UFC 205 Recap
The UFC made as good of a debut in NYC as one could imagine. Not only did the fights live up to the hype, but history was made and records were broke. Now, let’s go over this UFC 205 recap in case you couldn’t catch this historic event live.
Main Card
Conor McGregor makes history, becomes first two-weight UFC champ
You can’t start a UFC 205 recap without the main event. “The Notorious” Conor McGregor iced lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez in the second round to create history. Never before has a fighter held two titles simultaneously until now. In fact, no one has even attempted it until now.
McGregor battered the tough Philly-native for about 8 minutes before the ref stepped in. Alvarez repeatedly tried to close the distance to land his right hand or tie up, but Conor’s counter left was waiting for him everytime. It was all McGregor from start to finish. A total of four knockdowns were scored for McGregor. Unfortunately for Alvarez, only a handful of punches and kicks were all he could land.
Take look at my breakdown of this bout successfully predicting a second round TKO finish by McGregor.
Welterweight title bout ends in a majority draw
Welterweight champion Tyron Woodley and challenger Stephen Thompson engaged in an interesting 25 minute bout. We saw Woodley badly hurt and batter Thompson on the ground. However, we also saw Thompson masterfully out-class Woodley in some striking exchanges, and survive a vicious striking and submission onslaught. At the end of it, the judges ruled it a draw. One judge had Woodley winning a simple 3-2 victory, but the two other judges had Thompson winning 3-2 with a 10-8 round in favor of Woodley. This resulted in a majority draw decision. Neither fighter seemed happy with the score, but they will likely have a chance to fight again.
Joanna Champion retains dominance
Polish strawweights Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Karolina Kowalkiewicz put on a 5-round dog fight for the strawweight belt. Joanna dominated much of the contest as she out-struck her opposition at range and in the clinch. However, the champion ran into some danger late in thefight. In the fourth round, Karolina landed a big righ thand. This gave the challenger some momentum, but she could not follow up. Karolina succumbed to a sound decision loss.
Romero cashes ticket to middleweight gold, stops Weidman
In the most jaw-dropping moment of the night, middleweight contender Yoel Romero knocked out former middleweight champ Chris Weidman. The stoppage came early in the third round after the two were arguably one round a piece. Weidman started the fight off well as he landed kicks on the outside and briefly took Romero down. However, round two played out differently as Romero answered back with his own wrestling and kicking attacks. Ultimately, Romero needed one big moment in round three to end the night. He threw a flying knee during a Weidman takedown attempt which immobilized the New Yorker. Romero followed up on his bloodied opponent, and got the finish. It was a violent, savage knockout victory for the Cuban. This means Yoel Romero will be next in line to face Michael Bisping for the middleweight title.
Underdog Pennington defeats Tate, forces retirement
In a shocking upset, bantamweight Raquel Pennington defeated former champion Miesha “Cupcake” Tate by unanimous decision. Pennington consistently outstruck her foe, displaying impressive boxing throughout the bout. She also avoided Tate’s grappling attempts, and threatened with her own. Pennington came close on a standing guillotine choke which had Tate’s neck bent at a very awkward angle. Tate fought till the last second, but ultimately lost on the scorecards. Upon the defeat, Tate announced her retirement.
Prelims
Edgar takes out Stephens in headlining prelim
In a class Frankie Edgar fight, the New Jersey native used superior movement, boxing, and takedowns to garner a much-needed victory. However, It didn’t come without adversity though as Jeremy Stephens managed to rock him with a jumping switch kick in the second round. Stephens tried to follow up, but Edgar regained his composure and reclaimed control of the bout. Edgar proved too hard to hit, and too technical on the feet for Stephens to hang with. The featherweight division is in a bit of a bog though. Champion Conor McGregor has been MIA in the division, interim champ Jose Aldo is unofficially retired, and top contenders Max Holloway and Anthony Pettis will be fighting for top contendership. Edgar’s place in the division is all but clear.
Nurmagomedov dominates Johnson, could get next title shot
Russian standout Khabib Nurmagomedov has been unstoppable – just look at his 24-0 MMA record. He continued this dominance by submitting Michael Johnson in the third round of their bout. Despite getting tagged by the skillful hands of Johnson early, Nurmagomedov established his wrestling game like he has done in all of his fights. From there, “The Eagle” took control of the bout, smashed Johnson with punches, and submitted him with a kimura. Now, the question becomes who is next to challenge for McGregor’s lightweight title – is it Khabib? Tony Ferguson? Nate Diaz? We will have to wait and see. Nurmagomedov made sure to call McGregor out repeatedly after and during his fight.
Miller spoils Alves’ lightweight debut
Former welterweight title challenger Thiago Alves managed to garner some hype for his lightweight debut. Unfortunately, he failed to make the weight, and was beat up by tough East Coaster, Jim Miller. Miller succeeded in pressuring Alves on the feet and securing key takedowns en route to a unanimous decision win. The muay thai striker never could capitalize on any momentum, and was shut down virtually the whole fight. With this victory, Miller is now on a three fight win streak.
