A quick snapshot at the weekend that was.
Biggest Upset: Joe Lauzon +160 over Jonathan Pearce
Notable New Champions:
- WBC World Light Heavyweight Champion: Artur Beterbiev
- BBBofC British Junior Middleweight Champion: Scott Fitzgerald
- Fight To Win Black Belt No-Gi Featherweight Champion: Lucas Pinheiro
- Interim WBA World Cruiserweight Champion: Ryad Merhy
- IBF Latino Light Heavyweight Champion: Hugo David Quiroz
A Few Storylines Going Forward:
- It Wasn’t Even Close: My god, Artur Beterbiev and Oleksandr Gvozdyk clashed in maybe the most looked-forward to clash of the year on paper. Two undefeated monsters looking to unify two titles and make Light Heavyweght a compelling weight class once again. Instead, it was Beterbiev having his way, and beating the hell out of Gvozdyk until getting a merciful stop in the tenth. I have to think he’d want to size up the other champions at 175lbs, Sergey Kovalev, and Dmitry Bivol.
- That’s a Wrap: One of my favorite UFC moments in history, maybe my second or third favorite moment, was Anderson Silva sticking his face out to Chris Weidman. But after losing his middleweight title, and his light heavyweight debut going down in flames to Dominick Reyes, I don’t know what Weidman can do, now.
- By God, An Actual Feud in Pancrase: In August 2017, Isao Kobayashi, Japanese MMA mainstay and champion, had a three-game winning streak snapped by a than-unknown, 10-6 fighter named Kyle Aguon in an absolute stunner of a split-decision. One of the bigger upsets of the year in JMMA. Kobayashi eventually regrouped, and earned the Featherweight King of Pancrase. His first defense? That’s right, Aguon. And what happened? A split-decision, this time for Kobayashi. What looms is the rubber match, and for once, an actual rare rivalry in regional JMMA.
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