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#4. Maryna Moroz picks up an emotional submission victory over Mariya Agapova
The most emotional moment of last night’s event came on the preliminary card, as Ukrainian flyweight Maryna Moroz produced her best performance in a long time to defeat Mariya Agapova in the second round.
Moroz largely worked Agapova over on the ground in the first round, coming close to finishing her with a rear-naked choke and then an armbar on more than one occasion. However, ‘The Demonslayer’ was able to hang on tight, surviving the stanza.
In the second round, though, she was not so lucky. Once again, ‘The Iron Lady’ was able to secure a takedown and work into back control. From there, she hammered Agapova with some nasty elbows before securing an arm-triangle choke as her opponent rolled, forcing her to tap out on the verge of unconsciousness.
Post-fight, Moroz understandably addressed the horrendous situation in her home country. She wished love to her family and those suffering in Ukraine, something that garnered plenty of cheers from the crowd.
This win was Moroz’s third in a row. However, it’s safe to say that not only was it her most impressive win in a long time, it was also her most important – and it quite rightly earned her a bonus cheque of $50k.
#3. Sergey Spivak likely ends the UFC career of Greg Hardy in nasty fashion
Despite possessing far more technical skill than his opponent last night, many fans still expected Sergey Spivak to come out on the wrong end of things against Greg Hardy. After all, ‘The Polar Bear’ was outsized by the former NFL star and possessed far less power and explosive athleticism.
However, Spivak demonstrated that you need far more than just brute force to succeed in the UFC. The way he put ‘The Prince of War’ away in the first round once again made a mockery of the adage that the NFL houses the world’s best athletes.
Spivak didn’t even have to suffer to pick up his win, either. He ate a couple of glancing blows but then closed the distance, hit a wonderful hip throw to ground Hardy, and then went to town from there.
Hardy did escape to his feet, but Spivak quickly dumped him down again and went back to dominating. Spivak pinned his rival to the ground and mounted him. He then destroyed Hardy with heavy punches for a TKO stoppage.
Surprisingly, this victory wasn’t enough to earn Spivak a $50k bonus cheque, but ‘The Polar Bear’ probably isn’t too worried about that today. After all, he’s now on a run of 4-1 in his last five bouts in the octagon and may have ended the UFC career of the controversial Hardy in explosive fashion in the process, too.
