We had an action-packed night last night in Anaheim, California with UFC 270 that included two title fights. Here are the results from the main card.
Francis Ngannou def. Ciryl Gane
In the heavyweight slugfest, we saw Francis Ngannou face off against Ciryl Gane, with Ngannou being able to defend his championship title via unanimous decision. With both men containing such raw power and size, it’s hard to bully the other around the cage.
Gane started off with some grappling, pinning Ngannou to the side of the cage multiple times. Ngannou spent most of the first couple of rounds just holding him off. When they weren’t up against the sides, Gane was using his footwork to find the angles on Ngannou, making it hard for Ngannou to land his power shots.
In the third round, Ngannou caught Gane’s front kick and was able to pull him in and throw him on the ground and get into side control. From here until the end of the fight, it was Ngannou using his improved grappling skills to maintain control.
In the fifth round, they were on the ground once again with Gane at an advantage. But let Ngannou get back on top in an attempt to go for the leg lock.
“I hurt my knee, tore my MCL completely and hurt my ACL,” Ngannou said. “I wanted to pull out of this fight but couldn’t see myself retreating from this fight because it was a chance to make a statement and remind everyone that I’m the champ.”
Deiveson Figueiredo def. Brandon Moreno
In the other title fight of the night, Figueiredo snagged his belt back from Moreno via unanimous decision. I was actually surprised by this decisions, as I thought favor would go to Moreno.
As much as I enjoyed watching brute strength take over in the main fight, Figueiredo and Moreno were incredibly exciting to watch. Each are really great strikers, and we did get really great, consistent striking from them for nearly 30 minutes.
They were throwing nearly 4 to 5 strike combos, each slipping and rolling the other’s punches while throwing their counters, with some leg kicks thrown in between. At no point did it seem like one had the significant upper hand, which probably made it a tough fight to call.
But I did feel like Moreno was able to push Figueiredo around the cage moreso than the other way around. It was clear Moreno was the crowd favorite, who was being cheered massively despite the loss. And Figueiredo was being boo’d when the belt was placed around his waist.
Nonetheless, Moreno was really graceful and classy after the loss. Figueiredo called him out for a fourth rematch (will be the first ever in the UFC) to take place in Mexico (Moreno’s home country).
Michel Pereira def. Andre Fialho
In the welterweight fight, Pereira defeated Fialho also by unanimous decision. It appears Pereira seemed to tone things down, as his fighting style was more disciplined than usual. Or at least, that’s how it was at the start of the fight.
By the end of it, Pereira had unleashed his creative attacks which earned him his fourth straight win. In the second round, he threw a lot of front kicks which made Fialho keep his distance. That’s when Pereira felt comfortable throwing his spinning punches and flying knees.
Said Nurmagomedov def. Cody Stamann
In the bantamweight division, Nurmagomedov defeated Stamann via first-round submission. I think Stamann must have felt pretty confident about being on the ground with a wrestling-trained Russian. But in the end, it wasn’t such a great idea.
As soon as he attempted to take him down with a body lock, Nurmagomedov was able to transition straight into a guillotine choke. Stamann tapped just after 47 seconds.
“I am preparing for all three rounds, but this was my favorite choke,” Nurmagomedov said.
