UFC Vegas 60 closes out UFC events for the month of September. We got to witness a handful of brilliant TKOs and some gruesome stoppages. “The Sandman” Cory Sandhagen managed to find a stoppage win against Song Yadong “The Kung Fu Kid”. Gregory Rodrigues with great effort found victory against Chidi Njokuani and Andre Fili faced similar adversity fighting Bill Algeo.
Cory “The Sandman” Sandhagen Vs “The Kung Fu Kid” Song Yadong
Both Cory and Song showed real endurance and skill in their main card spotlight. Song Yadong displayed his high level striking and matched Cory’s top five skills. Song defended against takedowns and put real striking pressure on Cory. His speed and movement was clearly faster than Sandhagen when making combinations. Cory’s power and close range elbows were doing a lot of damage to Song.
Making the walk for his first UFC main event ?♂️
[ @SongYadongMMA | #UFCVegas60 ] pic.twitter.com/jHAkV4K70c
— UFC (@ufc) September 18, 2022
Cory muscled Song into the corner in the second round. He followed the pressure up with a nasty elbow in the clinch that progressively got worse. The following rounds saw Song defend takedowns and prevent Cory from making any progress while grappling. Even getting good blitz explosive strikes on Cory. Song’s performance may earn him a top five rank but either way he might be the fighter to really watch out for in the Bantamweight division. The fight ends with Sandhagen winning with a Technical Knockout after the fourth round. Doctors took a careful look at the cutover Song’s eye and called the match.
Enter Sandman ⏳
[ @CorySandhagen | #UFCVegas60 ] pic.twitter.com/QjJ9T3vRRy
— UFC (@ufc) September 18, 2022
Chidi “Bang Bang” Njokuani Vs Gregory “Robocop” Rodrigues
What an excellent fight between two soldiers of the ring. A showcase of real grit and determination in the face of damage and pain. Both fighters got a fight of the night bonus and absolutely deserved it. Gregory Rodrigues won the Fight Of The Night bonus for his comeback win in the fight.
Both middleweight fighters dropped huge bombs on each other as the round started. Brawling in the octagon, Gregory received a skull splitting massive gash on his forehead courtesy of a knee by Chidi in round 1. By the end of the first round’s break doctors told the referee to keep a careful eye on the cut.
Rodrigues came into the second round with absolute bricks in his fists. On the other hand Chidi managed to return the favor a few times with a huge strike of his own but Rodrigues had much more in the gas tank and found the finish shortly after.
The RDX Pick
“Fluffy” Anthony Hernandez Vs Marc-André “Powerbar” Barriault
A pure slugfest between two brilliant brawlers. Fluffy showcased how great a wrestler he is while Powerbar demonstrated his endurance and defensive skills. Powerbar quite possibly broke his ribs at the end of round 1 from the battering Anthony had to give. Hernandez found himself two very swift powerful takedowns on Marc-Andre that managed to get him dominating positions both times.
Opening Round 2 Hernandez responds with a takedown to a combination thrown by Andre. Anthony grapples a gift wrap hold and drops punches on to Barriault doing serious damage. While Andre searches for an escape Anthony follows him carefully. Maintaining the weight, strikes and pressure to slow down his opponent. Barriault looks significantly worn out by this entire wrestling exchange coming to the end of the round.
In the start of round 3 Barriault throws a high kick which is quickly met with another takedown attempt. Anthony then proceeds to pick up “the Powerbar” and drop him head first into the cage floor, creating a tear in the canvas. One of the wildest slams we’ve ever seen at any MMA event. He further gets into a dominant position and wraps in an arm-triangle choke that seems impossible to get out of. Shortly after Barriault goes to sleep.
Post Match
After the match Anthony Hernandez had this to say:
“It’s a fight, you know how it goes, I’ll willing to die in this b***h. I always want to finish. I’m just going to keep doing what I f*****g do. I don’t really follow UFC, I just show up and fight. I think I’m the best in the world, I’m here to prove it one fight at a time.”
THEIR REACTION WAS ALL OF US ? #UFCVegas60 pic.twitter.com/Mj3a6GuSmU
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) September 18, 2022
It’s always impressive when new fight styles are mixed together and here at RDX Sports Anthony Hernandez surprised everyone with his high level wrestling and takedown skills. UFC Vegas 60 was a brilliant event in that regard with many fighters making a statement with their technical skills and damage resistance. We wish all of them swift recoveries and many bonuses in future events.