Another fight weekend is in the books. The last few days were packed with mixed martial arts action, with offerings from the PFL, Bellator and UFC that offered some truly wild results. In the UFC main event, rising strawweight star Marina Rodriguez showed just how dangerous her Muay Thai attack is with a strong performance against Michelle Waterson, bolstering her resume as one of the UFC’s most interesting rising contenders. Meanwhile, in the Bellator circle, Sergio Pettis put in the kind of calculated and sharp effort we’ve come to expect, outclassing Juan Archuleta to win Bellator’s bantamweight title.
I’ll have more this week on Rodriguez and what her arrival means for 115, or perhaps 125. But for now, as usual, here’s a look at three fighters outside the main event who bolstered their stock this week.
The last 18 months have been very, very hard for Gregor Gillespie. In Nov. 2019, Gillespie had his undefeated rise up the UFC’s lightweight rankings halted in explosive fashion, when a Kevin Lee head kick knocked him unconscious. A difficult recovery, along with effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, delayed his return extensively. And in March, when he was finally ready for his first journey back into the Octagon – he was weighed in and raring to go – opponent Brad Riddell was flagged by the UFC’s COVID protocols, and the fight was canceled the day of.
Gillespie is 34 years old. If ever he was going to make a run at a world title, it would be now, and time was passing him by. So it seemed fitting, then, that his first actual fight back – against Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace Diego Ferreira on Saturday night – was such a dire test of Gillespie’s will.
Gillespie is an aggressive wrestler going up against a great grappler who was never going to give him an inch. The first round was essentially one extended scramble, fought at an unbelievably grueling pace as both athletes battled endlessly for position. Ferreira, who showed excellent takedown defense, forced Gillespie to shoot again and again, and appeared to be a step or two ahead of his opponent. By the time the horn sounded, Gillespie wobbled back to his corner, so tired that he appeared to be having issues simply staying on his feet.
Heading into the second round, it felt like Gillespie might be done. The performance he put together from that point on was nothing short of awe-inspiring. Gillespie caught some kind of incredible second wind, and after seemingly emptying his gas tank in the first round, attacked Ferreira again with a renewed vigor. This time, Ferreira seemed to be the one slowing. He seemed a little less crisp in his transitions, a little more willing to accept bottom position. And from there, one of the grittiest sons of bitches in the game took over.
There may not be a single fighter on the planet better at pure chain wrestling than Gregor Gillespie, who simply owned Ferreira on the mat for the last few minutes of the fight. It was a pure wrestling attack, and Ferreira didn’t have the juice left to stop it. Gillespie has always fought with an aggressive mindset, using his wrestling to set up a finish, and Saturday was no different. He let loose with heavy ground-and-pound every chance he got, clinching easily the most thrilling fight of the weekend.
There was so much working against Gillespie, so many reasons he shouldn’t have won. There was the year and a half out of the cage – no matter what anyone tells you, ring rust is real. There was the four and a half pounds Ferreira missed weight by, and didn’t seem too concerned with losing, giving his takedown defense some extra heft. There was Ferreira’s skillset itself, which directly challenged Gillespie’s strengths. And there was the ridiculous pace of the first round, one that favored Ferreira and forced Gillespie to repeatedly burn energy by shooting for takedowns.
Gillespie battled over of those obstacles to win on Saturday night, earning one of the biggest victories of his career and regaining some of the hype taken by Lee two years ago. He did it with sheer willpower more than anything else. It’s always said that in the ring, you get a look at someone’s innermost self. We saw what Gregor Gillespie is truly made of on Saturday night.
Bellator’s Friday night show was, all things considered, pretty awesome. Like mentioned above, Pettis put on a championship-worthy performance in the main event. Anthony “Rumble” Johnson returned after five years off with a wild win over unheralded Jose Augusto, nearly being finished in the first round before roaring back and knocking Augusto unconscious with a right hand in the second round. Peter Queally bathed in Patricky Freire‘s blood, and promising talents like Patchy Mix and Johnny Eblen had nice showings as well.
But personally, I’m going to remember it as the night Michael “Venom” Page completely exploded a guy’s face.
I’m not even going to post the actual picture of Derek Anderson‘s face after Page shattered his nose with that gorgeous high kick, which led to a doctor stoppage after the first round. It’s honestly too gross – he kind of looks like an Uruk-Hai from Lord of the Rings. (Prayers for Anderson, who got in trouble after the fight for falsifying his pre-fight medicals, hiding the fact that he had serious kidney issues during his training camp and getting himself suspended. Imagine lying about not having KIDNEY FAILURE just to fight, only to then get your face destroyed.)
