Du It Like a Champ
Despite already being the champion, Dricus Du Plessis is a man on a mission. And that mission is to become the UFC’s top pound for pound fighter. After his win against Sean Strickland on Saturday, its likely that he will move into the top five and he has his eyes firmly set on the number three ranked Alex Pereira. He called out the light heavyweight champion after his victory at the weekend but it felt like the UFC swept his callout under the carpet.
Its likely that the UFC don’t want to see this fight as they probably feel Pereira has more lucrative challenges ahead and that a fight with Du Plessis wouldn’t be worth the risk. They probably also feel that the South African has enough challenges to deal with in his own division without having to dip into others. Those challenges will likely come from either Khamzat Chimaev or Nassourdine Imavov.
No Doubts This Time Around
If there was any doubts who was the better fighter after their first fight, there certainly isn’t any now after their rematch. That’s because Du Plessis put on a masterclass against his oppenent and pushed the pace for the majority of the fight.
That’s not to say that Strickland wasn’t competitive throughout parts of the matchup. He certainly was throughout the first two or three rounds, but even so, you felt like the champion was on top. Both men came in with a gameplay to stand and strike and neither deviated from that plan, despite Stricklands corner asking him to mix things up later on in the fight.
However, something did change in the fourth and that was Sean Stricklands nose! Du Plessis caught the challenger with a devasting right that caused Stricklands nose to explode in a bloody mess. From there on in it was pretty much all one way traffic as Du Plessis retained his title on points.
It’s clear that the champion who made it 11 wins in a row on Saturday night has plenty of options going forward. But what of Sean Strickland? The 33-year-old didn’t look like a man ready to retire anytime soon after the defeat. However, it’s hard to know where he goes after now losing to the champion twice. He has a win of the rising Nassourdine Imavov so the UFC may opt to run that one back a second time perhaps.
Zhang Weili Retains
It was one of the first times that Zhang Weili was considered the underdog for a fight in her UFC career and it looked like the doubt raised by some, fuelled this victory. She probably also wanted to be the first to hand Suarez her first career defeat and that she did.
However, it was the challenger who came out on top after the first round as she put the champion on her back early and held her there for most of the round. The signs looked ominous for the champ and we expected the following rounds to follow suit. But that certainly wasn’t the case and Weili dominated the remainder of the bout.
From then on she managed to stuff most of Suarez’s takedown attempts, even landing a few of her own. Her striking was on another level and Tatiana’s face was in tatters by the end of the fight. You really felt Weili laid down a marker with this performance and she really silenced the doubters.
But what’s next for the champion? She has virtually cleaned out the strawweight division and the only serious option left looks to be a winner takes all fight with flyweight champ Valentina Shevchenko. Not only could these women put their titles on the line but there is also the small matter of the number one ranked women’s pound for pound crown. Shevchenko is currently listed as number one with Weili number two on the list. Could this super fight go down on international fight week? Keep checking back for further updates.
Text Book Debut for Teixeira
Tallison Teixeira joined the UFC with a lot of hype behind him and he managed to live up to that hype on Saturday night. On paper it looked a tough first assignment for the Brazilian as he went up against the experienced Justin Tafa in his own backyard. But instead of wilting under the pressure, Teixeira excelled and took out his oppenent in some style.
Many fight fans (including me) didn’t see this lasting long and they weren’t wrong. However, not many would have predicting the fight stopping inside 35 seconds of the very first round. The Brazilian obviously wanted to get back to his home country as quickly as possible and made light work of this one. He closed the distance immediately and a crushing elbow to Tafa’s face sent him hurtling to the mat. He followed it up with a flurry of punches and the referee had no option but to stop the contest.
It’s hard to know what to make of Teixeira having only viewed him for 35 seconds. However, its clear that he has some serious power and can handle the pressure under the spotlight. The defeat for Tafa was his second in a row, however, in a division where things can change in the blink of an eye, these things can happen. He’s come back from back to back defeats before and we’re sure we will see the Australian back in action again soon.
Other Fights on the Card
Light Heavyweight Division – Jimmy Crute drew with Rodolfo Bellato on Points
Welterweight Division – Jake Matthews beat Francisco Prado on Points
Featherweight Division – Gabriel Santos defeated Jack Jenkis via a Third Round Submission
Lightweight Division – Tom Nolan defeated Viacheslav Borshchev on Points
Women’s Flyweight Division – Cong Wang defeated Bruna Brasil on Points
Bantamweight Division – Aleksandre Topuria defeated Colby Thicknesse on Points
Lightweight Division – Zhu Rong defeated Kody Steele on Points
Welterweight Division – Jonathan Micallef defeated Kevin Jousset on Points
Lightweight Division – Quillan Salkilld defeated Anshul Jubil via a First Round TKO
Written by Dean McHugh
