UFC Fight Night – Brunson vs Holland, better known as UFC Vegas 22 was truly a massive setback!
A setback because the betting favorite didn’t win, a setback because the old war horse showed the importance of experience and a calm composure, a setback because a great co-main fight was cancelled off this card and most importantly… a setback because the coming event, UFC 260, saw the co-main event called off due to the Coronavirus.
Hence, I termed this post-fight article as The Setback!
The main card started off with the heavy hitters from the Heavyweight division.
Harry Hunsucker, the Hard Rock MMA veteran was making his UFC debut against nightmare Tai ‘Bam Bam’ Tuivasa. Harry had the chance of a lifetime to show the UFC bosses they had made a good choice in signing him but unfortunately, the debut was hazardous for Hunsucker as he was welcomed to the Octagon with the vicious right of Tuivasa that shut his lights out.
It took Tuivasa precisely 49 secs to show Hunsucker the level of competition in the UFC.
Hoping to see a better version of Hunsucker in the octagon for his next performance.
The women’s strawweight fight was one of the most exciting fights on the card. In an exceptional situation, both women were making their UFC debut and were on the main card and they surely didn’t disappoint with their banging performances.
Cheyanne Buys was originally supposed to fight 21 year old California native Kay Hansen. Hansen withdrew from the bout due to undisclosed reasons and was replaced by Montserrat Ruiz. The two combatants had a constant barrage of verbal volleys that didn’t end even after the fight. The bad blood between the two seemed genuine and it looked like they wanted to continue the fight in the parking lot.
Round 1 was a game changer for Ruiz where she started aggressively and controlled the octagon. Overall a dominant performance from the late replacement Ruiz that got her the unanimous victory. Many thought the fight of the night should go to these two women, but the UFC left that vacuum and did not hand over the FOTN bonus to anybody.
The main event of the evening can be termed as a shocker… maybe a setback!
The betting favorite going into this one was Trailblazer Kevin Holland.
Loudmouth, promotional favorite, 5 fight win streak… it seemed everything was aligned for Holland’s victory till he actually stepped into the octagon.
It seemed like Kevin had some kind of a ‘stage freeze’ where he just couldn’t execute any of his plans.
With a total of 226 strikes landed out of which 46 were significant compared to Holland’s 190 strikes (36 significant) and 6 takedowns versus Holland’s 1 takedown clearly showed why experience and a calm mind is essential in the sport of MMA.
The scorecards had all judges score a unanimous decision for Brunson with one judge scoring a 10-8 round, showing how dominant Brunson was in that fight.
This really puts Brunson in the line for glory for the one last time as he would pack all his energy into getting in line for that title for the one last time. Overall, the event was a spectacular one that showcased an array of top MMA fighters displaying a great skill set, some disappointments, some laughs, some cry’s and a whole lot of sporting entertainment.
I felt this card was extremely fun to watch and I cannot wait for the coming week where we see the greatest heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic run it back for the second time against the predator Francis Ngannou.
You will hear from me again shortly on the pre-fight analysis for UFC 260 right here on SPOGO News. Stay tuned and catch the 4th episode of my podcast – The Fighting GOAT that releases every Wednesday only on the IVM Podcast Network. About the author
Somesh Kamra is a professional mixed martial artist specializing in Muay Thai. He has designed many effective training programs for Superhuman Gym and the Police Academy. His knowledge of hand to hand combat is unbeaten and has been a success story for many students. Somesh Kamra is educated from the University of Gold’s Gym in the field of physical fitness that includes strength training, plyometrics & cardiovascular training for muscular conditioning.
He works closely with the UFC for India and serves as the panelist for the TV Show – The Ultimate Guide to UFC and Pit Stop on Sony Sports Network. Somesh runs India’s first combat podcast – The Fighting G.O.A.T produced exclusively by the IVM Podcast Network. Instagram: Somesh.Kamra Twitter: Somesh_Kamra