UFC 272 PPV “Covington Vs Masvidal” + MMA Weekly Report
UFC Vegas 49 brought a lot of great fights. Five matches went to judges’ scorecards but there were no boring matches. Every single UFC warrior was battling until the last dying breath. The blood these warriors shed across the Octagon was the sacrifice willingly paid, fans enjoyed every moment of the last weekend’s event.
Arman Tsarukyan won the Performance of the Night award after two rounds of bloody and battered war against Joel Alvarez. The Armenian cut Yoel open with a vicious elbow in the first, then dragged him to the ground and finished the bout via TKO in the second.
BREAKING: Arman Tsarukyan with a HUGE win!
Tsarukyan(18-2) finished Joel Alvarez (19-3) by TKO in the 2nd round at #UFCFN202 in Vegas
This is Arman's 5th consecutive win in the UFC middleweight division. pic.twitter.com/TRoqlvgvaz
— 301 (@301sports_) February 27, 2022
Wellington Turman was an underdog against Latvian-Canadian BJJ black belt Misha Cirkunov. The Brazilian submission specialist bounced back after a poor performance in the first round and finished Cirkunov with a surprising armbar off the bottom for the additional 50k (Performance of the Night bonus).
Out of nowhere! 😲
Wellington Turman with the armbar and a huge win! #UFCVegas49 pic.twitter.com/vMoQoCVjRR
— UFC on BT Sport (@btsportufc) February 27, 2022
The judges of the fight between Priscila Cachoeira and Ji Yeon Kim were heavily criticized as the majority of fans thought the Korean competitor did enough to win. Yet, Cachoeira left the Octagon with her hand raised, but the promotion decided to reward both women with additional 50,000 dollars for a wild three-round slugfest.
In the main event of the evening, Islam Makhachev easily dragged Bobby Green to the canvas and unloaded a barrage of ground and pound shots for a first-round TKO win.
10. In. A. Row 😤
[ @MakhachevMMA | #UFCVegas49 ] pic.twitter.com/l6hlEkKTuL
— UFC (@ufc) February 27, 2022
Bellator 275 main card wasn’t much interesting, as four bouts went to judges’ scorecards. Yet, the reigning defending 185-pound champ Gegard Mousasi destroyed wrestling phenom, Austin Vanderford. Gegard won via first-round TKO after stuffing an early takedown attempt.
Don't fight it! @Mousasi_MMA is the best Middleweight in the world. 👊😎
His 8️⃣5️⃣ second win at #Bellator275 was as dominant as they come! pic.twitter.com/qNEhdYvcai
— BellatorMMA (@BellatorMMA) February 27, 2022
The next weekend brings UFC 272 PPV event. It is set to go down at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, the USA.
Image source: @ufc Twitter
It is headlined by an entertaining bout between wrestling cardio machine Colby “Chaos” Covington and trash-talking one-punch knockout gangsta Jorge “Gamebred” Masvidal.
Covington significantly improved his stand-up skills and nearly earned a unanimous decision nod against the division champ Kamaru Usman. On the other hand, Masvidal was pressed against the cage for five rounds in the bout against Kamaru, which led to a decision loss for “Gamebred”.
Very quick, powerful puncher Masvidal meets chinny, durable Colby. Despite Masvidal scoring one-punch knockouts in the past, he’ll hardly turn the lights out on Covington.
After all, Colby is a diehard fan of exercise bikes, running in the gym, and high-altitude training, he’s not gonna slow down for sure.
Prediction: Covington to win (-335), or Covington via decision
In the co-main event, the former lightweight division king Rafael dos Anjos will try to deal with a Muay Thai striking specialist Rafael Fiziev. Dos Anjos was having ups and downs in his last six outings, while Fiziev is coming fresh of a third-round wheel kick knockout win over kickboxer Brad Riddell.
Dos Anjos is a stronger and better wrestler, but Fiziev’s strikes could make a significant difference within the first two rounds. Yet, Fiziev’s cardio is critical, which could give an advantage to dos Anjos in the third.
Prediction: dos Anjos to win (+210) or dos Anjos via decision
Check all my predictions in one playlist:
Here is the rest of the UFC 272 card, but last-minute picks and predictions might happen, so please take a look at this link too.
Main Card, ESPN PPV, 10 p.m. ET (3 AM UK time)
Colby Covington (16-3-0) VS. Jorge Masvidal (35-15-0)
Rafael dos Anjos (30 – 13 – 0) VS. Rafael Fiziev (11 – 1 – 0)
Edson Barboza (22 – 10 – 0) VS. Bryce Mitchell (14 – 0 – 0)
Kevin Holland (21 – 7 – 0) VS. Alex Oliveira (22 – 11 – 1)
Greg Hardy (7 – 3 – 0) VS. Serghei Spivac (13 – 3 – 0)
PRELIMINARY CARD ESPN, ESPN+, 8 p.m. ET (1 am UK time)
Jamie Mullarkey (14 – 4 – 0) VS. Jalin Turner (11 – 5 – 0)
Marina Rodriguez (15 – 1 – 2) VS. Yan Xiaonan (13 – 2 – 0)
Nicolae Negumereanu (11 – 1 – 0) VS. Kennedy Nzechukwu (9 – 2 – 0)
Mariya Agapova (10 – 2 – 0) VS. Maryna Moroz (10 – 3 – 0)
PRELIMINARY CARD, ESPN+, 6 p.m. ET (11 PM UK time)
Brian Kelleher (24 – 12 – 0) VS. Umar Nurmagomedov (13 – 0 – 0)
Tim Elliott (17 – 12 – 1) VS. Tagir Ulanbekov (13 – 1 – 0)
Ludovit Klein (17 – 4 – 0) VS. Devonte Smith (11 – 2 – 0)
Dustin Jacoby (16 – 5 – 1) VS. Michal Oleksiejczuk (16 – 4 – 0)
This weekend’s gonna be a banger, don’t miss this lovely PPV event. There’s a lot of beef going on between Jorge Masvidal and Colby Covington at the moment!
[…] UFC 272 was stacked with many toss-ups and pick’em bouts. Many fights went to judges’ scorecards or decisions but there were so many spectacular moments. […]