UFC Vegas 50 + Bellator 276 – Weekly MMA Report
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.
Maryna Moroz pulled out the upset of the night after defeating Mariya Agapova via submission for an additional 50k. Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal took part in a five-round tactical war to earn Fight of the Night awards. Colby showed excellent wrestling performance but Masvidal survived five rounds and deserved a lot of respect. Another Performance of the Night was given to Kevin Holland, who bounced back in the second round and brutally finished Alex “The Cowboy” Oliveira in his welterweight debut.
LOCKS IN THE SUB 🔒
Maryna Moroz with the dominant finish to end it RD 2!
[ #UFC272 | Prelims are LIVE on E+ ] pic.twitter.com/ny7MJXjccI
— UFC (@ufc) March 6, 2022
Kevin Holland v Alex Oliveira
2nd round KO! #UFC272 pic.twitter.com/TnrcsmBPCd— MMA Freak Fighters (@FightersFreak1) March 6, 2022
The next weekend brings UFC Vegas 50, which means the greatest MMA promotion gets back to “Sin City”, Nevada, on Saturday, March 12, 2022.
The event airs on ESPN+, and it will be headlined by the astonishing 205-pound clash between southpaw striking specialist Magomed Ankalaev and the man who nearly outlasted Jon Jones in a five-round title war, Thiago “Marreta” Santos.
Image source: @ufc Twitter
Santos likes spending hours in the gym, but Ankalaev is a master of anticipation with lightning-fast, crisp counters, so this could be a mismatch. Oh, I bet Magomed might deserve the spot on the list of the top 5 best fighters in 2023, he has championship potential.
Prediction: Ankalaev wins -510, or Ankalaev wins via decision
The co-main event of the evening brings a difficult-to-pick bantamweight bout between the former WSOF champ Marlon “Magic” Moraes and Chinese cardio machine Song Yadong.
Someone is gonna get finished here. Marlon’s Muay Thai and ground and pound skills rock, but he slows down in round 2. If Song survives the early storm, the Brazilian fighter is going to lose. Yadong loves running and treadmills, he’s not gonna stop before the final bell.
Prediction: the fight will not go the distance, or Yadong to win (-240)
Check all my predictions in one playlist:
Here is the whole fight card, but check this link please, as the bout order might change:
MAIN CARD, ESPN+, UFC Fight Pass, 7 pm ET (midnight UK time):
Thiago Santos (22 – 9 – 0) VS. Magomed Ankalaev (16 – 1 – 0)
Marlon Moraes (23 – 9 – 1) VS. Song Yadong (18 – 5 – 1)
Alex Caceres (19 – 12 – 0) VS. Sodiq Yusuff (11 – 2 – 0)
Karl Roberson (9 – 4 – 0) VS. Khalil Rountree (9 – 5 – 0)
Drew Dober (23 – 11 – 0) VS. Terrance McKinney (12 – 3 – 0)
Alex Pereira (4 – 1 – 0) VS. Bruno Silva (22-6-0)
PRELIMINARY CARD, ESPN+, UFC Fight Pass, 4 p.m. ET
A.J. Fletcher (9 – 0 – 0) VS. Matthew Semelsberger (9 – 3 – 0)
JJ Aldrich (10 – 4 – 0) VS. Gillian Robertson (10 – 6 – 0)
Javid Basharat (11 – 0 – 0) VS. Trevin Jones (13 – 7 – 0)
Damon Jackson (19 – 4 – 1) VS. Kamuela Kirk (12 – 4 – 0)
Miranda Maverick (9 – 4 – 0) VS. Sabina Mazo (9 – 3 – 0)
Cody Brundage 6 – 2 – 0) VS. Dalcha Lungiambula (11 – 3 – 0)
Guido Cannetti (8 – 4 – 0) VS. Kris Moutinho (9 – 5 – 0)
Azamat Murzakanov (10 – 0 – 0) VS. Tafon Nchukwi (6 – 1 – 0)
But there’s another top-notch event this weekend – Bellator 276. It takes place on Saturday, March 12, 2022, in The Family Arena, St Louis, Missouri. The main card will go live on Showtime, while the prelims are free at MMA Junkie’s official YouTube channel.
You can check the whole fight card here. https://www.bellator.com/event/293
In the main event, the Hungarian knockout specialist Adam “The Kid” Borics (17-1-0) will try to KO Danish BJJ black belt and the former Cage Warriors featherweight champion Mads Burnell (16-3-0) in a 145-pound fight. Burnell choked out some of the best names on the globe, while Borics turned the lights out on wrestling phenoms Teodor Nikolov and Aaron Pico via violent knee counter. Somebody goes down for sure here.
Prediction: Borics to win, or the fight will not go the distance
Great wrestler Phil Davis (23-6-0) will try to defeat Lithuanian boxer and the former 205-pound title contender Julius Anglickas (10-2-0). Davis’ ground game will probably be too much for Anglickas, as Nemkov held him on the ground and finished the bout thanks to great wrestling/submission skills.
Prediction: Davis to win, or the fight goes the distance
Image source: @BellatorMMA Twitter
Check my main card predictions here:
Get ready for the upcoming weekend. We’ll see a lot of stoppages and very entertaining bouts!
[…] The previous weekend was stacked with top-notch MMA events. The UFC Vegas 50 card was headlined by a tactical five-round battle between 205-pound title contender Magomed Ankalaev and the man who almost beat legendary Jon Jones, Thiago Santos. Yet, there were so many great submissions and knockouts. […]