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There were quite a few ups and downs for MMA fans this past week - Jon Jones was fined $205,000 and had his license revoked. A picture surfaced of Brock Lesnar schmoozing with former(more like on-and-off) boss Dana White, setting off rumours of The Beast's second comeback to the UFC. Last but not least, women's MMA trailblazer and longtime UFC champion Ronda Rousey signed her WWE contract.
Last weekend, the UFC made their first trip to Orlando since 2015 and it certainly was a memorable one. Jessica Andrade and Tecia Torres showed that women fighters are no less exciting than men. After being dominated in the first round, a 40-year-old Marion Reneau made an awe-inspiring comeback in the 2nd and submitted Olympic silver medallist Sara McMann. 11-year UFC veteran Jeremy Stephens made a case for a title shot after knocking out Josh Emmett, albeit controversially.
But apart from the big names, there were also a handful of other fights that should be highlighted because of spectacular violence. From flying submissions to spinning kicks, these finishes grabbed eyeballs across the globe, showing MMA's rise as a global phenomenon. Here are this week's 5 most jaw-dropping finishes in MMA:
#5 Bakhachali Bakhachaliev's inverted triangle choke
Russian promotion Fight Nights Global hosted their 83rd event in Moscow on the 22nd of February. The evening had some exciting fights lined up and even saw Dagestani juggernaut Khabib Nurmagomedov's cousin Omar move up to 6-0 after beating Brazilian Shyudi Yamauchi.
One of the biggest upsets on the card came courtesy of young Bantamweight Bakhachali Bakhachaliev. Pitted against the more fancied veteran Ruslan Serikpulov, the up-and-comer pulled off a rare inverted triangle choke in the second round. This was Bakhachaliev's first win after two straight draws. Skip to the 2:10 mark in the above video to see the ingenious finish
#4 Marcin Prachnio runs straight into Sam Alvey's right hand
After missing the 185 lbs mark in his last bout, Sam Alvey made his Light Heavyweight debut in the octagon at UFC Orlando last week. The fight also saw another kind of debut, that of Alvey's first ever takedown attempt in the UFC.
While that endeavour didn't pay off richly against decorated Polish karateka Marcin Prachnio, Alvey showed that his ever-reliable fists were all he needed in the end. After being dropped by a left from Alvey as he was trying to crowd him, a foggy Prachnio sleep-walked straight into a right hand from Smilin Sam. To Prachnio's credit, he still tried to get up, but the referee had decided he'd had enough.
#3 Alan Jouban and Ben Saunders put on a Fight of the Year contender
While everybody were expecting fireworks from Mike Perry and Max Griffin, it was a different pair of Welterweights that lit up the Amway Center in Orlando last week. Alan Jouban and Ben Saunders put on a firefight that is the spiritual sequel to the barnburner between Andrei Arlovski and Travis Browne that went down at UFC 187.
The two close friends and training partners threw punches, kicks, knees and elbows at each other with abandon until Jouban was the last man standing. A harrowed but relieved Jouban was grateful for the redeeming win after two humbling defeats to Gunnar Nelson and Niko Price. This is veteran Ben Saunders' second straight loss and he is now 5-3 in his UFC return.
#2 Paddy Pimblett's flying triangle choke
Many UFC hotshots like Conor McGregor, Michael Bisping, Gegard Mousasi and Dan Hardy cut their teeth in Cage Warriors Fighting Championships before graduating to the grand stage.
From the looks of it, there could be another one on the way. 23-year-old Paddy Pimblett has fought 13 of his 16 fights under the British promotion's banner and captured the Featherweight title in 2016. Despite wrestling with weight issues, "The Baddy" was on a 9-fight win streak which was snapped last April, a jarring reality check that made him move up to Lightweight.
In the first step on his journey to become the CWFC Lightweight champion, the Liverpudlian made the audience leap out of their seats with a flying triangle choke, the second of his career. The UFC brass will be among those watching Pimblett to see if he can make good on his claim to owning two belts by the end of this year.
#1 Akhmed Aliev's spinning wheel kick knockout
For those looking for a taste of MMA action outside the mainstream, ie, UFC and Bellator, Fight Nights Global will leave you sated. The Russian promotion's 83rd episode took place last week in Moscow. It was main evented by a Lightweight title showdown between erstwhile undefeated champion Magomedsaygid Alibekov and Akhmed Aliev, who was on a six fight win streak.
The slick and exciting Aliev was content to counterpunch against the powerful champion, spearing strategic shots and dancing around so as to never let Alibekov get a read. Aliev's spinning attacks were conspicuous in their absence, but he would later show that it was only because he had eschewed quantity for quality. Entering the last minute of the 3rd round, Aliev feinted like Anderson Silva before throwing a spinning wheel kick that made Alibekov look like he had been hit with the Petrificus Totalus curse. Skip to the 17:45 mark in the video to see how he engineered the stunning finish.
