UFC 266 is in the books, and it saw two impressive and successful title defenses, along with a pretty entertaining senior-circuit bout between Nick Diaz and Robbie Lawler. The fan favorites may have been clearly past their prime, but they still put on a fun contest while it lasted.
Alexander Volkanovski won majority of the exchanges throughout 25 minutes against Brian Ortega. Although he also had to dig deep to survive some pretty deep guillotine and triangle chokes, in what was probably the best round ever for a championship fight.
In the co-main event, Valentina Shevchenko continued her string of dominance, as she completely picked apart and shut down Lauren Murphy’s game. That check hook was a thing of beauty, and she landed it constantly until that final knock down.
Here’s a quick twitter thread with a brief recap and analysis of the event, that’s fitting for people’s social media era attention spans:
ANDRADE TKOs CALVILLO
PROS: Power difference was clear. Andrade just walked her down not threatened by anything, while every shot made Calvillo back up and hesitate.
CONS: Andrade is so good, but is in an awkward place after losses to 115-125 champs. https://t.co/vfvCyOu2HJ
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) September 26, 2021
BLAYDES OUTWRESTLES ROZENSTRUIK
PROS: Blaydes was too hesitant at points and unnecessarily risked things standing, but the grappling skill gap was just way too big.
CONS: Crowd kept booing, when they both looked EXACTLY as expected.
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) September 26, 2021
LAWLER TKOs DIAZ
PROS: The outcome was expected, but the journey was a pleasant surprise. Clearly past prime, but that was actually entertaining. Proper Senior Circuit bout.
CONS: Refusing to get up was kinda sad, but at least Diaz didn’t get badly hurt https://t.co/HWWH3jlzZG
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) September 26, 2021
SHEVCHENKO DOMINATES MURPHY
CONS: Shevchenko is so damn good, it might be hard for some to appreciate and get excited for future (and possibly still one sided) bouts.
PROS: Shevchenko is so damn good!! https://t.co/73MwnAa9Ro
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) September 26, 2021
VOLKANOVSKI BUSTS UP ORTEGA
PROS: Best title round ever? DEEP subs but Volk willingly engaged on the ground
CONS: Ortega’s best strikes relied on toughness—taking big shots trying to counter. For his health, he really needs a grappling-centric approach https://t.co/f4kj0fJTaY
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) September 26, 2021
#UFC266 OVERALL
PROS: Insane Volk-Ortega round! Diaz-Lawler is how you book senior circuit bouts,Triller not so much. I just hope they’re not human sacrifice to a young killer next
CONS: MMA corners. How much brain damage did Ortega get in 2 title bouts? https://t.co/RIsgooo5Gr
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) September 26, 2021
And that’s about it. For more social media musings, follow me on twitter over at @antontabuena, and of course you should do that for Bloody Elbow’s official twitter account as well.
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