Issue 191

July 2020

The UFC took its first step back to normality with UFC 249 in Jacksonville and the Performance of the Night was a stunner.

There were many unfamiliar things about UFC 249 which finally took place on May 9, the first MMA event since the lockdown brought the sport to a halt on March 13: no crowd, masked cornermen, the sound of punches and kicks landing, fighters hearing commentators and acting on their advice. One thing that was very familiar however, is that Justin Gaethje remains a tough nut to crack. Tony Ferguson dropped him at the end of round two with this huge uppercut, but The Highlight weathered this and dominated the fight, forcing a stoppage in the fifth round to win the interim UFC lightweight Championship and derail the game Ferguson’s hopes of finally fighting Khabib Nurmagomedov. The Russian now lies in wait for Gaethje and though favorite, Khabib would be a fool to take him lightly.