UFC Fight Night – Reyes vs Prochazka better known as UFC Vegas 25 or UFC on ESPN 23 was a stacked card from top to bottom.
On paper it may seem like an average fight card with no big names but that’s where the matchmakers play such an important role in the fight business. Kudos to Sean Shelby and Mick Maynard on putting a dynamic fight card for the viewers from start to finish.
This card was a peculiar one where we saw almost all kinds of finishes, we saw a unanimous decision, we saw a Draw, we had a KO, a TKO and also a Disqualification. The disqualification however was on the prelim card for the women's strawweight fight between Luana Pinheiro and Randa Markos.
Getting down to the main card, Let's have a look at the result of UFC Vegas 25:
The main card starts with an absolute clinic between Georgia’s Merab Dvalishvili and Cody Stamann. It’s the third time these two were scheduled to fight after two previous fight cancellations and what a treat it turned out to be. Both bantamweights (135 lbs) were looking extremely buffed for their weight division. On the striking front, Merab outclassed Cody on all fronts amassing a staggering 178 strikes versus 73 by Cody. But the real difference was the 5 takedowns by Merab that demotivated Cody completely. It almost seemed Cody had no answer to those efficient takedowns by Merab.
The Longo-Serra camp, home to Merab for many years, had a perfect game plan executed brilliantly by Merab.
A clear unanimous decision to 11th ranked Merab deserves a top 10 fighter in his next outing inside the octagon.
Ask me who should face off against Merab? I feel someone like Pedro Munhoz or Frankie Edgar would be a good matchup for Merab.
The next fight saw a return of an old-schooled warrior in Sean Strickland when he faced 17th ranked Krzystof Jotko.
For those that do not know, Sean Strickland, fondly called Tarzan, suffered a horrific motorcycle accident in 2018 that kept him in and out of hospital and away from the sport for two years.
His return to fighting in the UFC was no short of an explosive affair when he stepped in on short notice and fought twice in 2 weeks; winning both his fights!
The third outing for Strickland was this fight versus 27 fight veteran Jotko and did Strickland make the fight look easy. Strickland, from the old school camp of Team Quest showed crisp boxing throughout and surprisingly, both fighters had an unusual 100% accuracy. Strickland (84 strikes) and Jotko (37 strikes) displayed an absolute veteran stand-and-trade striking fight. They were in no mood for takedowns and wanted to put up a 15 minute war for the viewers and did just that.
The Polish veteran seemed to have his ground in Round 1. But Round 2 and 3 clearly went to Strickland who is now on a 4 fight win streak.
Looks like the resurgence of Strickland. Would be interesting to see who he fights next in the octagon.
The third fight on the card was possibly the most anticipated fight on the card where Ion Cutelaba took on the kickboxing ace Dustin Jacoby.
Originally slated to face Devin Clark, Cutelaba got a new opponent in Jacoby when Clark pulled out due to an injury.
The grudge started from the weigh-ins itself when Cutelaba clinched Jacoby aggressively that led to a minor scuffle before the UFC security stepped in to separate the two fighters.
In the fight, Cutelaba looked even more motivated versus a calmer Jacoby. Jacoby, a kickboxing veteran, seemed to have studied Cutelaba well and knew he had to weather the early storm. Cutelaba came all guns blazing, like he normally does to dismantle the opponent. But Jacoby seemed unfazed. Despite taking a few hard shots, Jacoby seemed to hang in there and bring all his world class kickboxing experience to use.
Round 1 was a game changer for Cutelaba with a massive 8 take downs. Judge Tony Weeks gave that a 10-8 to Cutelaba. But that’s when the strategy for Jacoby worked well. Cutelaba is known to slow down in the later rounds and Jacoby took the next two rounds.
Overall an excellent contest for someone who steps in on short notice to fight a whirlwind Cutelaba. The result was not debated by either fighter and it was extremely pleasing to see both the warriors hug it out at the end of the fight.
Afterall, martial arts is all about respect.
Moving on to the co-main event of the evening in the featherweight (145 lbs) division between another Georgian on the card Giga Chikadze and 39 fight veteran Cub Swanson.
The contest started on the feet and immediately we could hear Giga’s corner instruct him to take the centre of the octagon and be the aggressor. Rafael Cordeiro (Giga’s head coach) knows that if the fight went into the later rounds, Cub would be extremely difficult to deal with.
From the first bell, Giga starts with a few leg kicks and sets his range. Cub feints and looks to gauge range. Giga circles away, unleashes a left hand and in a little over a minute, Giga unleashes a nasty liver kick that shuts Cub completely. Cub attempts a half-hearted takedown that’s easily escaped by Giga. Giga unleashes a few ground strikes and referee Jason Herzog had seen enough and stopped the contest.
Overall 12 strikes by Giga and 4 by Cub were seen in the 63 second contest before it was called off.
Ranked 14th in the featherweight (145 lbs) division, Georgian Giga Chikadze showed tremendous improvement and deserves a higher ranked opponent to prove his capability.
If you ask me, the inactive Zabit Magomedsharipov would be a good matchup for him.
And now… the main event of the evening!
Former title contender and 5th ranked Light Heavyweight (205 lbs) warrior Dominik Reyes was taking on former Rizin FF light heavyweight title holder Jiri Prochazka.
Prochazka, known for his unorthodox fighting style was welcomed to the UFC by Volkan Oezdemir.
Prochazka fought a dominant fight and unleashed his signature overhand right in Round 2 to shut Volkan’s lights out. That earned him the Performance of the Night by the UFC.
This time around, Prochazka’s unorthodox fighting style proved costly for Reyes as he didn’t have an answer for the movement of Prochazka. Prochazka seemed to have capitalized on the broken nose of Reyes and struck him hard in Round 1 at the same spot leading to a broken nose again.
From the get go, Prochazka was in control of the octagon and eventually finished the fight in a spectacular fashion with a spinning elbow in Round 2.
This earned both Reyes and Prochazka the Fight of the Night bonus and Prochazka earned an additional $50,000/- as the Performance of the Night making him richer by $100,000/- that night.
28 year old Czech Republic sensation Prochazka is turning out to be a nightmare of the 205’ers in the UFC and I cannot wait to see who the UFC puts in front of him for his next fight.
Do you feel Jiri Prochazka should fight for the title next?
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Stay tuned to another exciting Podcast episode of The Fighting GOAT where I interact exclusively with The Apprentice – One Championship edition entrepreneur Niraj Puran Rao who is India’s entry into one of the most exciting reality shows. Episode releases on 5/May/2021 only on the IVM Podcast Network.
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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.
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