- Jamahal Hill has the potential of a UFC champion
- Glover Teixeira gets a memorable exit
- Deiveson Figueiredo enters the 135
- Mauricio fares well to UFC
- Outstanding debut by Ismael Bonfim
Jamahal Hill has the potential of a UFC champion
Catcher Jamahal Hill provided a chaotic Saturday night at UFC 283 that found him coming back from a knee injury to deliver a five-round showcase against Teixeira that was ultimately decided by unanimous decision and the vacant light heavyweight championship. Judging by the way UFC 283 went down, it seems like the events of Saturday night were anything but predictable. But in the end, it wasn’t about which fighters were at their best or even how well they fought. It was about whether or not two men could dominate an entire card from start to finish with a perfect display of matchmaking in one of the most captivating nights of MMA in recent memory.
As it stands right now, there are no clear contender’s in the 265-pound division. We wouldn’t be shocked if some others try to jump in the race but there aren’t any immediate threats that can dethrone Hill, who won every round on substantial amounts of damage.
Glover Teixeira gets a memorable exit
Glover Teixeira certainly didn’t draw up losing in what’s now his final career fight against Jamahal Hill, but short of the gold, he couldn’t have asked for a more ideal exit from the sport. The UFC flyweights had a heated rivalry from the jump. At UFC Gdansk, it was all smiles as they exchanged words in English, Polish and French. And then there was the stare-down, which eventually escalated into punches. In the end, Hill knocked out Glover with a single punch in 1:05 of action – ending any lingering doubts about whether or not Glover really was done with MMA.
The UFC’s return to Brazil after the COVID-19 pandemic is a moment that is going to stick with Teixeira forever, though it didn’t end in the way he wanted.
It was another notch in the win column for UFC bantamweight contender Jimmie Rivera, but the result was much more interesting than that single statistic. Over the course of 25 minutes on Saturday night at UFC 283 , he didn’t prove to be the better fighter to Hill on the night, but over the course of 25 minutes, Teixeira showed once again why he he’s got as much heart and toughness as anyone we’ve ever seen in this sport. Sure, those aren’t the traits he wants us to peg to his name, and it’s not to diminish his talent, but at 43, his ability to hang at the top level of beyond admirable.
Deiveson Figueiredo enters the 135
Just moments after he failed to unify the flyweight title with Brandon Moreno and came out on the losing end of their series, Deiveson Figueiredo took off his gloves and announced his time fighting at 125 pounds officially was over. Figueiredo’s explanation to fans, media and UFC brass was clear: He had been struggling with injuries throughout 2018 and was simply not physically ready to continue fighting at 125 pounds.
Figueiredo knows he needs to be at the top of his game against Moreno, and he will have a lot on his plate considering Moreno is also a former title contender who has defended some of the most high-profile championships in BBMMA. But Figueiredo will have his hands full if he doesn’t manage to keep himself from making things more difficult than they need to be by cutting down close to the limit.
Figueiredo will have to fight smarter, move better and take less damage in his fight with Swanson since the UFC’s flyweight champion is simply not a big puncher. That said, Figueiredo has shown tremendous growth in all departments over the past year, including his understanding of how an MMA fight works. He needs only a few more opportunities to perfect his craft before he can re-enter elite company at bantamweight.
Mauricio fares well to UFC
It didn’t take long for Mauricio Rua to lose his UFC light heavyweight decision to Ihor Potieria in the first round of their fight at UFC 283. The former PRIDE middleweight champion was caught with a hard punch then finished at 4:05 of Round 1.
Rua (27-14-1 MMA, 11-12-1 UFC) is one of the best and most influential fighters in the history of MMA. He has overcome a lot of adversity to fight at the highest level for a long time.
This was a career that saw Rua compete in a variety of weight classes while doing his talking in the cage. He’s the last of an era that brought us MMA super fights including Fedor Emelianenko vs. Mirko Cro Cop, Chuck Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva and Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort. Rua is one of the most respected fighters in history, because he retired at the top of his game and didn’t get drawn into any real controversy during his career.
Outstanding debut by Ismael Bonfim
Assuming that Ismael Bonfim wasn’t going to be given anything easy, he got his shot with Terrance McKinney. It turned out to be a heart-pounding first round knockout, and it speaks to the kind of style aggression that can make up for smaller reach and height.
As results started to change in favor of Bonfim, cageside commentator Paul Felder noted how amazing Bonfim looked in the fight. The UFC had a picture-and-picture window on the screen with his brother Gabriel (who picked up a thrilling 49-second submission of Mounir Lazzez later on the prelims), then he uncorked the brutal strike that face-planted McKinney and put him to sleep.
It was a debut to remember for Ian McKinney as he made his long-awaited UFC entrance. In the process, he showed really well in his fights with two big names coming off of long layoffs and showed that he’s ready to compete at the top level in the division.