Sooo ... About Last Night

The fifth was the swing round, and it was extremely competitive. Strickland landed a lot of jabs, but Khamzat landed some big swings and a couple takedowns. Ultimately, two of three judges named Strickland the victor, making him a two-time UFC champion.

With the recap out of the way … was anyone else disappointed in both men? Khamzat Chimaev gassed so early, and his vaunted wrestling disappeared after just five minutes. He pulled guard twice! So much for the unstoppable demon with no known weaknesses (or whatever the hype machine has been saying about “Borz”).

Meanwhile, Strickland remains incapable of turning up the intensity. He had Khamzat dead tired and in awful position in round two, and he let him back into the fight! Did Strickland throw a single body punch against a man with proven gas tank issues? Of course not. Strickland barely threw any serious right hands in the second half of this fight, relying on his jab and jab alone.

It very nearly cost him the win.

The Real Start Of The Van Era

Joshua Van vs. Tatsuro Taira was an absolute barnburner.

Taira was so strong in the early going. Everything was working for the Japanese contender, who was landing his jab, calf kicks, and takedowns with regularity. He looked to comfortable trading in the pocket with Van, however, and that relaxed willingness to enter the pocket bit him badly at the end of round two. While Taira was in the middle of throwing a naked kick, Van clobbered Taira with a massive right hand and nearly knocked him out.

Round three was a beatdown. Taira was still hurt badly, and Van chased him around the cage landing punches in bunches. Within a couple minutes, Taira’s face was absolutely covered in blood, and his face was swelling badly. He was given many, many opportunities to quit, but Taira continued to move and keep the fight going. He even managed to rally a bit late in the round, scoring a few punches and a takedown.

Somehow, Taira built on that momentum in the fourth. He started going forward, rather than trying to jab-and-pull, which worked better because he was getting cracked anyway. When Taira initiated, he landed his right hand more often and found better entries to his takedowns. Van still landed the harder blows, but Taira racked up some control time from very good positions.

The stakes were high with five minutes remaining, and Van lived up to his title. Darting forward with quick entries, he beat Taira to the punch early and denied early takedown attempts. Then, he started digging to the body, and the fatigued Taira didn’t enjoy that one bit. Before too long, Taira’s feet were slower than ever, and Van was able to build brutal combinations that ended the contest.

I would still favor Alexandre Pantoja over Joshua Van in a rematch, but this was exactly the kind of performance Van needed to solidify his title reign. It was clearly the best fight of the night, and Van’s fifth-round stamp more than proved he’s a worthy Flyweight kingpin.

Whether he faces Pantoja, Manel Kape, or Kyoji Horiguchi next, it’ll be a must-watch affair.

Volkov Dissects Salsa Boy

Alexander Volkov’s victory over Waldo Cortes-Acosta wasn’t sexy. I don’t know that it will earn him a long overdue title shot (the Russian would be on a seven-fight win streak if not for the Ciryl Gane rematch robbery).

He did, however, absolutely shred Cortes-Acosta’s lead leg. There were multiple moments in the second half of the fight where a Volkov low kick would visibly cause Cortes-Acosta pain. “Salsa Boy” was limping quite a bit by the final bell, and his “Come at me bro!” gestures were surely motivated by the difficulty in tracking Volkov down without getting his inner thigh punted.

Though Volkov otherwise didn’t let his hands go enough, his jab did look punishing. On a couple occasions, he managed to rock or injure the eye of Cortes-Acosta because of that lead hand stick. Again, it would’ve been nice to see him follow up more often, but “Salsa Boy” was definitely trying to take his head off with every swing too, so I understand the hesitancy.

Somehow, I expect Volkov to end up in the cage versus the Josh Hokit vs. Derrick Lewis winner rather than a title fight.

King Of The OGs

The artist formerly known as Bobby Green is 39 years old. He’s competed as a professional 54 times since his debut 18 years ago. This man has been around forever, and yet he’s still holding it down at a remarkably high level in one of the sport’s deepest divisions.

Green absolutely battered Jeremy Stephens last night. He was so much faster from the first bell, immediately confident in the timing of his counter punches. He beat Stephens to the punch over and over, kicked him in the liver, and then blasted Stephens off his feet the first time “Lil Heathen” loaded up an overhand. From top position, Green was merciless in bludgeoning Stephens with elbows until the rear naked choke opened up at the end of the first.

King Green secured his third-straight win in a nearly flawless performance. We know he’s not a Top 10-ranked contender anymore, but Green is handily better than anybody else still around from his generation. The only counter argument would be Jim Miller, but Green beat Miller bloody back at UFC 300!

I want to see King Green fight another veteran. If Michael Chandler doesn’t get retired by Mauricio Ruffy at the White House next month, it’s time for Green vs. “Iron Mike!”

