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#4. Casey O’Neill batters Antonina Shevchenko to show she’s a contender for the UFC flyweight title
Despite not having the same level of talent as her sister – UFC flyweight champ Valentina – Antonina Shevchenko is still one of the better fighters in the 125lbs division right now.
Last night, however, she was well beaten by Casey O’Neill, who put together a violent and explosive finish that should propel her right into UFC title contention. Unbeaten at 2-0 in the UFC and 8-0 overall, O’Neill looked like a high-level prospect coming into last night’s event, but the Scottish-born Australian fighter had never truly been tested.
That changed here, as Shevchenko caught her in a bad position early on – a mounted crucifix – and nearly finished her in the first round. ‘King Casey’ escaped, though, and from there, she turned the tables pretty quickly.
By midway through the second round, it was clear who was the better fighter, particularly on the ground. When O’Neill took a full mount, Shevchenko was immediately in trouble.
Sure enough, ‘King Casey’ began to punish her with a series of relentless, brutal elbows and punches. Eventually, ‘El Pantera’ turned to her side, forcing referee Chris Tognoni to step in.
This was a phenomenal showing from O’Neill, and the brutal finish – her third in a row in the UFC – should put her well on the radar of the champion.
#3. Jamie Mullarkey takes out Devonte Smith with a brutal flurry
Jamie Mullarkey’s fight with Devonte Smith was arguably the best on offer last night. The native of Australia came out on top in the back-and-forth bout. He did it in explosive fashion, too.
The first round was almost all Smith’s. He took the fight to Mullarkey with his heavy striking style. He pressured the Aussie backward, hurt him with a one-two and landed some heavy leg kicks as well.
Despite taking plenty of damage, though, Mullarkey did enough to survive and was never really on the verge of going out. In the second round, he turned the tables on ‘King Kage’ big time.
With the two lightweights happy to continue to strike, Mullarkey grabbed a plum clinch to drive Smith into the fence. From there, he opened up with some hard knees and elbows. He then smashed ‘King Kage’ with a left hand to the body.
That left Smith hurt, and Mullarkey wasted no time in following up with a wild and brutal flurry that eventually forced him to wilt.
This was an excellent and violent finish from Mullarkey, who earned an extra $50k for his efforts.
