The Toyota Centre in Houston, Texas hosted the UFC for the 7th time at their premise with 16,000 plus fans waiting to get a piece of one of the best fight cards put together for 2021.

UFC 262 opened the doors for the second time in 2021 with a full house. A gate that earned more than $4 million and another memorable night for the fans in attendance and all the viewers across the globe.

Let’s have a look at the results of the fight card below:

The opening fight on the main card was an absolute treat for the purest MMA fans when ranked 10 Edson Barboza took on ranked 12 Shane Burgos in the featherweight (145 lbs) division.

Barboza, known to be a killer in the lightweight (155 lbs) division had taken a steep skid after facing the then champ Khabib Nurmagomedov. He was 9-3 before facing Nurmagomedov and suddenly the Lightweight division took a heavy toll on Barboza. Being 1-4 in his last 5 made Barboza rethink his decision of being in that weight class and he chose to move down a weight category.

Freshly into the Featherweight (145 lbs), Barboza quickly climbed up the ranks with 2 wins and one very close split decision loss to Dan Ige before he came out to face New York’s very own Shane Burgos.

Burgos, known to have dynamite in his hands, is a dangerous opponent for anybody in the featherweight division. Observed closely by Coach David Schulmann and Coach Jose Montes, Burgos is one of those top strikers that puts on a show for the fans.

Earning 4 Fight of the Night bonuses in his 9 UFC fights not only makes him an exciting fighter to watch out for, but the striking accuracy makes him one of the most dangerous fighters to get past in the division.

The fans saw an absolute treat of a featherweight fight when both fighters landed 100% of their strikes with no intention of takedowns and taking this fight to the ground.

Barboza started with his traditional leg kicks that were masked perfectly by Burgos. Burgos in return stunned Barboza early in the fight with a quick flurry.

Barboza returned fire with spinning heel kicks to the liver that eventually took the toll on Burgos in Round 3. A straight right hurt Burgos and his body reacted 3-4 seconds later when his legs gave up and he freakishly collapsed calling for a stoppage by ref Mike Beltran.

This fight was awarded the Fight of the Night with both warriors pocketing a revised bonus of $75k each.

The proposed Bantamweight (135 lbs) fight between Rogerio Bontorin and Matt Schnell was an interesting contest.

Schnell’s original opponent was Alex Perez and the fight was agreed upon at Flyweight (125 lbs). Since Alex Perez pulled out of the fight, the UFC couldn’t match Schnell with anybody from the same division. The guy that jumped on the opportunity was Bontorin with the condition the fight would take place at Bantamweight since he did not have enough time to cut the weight.

Surprisingly, Bontorin walks around at 165 lbs and cuts almost 40 lbs to make the fight weight!

The fight took place at a catchweight of 137 lbs since Bontorin missed to make the desired 136 lbs (Bantamweight + 1 lb levy). Schnell came in at a perfect 136 lbs.

The fight started aggressively with the home-boy favorite Schnell sticking out long jabs to get his range. Bontorin didn’t throw a single strike for the first 40 secs and took time to measure the opponent before throwing a quick one-two and missing with his overhand right.

Schnell attacks the body of Bontorin only to be greeted with a hard calf kick.

Both fighters were equally engaging in the contest, but I believe round 3 turned the tide for Bontorin with that massive take down and vicious ground and pound.

That ground n pound moment was slightly concerning as the referee Kerry Hatley failed to spot the mouthpiece of Schnell had flown off due to a clean strike by Bontorin.

Schnell managed to throw more strikes (113) than Bontorin (89), but it’s the significant strikes (72 to 65) and the massive take down that made the judges give the unanimous decision to Bontorin.

A healthy competition between the Brazilian, who apologized to Schnell in his post-fight interview.

The co-main event of the evening was an exciting one where the fans welcomed the Boogeyman back to the octagon with much hype.

Tony Ferguson was facing a motivated Beneil Dariush to decide who moves up to face higher ranked opponents and eventually aim at the prestigious Lightweight (155 lbs) strap.

The pre-fight press conference set the tone between these two warriors.

Tony, on a 2 fight losing skid, started hurling at Beneil who seemed much calmer and behaved like there was no reason to create controversies around the fight. But that’s Tony for you.

It also seemed Tony had gone back to his older ways of functioning and got in legendary boxing coach Freddie Roach to improve his striking. From what we saw in the videos, it surely looked like Tony was moving well and we just may see the 12 fight win streak Tony back in form.

