Issue 176

March 2019

The action inside the UFC Octagon officially began on January 14 at UFC Fight Night 142 with Jeremy Stephens handing “The Korean Superboy” Doo Ho Choi the second loss of his professional career.

Choi’s defeat was the first of many examples in the year where an upcoming fighter was downed in convincing style by a wily veteran. It can often be suggested that MMA is a young man’s sport, but the following week, at UFC 220, the experienced champions proved that “there are levels to this game.”

Francis Ngannou came into his UFC heavyweight title fight with Stipe Miocic promoted as an unstoppable monster who could “hit as hard a Ford Escort going as fast as it can.” But Ngannou was put to the sword by Miocic and soundly beaten across five rounds.

UFC light heavyweight champion, Daniel Cormier also made another hotshot, Volkan Oezdemir look well out of his depth in what was the start of an incredible year, where DC would eventually rise to #1 in the UFC’s pound-for-pound rankings.

The evening was also noteworthy for the fact that UFC and Bellator went head-to-head for the first time in 2018 with Bellator 192 taking place on the west coast in Inglewood, California. Chael Sonnen defeating Quinton “Rampage” Jackson to advance in the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix headlined the fight card, but Rory MacDonald’s victory over Douglas Lima for the Bellator welterweight title was the show stealer. MacDonald went through the fire to overcome Lima’s relentless attacks on his legs and he ultimately took home a unanimous decision victory and his first world MMA title.

Also this month

• Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza defeated Derek Brunson at UFC on Fox 27 after knocking him out in the first round.
• Lorenz Larkin defeated Fernando Gonzalez at Bellator 193 to pick up his first win under the Bellator banner.