The Real Winners and Losers from UFC Fight Night 229
It was a step-up Saturday at the UFC Apex.
Or it was supposed to be.
The octagonal MMA conglomerate was back at its home facility in the Nevada desert this weekend for an 10-bout Fight Night card topped by bouts in which streaking young fighters had a chance to boost profiles against proven, albeit not streaking, veterans.
Lightweight Grant Dawson had a main-event fight for the first time with the promotion and rode an 8-0-1 streak into a scheduled five-rounder with Bobby Green, who defeated a faded Tony Ferguson in his last fight but was just 3-4 with a no contest in his last eight.
Didn't matter. Green landed one clean shot and won by KO in 33 seconds.
Meanwhile, middleweight Joe Pyfer arrived to the co-main three-rounder off two straight wins and a victory on Dana White's Contender Series.
He was matched with Abdul Razak Alhassan and made it three in a row with an impressive submission in early in Round 2.
The card shrank from 11 bouts to 10 during the live show when the prelim feature between Philipe Lins and Ion Cutelaba was scuttled by Lins' pre-fight illness. The Brazilian made weight on Friday but the pullout was announced three fights into the ESPN broadcast and was re-set for next weekend, according to host John Gooden.
It was a return following a rare dark week for the UFC and the B/R combat team produced after the cage-free break, taking its position to deliver the show's definitive list of winners and losers in real time. Take a look at our picks and drop a comment with yours.
Loser: Prolonging the Streak
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Well, so much for streaking prospects.
Grant Dawson hadn't lost a fight in the UFC. He was headlining his first main event.
But as it turned out, the pre-fight feature on him and his goals lasted far longer than the fight.
Rather than taking a rankings-enhancing victory lap in Las Vegas, the streaking 29-year-old was dumped to the floor with the first solid punch of the fight and saw his night end soon after when referee Keith Peterson intervened to put a shocking end to the hostilities after just 33 seconds.
It was Dawson's first loss since he bowed out in 35 seconds against Hugh Pulley in a Cageside Promotions match in 2016.
And for Green, who'd won just three of eight fights in the last three years, it was a late career-defining victory and a chance to climb into the ranking by beating the No. 10 featherweight.
It happened so quickly, in fact, the winner didn't even know how he'd done it.
Green stepped forward with a lead left hand from a southpaw stance, connecting squarely on Dawson's chin and dropping him, creating the opportunity for the seven subsequent ground strikes that forced Peterson's hand.
"I thought I hit him with the right," Green said. "S--t happens. Let's go."
Loser: The Survival Instinct
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Sometimes, the fighting instinct is a drawback.
Abdul Razak Alhassan was on the wrong end of a body slam takedown from Joe Pyfer that the Philadelphian immediately turned into a submission attempt by isolating Alhassan's left arm and cinched up pressure on his neck while locking in an arm triangle choke.
Alhassan was in deep and began tapping Pyfer's left side to indicate his surrender, but because he was doing so with a still-clenched right fist and not an open hand it appeared he might have been working on an exit.
But he wasn't.
Referee Mark Smith let the choke continue for a few more seconds until Alhassan was unconscious and Pyfer had his third straight victory, all by finishes, since arriving to the UFC 13 months ago.
"I've got a really good head and arm choke thanks to my coaches," the winner said. "It wasn't something I was looking for, but I knew I was better than this man."
The official end came at 2:05 of the second round and Alhassan exited the cage upon regaining consciousness, leaving Pyfer to an emotion-charged post-fight interview in which he recalled a tumultuous childhood, made a pitch for a more lucrative contract, and revealed the inner doubts that many high-profile fighters refuse to acknowledge.
"I'm never surprised because I've been doing this for so long," said the 27-year-old, who turned pro at age 21. "I was scared as s--t this fight. Anybody who tells you they're not scared is lying. But you've got to overcome it. That's what I do."
Winner: Daddy Daughter Day
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Fatherhood has a mellowing effect on some guys.
Drew Dober is not some guys.
