues with a an advantage in the striking exchanges, though not completely one-way traffic. Demopooulos was swinging hard towards the end of the round and has her moments but probably another for Kowalkiewicz, 20-18. Round 3, Demopoulos pulls guard at the beginning of the round, but Kowalkiewicz passes after about 30 seconds pretty easily. The fight becomes standing again about midway thru until the end of the round. Overall, dominant and impressive performance by the the 37 year old Kowalkiewicz.
Omega’s Score: 30-27 Kowalkiewicz
Maheshate def. Viacheslav Borshchev via 2nd round TKO
Seriously, “Slava-claus” is a great nickname. In terms of betting, I couldn’t figure out who I thought was the better value, but I ended up rolling with a small bet on Borshchev as a last leg in a 1-unit 2-fight parlay with Kowalkiewicz. Borshchev starts landing to the legs and body as the busier fighter, though Maheshate lands some big shots as well that get thru until a pretty bad eye poke by Maheshate that gives Borshchev a nasty cut on the eyelid on his lead eye, which seems to bother him for the rest of the round. Both connect a bit until Borshchev lands a huge hook in the final seconds of the round to drop Maheshate. 10-9 Borshchev. Round 2, Borshchev defends a takedown and lands a big right hook that dops Maheshate again. Borshchev then ends the fight, connecting with a huge, left hook, right hook combo that lands as clean as ever. Great finish on a dominant performance.
Diego Ferreira Def. Michael Johnson via KO (2nd round)
Small 1 unit, 2 leg parlay on Diego Ferreira (with Joaquin Buckley) on this one. Both look fast to start the fight, but Johnson lands a big combo a minute in. Ferreira stays competitive for the next few minutes, landing some nice counters. Johnnson starts to pull away towards the end of the round and overall Ferriera was outstruck and loses that round, 10-9 Johnson. This continues into the 2nd until… wow. Ferreira lands the huge overhand right to put Johnson to sleep on impact. Best finish on the card yet, and another one for the highlight reel for Ferriera.
Joaquin Buckley Def. Andre Fialho via KO (2nd Round)
Buckley in his welterweight debut. Went in with a 1.5 unit bet on Buckey by KO/TKO for +115.
Buckley looks so fast and powerful at 170 lbs. Round 1 is a bit slow until Fialho starts landing a bit 3 minutes in. Buckley gets a takedown but Fialho gets right back up. Buckley lands a few in the last 30 seconds, gets a takedown of his own, but Fialho also gets right back to his feet. Overall a really close round, though I’d score it 10-9 Buckley for activity. Round 2, low blow by Fialho a few seconds in. Fialho then lands a stiff right that stuns Buckley. Buckley recovers well and continues his pressure, and catches Fialho 2 minutes in. Buckley’s swinging big but also keeping up the pressure. Then bang, the head kick takes Fialho’s damn soul. One shot, as clean as it can be. Another highlight knockout for Buckley at his new weight class.
Loopy Godinez Def. Emily Ducote via UD (30-27, 29-28 x2)
120 lbs catchweight. No bet on this one because honestly, I don’t know if I’ve seen either fight and don’t know much about them. I feel like a casual…
Round 1, Godinez connects on some nice counters then starts putting on some forward pressure. Ducote tries to change levels towards the end of the round with no success. 10-9 Godinez after 5 minutes. Round 2, Godinez continues to outstrike for the first half of the round and defense a couple takedown attempts well. Ducote bounces back striking and gains some momentum in the second half of the round. A very close round, but I’d lean Ducote just slightly, 19-19. In round 3, Ducote continued to connect a bit but was ultimately outstruck by Godinez by a slight margin. Godinez sealed the deal with a takedown to end the fight on top.
Omega’s Score: 29-28 Godinez.
Anthony Hernandez Def. Edmen Shahbazyan via 3rd Round TKO
Round 1, Shahbazyan hurts him early. Looks good, tagging him and blitzing a bit. Hernandez’s westling looks good, until Shahbazyan almost catches Hernandez in a gillotine, causing him to give up full mount. Shahbazyan attempts an armbar, grappling scrambles continue until Hernandez ends the round in control. 10-9 Hernandez Round 2, Anthony Hernandez goes straight to wrestling against the fence. By midway thru the round, Shahbazyan looks exhausted from Hernandez’s grueling wrestling pressure. Hernandez slowly breaks him down until he nearly submits him twice. Hernandez continues to attempt submissions, maintain continuous pressure and land ground and pound through the rest of the round. I would call it a 10-8. 20-17 Hernandez. Round 3, Shahbazyan looks exhausted. Hernandez immediately gets the takedown and gets right back at the ground and pound against the fence, until Herb Dean rightfully said that it was enough.
Mackenzie Dern Def. Angela Hill via UD (49-43, 49-44 x2)
Going into this fight with a 2 Unit bet on Dern at -155. More than I was originally thinking but its been an overall good night, so why not have some fun?
Round 1, Dern comes out aggressive and it goes into the clinch, with control going back and forth. When they separate Dern hurts her with a combo, takes her down, gets back up, then cracks her again hard that knocks her down. Dern controls her on the ground until she establishes mount, lands some viscous ground and pound, then nearly locks up an armbar, but Hill is saved by the bell. 10-9 Dern. Round 2, Dern continues to crack her until she overextends and gives up her back, standing against the fence. Dern is able to get them separated again and continues her pressure striking. Hill gets it to the clinch and maintains control until the last 30 seconds, until they separate and both land some huge shots. Close round, I’ll say 19-19. Round 3, Dern stumbles to her back and it goes to Dern’s guard. Hill avoids a triangle, gets back up, then gets wobbled by an absoultly perfect knee to the dome from Dern. Dern lands a takedown into full mount, and tees off with some hard ground and pound for the rest of the round. Has to at least be a 10-8 for Dern. 29-27 Dern after three. Round 4, Hill looks immediately compromised and Dern continues to pressure. Hill racks up about a minute of control against the fence, then they separate and Dern continues her striking onslaught. Dern gains clinch control against the fence by the midpoint of the round and maintains, until they are separated when she lands some more power. Dern finishes the round on top. Another for Dern, 39-36. Hill looks like she’s in bad shape. It gets to the ground in round 5 and Dern basically just mauls Hill for the rest of the round. I’d call that another 10-8 for Dern. Absolute dominance.
Omega’s Score: 49-44 Dern
Boxing
Devin Haney Def. Vasiliy Lomachenko via UD (116-112, 115-113 x2)
I came in with a 2 unit bet on Haney by Decision. I thought Haney won the first two rounds, the second being more decisive of the two. I thought Lomachenko took rounds 3 and 4, maybe 5. Haney won round 6, 7 and 8, Generally having success with the jab, being the longer fighter. I thought Lomachenko came back to get round 9 and 10 as he landed quite a few power shots and even had him hurt at a point in the 10th. Haney came back with rounds 11 and 12.
Omega’s score: 115-113 Haney
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