Amosov Arrives

Yaroslav Amosov made it look easy in his dominating victory over Joel Alvarez, who hasn’t otherwise lost a fight since his Feb. 2022 defeat to Arman Tsarukyan.

The former Bellator champion’s game plan was obvious from the first bell, and yet Alvarez had no real answer for his wrestling. Amosov continually dragged the taller man to the canvas, craftily kicking out his base leg and tripping him down to the floor each time Alvarez attempted to rebuild his posture. Amosov landed a few decent shots in the first, but mostly he wore down the Spanish finisher.

Credit to Alvarez, he came out in the second and fought like you’d hope from him. Biting down on his mouthpiece, he pressed forward, walked through Amosov’s punches, and returned fire in combination. Just as it seemed like Alvarez may be able to pull himself back into the fight with a few connections, Amosov slammed him to the canvas and secured a nearly instant arm triangle submission.

Now 2-0 with two impressive stoppages in the UFC, Amosov has earned a Top 10 opponent. He’s 32 years old with 31 professional fights — why wait around?

How The Hell Did This Happen?

Before I get into Grant Dawson vs. Mateusz Rebecki, let me first give Dawson his props. He’s not known for his durability, but he survived a really rough second round. After getting rocked and bloodied in round two, he returned to his roots, found the back, and took the fight away from the judges’ hands with a late rear naked choke finish.

Good for “KGD.”

Unfortunately, the bigger narrative in my eyes was Rebecki’s atrocious decision-making. It was clear to everyone viewing that he won this fight by knocking out Grant Dawson. That’s the only way Dawson has ever lost! For some reason, nobody told Rebecki, who shot in on the superior grappler within the opening 30 seconds. It was absolutely baffling … and then Rebecki made the same mistake about 20 more times.

In round two, Rebecki floored Dawson with a two-punch combination. Dawson was wobbling all over the place, and Rebecki decided to prolong his existence by shooting and holding the clinch. With the fight up in the air heading into round three, Rebecki shot in, and guess what happened? Dawson stopped his shot, shucked his way to the back, and won the fight.

Rebecki, undeniably a very tough and skilled Lightweight, has now lost three straight and has only himself to blame for this one.

Jersey Jim Does It Again!

As a fairly significant underdog fighting in his home state, 42-year-old Jim Miller wrapped up his signature arm-in guillotine choke for the fifth time. If there is a fighter who’s landed more arm-in guillotines inside the Octagon, I do not know his name!

To be frank, Miller didn’t look like an underdog against Jared Gordon once the fight started. He actually seemed a bit faster, and his left hand was definitely make its impact felt. Perhaps that’s why Gordon — generally known for his boxing in recent years — opted to catch a leg and wrestle, a decision which ultimately landed him in Miller’s nasty strangle.

Miller now holds the record for both most fights and most wins in UFC history, and he doesn’t appear to be slowing down much. Keep him booking him against fellow veterans, and we might see Miller make it all the way to UFC 400!

Additional Thoughts

• Sean Brady defeats Joaquin Buckley via unanimous decision: Brady absolutely dominated Buckley on the canvas. His wrestling looked really strong here, and his top game remains world-class. His ground striking, however? Awful. He looked like a man who doesn’t believe in his own power. How do you hold mount for nine minutes and do zero damage? Brady needs a coach willing to lie to him about how hard he’s hitting the heavy bag, because you don’t have to hit hard to cut people with elbows from mount! As for Buckley, his performance was proof that no amount of athleticism can fix heinously bad shot selection. Buckley gave away takedowns the entire fight by throwing poorly-timed kicks and knees up the middle without ever even trying a body jab or straight right to the body. Horrendous!
• Ateba Gautier defeats Ozzy Diaz via second-round knockout (highlights): I don’t know why the UFC keeps booking Gautier — the most muscular and athletic Middleweight prospect on the roster — against relative fodder in his fifth promotional appearance. Still, I cannot fault Gautier for smacking a softball right out of the park. Diaz actually impressed a bit with his tactics and takedown timing in the first, but Gautier slowed him down with body work then timed a beautiful right hand to knock him cold. It’s high time for a step up in competition … why not Susurkaev?!?
• Baisangur Susurkaev defeats Djorden Santos via third-round rear naked choke (highlights): Susurkaev, now 3-0 inside the Octagon after this win, remains an irritating prospect after a performance similar to his first two. There are moments where “The Real Hunter” shows off his technical prowess and athleticism, and you think, “Wow, this 25 year old could really be something special.” Then, there are moments where his cockiness and laziness combine, and he looks very regular. At some point soon, the softballs will stop coming, and Susurkaev will be fighting somebody who’s actually good. Currently, the jury is still out on whether he will rise to the occasion and prove his potential or simply be the latest Fraud Check victim.

For complete UFC 328 results and play-by-play, click here.