The best fighters in the world returned to Las Vegas tonight for an incredible night of fights at UFC 276. The night was headlined by two championship fights in which the champions showed everyone why they are considered to be two of the very best in the world.
Let’s take a look at some of the highlights of the night and break down the three fights we looked at in our UFC 276 preview.
Prelim Highlights
Dricus Du Plessis and Brad Tavares got the grown pumped up early by putting on an absolute war. Tavares used his experience advantage to remain calm in the face of Du Plessis’ constant blitzes and tagged him again and again in the first round. In the second though, Du Plessis settled in and teed off on his opponent, landing a big knee that bloodied Tavares up quickly. The third saw more of the same but Tavares showed off some amazing toughness and a granite chin, eating shot after shot. Unfortunately for him though, it was enough to earn Du Plessis a decision victory. Du Plessis will find himself in the middleweight rankings next week.
One of the sport’s bright young stars, Ian Garry showed off once again tonight, out striking Gabriel Green en route to a decision win. Garry’s hands are as good as anyone in the sport and he showcased that tonight, landing dozens of lightning quick combinations and dropping Green multiple times. Green certainly showed some toughness just to make it to the final bell, but it resulted in yet another win for the 24-year-old Garry, who is now 10-0 and gaining a lot of momentum and attention.
In a rematch between two UFC legends, Jim Miller locked up a textbook guillotine choke on Donald Cerrone in the second round to score a submission win and avenge his 2014 loss. Cerrone gave Miller some trouble in the striking thanks to his length advantage, but all it took was one mistake and Miller pounced. What was especially exciting about this fight was that no matter who won, the winner would set the record for most career wins in the UFC, a record that now belongs to Miller with 24 victories. After the fight, Cerrone left his gloves and his cowboy hat in the octagon and let the fans know that he would be retiring from the sport. We’ll see him again for his UFC Hall of Fame induction.
In the final prelim of the night Jalin Turner wasted no time at all scoring a big win that will likely earn him a ranking in the lightweight division. He landed a strong right hand on his opponent, Brad Riddell, and snatched a guillotine quickly, forcing Riddell to tap out just 45 seconds into the fight. Turner is a guy to keep an eye on for the future of the lightweight division.
Main Card Highlights
Sean O’Malley is one of the fastest rising stars in the UFC and the fans in Las Vegas made that clear with the way they reacted to his walkout ahead of his opening bout against Pedro Munhoz. O’Malley, a prolific striker, actually struggled a bit with Munhoz, who managed to stay on the outside while O’Malley waited for an opening to counter. Unfortunately, late in the second round, Munhoz took a finger to the eye that eventually stopped the fight after he informed the doctor that he could not see. It was a very disappointing finish and the crowd was not happy. Because the foul was clearly unintentional, it was ruled a no contest.
That disappointment evaporated quickly though as Bryan Barbarena and Robbie Lawler put on quite a show. These guys just traded punches back and forth, but it quickly became apparent that Lawler had the crisper and more powerful boxing. In the second round though, Barbarena landed a strong combination and hurt Lawler. The former welterweight champion did his best to recover but it was clear he was very wobbly. Barbarena never let up and eventually pounded his way to a victory. Lawler once again proved that he is one of the toughest warriors in the sport, never dropping to the floor despite being out on his feet.
Alex Pereira def. Sean Strickland
In a meeting between a ranked middleweight and a fast-rising knockout artist, it was the latter that prevailed. Strickland and Pereira stood in front of each other and had a bit of a feeling out process, all while the commentary team was talking about nothing but the inhuman power Pereira has in his hands. Right on cue, Pereira landed a lightning fast left hand that dropped Strickland. One more stiff right hand and the fight was over. Pereira’s power is on another level and fighters are finding that out every time he steps into the octagon. This is a guy with two kickboxing victories over current middleweight champ Israel Adesanya, including a knockout with that very same left hook that dropped Strickland. That makes for a very interesting future title fight, should things shake out that way.
My pick: Pereira via 3rd round knockout
Result: Pereira via 1st round knockout
Alexander Volkanovski def. Max Holloway
This was a meeting of two of the best in the history of the UFC’s featherweight division and the energy in the arena made that very evident. The crowd was very behind Holloway but the night belonged to the dominant champion, Volkanovski. The champ showed again and again that his striking is just on another level, to the point where even the top contender in the world and a former champion is not even in the same class. Volkanovski’s hands were repeatedly faster than Holloway’s and he won almost every exchange. The two were neutral in the little bit of grappling we saw in this fight, so Volkanovski removed that as an option for the challenger. He continued to piece up Holloway for all five rounds en route to a unanimous decision victory. It was the 22nd straight victory for Volkanovski, his third against Holloway and a dominant performance that removes any doubt that he is the greatest featherweight of all time. In my opinion, he should also find himself the top-ranked pound-for-pound fighter in the world after this performance.
My pick: Volkanovski via decision
Result: Volkanovski via decision
Israel Adesanya def. Jared Cannonier
The best fighters in the history of the sport really command your attention from the moment they enter the arena. Adesanya accomplished that by mimicking the iconic entrance of the Undertaker. He then brought that mystique into the octagon, getting the better of the exchanges against Cannonier and perfectly defending any of the challenger’s advances. It wasn’t until the third round that Cannonier managed to mount some significant offense. While it came mostly in the form of simply putting Adesanya’s back up against the cage, he also managed to land a few good shots.
That was the end of it though as the championship rounds saw more of the same for Adesanya, who really started to find a home for his jab. Cannonier just did not have an answer for the world class striking of the champion. Adesanya continued to literally beat him to the punch and after the final bell, the judges awarded an easy decision to the champion. It was another dominant performance and after the fight, Adesanya called out Pereira as his next challenger after the highlight reel knockout from the Brazilian earlier in the night. The champ threatened to leave Pereira frozen and even namedropped Elsa in his callout. It would be a huge leap over a lot of prospective challengers for Pereira but it’s a fight that makes a lot of sense and one that a lot of people will want to see, Adesanya included.
My pick: Adesanya via 5th round knockout
Result: Adesanya via Decision
The UFC will return to ESPN+ on Saturday, July 9th for UFC Fight Night: Dos Anjos vs. Fiziev. Be sure to check back for a preview of the event.