UFC189 was a record-breaking eventUFC 189 probably was the biggest and rightfully the best card of the year. The start of the card was not great up until the immortal matt brown set the tone for the card in Fox sports 1 prelims headliner.From that point on, every fight on the main card delivered big time and was really a high-quality show with incredible fights. All the main card fights ended up in a finish. Fight of the night award rightly went to Lawler Vs MacDonald while UFC’s golden boy McGregor received Performance of the night bonus along with rising prospect Thomas Almeida. Undercard:-Matt Brown def. Tim Means via submission (guillotine)Alex Garcia def. Mike Swick via unanimous decisionJohn Howard def. Cathal Pendred via split decisionCody Garbrandt def. Henry Briones via unanimous decisionLouis Smolka def. Neil Seery via unanimous decisionCody Pfister def. Yosdenis Cedeno via unanimous decision Main card:-
#1 Thomas Almeida def. Brad Pickett via second-round KO
This was a great opener for the main card as Pickett showed the kid what it’s like to face a really seasoned vet early in the fight. Pickett’s left hand kept finding its home as he dropped Almeida after few initial exchanges between the two. Pickett swarmed all over Almeida hitting him with all sorts of shots trying to finish the fight early.
In the clinch, Pickett hit Almeida with a brutal knee which not only dropped Almeida second time in the round but left him bloody as well. By the end of the round, Almeida looked like getting his senses back but was finding his range as well. In the second round, Almeida struck Pickett out of nowhere with one of the best picture perfect flying knee which knocked Pickett out.
The fight not only showed how talented this young prospect is but also showed the grit he possess to overcome the adversity.
#2 Gunnar Nelson def. Brandon Thatch via round one submission (rear-naked choke)
Nelson wanted to prove to everyone after his first loss that his striking is not that far off than his ground game and he exactly did that against a very dangerous opponent in Thatch. Nelson dropped Thatch with the very first, one-two combo he threw witch connected perfectly with Thatch’s chin. Nelson took his back and submitted him quickly.
#3 Jeremy Stephens def. Dennis Bermudez via third-round TKO
Both fighters traded huge punches in the center of the Octagon.
Both fighters cancelled each other out with leg kicks to start the second, but a follow-up had Bermudez limping. Bermudez landed a nice shot, but Stephens countered with a hard shot that dropped him to his knees. Stephens was unable to immediately capitalise as the action returned to the center of the Octagon, where Stephens continued to punish his lead leg.
Stephens landed another thunderous shot, which Bermudez was somehow able to absorb and keep coming forward. In fact, he landed a "Superman" punch as Stephens was uncorking a kick to score a perfectly-timed knockdown. The final minute of round two was a crazy back-and-forth brawl. In Third and final round and it was pretty much anyone's fight to win or lose.
Stephens went back to kicking and then landed a devastating fade-away jumping knee that folded up Bermudez at the bottom of the cage. Stephens dove in to finish what he started, but there was no need, Bermudez was already hurt in a bad way and could not intelligently defend himself any further.
#4 Robbie Lawler def. Rory MacDonald via fifth-round TKO
It’s hard to describe this fight other than saying it was a war. It was probably the best Championship fight of all time. Lawler has the best resurgence story in the history of MMA. He is a true fighter in all the sense of the word and a worthy UFC champion. The first round started with feeling out process as both the champion and the challenger knew how dangerous they are as they have already faced each other once.
In the second round, both opened up but it was Lawler who was patient, accurate and used combos to get inside Rory’s defense and land several times. Soon Rory Shoots for a takedown but Lawler sprawl and defended it nicely. Rory sneaked few combination of his own and stood toe to toe with Lawler. It was a clear Lawler’s round as he hit more cleanly and often and may have even broke Rory’s nose as well.
In the third round, Lawler continued where he left as he kept finding his mark repeatedly Rory found it hard to breathe and got very bloody. Lawler defended another takedown and punished Rory for that. Lawler looked in total control but out of nowhere, Rory hit Lawler with a head kick and it rocked Lawler. Rory swarmed on him with kicks and punched Lawler barely made it to the next round,
In the fourth, Lawler still look hurt and lost all the snap in his punches and looked tired as well while Rory was in full control, as despite being bloody he looked fresher fighter out of the two. Lawler soon started to feel his legs below him and recovered a bit to push forward and land few of his own shots as well so did Rory close.
Both were badly bruised and hurt as they came out in the fifth and final round. Lawler knew he might be down on points but he wasn’t going to back down either. So he pushed forward and kept hitting Rory until one of his punches hit that broken nose perfectly which dropped Rory with pain. Lawler jumped on him and fired few shots in until the ref jumped in and stopped it.
#5 Conor McGregor def. Chad Mendes via second-round TKO
The Irish superstar was the center of attention in this fight and he proved the hype behind him is legit. He answered the wrestler question in the process as well, thus silencing all of his critics.
The fight started with Chad pushing the action and coming out of the gate like a bull trying to take Conor down. Mendes hit Conor with some good clean shots but Conor kept calm and attacked Mendes body with spinning kicks and clean punches along with some accurate uppercuts. Mendes got the takedown but couldn’t do much with it McGregor got back up to attack Mendes body. Mendes looked tired already. Mendes was swinging for fences and got one more take down in the round.
In the second round, Mendes did look a bit tired but was standing right in front of Mcgregor while Mcgregor was teeing off him with all sorts of shots and kicks which were connecting and Mendes went for a big takedown and got it easily. He held Mcgregor down and started pouring hard elbows as one of them even cut Mcgregor near the eye.
Mcgregor was active from the bottom and landed several elbows as well. Soon, Mendes tried to pass the guard and slipped into a guillotine choke but Mcgregor escaped and got back up to his feet. Mendes looked very tired while Mcgregor kept hitting him with accurate shots until Mendes turtle up and stopped defending.
