What A Day In Combat Sports

AUGUST 20TH RECAP

BKFC 27: 1-5:30 PM ET

This card felt like it was a breakthrough event for Bare Knuckle FC establishing themselves in the fight game. BKFC had been growing steam with some big signings recently, but this was the high profile event they needed to take the next step up. The prelims were action packed with some good talent being showcased. The fights are a bit gruesome to ever get a big casual fan base, but a cult following could certainly be in the cards for this promotion. A big part of that popularity will be credited to Mike Perry when it is all said and done. ‘Platinum’ established himself as the face of the bare knuckle fight game yesterday. MVP proved to be a worthy opponent, but the grueling nature of bare knuckle fighting was the difference. Perry truly has that dawg in him. The Flint native cracked Page early, dropping him in the first round. After that, ‘Venom’ started to take over in front of his English fans in London. He broke Perry’s jaw in the 2nd, but the true grit of Platinum shined through. He survived rounds 2, 3, & 4 before taking over in the 5th and 6th to pull out the win. A win by the Bare Knuckle’s fighter in a cross promotional bout with Bellator’s Michael Page will likely prove to be a huge moment in BKFC history.

Usyk Joshua 2: 6-7PM ET

The rematch between Anthony Joshua vs Oleksandr Usyk was a much closer fight than the first. Joshua showed up with a better game plan and cardio to last all 12 rounds. That being said, it was not enough to get it done over the Ukrainian. Usyk shined in Saudi Arabia yesterday. His footwork and movement kept Joshua guessing most of the night. The left hand was splitting Joshua’s guard and forcing him to stay at range where Usyk wanted the fight to take place. The corrupt boxing stereotype remained true as this somehow came to a split decision. The Goosey scorecard had this fight 8 rounds Usyk to 4 rounds for Joshua. The judge that scored the fight for the Englishman should be investigated, but he won’t be because that regularly happens in boxing. Either way, great fight for boxing fans. Oleksandr Usyk established himself as the cream of the crop at heavyweight, and a fight with Tyson Fury would be massive.

UFC 278: 7PM-1AM ET

WHAT. A. CARD. The Salt Lake City fans were treated to some incredible fights throughout the evening. Elevation definitely played a factor tonight as the gas tanks were seemingly worse than ever. Victor Altamirano and Daniel Da Silva got things going in a hurry. Both men hit the canvas early with Altamirano taking over, and getting the TKO at the end of the 1st round. Jay Perrin and Aoriqileng went to war in Vivint Arena going to a 29-28 decision that could have gone either way. The ‘Mongolian Murderer’ got it done with the more damaging shots in rounds 1 & 2. Amir Albazi showed up and showed out after a long layoff. He looked dominant in his win, and made the most of his post fight interview. Ange Loosa and AJ Fletcher engage in a grueling back and forth war. Loosa got it done with a dominant last round as the gas tank of Fletcher hit E. Luis Saldana celebrated a bit early and it cost him the ability to celebrate late. The fight IQ is definitely questionable, but the skills are not. He went out and beat Sean Woodson at his own game. An illegal knee in the 1st ended up costing him the win, as a point deduction forced the fight to be a draw. The stand up showed an evolution for Saldana making him an interesting prospect going forward. Alexandr Romanov and Marcin Tybura happened. The Romanian dominated the first round, and the Polish heavyweight got the last 2 rounds. Most fans expected a draw with a 10-8 round in the first for Romanov, but Sal D’Amato is going to be Sal D’Amato. (Shoutout Romanov for twerking/Ali shuffling in the 3rd round and being the only fight that ruined my 10-leg parlay lol. A parlay which included Altamirano, Albazi, Loosa, Maverick, Gordon, Romanov, Pedro, Merab, Costa, & Leon.)

Onto the big time matchups at UFC 278. It was a good last title run for Jose Aldo. He got so close, but ran into a tough matchup against Merab in his number 1 contender bout. The ‘King of Rio’ was unable to get his volume striking going and it cost him. Dvalishvili was constantly pressuring Aldo and making it an uncomfortable fight for him. The post fight interview cost Merab a title opportunity. He was in a tough spot considering Aljamain Sterling is his cornerman/teammate/friend. That would have made for an uncomfortable fight for both men. Next, we had the funniest fight I have ever seen in my life. Paulo Costa and Luke Rockhold engaged in an absolute brawl. It honestly looked like a drunk bar fight. Both men were exchanging potentially fight-ending shots and walking through them. Costa was getting it done with more pressure and volume, but it was an incredible performance by Luke despite losing 30-27. In the end, Luke did the impossible. He made me like him. For 15 minute, he went out and put on an all time performance for the fans. After the fight, he was brilliant in self reflection and then rode off into retirement. This insane fight was followed up by the kick heard round the world. Leon Edwards chances looked so dim as Kamaru Usman was doing what champions do. After losing the first, Kamaru began to take over rounds 2, 3 and 4. The ending was looking bleak for Leon before he pulled out what will go down as an iconic moment in UFC history. The PERFECT left hand fake to get Kamaru to evade right into a head kick which shut the champions lights out. I’m getting goosebumps even typing it out. Thank you, Leon Edwards. That moment is on my Mount Rushmore of moments as an mma fan.

P.S. Shoutout to our guy, Stuart Austin, for getting it done in his fight at PFL 9 yesterday. He went in and got it done by decision. ‘He-Man’ talked to the Geeks in the build up and called his shot. The preparation was great, and the performance matched. Awesome moment for him in front of his hometown fans in London.

- GOOSEY