But, is it time to start putting some respect back on MVP’s name? At 19-1, Page has been one of Bellator’s most protected stars over the last several years, after breaking onto the scene as one of the most unique and entertaining strikers to come around on the MMA scene in a while. No one else fights quite like Page: a hands-down karate stylist who’s constantly showboating, taunting, and throwing heat-seeking kicks and knees from every conceivable angle.
Page’s hype ultimately turned into derision from the fans for the way he was booked, which seemingly protected him to a ridiculous degree. Page was given names like “Can-derson Silva” for his quality of opposition – infamously, after he was knocked out in his welterweight title challenge against Douglas Lima in 2019, his next fight was against Richard Kiely, a math teacher and part-time fighter with a 3-1 career record. It was a first-round knockout, obviously.
To build Page back up in the eyes of the fans, he needs actual opponents. And, to be fair, he’s actually gotten some tests the last few times out. Three fights ago, he knocked out Shinsho Anzai, who looked credible in a four-fight UFC stint a couple years back. Two fights ago, he fended off a stern challenge from Ross Houston, a very good fighter and Cage Warriors champion who entered undefeated. And Anderson is no slouch himself – he’s been one of Bellator’s better talents at 155 and 170 for a number of years, and entered on a three-fight win streak before Page nuked his face.
Page obviously has some cred that still needs rebuilding. But beating fighters like Derek Anderson, in the style that he’s beating them, is at least a start. And goddamn, it’s always fun to watch this guy fight.
I was all set to give this last spot to PFL heavyweight Renan Ferreira, a monstrously huge man with an 85-inch reach who seemingly scored one of the upsets of the year when he knocked out former UFC heavyweight Fabricio Werdum on Thursday night. The fight was one of the most insane you’ll see anywhere: Werdum, one of the greatest submission specialists ever, had Ferreira locked in a triangle choke in the first round. Except, when you have an 85-inch reach, jiu-jitsu doesn’t exist, since you can just punch the guy in the face from literally anywhere.
So Ferreira just kept punching him over and over, and somehow ended up winning via TKO. But wait, about that triangle choke:
Ah, the old Brazilian tap. It’s been a while. On Monday, the New Jersey commission officially overturned Ferreira’s win and ruled the fight a no contest. No breakthrough win here. So, instead, I’ll choose someone else to highlight from a PFL show filled with explosive finishes.
Along with the heavies, PFL’s Thursday show featured women’s lightweights as well, a division that has exclusively been the Kayla Harrison show over the last few years. The former Olympic judo gold medalist has gone undefeated so far in her pro MMA career, although the competition has been slim: women’s lightweight isn’t really a division that exists, and even 145 is pretty barren outside of a few good fighters.
Harrison was completely dominant again on Thursday night, running through veteran Mariana Morais in just over a minute. Once again, the $1 million prize is hers to lose. There may be only one woman in the field who can give her a test, and she looked pretty damn good herself.
The only woman to push Harrison to a decision in her career is Larissa Pacheco, who lost to Harrison on the scorecards in both the opener and closer of the 2019 women’s lightweight competition. Still just 26 years old, Pacheco’s actually had a pretty ridiculous strength of schedule.
She signed with the UFC as a bantamweight in 2014, debuting just a few days past her 20th birthday. She was thrown in with future world champion Jessica Andrade, and lost. Six months later, she was thrown in with future world champion Germaine de Randamie, and lost again. And after two defeats to true world-class fighters, while she was still one of the youngest fighters on the UFC roster, she was released – apparently Dana White wasn’t in a forgiving mood.
But there are few things more dangerous in the fight game than a grizzled young vet. Pacheco is still in her mid-20s, in her athletic prime, but she’s been in there with some of the best. She has victories on her record over some really good fighters: Irene Aldana, Karol Rosa and Sarah Kaufman, to name three. At her age, she still has plenty of potential to grow. And on Thursday night, Pacheco showed up looking to catch a body.
Pacheco needed only 51 seconds to roll through Julija Pajic, dropping her with a left hook in the first exchange of the right and pouring on the punishment afterward. The fight was a ridiculous mismatch, naturally: Pajic had only three fights on her record, against opponents with a combined 0-1 record. But if you’re gonna crush a can, that’s how you do it.
Pacheco is experienced, powerful and has a finisher’s mentality. If you’re going to find someone at this barren weight class to give Kayla Harrison a challenge, that’s the kind of person you’d look for. And in just 51 seconds, Larissa Pacheco made another fight with Harrison the bout to watch at 155.
The Big Fight 