Ngannou : On January 23, Anaheim (USA) hosted the first major tournament of the strongest organization in the world. As part of the UFC 270 fighting show, two title fights took place: in the lightest and heavyweight divisions – and both pretty much surprised the audience. “MK-Sport” – about the main events of the event.
Figueiredo returns belt
In the second most important duel of the tournament in the octagon, the Mexican Brandon Moreno and the Brazilian Deiveson Figueiredo met for the third time in the last 13 months . It is these guys who have held the flyweight title for the last time, preventing other contenders from even dreaming of a belt fight.
At the UFC 256 tournament, which took place in December 2020, Figueiredo looked better, but he was deducted a point for breaking the rules and could not defeat Moreno. But the title still remained with the Brazilian, since most of the referee’s notes recorded a draw.
The second fight took place in June as part of the UFC 263 show. Figueiredo was the favorite, but in that fight everything was decided by his underestimation of the opponent. More precisely, Moreno’s skill in wrestling. In the third round, when Deiveson was noticeably tired, the Mexican made a successful submission and became the new champion of the organization.
And then came the UFC 270 tournament, where the fighters had to finally determine the best. The first round went to Figueiredo. He worked more with his feet, punched low kicks. Moreno tried to throw punches in series, but failed to break through the challenger’s defense. In the second round, Moreno seized the initiative and completely interrupted the Brazilian in the standing position.
The third and fourth rounds were very similar to the first two. Everything was decided by the fifth five-minute period, which also turned out to be very equal. The decision of the judges surprised many: the victory was awarded to Figueiredo by unanimous decision of the judges. Most likely, the fact that during the fight Moreno was knocked down several times played.
After the fight, Figueiredo announced that he was ready to have a fourth fight against Moreno, but this time in his homeland – in Mexico. Brandon readily agreed.
Ngannou fooled everyone
The headliners of the tournament were two French heavyweights who fought for the title. The owner of a full-fledged belt, Francis Ngannou , opened as an outsider on the lines of the bookmakers, the “interim” champion Cyril Gan , respectively, was the favorite.
Everything went according to Gan’s scenario. He broke the champion at medium and long distances and scored points. Ngannou was aiming, but all his blows went either on defense or past. As a result, Francis’ cannon never reached Hahn’s head, but he still won.
What happened in the third round, MMA fans will remember for a long time. Ngannou, who had never shown his wrestling skills before, unexpectedly landed a takedown, throwing Gan from the height of his head.
And from that moment on, Ngannou realized that the opponent can be easily controlled on the ground in the style of Khabib Nurmagomedov . Until the end of the fight, Francis spent three more transfers to the ground, where he scored points with not very strong blows. Gan was completely lost and did not know what to do. At the end of the fight, all the judges unanimously gave the victory to the champion. For him, this was the first defense of the belt and, perhaps, the last.
Ngannou is going to leave the promotion if management does not agree to his terms. The champion wants a clause in his new contract that allows him to fight in professional boxing. Before the UFC 270 tournament, Dana White did not make concessions. Now he will have to reconsider his beliefs.
Hurricane Nurmagomedova
The tournament also featured Russian Said Nurmagomedov , who fights in the bantamweight category. The one with Petr Jan and Aljamain Sterling . By the way, this Nurmagomedov is not a relative of Khabib, he is his namesake.
Said met in the octagon with the American Cody Stamann , who was blown out of his way like a hurricane. Nurmagomedov in 47 seconds of the fight managed to break through several backfists, a couple of roundhouse kicks and strangle the opponent with a “guillotine”.
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