Another fight weekend is in the books, one that featured big shows from across the MMA landscape. The UFC’s Vegas card saw Anderson Silva losing to Uriah Hall in a tragic main event – I’ll have more on Silva’s legacy this week – while Bellator’s middleweight title fight was tragic for different reasons, mainly how goddamn boring it was.
Still, there was still some great action in the cage over the last few days. And as always, here are looks at three fighters who boosted their stock this past weekend.
Over the last several years, Burmese-American brawler Aung La Nsang has become one of ONE Fighting Championship’s signature stars, a bona fide folk hero in his home country of Malaysia, and a two-division champion. He’s done it mostly by being an absolute badass, turning every fight into a war and winning with his granite chin and thunderous power.
If you’re in the know, you love Aung La. He’s the most entertaining kind of MMA fighter. But on Friday, Aung La became just another speed-bump in the rise of Dutchman Reinier de Ridder, who stormed through the champion and took the ONE middleweight title in the first round.
It was your classic striker vs. grappler matchup: Aung La wanted to stay on the feet, launch bombs and make things crazy, while de Ridder wanted to bring the champion to the ground and dominate with his skill in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. De Ridder was quite confident he could do just that: before the fight, the Dutchman promised to the media that he would win by choke, round one.
That’s exactly what he goddamn did. De Ridder scored a takedown within the first minute of the fight and seamlessly took Aung La’s back, where he would remain for the rest of the short fight. Although the champion nearly escaped de Ridder’s tight body triangle, the challenger held on tight before grabbing a rear naked choke and forcing the tap.
It’s a crowning moment for de Ridder, who has gone from undefeated prospect to a champion in a major organization in a little over a year and a half. He’s a perfect 13-0 with 12 finishes, and he looks to have many bright years ahead of him. De Ridder is physically imposing at 6-foot-4, and has brute strength and judo expertise to lean on in the clinch – when he wants you on the floor, he has ways of getting you there, and he knows how to shine with his grappling game.
ONE has a new star, and I can’t wait to see where he goes next.
For the last three years, the UFC has been really, really hoping to make Greg Hardy a thing. And, to all of our misfortune, Greg Hardy might finally be a thing. The man with one of the most interesting and ire-raising stories in mixed martial arts looked, at last, like a potential heavyweight contender on Saturday, when he trucked imposing veteran Maurice Greene in the second round.
Hardy, of course, is a former All-Pro defensive end with the Carolina Panthers and Dallas Cowboys, whose incredibly bright NFL career was ended by his own moral degeneration – the Panthers jettisoned Hardy, one of their biggest stars, after he was arrested for violently attacking his ex-girlfriend, and the Cowboys dumped him after a season because of his poor influence on teammates.
With no NFL team willing to touch him, Hardy decided to make the transition to mixed martial arts, perhaps hoping to test his knockout power against someone who can actually punch back. Dana White has no qualms about employing men of extremely questionable moral fiber – he gladly promotes Colby Covington, after all – and almost immediately brought Hardy into the UFC fold.
Since the beginning, we’ve seen flashes of Hardy’s potential in the cage. He’s big, extremely athletic, and has huge raw power. The challenge has been to mold this high-level football player into a mixed martial artist. There have been plenty of self-imposed bumps in the road along the way – Hardy was disqualified in his official UFC debut after kneeing Allen Crowder on the ground, and last year had a win over Ben Sosoli overturned to a no contest after Hardy was caught illegally using an inhaler between rounds.
But all along, you could see something there. This is a guy who was fighting UFC-level competition after only training for a couple years, and winning. The version of Hardy that showed up Saturday was the best we’ve ever seen. Hardy switched up his training setup since his last fight, a win over Yorgan de Castro in May, working more one-on-one with former light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans – perhaps it did him some good.
Hardy threatened to put Greene out within the first minute, dropping him with an overhand right and slamming him with some massive hammerfists on the ground. He looked composed and dangerous throughout, and looked much more comfortable than we’ve seen him in the clinch and on the ground. Hardy smothered him from top position, pounding him with elbows, and also worked some very effective leg kicks when they found their way back to the feet. Finally, Hardy stepped in and dropped Greene with a left early in the second, before finishing him with more heavy ground-and-pound.
The lower end of the heavyweight division will have you watching some truly dreadful stuff, but Greene is definitely a real UFC-caliber fighter, and Hardy moved through him like he was nothing. Finally, Hardy is looking like the physical force of nature that many envisioned when he first made the leap to MMA.
No matter his past, no matter the things he’s done, no matter what the optics of promoting him, the UFC sees that too. And in one of the weakest and shallowest divisions in the sport, the UFC might have found a new star.
A new hot prospect also announced his presence on Saturday night, although this one is about half Hardy’s size. Bantamweight Adrian Yanez turned heads on Dana White’s Contender Series with a 39-second knockout in August, and in his official UFC debut, he showed off that tantalizing potential against late replacement Victor Rodriguez.
There are few things more beautiful than a guy eating a head kick to the face when they’re trying to disengage and they don’t see it coming. The all-time gold standard is Yves Edwards on Josh Thomson, but I’ve always personally loved Anthony Njokuani on Chris Horodecki. It’s a very specific genre of KO, and Yanez added to its storied legacy on Saturday.
Rodriguez, added to the fight on one day’s notice, was game. Give him credit, the man came to fight. He shot for takedowns, went on the front foot, and tried to get his punches off first. But Yanez had a different level of technique and power, torching him with right hands before turning his lights off with the deadly left high kick.
In that August win over 11-1 Brady Huang, Yanez showed the absolute heat residing in his fists. Now, he’s shown off the knockout power in his kicks. And in doing so, he’s made himself one of the top young bantamweights to watch in MMA’s premier organization. A few more of those, and he’ll be pushed to the moon.
The Big Fight 