UFC 260 literally has started a wave of openings and opportunities for some huge fights in 2021. The event took place yet again at the UFC APEX and hopefully, this remains the last UFC PPV at the APEX without the fans in attendance.
Yes you heard that right. UFC 261 onwards, we are going back to the original methodologies of fighting where there will be 15,000+ fans in the arena screaming, cheering and yelling for their picks!
For now, let us look at the results of UFC 260 below:
Whilst all the fights had a great level of entertainment, I would like to touch upon the return of Suga Sean O’Malley, the co-main event and the heavyweight clash in the main event.
Montana’s native O’Malley has been a stand-out ever since he stepped into the octagon in the Contender Series. The brash, flamboyant O’Malley seemed to be a replica of Conor McGregor and the UFC wanted to capitalize on that.
O’Malley proved to back his talk with some splendid performances in the octagon, especially versus Eddie Wineland. His wins over Jose Alberto and Alfred Khashakyan too were great for his highlight reel.
However, the UFC is a shark tank for MMA fighters and nobody gets spared the bite when they have to. O’Malley had his share of the shark bite when he walked in with Marlon Vera in August 2020.
Malley was confident and behaved until those leg kicks took a major toll on him and he crumbled to the Chito power.
The hype train had come to a halt and Malley was forced to go back on the drawing board and work on what got him here so far.
O’Malley faced Thomas Almeida, the Brazilian maverick. Almeida is an extremely dangerous fighter, however, his last win was in 2016 and he walked into this fight on a 3 fight losing skid. Low on confidence and dancing against a man who is always high on spectrum proved costly for Almeida and he was dominated from the first bell till the end. O’Malley turned up the heat in round 3, when Almeida was clearly mentally broken. The job got done just under 4 mins of the third round declaring the winner by knockout – Suga Sean O’Malley.
I'm waiting to see who the UFC pairs him against next. It would be very interesting to see O’Malley face the likes of Cody Gabrant or maybe Jose Aldo next. Only Sean Shelby will know.
The co-main event featured the former welterweight (170 lbs) champion Tyron Woodley taking on Brazil’s assassin Vicente Luque.
Another classic clash between a 29 year old rising star and a lion that wants to prove to himself and the UFC he truly belongs here.
The contest started in an unknowingly manner where Woodley took the center of the octagon and rushed into Luque with his classic overhand right, something the fans have been itching to see. It almost seemed like the champion Woodley is back.
Luque handled the storm well and closed the distance. Woodley hits Luque with a few more bombs and attempts the takedown. Woodley doesn’t seem to stop the aggression and swings wildly. Just then Luque counters with a beautiful right that lands flush and has Woodley in all sorts of trouble. Woodley backs up against the cage and uses the fence to hold himself up. Luque lands a few more shots and has Woodley kneeling down. Just then Luque drops down and catches Woodley in a perfect brabo choke (that happens to be Woodley’s favorite).
Locked in deep with no space to adjust himself or escape, Woodley is forced to tap handing him his fourth consecutive defeat and making this the Fight of the Night!
Woodley’s UFC contract came to an end with this fight and it seems the UFC are not renewing or negotiating a fresh contract with Woodley making him a free agent. A sad way to end a great career for a dominant champion.
And now to the main event of the evening… the Champion – Stipe Miocic taking on the challenger, the predator Francis Ngannou.
The Croatian native Cleveland based firefighter Stipe Miocic is undoubtedly the greatest heavyweight in the UFC and possibly the
greatest MMA heavyweight fighter of all time.
Having successfully defended his belt 3 consecutive times, Miocic was coming into this fight on his 5th title defense, something that is not common in the volatile heavyweight division.
Having only faced 2 opponents 5 times in the last 3 years, Miocic had his work cut out. In their last encounter in 2018, Miocic tactfully broke Ngannou over 5 rounds and showed the world why he is the best Heavyweight of all time. The scariest match-up for Miocic at that point in time proved to be a perception changer. Miocic had clearly won the first battle as he proved to the world, Ngannou’s knockout power had zero chances of winning against his gameplan.
This time around, Ngannou was more focussed, calm and composed. He changed his fight camp. Broke away from Fernand Lopez and is now under the guidance of Eric Nicksick and Dewey Cooper, getting trained at Xtreme Couture. Ngannou acknowledged the issues during his first fight with Miocic and calmly mentioned in every interview that he felt his time was now. And it turned out exactly how Ngannou predicted.
The fighters started round one with a touch of gloves. Both fighters are reading each other when Ngannou starts off with a leg kick. Something we have seen earlier. But this time, Ngannou focuses more on the legs and throws another powerful leg kick. It seems to have got Stipe’s attention.
Ngannou lands a few good shots and has Stipe’s attention. By this point in time, Stipe has eaten some clean hard shots from Ngannou and Ngannou is still calm and not breathing heavy, not a good sign for the champion.
Miocic starts chopping Ngannou’s calves that seem to have an impact.
Round 2 starts very differently. Ngannou seems to be supercharged and knows he has to make an impact. Ngannou lands a huge right
followed by a jab that hurts the champ. Miocic backs up to the fence and is clearly in trouble. Instinct kicks in for Miocic and he goes on the offensive trying to strike Ngannou only to be met with a vicious left that lands clean and has the champion unconscious with the legs bent backwards. The world has witnessed the scariest fight and possibly the scariest new heavyweight champion of the world – Francis Ngannou.
We hope to see some smashing heavyweight fights come up in 2021.
Will Ngannou retain his belt? Or will it change hands quickly?
Do write to me on Instagram – somesh.kamra or on twitter – somesh_kamra and win some exciting prizes.
Do catch me live on 11/April on the Sony Sports India facebook page covering the next UFC event and do not forget to catch the next episode of my podcast – The Fighting GOAT releasing on 7/April where we have knockout artist Sumit Khade as the guest of the week.
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.
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