Welcome to our coverage of the UFC 230 pay-per-view from Madison Square Garden.
On the site tonight, we will have a UFC 230 POST Show with Phil Chertok, Ziggy Cao and I running through the card.
The card lost one fight on Saturday with Brian Kelleher coming down ill and was forced off the card for his fight with Montel Jackson. Kelleher had missed weight on Friday when he came in at 137 pounds.
Marcos Rogerio de Lima def. Adam Wiezorek by unanimous decision (30-27 all) – Heavyweight
de Lima was returning to heavyweight after missing weight at light heavyweight in his last two fights. The man weighed 253 pounds for this fight. Wiezorek took the fight on short notice after Ruslan Magomedov pulled out of the fight on October 24th.
This was a very dull fight and de Lima won every round without question. Wiezorek got an easy takedown in the first, but de Lima got to his feet and reversed position. His game plan was leg kicks and takedowns. At the end of the first, he landed several big strikes on top. The second and third rounds followed this trend and Wiezorek was exhausted.
Wiezorek ended a nine-fight winning streak that included wins over Anthony Hamilton and Arjan Bhullar in the UFC. The late notice seemed to be the culprit in his performance.
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Shane Burgos def. Kurt Holobaugh by armbar at 2:11 of Round 1 – Featherweight
The two were throwing heavily at the start of the fight. Burgos began connecting with his jab while Holobaugh was getting a lot of strikes off. Holobaugh connected and dropped Burgos with a right hand, he tried to capitalize and was caught with an armbar and forced to tap.
Burgos was coming off the first loss of his pro career and improves to 11-1 and 4-1 inside the UFC. He was coming off a third-round stoppage against Calvin Kattar at UFC 220 in January.
Lando Vannata and Matt Frevola fought to a majority draw (29-28 Frevola, 28-28, 28-28) – Lightweight
This fight was great.
They had one of the craziest rounds of the year in the first. Frevola was immediately throwing head kicks with one landing hard. Frevola started connecting with counter rights and wobbled him. Frevola landed a knee and got a mounted guillotine at the end of the round.
In the second round, Vannata took over by landing two big right hands and knocked Frevola down. Frevola was hurt and started taking left hooks to the body. Frevola tried for a takedown to stop the striking and ate several elbows to the head. It was even after two.
In the third round, it was the closest of the three, but I scored it for Frevola. Vannata caught a kick but ate several big shots in the process. Frevola had a brief takedown but Vannata was up instantly. Frevola landed a big combination in the final seconds.
I had it 29-28 for Frevola. It was a very exciting fight to check out if you missed it.
Lyman Good def. Ben Saunders by KO at 1:32 of Round 1 – Welterweight
They traded big body kicks before entering the clinch off the fence. Good started connecting with uppercuts inside and after three unanswered strikes, Saunders went down and Good finished him with hammer fists.
Good was a huge favorite at minus 605 and his second win in the UFC. Saunders has now lost four of his last five fights.
Sheymon Moraes def. Julio Arce (29-28, 28-29, 30-26) – Featherweight
In the first round, Moraes dropped Arce early with a right hook and landed big strikes on top. Arce didn’t panic and used an inverted triangle to get to his feet and recover. Arce got onto Moraes’ back for the rest of the round while attempting to choke Moraes. Arce had a big comeback, but not enough to take the round back.
Moraes dominated the second round after cutting Arce badly with an elbow against the cage. Arce was dripping blood and Joe Rogan thought he had never seen the canvas so bloody. Arce was dropped with a straight right late in the round.
Arce won the third round with significantly more strikes and back up Moraes while relying on his left hand.
I scored it 29-28 for Moraes. It was hard to justify scoring the third round for Moraes.
Moraes improves to 11-2 with his second straight win in the UFC.
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Sijara Eubanks def. Roxanne Modafferi by unanimous decision (30-27 all) – Catchweight
Eubanks missed weight and is going to hurt her chances continuing at flyweight.
Eubanks was the better striker throughout the fight landing harder strikes and taking down Modafferi when necessary. Modafferi had her best round in the second after taking some big shots early and then taking her down and controlling the remainder of the round, but not enough to win it. Eubanks was in full control throughout the third round. I had it 30-27 for Eubanks.
Eubanks has not decided if she will continue at this weight and told the audience booing to shut up unless they have cut 20 pounds before.
Jordan Rinaldi def. Jason Knight by unanimous decision (30-25, 30-26, 30-27) – Featherweight
Knight came out aggressive, but Rinaldi landed a left to the jaw, a head kick and takedown. The grappling by Rinaldi won the fight as controlled the duration of the fight with his back control.