The fight started off well with both fighters meeting in the centre of the octagon without touching gloves. Dariush starts his attack with some leg kicks that gets Tony thinking. Dariush closes the distance and secures a body lock takedown. Tony gets into a good position and lands an upper kick. Dariush gets into half guard and attempts his first submission of the fight, an arm triangle. Tony fights it off beautifully but is pushed back to the fence by Dariush. Dariush lands some good ground shots that end the round.

Dariush congratulates Tony only to get pushed by the veteran. Typical Tony style

Round 2 begins with Tony taking the centre of the octagon. Dariush starts off with a low kick that drops Tony. Dariush follows him to the ground and Tony attempts the brabo choke on him. Dariush stays calm and knows he’s in a decent position not to get submitted.

On the break, Tony tries to kick Dariush off but gets caught in a nasty heel hook. Most people would’ve submitted long back, but Tony Ferguson is one of the toughest guy’s in the business. Tony is grimacing in pain but still refuses to submit. Tony kicks Dariush in the chest to get out of the heel hook but ends up in Dariush’s half guard. The round ends with a few elbows from the bottom for Tony.

Going into round 3 with a compromised knee, Tony tried to do his best, but was outclassed in every department by Dariush. With a huge strike difference (76 to 37) and 3 clean takedowns, Dariush was awarded a unanimous decision by the judges that secured his place in the top 5 rankings of the lightweight division.

It will be interesting to see what Dariush can do versus the likes of Justin Gaethje and Dan Hooker before he moves up to the cream of the division.

And now… The Main Event of the evening. After over 1100 days, we would be seeing a new lightweight champion in the UFC other than Khabib Nurmagomedov.

The fight between Charles Oliveira and Michael Chandler was for the vacant lightweight belt.

On one side we have a 11 year UFC veteran in Charles Oliveira. On the other side we have a dominant force that has been a 3 time world champ in Bellator, who knocked out a top ranked UFC lightweight in 2 minutes 30 seconds looking to make history.

Both fighters walk out to a massive cheering crowd. Both fighters looked in the best physical shape of their lives. Both fighters are looking like hungry lions wanting to take the heads off their opponent. With a combined 52 wins between the two fighters, 44 of those have come as finishes. Referee Dan Miragliotta will have his hands full.

Even though both fighters start the contest by touching gloves, it’s assured violence when these two are in the octagon. Oliveira starts with a body kick followed by a low kick that drops Chandler. Chandler jumps back and fires back with a leg kick and a lead left that hurts Oliveira. Oliveira immediately presses for the take down and gets caught in a nasty guillotine attempt by Chandler. The crowd goes wild here pre-empting another magical finish by the American native. BJJ black belt Oliveira pops his head out and is safe from the nasty Chandler submission for now. Chandler escapes from the hold only to give his back to Oliveira. Oliveira sinks in a tight body triangle and is slammed by Chandler. Chandler again escapes the clutches of the Brazilian Oliveira.

With both fighters back on their feet, Chandler walks Oliveira down and clocks him in the face only to see the Brazilian fall mercilessly. It’s almost a replica moment of the Dan Hooker fight where Chandler is a few shots away from another historic finish and a landmark moment in UFC history.

With 1 minute 45 seconds left on the clock, Chandler rains down punches on Oliveira only to sense a finish. Chandler controls the rest of the round without securing the finish.

It seemed like a 10-8 round on the scorecard of some judges.

Round 2 starts very differently. With Oliveira being more confident and aggressive. Both fighters trade punches but it’s Oliveira’s short left hook that connects and drops Chandler. With Chandler backing up against the fence and Oliveira smelling blood, the Brazilian doesn’t let Chandler off the hook and tags him with a few more shots to end the show at 19 seconds of the second round.

After 28 fights in the UFC, Charles Oliveira has finally managed to earn what truly attracted him to the sport – The UFC Title.

Overall an exciting event that had the crowd on their feet for most of it. We got to see some exciting finishes and some technical fights that had the crowd wanting more.

For now, this is what I have for all the readers and I look forward to having more participants for the SPOGO Prediction Contests where you can get the chance to win some exciting merchandise from Monster Energy.

Till then, tune into the latest episode of The Fighting G.O.A.T where you can hear me speak on MMA, the sport, some exciting fights 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.

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