The last night’s UFC 245 was one of the most interesting sports combat events this year. We’ve seen three title bouts, in which Kamaru Usman and Amanda Nunes managed to keep their titles and one where Max Holloway lost his title to Alexander Volkanovski.
Kamaru Usman (16-1 MMA, 11-0 UFC) and Colby Covington (15-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) were in the middle of the attention, as their fight headlined this spectacle. It was a highly-anticipated clash, with a lot of trash-talking preceding it, mostly from Covington’s side.
“I heard all week, all month, since the fight got signed, everyone is like, ‘Oh, Colby is in his head, Colby is this, Colby is that. He’s gonna gas out, fight emotional.’ I’m telling you guys right now that the reason why I’m the best in the world is because my mind is stronger than anyone in the division,” Kamaru stated.
In the end, Usman got his satisfaction by breaking Colby’s jaw and knocking him out with 50 seconds until the end of the last round. Even though the American disagreed with the judge, his decision was reasonable. Colby couldn’t defend anymore.
But throughout the match, he was more than an equal opponent. If it weren’t for Usman’s little trick when he faked the hit below the belt, thigs might have ended differently. It was Colby’s period of domination, but the Nigerian-born squeezed out of it. In the final moment of the same round, he would launch a tremendous right hand to hit the rival’s chin, which apparently broke in that moment.
Later on, the champ increased the pressure, and although Covington resisted, he didn’t have enough power to hold on until the end of the fifth round.
In the fight for the UFC featherweight champion, Alexander Volkanovski (21-1 MMA, 8-0 UFC) stunned Max Holloway (21-5 MMA, 17-5 UFC) and stripped him of his belt. The Australian fighter posted his 18th win in a row, 8th in the UFC, and was an enigma for the former champion during the entire event.
Right from the start, the Aussie started hurting Holloway’s left leg, forcing him to change the stance during the fight. In between the rounds, Holloway’s team was putting ice on his legs, trying to ease up the pain and swelling.
While doing so, Volkanovski collected points, without overexposing himself, and although Holloway made several pushes in the late part of the event, he kept the distance and the edge on the scorecards.
“We shoot for the belt. We’ve had great champions in this division. [Jose] Aldo was a great, respectful champion. Max was a great, respectful champion. I promise to be a great, respectful champion,” told Volkanovski to the public.
In the ladies’ competition, Amanda Nunes (19-4 MMA, 12-1 UFC) defended the bantamweight title against Germaine de Randamie (9-4 MMA, 6-2 UFC), inflicting the second loss to the Dutch fighter in their head-to-head clashes. This one went all the way with the Lioness earning a win via unanimous decision. She firmly showed once again that, at the moment, there isn’t a better female MMA fighter in the world.