While the 34-year-old's newborn daughter was content in her mother's arms just a few yards away, her dad was happily engaging in the kind of violence that'd get him back to her quickly.
The smiling Coloradan did damage with nearly every punch he threw, ultimately landing a series of shots that sent Ricky Glenn to the mat and prompted a barrage of ground strikes that forced referee Chris Tognoni to intervene at just 2:36 of the first round.
The win was Dober's ninth by KO as a UFC lightweight, allowing him to pass Dustin Poirier for the promotional record. Overall, it was his 15th KO in 27 professional wins and a strong bounce back after a first-round stoppage loss to Matt Frevola in his last fight in May.
"I came in with zero expectation, just reaction," Dober said, suggesting overthinking had stymied him in the Frevola loss. "I stopped setting things up. I stopped being natural. I'm smooth, I'm natural, and I'm having fun out here."
Afterward, as the in-house camera panned to his baby girl, his ferocity vanished.
"(Fatherhood is) such a beautiful honor," he said. "I cherish every single moment I'm in here. I'm trying to take advantage of it all."
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Winner: Breaking the Mold
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Bill Algeo is no one's prototype fighter.
His six-foot frame is unusually tall for a featherweight. He holds his hands close to his waist than his chin. And his feet perpetually shift from place to place rather than finding a stable position from which to deliver blows.
But somehow it seems to work.
The Philadelphia-area veteran has been a pro for 11 years and he continued to defy the stylistic odds on Saturday, using a variety of techniques to shut out Alexander Hernandez over three rounds.
It was a strong main card opener for the popular 34-year-old, who fought well from distance against his shorter foe, landed the most powerful shots throughout, and punctuated the performance with a late takedown to win for the fifth time in eight UFC appearances.
And he continued to shine in the aftermath, calling out octagonal contemporaries like Billy Quarantillo and Nate Landwehr in addition to higher-profile quarry like Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk.
"I'm very, verry happy to put that W next to my name," he said.
Winner: Protecting the House
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It looked like international fight weekend on the prelim card.
The five fights that did actually occur included seven non-U.S. combatants, setting up three bouts matching American fighters against international rivals.
Seemed like a good time for fighters perhaps not so well-known to a domestic audience to make a reputation-enhancing stand.
Right up until it wasn't. Two out of three times, anyway.
Case in point. Japanese strawweight Kanako Murata was a significant betting favorite against spunky fan favorite Vanessa Demopoulos but found herself on the short end of a close but unanimous call in which all three judges gave the underdog two of three rounds.
A wrestler by trade, Murata chased takedowns and was successful on five of six tries while racking up better than 10 minutes of control time in a 15-minute bout. But she was largely outworked on the ground, allowing Demopoulos to earn an 86-70 edge in overall strikes.
"She controlled top position, I controlled the fight," Demopoulos said, after springing into the arms of analyst Daniel Cormier as he arrived for a post-fight interview.
"She had great control on top. I didn't get her. But I got her. I knew I was gonna spend time on my back. I knew she was a good wrestler."
Flyweight Nate Maness made it two of three for the red, white and blue against Brazilian prospect Mateus Mendonca, eluding his foe's ill-advised obsession with leg and ankle submissions and battering him with ground shots until referee Chris Tognoni intervened at 4:40 of the first round.
"Mendonca decided he was going to get KO'd this way," Cormier said. "I just don't understand the approach there."
Full Card Results
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Main Card
Bobby Green def. Grant Dawson by KO (strike), 0:33, Round 1
Joe Pyfer def. Abdul Razak Alhassan by submission (arm triangle), 2:05, Round 2
Joaquin Buckley def. Alex Morono by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
Drew Dober def. Ricky Glenn by TKO (strikes), 2:36, Round 1
Bill Algeo def. Alexander Hernandez by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Preliminary Card
Karolina Kowalkiewicz def. Diana Belbita by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Nate Maness def. Mateus Mendonca by TKO (strikes), 4:40, Round 1
Vanessa Demopoulos def. Kanako Murata by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Aoriqileng def. Johnny Munoz by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
JJ Aldrich def. Montana De La Rosa by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
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