Nathan’s Quickie on each fight and the card as whole solely of the main card.
Elias Theodorou vs. Thiago Santos
Who I wanted to win: Elias Theodorou
Who I thought would win: Elias Theodorou
WINNER: Thiago Santos
Thoughts: Didn’t know much at all about Elias except his undefeated record and the fact they kept talking about his looks. Santos I’ve seen fought before and saw how dangerous he can be but also how at the fact he can lose. So of course was going for Elias, he seemed as the undeafeted prospect you would want to keep winning but of course that wasn’t the case. Elias had a strong first round but in the second he seemed to have faded and Santos did not let up and on two of the judges score cards seemed to they gave Santos 10-8 rounds and I wasn’t surprised at all. Elias had heart and took all those hard shots Santos threw but Santos was the definite winner.
Review (3/5) Entertain fight, of course if you were going for Santos then yeah the fight was more enjoyable as he was landing bombs on Elias and Elias was taking them but also barely hanging in there. Good win for Santos at being the first of Elias’ first defeat, and of course you never forget your first. Pun intended…
Sage Northcutt vs. Cody Pfister
Who I wanted to win: Sage Northcutt
Who I thought would win: Sage Northcutt
WINNER: Sage Northcutt
Thoughts: Of course its easy to see why there was hype behind Sage, if you don’t well then look him up and see. The goofy young Karate Ken Doll is almost laughable when you look at his looks, personality and physique. Yet, as far easy it is to make fun of, I definitely will not make fun of him at all to his face nor over a keyboard. He earned more respect tonight. Of course Cody was sent as lamb for sacrifice but initially it didn’t look as such. He gain top control early in the round and kept for almost the entire round until the fight was stood back up. Yes maybe early stand up or not, I didn’t think as such since Cody really wasn’t doing as much damage let alone at all and Sage was doing a good job at keeping him from making strides to get a really good position. Regardless Sage got up and even took him down and Sage showed he can work through some adversity, granted the adversity is going to get harder from here on out but sage did a good job at showing his potential even though a work in progress he is definitely one to watch and to look forward as he progresses.
Review:(3/5) I mean nothing that stand off the page too much but still a fight to show people who are into looking at new and upcoming prospects. It is a fight to look at how much potential Sage can have between seeing the initial takedown he dealt with to turning the tables and formally taking charge which led to finishing Cody.
Jim Miller vs Michael Chiesa
Who I wanted to win: Either Or
Who I thought would win: Michael Chiesa
WINNER: Michael Chiesa
Thoughts: Many were counting out Jim Miller especially since his knockout loss to Donald Cerrone but even though he lost again tonight he is not far from finished. He definitely has skills to still stay relevant in the lightweight division. Granted more as gate keeper he still can hang with most of the lightweights. I had followed Michael since he won TUF and he seems like a good guy so it is good to see he won especially since you want more prospects to keep moving forward. Yes its always good to see the veteran win but even if they win you already know their ceiling to see Chiesa win is good and will lead to more matchups that will be fun to watch. I still of course want to see Jim keep fighting and winning which I know he will but regardless good name win for Chiesa especially getting out of those legbars, good ground game fight between them.
Review (3/5): Maybe because this is my first article its kind of hard to say one was better than the other when I do feel all fight had their moments here and there that was like oh look at that and this fight was the ground work and seeing how Jim did good in the first round but for Michael to take advantage of submission attempt on him and turn it around and get the finish, he probably could have gotten it by strikes but it always looks better to submit a submission artist.
Rose Namajunas vs. Paige VanZant
Who I wanted to win: Rose Namajunas
Who I thought would win: Paige VanZant
WINNER: Rose Namajunas
Thoughts: I did follow the StrawWeight TUF, well somewhat but knew the players at the plate so was looking forward to this fight and when Paige got her replacement I did have that feeling just maybe Paige just might get derailed. Leading up to the fight I was somewhat seeing why people were behind Paige but after knowing what I saw from Rose, it was why I was hesitant to think the train will keep going. Although in defeat Paige showed a lot of heart especially in the third round with the deep RNC that she kept calm and got out of not to mention the squeamish armbars that she got out of. I really think the division is shaping up, granted I won’t root against my girl Joanna but there still so many fighers coming out of this division and a lot of excitement to look forward to. Paige is still young, well hell they both are young so you know their ceiling or potentional hasn’t even been scratched and i’m sure their paths will meet again. Paige will learn a tremendous amount from this fight so much good and bad she can take from this granted she was being dominated but her heart and her escapes showed that although still work in progress a lot of fundamentals are still there to work off of. As for Rose, after this fight she for sure deserves more spotlight and i’m sure she will because she put on a clinic and showed the division she is one to be worried about being put up against.
Well hope you enjoyed this quickie, and hopefully I can keep up with these events coming up. Its definitely a good month to be an MMA fan!