What a fun ass PPV.
After seeing UFC 268 release a while back, it’s hard to not think about Madison Square Garden on November 6th.
With that said, what an electric night!
The Main Event
Brian Ortega took on Alexander Volkanovski for the featherweight title.
I have to tip my cap to Ortega for going the distance after taking a beating. He went zombie-mode in round 5 and honestly threw some impressive punches until the end.
Here’s my issue…. I can’t give him too much credit.
Ortega had 2 AMAZING chances to finish Volkanovski and didn’t. It was literally everything he trained for all throughout camp.
He prepared for THAT moment.
and it happened TWO times.
He failed. He flat out failed.
I would feel different if Ortega never even got the opportunity to attempt a mounted guillotine choke or a triangle choke.
It wasn’t the case though. Totally unacceptable to not execute.
How'd he escape?!?! 😳#UFC266 pic.twitter.com/0dTELGsNZx
— UFC (@ufc) September 26, 2021
THIS. ROUND. IS. INSANE!!!! #UFC266 pic.twitter.com/tfzHrIjUpp
— UFC (@ufc) September 26, 2021
Let’s give credit to Volkanovski though.
Holy shit he was squirming around to maneuver through those chokes.
Endurance played a major role in the later rounds as Volkanovski clearly was more in control of his conditioning.
I could easily see a rematch down the road. For as one sided as it was, Ortega was throwing dangerous punches.
I honestly felt Volkanovski should have pulled away from striking distance with some time left on the clock, but he stood in the pocket and exchanged.
Good for him. I wouldn’t have.
What an outstanding effort!
Co-Main Event
Not too much really needs to be said.
Valentina Shevchenko isn’t human.
Domination isn’t really the word to describe how she handled Lauren Murphy.
Part of me really wonders if it’s fair to assess Murphy after this. Does this result really tell me much about her as a fighter or is it more showing how insanely elite Shevchenko is?
I’d say option 2 is the answer
Nick Diaz vs Robbie Lawler
I loved every second of this fight.
There were mixed reviews all over the twittersphere. Some complained Diaz didn’t want to be in the octagon while others were upset with how slow the punches looked.
The fighters are literally almost 40 years old and Diaz hasn’t been active in how long?
What the hell did you expect?
No one is going to deny the “buy in” factor was lacking from Diaz, but he was still chucking to survive which was extremely fun to watch.
I know a bunch of people that thoroughly enjoyed the storyline, too.
Matchups make fights and for the limited action we saw from these two, it was entertaining!
Round 1 was filled with nonstop back-and-forth shots before Lawler connected early third round and Nick stopped the fight.
Give me Nick and Nate energy every single day of the week. I’d say the rematch lived up to the hype even with the shorter time frame it lasted.
Other Notable Moments
Jessica Andrade put on an awesome performance to finish Cynthia Calvillo.
In the prelims, Merab Dvalishvili vs Marlon Moraes…. wow.
I have to admit, I missed the fight initially because I was watching the Kardashians with my fiancée while paying attention to Braves Padres.
I went back and caught the action. It looked like Merab was COOKED.
It’s incredible how these fighters not only physically, but mentality recover in between rounds.