Francis Ngannou looked dangerous. In fact, he was. But, as it became clear within the first three minutes of his UFC 220 main event, the Cameroonian crusher was simply not prepared for the experience and craft of Stipe Miocic. So this week’s episode of Heavy Hands is all about groveling, and begging forgiveness of the only man to ever defend the UFC heavyweight strap three times in a row.
But between sobs, we still manage to break down a whole heck of a lot of MMA action. There’s Miocic vs Ngannou, of course, but also UFC 220’s co-main event between light heavyweight champ Daniel Cormier and Volkan Oezdemir. We break down the brilliant war between Calvin Kattar and Shane Burgos and Rob Font’s win over Thomas Almeida from the same card. Then, a look at former UFC contender Rory MacDonald, who withstood terrible punishment to take the Bellator welterweight title from Douglas Lima, as well as Aaron Pico, owner of the body shot heard round the world. Finally, we wrap things up with a quick preview of next weekend’s UFC show, focusing on the main event, Jacare Souza vs Derek Brunson.
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And if your appetite for spicy fight analysis and banter just can’t be sated, you would do well to check out our Patreon. Halfway through January, and we’ve already got two new bonus shows for you. Bloody Elbow’s own Phil Mackenzie returned for another episode of The Underdogs, where we talk about journeymen and unsung pugs. This time, the focus is on John Makdessi, whose blending of efficient boxing with tricky Taekwondo and Shotokan Karate heralded a new era of MMA striking. There is also our 2017 year-end awards, which we persist in calling the Handies. No grown-ups allowed.
You can hear both bonus episodes via the Heavy Hands Patreon, where $3 a month gets you access to all of our bonus content. If you’d like a preview first, you can check out a teaser of our awards show, here, and you can also listen to the episode one of The Underdogs in its entirety, for free, right here.
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