My Take: UFC on Fox 26: Lawler vs. dos Anjos (December 16, 2017)

UFC on Fox 26: Lawler vs. dos Anjos

Winnipeg, Canada

Bell MTS Place

Commentators: Jon Anik & Daniel Cormier

My Picks: dos Anjos, Lamas, Perry, Teixeira, Cannonier, Marquez, Laprise, Taleb, Trujillo, Di Chirico, Mein

Early Prelims

Fight #1

Welterweight Bout

Jordan Mein vs Erick Silva

Winner by unanimous decision: Jordan Mein (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)

My Take: Jordan Mein picks up his first UFC win in a couple of years and in front of his home country. He looked good here as he had the advantage over Silva throughout most of this fight. He also picks up his 30th win here.

Prelims

Fight #2

Middleweight Bout

Alessio Di Chirico vs Oluwale Bamgbose

Winner by KO in 2:14 of round 2 : Alessio Di Chirico

My Take: Bamgbose spent the fight running on the outside which the Winnipeg crowd, Di Chirico and myself were kind of annoyed with. Di Chirico nailed Bamgbose with a knee to the table which caused Oluwale to fall to the mat Flair-flop style. After the fight, Di Chirico's coach acted as the translator and noted that Di Chirico said that he dedicated the fight to his coach because he kneed him like that last week.

Fight #3

Lightweight Bout

John Makdessi vs Abel Trujillo

Winner by unanimous decision: John Makdessi

My Take: In the first round, Trujillo suffered an eye poke and a low blow. After rejoining the fight after the low blow time out, Makdessi went to touch gloves but Trujillo stiffed him. I can't really blame him in the heat of the moment. The crowd definitely reacted to it. He tried for another show of respect after the fight but Trujillo wanted nothing to do with a guy. Makdessi then got angry at him and shouted that "THIS IS MARTIAL ARTS. SHOW SOME RESPECT!" but I think respect went out the window after Trujillo endured that eye poke and low blow because those aren't exactly respectful either. Anik asked what the kerfuffle (tremendous word for Latino) was about after the fight with Makdessi yelling at Trujillo and Makdessi ever-so politically Matrix dodged the question. Always lame when people do that. As far as the actual fight itself, Makdessi pretty much had the advantage during all three rounds and was a good counterfighter in this fight, at one point dropping Trujillo on the mat with a counterpunch. Also, I'm a Bas Rutten guy so whenever I see leg kickis really being utilized then I'm a happy camper and we saw a little of that here with Makdessi working the legs of Trujillo.

Fight #4

Welterweight Bout

Nordine Taleb vs Danny Roberts

Winner by KO at :59 of round 1: Nordine Taleb

My Take: Taleb absolutely nailed Roberts with a headkick that sent Roberts reeling and hanging on to the cage to avoid falling down but Taleb followed up with a hell of a right hand to finish him off. Roberts remained seated on the ground for a little bit before trying to take down the ref as he was standing back up in a rage while trying to convince everyone that he was still good to go. Clearly he wasn't as he was obliterated by that head kick but his testosterone flared up and he might have felt a little emasculated so he had to rage out on everyone to compensate. A better move would have been to take the hit with class and dignity and then come back in your next fight and demolish someone. Taleb begged for a bonus after the fight, I'm pretty sure that the office hate that so why shoot yourself in the foot and beg? Let your work do the talking.

Fight #5

Welterweight Bout

Chad Laprise vs Galore Bolfano

Winner by TKO at 4:10 of round 1: Chad Laprise

My Take: Bolfano knocked Laprise down early on but Laprise would use his wrestling to take down, dominate and TKO Bolfano with ground and pound. I thought Bolfano was going to win with that knockdown but Laprise would go on to demonstrate just how well rounded he is. Bolfano had some great standup but Laprise showed that he was a great all around MMA fighter. 

Fight #6

Middleweight Bout

Julian Marquez vs Darren Stewart

Winner by submission via guillotine choke at 2:42 of round 2: Julian Marquez

My Take: What a fight. Stewart is a banger but Marquez is a beast. They would trade bombs and use their clinch game, rinse and repeat. These two beat the holy high hell out of each other. So much so that the longer the fight went, the less it was about knockout power and the more it became about who had better cardio. Marquez got that nod as he was able to submit Stewart in round 2. During the post-fight interview Marquez challenged Tyron Woodley to a beard-off. It seemed corny at first but it was miles and above better than the guys asking for bonuses and letting Sean Shelby decide who they fight next and I thought it showed his personality rather well.

Fight #7

Light Heavyweight Bout

Jared Cannonier vs Jan Blachowicz

Winner by unanimous decision: Jan Blachowicz (29-28 X3)

My Take: Not the most exciting fight. I give the first two rounds to Blachowicz. Cannonier tried to get something going in the third round but he would ultimately lose the decision.

Main Card

Fight #8

Light Heavyweight Bout

Glover Teixeira vs Misha Cirkunov

Winner by TKO at 2:45 of round 1: Glover Teixeira

My Take: Cirkunov delivered some strong strikes early on. It seemed like he would dictate things. Also, I know that Cirkunov was the betting favorite and that he was the younger fighter but Teixeira was a sentimental of mine. I was pleased to see him holding his own and taking down Cirkunov with a double underhook before almost finishing things with a rear naked choke. However, it would be Glover's ground and pound that would end this. During the post-fight interview, Glover called out Daniel Cormier in a friendly manner. Cormier said that he doesn't turn down fights but I wouldn't be surprised if they give Glover another fight to make sure that he's ready.

Fight #9

Welterweight Bout

Santiago Ponzinibbio (#10) vs Mike Perry

Winner by unanimous decision: Santiago Ponzinibbio (29-28 X3)

My Take: Tremendous fight. The first round looked like it was really going Perry's way. He got some big shots in the second round but Ponzibbio would turn things around for the rest of the fight as he would keep his composure more in check than Perry. Because of this, Ponzinibbio would always find that left hook when he needed it. Santiago connected with a spinning back fist in the third round that dropped Perry. A few takedowns for Ponzinibbio would seal his victory.

Fight #10

Featherweight Bout

Ricardo Lamas (#3) vs Josh Emmett

Winner by KO at 4:33 of round 1: Josh Emmett

My Take: I was getting ready to write down how it seems like they were feeling each other out in this first round when Emmett unloaded a grenade from his left hand that took Lamas right out of this fight. Emmett looked to have power while Lamas seemed more tactical. Emmett said in the video package that he would shock the world and he did. However, it is worth noting that Emmett did miss weight. Props to Lamas for taking this fight, he had more to lose as much as Emmett had to gain with this fight.

Fight #11

Welterweight Bout

Robbie Lawler (#2) vs Rafael dos Anjos (#4)

Winner by unanimous decision: Rafael dos Anjos (50-45 X3)

My Take: I didn't know who to pick here. I figured that Lawler could have very easily strong-armed his way through RDA but that wasn't necessarily the case. So much so that I'm wondering if he went into this fight with an injury. Nevertheless, RDA remains undefeated since his move to welterweight and is now in line for a fight against Tyron Woodley.

Overall Thoughts

Not a bad night of fights here. It felt like it breezed on through which is definitely a plus for me. I'm still a bit surprised about that main event. I really thought that Lawler's power would have really made itself known but RDA's clinch game and kicking arsenal really won him the fight. My fight of the night goes to Marquez/Perry and Ponzinibbio/Perry was my runner up.