By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch Senior Columnist
UFC 326 was this past weekend and it featured some good fights with
early finishes, and a lot of decisions. Who won and who lost? Let’s get to the rundown.
UFC 326
GOOD- Gregory Rodrigues stops Bruno Ferreira
Nothing happens for the first minute plus but then Rodrigues connects
with a tremendous right hand that drops Ferreira and puts him out
cold. Rodrigues walks off, having secured the victory a bit over a minute and a half into the first round.
Rodrigues improves to 19-6 and has won 3 straight fights while
Ferreira drops to 15-3 and has his 3 fight winning streak snapped.
Good win for Rodrigues.
GOOD- Drew Dober stops Michael Johnson
They’re popping each other early with strikes from all angles throughout the first round. The second round begins with more of the
same, with Dober’s power being the difference. This continues until
Dober smashes Johnson with a huge left hand to the jaw that knocks Johnson out. One unnecessary hammerfist before the referee jumps in to
stop the fight just under two minutes into the second round and this fight is over.
Dober improves to 29-15 with 1 No Contest while Johnson drops to 24-20
and has his 3 fight winning streak snapped. Good win for Dober.
GOOD/BAD- Rob Font vs. Raul Rosas Jr.
They trade some strikes early before Rosas gets some takedowns and mat
returns as Font fights back to his feet. The second round begins with a repeat of the first, as Rosas gets a takedown so Font starts trying
for submissions that Rosas defends and they stalemate. The third round
is still more of the same. The fight ends so we go to the judges to render their verdict. Interesting fight. Not the most exciting fight
but it was effective fighting from both men.
Rosas Jr. wins the decision to improve to 12-1 and has won 5 straight fights while Font drops to 22-10. Good win for Rosas Jr.
GOOD- Caio Borralho vs. Reinier de Ridder
They start off trading kicks and the occasional punch until Borralho
is hit down low. They restart and Borralho is throwing bombs until de
Ridder gets a takedown. Borralho fights his way back to his feet but de Ridder gets another takedown and the second round ends. The second
round begins with more heavy strikes being thrown and landed by each
man. Now it’s de Ridder landing the stronger strikes and we appear tied as the second round ends. The third round starts with Borralho
getting an early takedown. RDR works his way up to his feet and the
exhausted fighters trade strikes until the fight ends. We go to the judges to render their verdict.
Borralho wins the decision to improve to 18-2 with 1 No Contest while
de Ridder drops to 21-4. Good win for Borralho.
GOOD/BAD- Max Holloway vs. Charles Oliveira
They trade some quick strikes before Oliveira gets an early takedown.
Oliveira works for submissions as Holloway defends through the rest of
the first round. The second round begins with more of the same, some
early striking before Olivieira gets a takedown. Oliveira is all over Holloway with submission attempts and slashing elbows. Again, Oliveira
twists Holloway’s neck but can’t get the submission. The third round
starts with a repeat of what’s come before. Oliveira gets a takedown
and methodically works for submissions and hits Holloway with the occasional strike.
The fourth round opens with Holloway landing a few good strikes before
Oliveira again getting a takedown. Oliveira continues his fairly unexciting but dominant performance. The fifth round commences with a
few strikes before Holloway gets a takedown and now he’s driving the
bus. It doesn’t last and now Oliveira is up and gets a takedown of his
own and eventually the fight ends. We go to the judges to render their verdict. Not a good fight, though a dominant performance from Oliveira.
Oliveira wins the decision to improve to 37-11 with 1 No Contest while Holloway drops to 27-9. Good win for Oliveira.
*************
The UFC has announced the fight card for the UFC White House event on June 14th. The event is titled Freedom 250 for the USA’s 250th year of existence.
The full fight card is-
A UFC Lightweight Championship Unification fight as Ilia Topuria
(17-0) defends his UFC Lightweight Championship against Interim UFC
Lightweight Champion Justin Gaethje (27-5).
Also, Alex Pereira (13-3) vacated the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship and will face Ciryl Gane (13-2, 1 No Contest) in a fight
to crown the Interim UFC Heavyweight Champion.
The card is rounded out by-
Sean O’Malley (19-3, 1 No Contest) vs. Aiemann Zahabi (14-2)
Maurício Ruffy (13-2) vs. Michael Chandler (23-10)
Bo Nickal (8-1) vs. Kyle Daukaus (17-4, 1 No Contest)
Diego Lopes (27-8) vs. Steve Garcia (19-5)
*************
Francis Ngannou (18-3 MMA, 0-2 Boxing) has been released by PFL. He
had a grand total of one fight, against Renan Ferreira (13-5, 3 No Contests) in October of 2024.
Word is that Ngannou will likely go back to boxing to get paid more. I suppose there’s always a chance he does something else but we’ll have
to wait to see.
If you’re a collector (action figures, statues, comics, cards, and
more), you should check out
Nibble on the Toyrat website!
It’s an amazing experience that allows you to catalog your own collection, search for items you want (across multiple storefronts!),
and buy/sell items with other users! You can even create and order
your own custom toys!
It’s an incredible tool that you can use and there’s so much more I
haven’t even mentioned. I would highly recommend that anyone interested in collecting should join. Thank you.
My new epic fantasy book is out. It’s called Kingdom of Zarias: The End’s
Beginning. The exciting epic fantasy series Kingdom of Zarias returns with the 4th book in the series. After the harrowing events of
Book 3 the residents of the Kingdom of Zarias continue on their paths.
Serena Summers continues to learn and grow as a fighter, desperately
seeking to become stronger before she loses anyone else in her life.
Daniel Summers discovers new parts of the world that open his eyes to
just how little he truly knows. A new hero, Lamar Abeers, arrives to join the fight against evil. Plus, Zach Summers, Tiana Highsmith, and
Xavien Ekens continue their journeys with their friends, and a new ruler of Vhaharen is crowned. The world has found a little peace.
However, that peace is only temporary. In a shocking act of violence,
the monstrous villain Galren strikes from the shadows and changes the
world forever. This is Book 4 in the series. There’s lots of action, magic, and monsters in the Kingdom of Zarias. It’s like a tabletop game in novel form. It’s on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and many other
places. Also, my line of comic books are now available under the 3P Comics label. If you’re interested, I would greatly appreciate it if
you would check it out and support me. Thank you very much, have a good day.
Comments and suggestions can be emailed to me at
hydenfrank@gmail.com and you can follow me on Twitter at @hydenfrank.
Thanks for reading and have a good day.