Sean
Brady may have just made himself undeniable as a welterweight
title contender.
In the main event of
UFC Fight Night 255 in London’s O2 Arena, the Philadelphia
native put in a thoroughly dominant performance, grounding Leon
Edwards in every round and mauling him with strikes and
submission attempts en route to a fourth-round finish. Brady took
it to the former champ right away, surging forward behind a flurry
of punches. “Rocky” remained calm, giving ground and looking for
counter opportunities. Nonetheless, Brady’s volume and aggression
kept Edwards on the back foot for much of the first round. The
second frame was less ambiguous, as Brady grounded Edwards early,
then went to work. The Daniel
Gracie protégé took Edwards’ back, where he locked up a body
triangle, pelted him with strikes from behind and looked to set up
a choke. Edwards escaped back mount, but Brady remained all over
him, moving to regular mount and briefly threatening with a kimura.
Edwards survived to the horn, but the momentum was all with the
American as they returned to their corners.
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In Round 3, Brady took over where he left off, taking advantage of
an ill-advised takedown attempt by Edwards to bring things back to
the ground, where he put his heavy top game back on display. He
trapped Edwards on the bottom and landed a string of unblocked
punches that looked like a potential fight-ender before the Brit
managed to buck and escape the position. It was only a momentary
reprieve, however, as Brady continued to put in completely dominant
work on top for the balance of the round. The onslaught continued
in the fourth frame, as Brady once again charged across the
Octagon, corralled Edwards against the fence and hoisted him for
yet another easy takedown. This time he went for the kill, snaring
Edwards in a guillotine, rolling to mount and getting the tap
seconds later. The end came at 1 minute, 39 seconds of Round 4,
bringing Brady to 18-1 overall, 8-1 in the UFC, and made an
eloquent case for a rematch with the lone man to defeat him,
current champ Belal
Muhammad. Edwards, who had never been manhandled in that
fashion, fell to 22-5 with one no contest overall, 14-4 with one no
contest in the Octagon.
Ulberg Upends Blachowicz for Eighth Straight Win
Despite the undeniable knockout power both competitors brought to
the cage, the co-main event between Carlos
Ulberg (12-1) and Jan
Blachowicz (29-11-1) sparked and simmered, but never quite
exploded into a full-blown conflagration. At 42, former champ
Blachowicz showed that he can still compete with the top talents in
the division, as he used a steady stream of low kicks, forward
movement and well-chosen punch combinations to keep Ulberg from
getting completely comfortable in the cage. For his part, “Black
Jag” willingly exchanged calf kicks, and as the fight wore on,
found increasing opportunities to display his superior reach and
hand speed. The expected dynamic of Blachowicz’s battle-tested
wrestling against Ulberg’s improving takedown defense never truly
materialized, as Blachowicz never made more than perfunctory
attempts to bring the fight to the floor. All three rounds were
competitive, and neither man truly took control of the fight for
more than a few seconds at a time, but Ulberg prevailed, with all
three judges seeing it 29-28 in favor of the kickboxing Kiwi. With
the win, his eighth in a row since dropping his UFC debut to
Kennedy
Nzechukwu, Ulberg is well positioned to lobby for a title shot;
Blachowicz’s record in the promotion now stands at 12-8-1.
Holland Plays with Fire, Prevails Over Nelson
Kevin
Holland (27-13, 1 NC) prevailed over Gunnar
Nelson (19-6-1) in a welterweight scrap that was wilder and
more fun than expected—or needed to be, perhaps. Faced with a
decorated grappler in Nelson who gave up serious deficits in
height, reach and speed, Holland got the better of the striking
exchanges throughout, but also chose to engage Nelson on the ground
for extended sequences in all three rounds. Holland experienced
success there as well, including a second-round exchange in which
he snared the Icelander in a deep omoplata, only to have Nelson
stand and lift him completely off the ground like a suitcase.
Notwithstanding Holland’s strategic approach, he appeared to be up
two rounds to one going into the final frame. Nelson did his best
work in Round 3, taking Holland down, moving to mount and briefly
threatening with a choke, but it was too little too late and
Holland carried the day via unanimous 29-28 scores. The win
elevated the Texan’s UFC mark to 14-10, 5-4 at welterweight, while
Nelson fell to 10-6.
Debuting Thainara Retires “Meatball Molly”
Alexia
Thainara gave a cruel demonstration of MMA’s circle of life, as
she made her UFC debut on less than two weeks‘ notice, then wrecked
one of the promotion’s most popular fighters, Molly
McCann, leading to McCann’s emotional and somewhat surprising
in-cage retirement. Thainara was clearly the faster and harder
hitter on the feet, but elected to haul McCann to the canvas early,
where McCann threw strikes from her back while Thainara looked to
pass her guard. Midway through the round, she succeeded, and from
there moved to full mount, then back control. Once she secured the
position, she worked for a rear-naked choke. McCann fought off the
Brazilian’s first attempt, buoyed by the supportive crowd, but when
Thainara adjusted and worked her arm under the chin, the tap was
not long in coming. The submission at 4:32 brought Thainara’s
record to 12-1 overall, 1-0 in the UFC, while McCann walked away
from the sport—for now, at least—with a record of 7-7 in the
Octagon, 14-8 overall.
Duncan Dominates, Throttles Vucenic
In a battle of former
Cage Warriors Fighting Championship titleholders, Chris
Duncan (13-2) prevailed in emphatic fashion, lighting up
Jordan
Vucenic (13-4) on the feet and getting the last laugh in their
guillotine choke derby. Former CW lightweight champ Duncan figured
to have the size advantage over his former featherweight
counterpart while giving up speed, but it was “The Problem” that
dropped his man with a slick body kick-right cross combo in the
early going. Duncan followed Vucenic to the ground and attempted a
guillotine, which gave the Englishman time to recover, though he
spent the balance of the round on the bottom and in defensive mode.
Round 2 opened up with Duncan again catching Vucenic cleanly on the
feet. Midway through the round, Vucenic appeared to come alive,
scoring with jabs and straights, but when he shot for a takedown
off of a caught kick, Duncan snared him in another guillotine
choke. This time there was no way out, as the Scot closed his
guard, adjusted his grip and elicited the tape at 3:42. The
dominant win brought Duncan to 5-1 in the UFC, while Vucenic’s
record fell to 0-2 since getting the call up late last year.
Wood Outpaces Charriere
In the main card opener, London’s own Nathaniel
Wood (21-6) did not disappoint the hometown fans, leaving
Morgan
Charriere (20-11-1) largely in the dust across three rounds in
their featherweight clash. “The Prospect” and “The Last Pirate”
sprang into action immediately, engaging in some furious striking
exchanges early, but Wood’s advantages in speed and power were
obvious, and Wood dropped Charriere with a sharp right hand. Wood
followed the Frenchman to the floor, where he was swept, but
launched enough offense from his back to carry the round
nonetheless. From there, Wood began to achieve separation, tagging
Charriere on the feet with increasing confidence and winning most
of the brief wrestling and grappling exchanges. While both men
appeared to slow in the final frame, the essential momentum of the
fight was unchanged and the judges had an easy job, scoring the
fight for the Brit by unanimous 30-27 tallies. The win elevated
Wood’s Octagon record to 10-3, 5-1 since moving up from
bantamweight, while Charriere fell to 2-2 in the promotion.