UFC 282: Yan Błachowicz Vs. Magomed Ankalaev was a night of slams, blams and performance bonuses all around from “the MMA Santa Claus”, Dana White. Paddy “The Baddy” somehow found himself with a favorable decision and Darren Tills striking skills alone made his stock move up despite his loss to “StillKnocks” Du Plessis. Santiago Ponzinibbio came out with a stylish KO/TKO alongside Chris Curtis and Jairzinho Rozenstruik. Finally, Jan Vs. Magomed ended in a shocking result.
Jan Błachowicz Vs. Magomed Ankalaev A Draw?
Round 1
“Polish Power” Jan Vs Magomed Ankalaev starts, Błachowicz takes the center. He lands two low kicks and Ankalaev responds with a southpaw counter left. A straight left from the Polish Power as he barely avoids a counter right. They trade kicks. Yan with a body kick. Ankalaev with counter kicks. Nice combo from the former champ. And another body kick from Ankalaev. The pace has been slow so far.
Round 2
With the Magomed corner telling him to increase the pace. Ankalaev fires two quick, hard kicks. Jan fires back with one of his own at the shins of Magomed. Nice overhand right from Błachowicz . They trade single shots. Another jab from Błachowicz . Błachowicz wades inside and connects. Ankalaev with two counter left hooks. Jan tags his opponent with a leg kick that finally gets a reaction. Another leg kick and Magomedov is barely standing on those legs! But he grabs a leg on the next kick and keeps Błachowicz on the defense. He pulls his leg out and resets. More low kicks. He’s trying to check kicks but he’s obviously in distress. He ties Błachowicz up in the clinch before the bell sounds.
Round 3
Błachowicz with a leg kick right away, and Ankalaev is immediately distressed. Ankalaev is now in orthodox to avoid more damage from those leg kicks. Jan clips the other leg too. Another to the front leg. Ankalaev with a huge lead overhand right that glancingly lands, and a jab. Another jab. Head kick from Błachowicz but Ankalaev lands a better counter. Front kick. They trade a bit inside. Two hard low kicks from Błachowicz , and Ankalaev is visibly limping. But still throwing. He shoots in for a takedown. Błachowicz easily defends. They trade in close range. Ankalaev looks for a takedown again. The ref steps in. Looks like Ankalaev lands a low knee. The corner camera confirms. Quick restart. Quick low kick from From Błachowicz has Ankalaev tripping up again. They clinch up. Ankalaev scoops a leg and gets a takedown, but there’s only 10 seconds left.
Round 4
Ankalaev closes the distance immediately. He can’t get a takedown through. They trade low knees. Nice knee from Ankalaev. He backs up and then gets a takedown. Still three minutes to go. Jan ties him up in closed guard. He opens it and tries to roll out to the side. Ankalaev takes his back! Only one hook though. Back elbow from Błachowicz . He tries to get up but can’t. Back to half guard. Błachowicz isn’t trying very hard to get up. Short elbow from Ankalaev. He postures up and lands two more big shots. 10-9 Ankalaev.
Round 5
Ankalaev goes in to wrestle right away. Ankalaev is in Jan’s full guard. Not a whole lot of progress or pace here, but Ankalaev is in control right now. Jan’s looking for a kimura sweep. Not happening. Ankalaev deftly grabs his wrist and pulls his opponent’s base away. He’s not landing big shots but he’s landing. Jan is trying to roll but Ankalaev has an arm trapped. Much bigger shots now. Błachowicz sounds like he’s hurt. He’s also fighting that way. The crowd is restless but this is solid work from Ankalaev. Finally the hammerfists come through. 45 seconds. 30 seconds and Ankalaev still has control and is dropping punches in. Elbows on the chin of Yan.
The judges scorecard was then announced, Jan Błachowicz vs Magomed Ankalaev is a split draw (48-47, 47-48, 47-47)
The Controversial Octagon Interviews
After an impressive 5 rounds of light heavyweight magnitude Jan Błachowicz spoke to Joe Rogan for a Post Fight Octagon Interview;
“I have to watch the fight but for sure I didn’t win the fight. I don’t know, did I lose the fight, but for sure I’m not the winner. I don’t…. I still have to watch you know, my
head is you know… You saw the fight. I don’t know, you know, I’m a fighter…. I said if… sorry my head is you know…. I don’t feel that I’m one winner, you know… but I need to watch the fight. I mean we can do with the rematch and that’s it yeah I I I’m not the judge… Yes I know what, where my demons are. I (will) come back again to me. I need to work on my wrestling. (This) was a little bit better than last time but then I need/want to work much more…. on this part of the fight.”
Meanwhile Magomed Ankalaev, who had outperformed Jan significantly in the final rounds and was utterly shocked that his efforts did not earn him a clear decision win.
“I don’t know what to say I won that fight why didn’t I get my belt I don’t know what to say”
To which Yan interjected, while Joe was still speaking to Magomed
“You (should) give the belt to Ankalaev, you know.”
Ankalaev went on to say:
“I can’t choose the judges for the fight that are sitting over here, but I won this fight. I want this belt, where is my belt? It does not matter if I felt pain I did everything to get this Victory”
“I always do whatever I have to do to adjust. If I’m losing in a stand up I’ll go down to grappling and wrestling. If I’m losing at wrestling, I’ll stand up. I can do both things, but I don’t know if I’m gonna fight for this organization again, because honestly I don’t know what just happened.”
