UndercarDVR: Weekend of October 2-4

Michael St. Croix

 

Welcome to UndercarDVR, where we review what you need to see from this week in combat sports. We go fight by fight to see whether it needs to be saved to watch, deleted, or watched in fast forward.

A busy fight weekend occurred, with UFC 192 on Pay-Per-View, along with HBO and Showtime showing boxing cards.

Get your remote ready.

 

Showtime Championship Boxing: Broner vs. Allakhverdiev (October 3)

WBA World Junior Welterweight Championship: Adrien Broner vs. Khabib Allakhverdiev: Adrien Broner did what he was supposed to do, but he just continued to be the most frustrating fighter in boxing. This was not a bad fight by any means, but it just smelled of yet another disappointing performance from a fighter who has the intangibles and some of the skill set, but doesn’t fight to his strengths.  Fast forward through this, but keep an eye out to stop and watch some key points.  Verdict: Fast-Forward

IBF Junior Lightweight Championship: Jose Pedraza (c) vs. Edner Cherry: Again, not a bad fight and probably one with some stop and watch moments. Still, this fight screamed Friday Night Fights co-main level with some wild brawling and baffling fight IQ throughout. If you like dumb fun, this has its moments. If you had to pick the two Showtime bouts, go with Broner if you want technique and this one if you want something for entertainment.  Verdict: Fast-Forward

 

HBO World Championship Boxing: Matthysse vs. Postol (October 3)

WBC World Junior Welterweight Championship: Lucas Matthysse vs. Viktor Postol: Viktor Postol stunned Lucas Matthysee with some brilliant game planning and showing some new tools in his belt, namely some pepper added on to his volume punches. This fight had an edge of your seat vibe to it, where it felt like something big was going to happen the entire time. The crescendo was the cherry on top to an already fun fight from gameplan execution and a very surprising twist. Verdict: Watch

Welterweight Bout: Antonio Orozco vs. Humberto Soto: This fight was something to keep your eye on and it was fun in spurts, as these up-and-comer vs. old gatekeeper fights tend to be. Nothing you haven’t seen before, but keep your finger on the stop button for a few fun moments.  Verdict: Fast-Forward

 

UFC 192 (October 3)

Women’s Bantamweight Bout: Jessica Eye vs. Julianna Pena: A solid bout between a gatekeeper and a fighter on the rise.  Had some good exchanges, but overall, rather methodical, but worth a quick look.  Verdict: Fast-Forward

Flyweight Bout: Ali Bagautinov vs. Joseph Benavidez: JoeB usually fights in fast-forward anyway, so watch him stick, move, and takedown at hyper-speed!  Verdict: Fast-Forward

Heavyweight Bout: Ruslan Magomedov vs. Shawn Jordan: Just a heavyweight slogfest.  Don’t waste your time.  Verdict: Skip

Light Heavyweight Bout: Rashad was rustier than your uncle’s El Camino, so it was mostly three rounds of Bader having, shockingly, better boxing and Rashad not being able to keep up.  Verdict: Skip

UFC Light Heavyweight Championship: Daniel Cormier (c) vs. Alexander Gustafsson: A fantastic barnburner similar to the Gus vs. Jones fight, and with the same end result.  Both of these guys left it in the cage, were battered, bloody, and deserve your full attention.  Verdict: Watch

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