UFC Fight Night 176 Highlights and Review
Rodrigo Nascimento vs Don’tale Mayes
Rodrigo Nascimento makes his debut in exciting fashion. He gets the second round submission win over fellow prospect Don’Tale Mayes.
The first round was evenly matched, with neither man really taking the initiative. Nascimento takes over in the second, taking Mayes down, and getting the submission win shortly after.
After the fight, Nascimento called out fellow Heavyweight Chase Sherman, which would be an interesting matchup. Sherman beat Ike Villanueva last Wednesday on UFC Fight Night 175 in his return to the octagon. Sherman has never faced a grappler as good as Nascimento, so how he’d respond is definitley to be determind.
Cortney casey vs Mara Borella
Cortney Casey gets it done with a 1st round submission win over the veteran Mara Borella. Both women were coming off losses, and looking to get back on the right track, so this win must feel good for Casey.
Casey gets her first finish since 2016, and adds another quality win to her resume. With wins over Mara Borella, Angela Hill, and Jessica Aguilar, she has built a quality assortment of wins, throughout her UFC run.
Darren Elkins vs Nate Landwehr
Darren Elkins never fails to put on a show. This fight was an absolute brawl, with Nate “The Train” Landwehr coming out with the unanimous decision victory.
He got his first win in the UFC, after his TKO loss to Herbert Burns earlier this year.
Nate Landwehr and Darren Elkins traded shots all night long, but you wouldn’t know that by looking at them. Landwehr came out of the fight for the most part unscathed, while Elkins on the other hand looks like he went to war.
Giga Chikadze vs Irwin Rivera
Giga Chikadze got the unanimous decision victory over the debuting Irwin Rivera, winning his third straight fight in the UFC. He controlled the fight using his superior striking, hitting Rivera with every strike in his arsenal, but Rivera was able to use his toughness to survive.
This definitely wasn’t the best version of Irwin Rivera that we’ll see, with how difficult it is to prepare for fights right now. He showed a lot of toughness, being able to survive to the end, despite being knocked down during the fight.
Anthony Hernandez vs Kevin Holland
Kevin Holland gets the win in spectacular fashion. The “Trailblazer” was able to knock out Anthony Hernandez only 39 seconds into the first round.
After the fight, Holland called out fellow Middleweight contender, Mickey Gall. Gall is an elite wrestler with great submissions, so it’ll be an interesting matchup for Holland.
Matt Brown vs Miguel Baeza
Miguel “Caramel Thunder” Baeza knocks out “The Immortal” Matt Brown, early in round two. Baeza was out on his feet in the first, but was able to turn it around, and drop Brown in the first.
Baeza then came out strong in the second, knocking out the Welterweight veteran 18 seconds into the second.
Some thought Baeza was out of his depth, facing somebody of Brown’s caliber in only his second fight in the UFC, but after finishing Brown early in the second, Baeza was able to silence his doubters, and bring his record to 9-0.
Song Yadong vs Marlon Vera
Song Yadong gets the unanimous decision victory, in what some viewed as a poor decision. Marlon Vera seemed surprised, and frustrated with the decision, and Song Yadong even looked a little caught off guard. Vera refused to shake hands with Yadong after the announcement, showing his frustration.
Both fighters have fairly even success on the feet, but with Vera dominating the grappling exchanges, most thought he did enough to get the win.
The Judges all scored the fight 29-28 in favor of Yadong, giving him his fifth win in the organization.
Eryk Anders vs Krzysztof Jotko
Krzysztof Jotko gets the unanimous decision victory over Eryk Anders, in a fairly dominant showing. Jotko has now won his third fight in a row, and looks to rise back up the Middleweight rankings, after a rough stretch back in 2017-2018.
Krzysztof Jotko dominated the striking game, and Eryk Anders was unsuccessful in his attempts to change levels, resulting in a fairly one sided decision win for the Polish fighter.
Dan Ige vs Edson Barboza
In yet another controversial decision, Dan Ige gets the split decision victory over Edson Barboza, ruining Barboza’s featherweight debut. Statistically Barboza had more success on the feet, but statistics don’t fight fights. Dan Ige was able to get the decision by playing the points game, simply just doing more in the eyes of the judges.
Barboza was able to get a knockdown on Ige early, but Ige was able to recover, and compete with Barboza for the rest of the fight, showing his stamina and toughness. While fans were outraged at the decision, both men were very respectful to each other after the fight, sharing a moment just after the final bell.
After the win, Paul Felder asked Dan Ige who he wanted to face next, and he responded with a plethora of names including Chan Sung Jung, Yair Rodriguez, Jeremy Stephens, and Calvin Kattar. Dan Ige is very confident in himself going forward, and is looking for a step up in competition in his next bout.
Claudia Gadelha vs Angela Hill
Yet again, fans were outraged at this decision. Claudia Gadelha got the split decision win over Angela Hill, despite the fact that most people viewed it as an obvious decision win for Hill.
Angela Hill completely outclassed Angela Hill on the feet, dropping her in round 2, and keeping the pressure on her for the entire 15 minutes. Claudia Gadelha had more success on the ground, but with how much more prominant the striking was in this one, Angela Hill just seemed to have the advantage.
Angela Hill was very disappointed with the judges tonight, tweeting “Bout to celebrate my win at the bar”, showing that despite her loss on paper, she still believes the fight belonged to her.
After the fight, Claudia Gadelha called out Carla Esparza for another fight. Gadelha beat Esparza back in 2018, but with how close they are on the rankings, another win over the “Cookie Monster” could be what Gadhela needs to thrust herself into the Strawweight title picture.
Allistair Overeem vs Walt Harris
Despite the loss, Walt Harris deserves all the respect in the world. He was fighting for his family tonight, and even though he wasn’t able to get the win, his family is surely proud of him. Last year, he lost his step-daughter, Aniah Blanchard, and decided to keep fighting, and dedicate it to her.
Walt Harris came out early, dropping Alistair Overeem, and almost getting the finish, but Overeem was able to survive, and take a dominant position on the ground, draining Harris’ stamina.
Overeem was able to rock Harris in the second, and eventually get the TKO win, after flattening him out in the back mount. Harris didn’t have an answer to Overeem’s ground and pound, resulting in a stoppage by Dan Miragliotta.
After the fight, Walt Harris expressed his disappointment in the loss, but promised that he’d recover, and get back to work. Walt Harris is a hero, and even though he lost the fight, he won the hearts of many with his courage and bravery.