Paddy “The Baddy” Pimblett Finds The Decision
Paddy Pimblett found himself with a fine victory over Jared Gordon at UFC 282. The extremely popular Liverpudlian capped a fine year by coming out on top of the judges’ scorecards in a unanimous decision 29-28. The fight was a very close lightweight co-main event. And Jared proved to be a supremely tough challenge for Pimblett. Many booed Pimblett winning on all three judges’ cards, while Gordon shook his head and laughed when the scores were announced.
“Jared is tough, he’s a tough man,” Pimblett said. “He’s come back, hats off to him. I knew I won the first and second so coasted in the third not wanting to take any stupid risks.”
Pimblett has now gone 20-3 in his career following his unanimous points victory over Gordon. Pimblett, who scored victories at UFC London in March and July, extends the unbeaten start to his UFC career to four wins. But the 27-year-old says he is unsure when he will return to the octagon after suffering an injury during the fight.
“We’ll see. I’m not gonna lie, I hurt my right foot in the first round. I’ll need that X-rayed,” he said.
Darren “The Gorilla” Succumbs To Dricus “StillKnocks” Du Plessis Pressure
Darren “The Gorilla” Till had survived a near-stoppage in his first round against Dricus Du Plessis and rallied in the second round. But wrestling remained his undoing as he gave back control to “StillKnocks” and lost to a third-round submission against the South African fighter on UFC 282’s main card.
Till may have re-injured his surgically repaired ACL, UFC commentator Jon Anik revealed after the fight, which ended via rear-naked choke after Du Plessis quickly advanced to mount and secured the finish. It was the one-time welterweight title challenger’s third straight loss and left him at 1-4 in his past five. Du Plessis secured his fourth straight UFC win. The fight was awarded Fight of the night by Dana, saying “Darrens stock has only gone up.”
“Action-Man” Curtis & “Bigi Boy” Rozenstruik Gets The KO
“Action-Man” Curtis
Chris Curtis got back on the winning track in spectacular fashion on Saturday when he caught and countered Joaquin Buckley at UFC 282.
After a somewhat tentative first round in the middleweight fight at T-Mobile Arena, the trajectory of the contest changed in the second frame. Curtis (30-9 MMA, 4-1 UFC) caught a high kick attempt from Buckley (15-6 MMA, 5-4 UFC) and loaded up a vicious left hand that led to a big knockdown.
Curtis swarmed Buckley once he hit the mat and forced the referee to stop the fight after landing follow-up shots.
“Bigi Boy” Rozenstruik
Jairzinho “Bigi Boy” Rozenstruik found himself a short and sweet victory after he knocked down Chris Daukaus in 25 seconds of the very first round.
Rozenstruik reminded everyone that he’s one of the most dangerous punchers in the heavyweight division.
The heavyweight slugger needed just 23 seconds to put Chris Daukaus down for the count with a furious knockout at UFC 282 on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/QTACUhk9H0Q
Youngsters Raul Rosas & Cameron Saaiman
Raul Rosas Jr.
The youngest fighter to compete in the UFC, the youngest fighter to win in the UFC, and if his projections are accurate, he’ll be the youngest UFC champion by a mile.
At UFC 282 in Las Vegas this past Saturday, Rosas wowed fans and fighters alike with a dominant first-round submission win of Jay Perrin to close out the evening’s preliminary card. The win came just two months after Rosas’ 18th birthday and three months after he earned a contract on Dana White’s Contender Series as a 17-year-old.
Rosas appeared on an interview following his successful debut and set his sights on the top of the bantamweight division, going as far as to say that he could beat UFC champion Aljamain Sterling right now and that their fight wouldn’t go to the judges.
“I don’t know what the plan is, but I hope they’re trying to fast track me because I’m ready,” Rosas said. “Like I said, if they offer me a fight for the UFC belt right now, I can not only go out there and win, but I can also finish whoever has the belt, which right now is Aljamain Sterling.”
“That’s my pro career, that’s what I’m saying, I didn’t take it slowly. I fought months back to back so I could be here. But if I knew that I wasn’t on the level, if I didn’t have anything to offer to the table, I would have fought every four months, that way I could improve.“
“The reason I’m fighting so actively — including the Dana White Contender Series not that long ago — I decided to make my UFC debut already because I’m ready for it all. If I knew I wasn’t on that level and I couldn’t hang with these fools — I’m not even looking at anybody, all I see is gold. If I know that I can’t be champion, I would slow down a little bit, but I know I can be champion right now if I was to fight for the belt right now. This is why I’m taking my career so quickly, because I know I have everything to win that belt right now.”
Cameron Saaiman
On the other hand second youngest fighter of the night Cameron Saaiman also found himself in the winning position as he found the judges decision. The heavy hands and sharp knees of Saaiman made it so that Steven Koslow was no longer intelligently defending himself.
The young submission artist found himself getting the better of his opponent Koslow multiple times throughout the match to finally end with a third round Technical Knockout Finish.
UFC 282: Jan Vs Magomed was controversial to say the least. With no decision on who the light-heavyweight champion is in the absence of Jiří Procházka, our eyes move to Brazil where Glover Texeira will face Jamahal Hill for the light-heavyweight title. With Dana White handing out Performance Of The Night Bonuses to everyone who managed to finish their fights, a joyous Christmas will indeed be celebrated by many fighters.
