The best and worst from UFC Fight Night 160: Hermansson vs. Cannonier

#3 Best: Ion Cutelaba’s violent showing

Ion Cutelaba took out Khalil Rountree in violent and impressive fashion

Outside of the main event, the fight I was most looking forward to last night was the 205lbs battle between Ion Cutelaba and Khalil Rountree. I’ve been high on Cutelaba for a while now – he’s a colourful personality and his fighting style is ridiculously aggressive – and I felt like this was a fight that he could win, but when he screamed into Rountree’s face during the weigh-ins, the pressure was ramped up a little – how stupid would he have looked had he lost?

Thankfully, ‘The Hulk’ didn’t lose last night – he won in brutal fashion and probably should’ve been awarded with a $50k bonus for his efforts. Rountree tagged him with some hard shots early on but Cutelaba took them well and eventually got a takedown, where he destroyed the kickboxer with some incredibly violent elbow strikes, picking up a TKO at the halfway mark of the opening round.

At just 25, Cutelaba is still a very young fighter, but he’s clearly got the skills – and the sheer intensity – to do some big things in the Light-Heavyweight division. If he can work on his glaring weakness, namely issues surrounding his cardio, then I think he can become a genuine title contender in the near future.

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