UFC 225: Three Stars and Three Flops

UFC 225 was this past weekend, the main event featured Yoel Romero and Robert Whittaker. The fight between these two middleweights was one of the best of the year, and is easily a fight of the year candidate. The rest of the card featured some very entertaining fights. While some fighters stood out, other fighters flopped. Here are my three stars and three flops from UFC 225.

STARS

Colby Covington: Love him or hate him, Covington looked like the real deal Saturday night. Covington faced off against former lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos for the UFC interim welterweight championship. The back and fourth between these two before the fight is what hyped up this card. Dos Anjos looked phenomenal at welterweight, beating veteran welterweights like Neil Magny, Tarec Saffiedine, and even former champion Robbie Lawler. Covington put an end to his winning streak Saturday night. The pressure Covington put on Dos Anjos was ruthless, and this was easily Covington’s best performance inside the octagon. After the fight Covington kept talking trash and called out former teammate and current welterweight champion Tyron Woodly.

Holly Holm: Whoever thinks Holly Holm is just a striker needs to watch her fight Saturday night. Megan Anderson towered over Holm, and she looked like she was going to dominate from the get go. Anderson came out and nailed Holm with a knee that would’ve knocked a lot of other woman out cold. Holm stood tough and weathered the early storm. Holm eventually took this fight to the ground and showed a whole new element to her game. Holm dominated on the ground and won a lop-sided decision. Holm looked like she regained her confidence and is interested in a fight against current bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes.

Curtis Blaydes: We have a new heavyweight contender and his name is Curtis Blaydes. Blaydes faced of against veteran heavyweight Allistar Overeem. Blaydes did get hit with some big shots but it didn’t faze him. Blaydes dominated Overeem on the ground and in the third turned in one of the most brutal ground and pound finishes I’ve ever witnessed in MMA. Blaydes rained down some elbows that bloodied Overeem. Overeem was a bloody mess, and Blaydes was victorious. Blaydes either wants a title shot next, or a rematch with Francis Ngannou.

FLOPS

CM PUNK: Life’s not a rocky movie, and CM Punk proved that Saturday night. Punk got mauled in his first fight against Mickey Gall. In his fight Saturday night he managed to lose in a decision, but it was a very lop-sided decision. Punk did showed his toughness but still looked slow and sloppy inside the octagon. It’s honestly time for CM Punk to go back to the WWE or fight amateur MMA fighters. He doesn’t belong in the UFC.

Mike Jackson: Cm Punks opponent Mike Jackson did get the victory and didn’t look terrible. The problem with Jackson is he didn’t manage to finish CM Punk. There were moments in the fight where Jackson looked like he could of easily finished CM Punk, but decided to toy around with him instead. UFC President Dana White voiced his displeasure after the fight and said Jackson’s performance was an embarrassment.

Rashad Evans: UFC veteran and future hall of famer Rashad Evans was on fight pass. He came into this fight on a four fight losing streak. Many people thought it was time for Evans to retire, but he believed he still had some fight left in him. His opponent Anthony Smith proved him wrong, and knocked Rashad out in 53 seconds via knee. As a fan I don’t want to see Rashad fight any more, he gave a lot to the sport but now it’s time to hang the gloves up. He has a bright future being an analyst but for his health he should consider retiring from the octagon.

Stephen Caloggero (@stevo_calo)