In the second round, Rinaldi got the takedown and locked on a body triangle with constant adjustments when Knight tried to lean to one side or the other. Knight was so frustrated and throwing punches behind him, but it didn’t make a difference. Rinaldi tried for a choke and Knight waved his finger to signal he didn’t have him, and the audience loved it.
Rinaldi dominated the third round as well from the back position and Knight had no way out. This round featured more strikes from Rinaldi and I had it 10-8 and 30-26 for the fight.
Knight is a fun fighter to watch but this was his fourth straight loss.
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Israel Adesanya def. Derek Brunson by TKO at 4:51 of Round 1 – Middleweight
Adesanya is undefeated in his MMA career, including a 3-0 record in the UFC this year alone. His last two wins were the first decisions of his career.
Brunson tried for eight takedowns and could not get any on Adesanya and that was huge.
Adesanya complained about Brunson grabbing his shorts and gave him the finger.
Near the end of the round, Adesanya drilled him with a right knee to the face and started attacking while he was wobbled. Brunson went down from a right and then got up and the fight was waved off after Adesanya landed a left hand by the cage.
This was a huge win for Adesanya and is going to skyrocket expectations of him.
Karl Roberson def. Jack Marshman by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27) – Middleweight
Roberson was much quicker in Round 1 and landing with counter lefts while utilizing great head movement to stay out of danger. He did slow down by the end of the round and Marshman started landing with some right hands.
In the second round, Roberson landed a counter left and nailed a big takedown and rode him out the rest of the round.
Roberson injured his leg during the fight and was having trouble with it, which he acknowledged after the fight.
Roberson took Marshman down in the third and worked to mount him and got the easy decision.
Jared Cannonier def. David Branch by TKO at 0:29 of Round 2 – Middleweight
After two losses in a row, this is Cannonier’s first fight at middleweight.
The first round was dictated by Branch’s takedowns, although little happened when he got him down, but they were continuous as Branch won the round.
The second round began with Cannonier eating a shot but landing a right hand onto the chin and dropping Branch. He swarmed Branch with ground and pound for the stoppage and big upset win as he was a +300 underdog.
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Here are the dates for January through March next year:
*January 19th – UFC Fight Night on ESPN+ from Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York
*January 26th – UFC 233 from the Honda Center in Anaheim, California
*February 2nd – UFC Fight Night on ESPN+ from Brazil
*February 9th – UFC 234
*February 17th – UFC Fight Night on ESPN from Phoenix, Arizona
*February 23rd – UFC Fight Night on ESPN+
*March 2nd – UFC 235 from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas
*March 9th – UFC Fight Night on ESPN+
*March 16th – UFC Fight Night on ESPN+
*March 23rd – UFC Fight Night on ESPN+
*March 30th – UFC Fight Night on ESPN
Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza def. Chris Weidman by TKO at 2:46 of Round 3 – Middleweight
This was a super-competitive fight until the finish.
Weidman won the first round by landing more and circling around Jacare. He wobbled Jacare with a right and that was the big strike in the opening round. Jacare came after the body and would continue as the fight wore on.
The second round was so close, but I scored it for Jacare. Weidman landed a solid right hand that registered and increased his volume but Jacare recovered and had a strong end to the round. This could have been scored either way.
Weidman seemed to be on his way to winning the round with his hands going at a strong pace. Jacare came back and started connecting and he dropped Weidman with a right hand directly onto the head and Weidman was done. Referee Dan Miragliotta didn’t stop it and Jacare was upset he had to land another shot and the fight should have ended before Jacare had to land another shot as Weidman was done.
The win places Jacare back into a strong title position and derails Weidman, who would have been in line for the winner of Robert Whittaker and Kelvin Gastelum after beating Gastelum last year.
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Daniel Cormier def. Derrick Lewis by rear-naked choke at 2:14 of Round 2 to retain the UFC heavyweight title
It was a one-sided fight that Cormier dominated and was only a question how long it would last once you saw the easy in which Cormier could take him down.
Cormier dominated the first round with takedowns and strikes that Lewis had no answer for.
In the second, Lewis was throwing heavy shots but not connecting. Cormier got several takedowns before getting the back with his hooks in and submitted him with the rear-naked choke.
Daniel Cormier was interviewed by Joe Rogan and he told Brock Lesnar to bring his new WWE championship because he wants to be WWE champion too.
