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#2 Best: Sandhagen’s finish of Moraes shows he’s the real deal in the UFC Bantamweight division
The main event last night between UFC Bantamweight contenders Marlon Moraes and Cory Sandhagen was a tricky one to pick. But in the end, it was ‘The Sandman’ who proved himself to be the far superior fighter. And he did it in style, too.
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After using his movement and speed to pick Moraes apart in an exciting first round, Sandhagen uncorked an incredible spinning wheel kick early in the second that caught the Brazilian on the top of the head. Moraes was sent crashing down, and from there, Sandhagen quickly finished him off.
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The finish – which handed Sandhagen his sixth UFC win – was reminiscent of Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson’s 2015 KO of Jake Ellenberger, and was truly exceptional.
Post-fight, Sandhagen called out either TJ Dillashaw or Frankie Edgar for a fight, and either one would work. Beat one of them, and it’d be hard not to hand ‘The Sandman’ a crack at the UFC Bantamweight title – even if it’d be hard to sell a rematch between him and Aljamain Sterling after ‘Funk Master’ shellacked him in June.
Either way, even though he somehow didn’t score the best KO of the night, Sandhagen was the biggest winner of UFC Fight Island 5.
#2 Worst: Barboza and Amirkhani struggle to live up to the hype
Perhaps the most highly-anticipated clash on this card – the fight between UFC Featherweight contenders Edson Barboza and Makwan Amirkhani – was arguably the show’s most disappointing, too. That’s not to say it was a bad fight per se, more that everyone going in expected fireworks and didn’t really get them.
For some reason, Amirkhani – who had a reputation for reckless aggression – looked a little gunshy from the off, perhaps wary of Barboza’s power. ‘Mr Finland’ spent the majority of the first round being backed up and throwing feints, and then the second round saw him dropped and hurt badly by the 10-year UFC veteran.
Amirkhani did come back somewhat in the third, securing a takedown, but Barboza’s striking always kept him ahead. And it was no surprise when he got his hand raised when the fight went to the scorecards.
However, considering most observers expected a wild fight full of flying attacks and reckless scrambles, it was hard not to be disappointed a bit. This was a classic example of it being impossible to guess exactly what you’ll get from a UFC fight.
#3 Best: Tybura and Rothwell prove the doubters wrong
To say that many fans weren’t too enthused about seeing the fight between UFC Heavyweight veterans Marcin Tybura and Ben Rothwell would be an understatement. Both men had become renowned over their recent bouts for putting on slow, clinch-filled fights, and there was no reason to suspect this one would be different.
Somehow though, it was. Perhaps inspired by the wild action of the night’s earlier fights, Rothwell came out throwing an insane amount of punches with reckless abandon. Tybura surprisingly obliged him, and the two big men never really slowed down from there.
We got no slow clinching portions in this fight, just amazing striking exchanges, and while Tybura won the fight after taking Rothwell down, it wasn’t like he simply lay on top of him. The Polish fighter beat ‘Big Ben’ down from the top, bloodying him and picking up his third UFC win in a row in the process.
Prior to this, seeing the name of either man on a UFC card probably elicited some shudders from UFC fans. But after this, it’s likely they’ll be looking forward to seeing both men in action again. If we’re honest, they could easily have been given an extra $50k bonus each, too.
