🥊 UFC Louisville Recap

The UFC put on a show for Louisville, Kentucky that wasn’t without some controversy in the Main-Event, but just in case you missed some of it, the P4P Newsletter’s got you fam. Looking back before we spin ahead to UFC Vegas 93: Perez v. Taira this weekend at the UFC Apex.

All of this, PLUS… CHIWIWIS (whatever that means)

@fullsend_mma

Add it to the vocab 😂 #ufc #mmatok #fyppppppppppppppppppppppp

HEADLINES

🥊 Dustin Poirier revealed to MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani that with a win at UFC 302, “The Diamond” would’ve retired on the night. We MMA fans really hope it’s not the end for Dustin Poirier, a fan favorite for over two decades in the sport.

🥊 Rizin Superstar Kai Asakura was signed this past week by the UFC. The exciting 30-year old Japan Top Team product is 21-4 with wins over Archuleta and Horiguchi. Rumors are the promotion is looking to book him against a Top 5 bantamweight to start which would be EPIC.

🥊 The UFC returns to Denver later this summer as Dana White announced a great WMMA headliner pitting Maycee “The Future” Barber against fan-favorite and UFC legend “Thug” Rose Namajunas. Dana also revealed the winner is likely next in line for a title shot at 125lbs.

🥊 Did you guys see former World Strongman Eddie Hall fight two men at the same time this past weekend? I won’t include more details, please just watch.

TRIVIA

UFC Louisville Recap

Middleweight: Nassourdine Imavov def. Jared Cannonier (TKO at 1:34 of RD4)

• The Main-Event in Louisville was certainly not without controversy as ranked middleweights clashed in the “Derby City”.

• Cannonier began the fight strong, pushing the pressure and distance on Imavov, most known for his sniper-like striking.

• In Round 2, Imavov started to find his spots more, landing 28 strikes (the highest he would land in a round in this fight), however the round was still close with Cannonier netting 2.5 mins of control time.

• Round 3 could’ve gone either way, a sentiment the judges agreed with. As they entered Round 4, 2 judges had Cannonier up 2-1 with the lone Imavov card reading 2-1 his way.

• We were all mentally prepared for this to be a 5-round decision (especially me who bet the fight to go the distance), however in Round 4, controversy struck. Imavov wobbled Cannonier, and in his retreat “The Killa Gorilla” seemed to be intelligently defending himself, but referee Jason Herzog with the best view in the house decided to step in to prevent further damage.

• Cannonier would immediately begin to protest, with the commentary booth of Fitzgerald, Felder, and Sanko all agreeing the stoppage was a bit premature.

Light Heavyweight: Dominick Reyes def. Dustin Jacoby (KO/TKO at 2:00 of RD1)

• Really great to see Dominick Reyes get out of this 4-fight losing slump. The guy has really struggled to gain footing in the division after his nearly victorious title bout against Jon Jones. To do it with such a devastating KO also ain’t too shabby in a division that is incredibly shallow.

• “RELIEF” was the buzzword in Reyes’ post-fight presser. It’s truly impossible to understand what these athletes go through in the ups and downs of their careers. There’s simply nothing more personal than fighting and you have to imagine the countless long nights of self doubt were taking their toll.

Quick Hitters

This card started off SLEEPY, with the new gloves coming into question again with the first 6 fights going to decision…

• However, the first finish of the night was an absolute DESTRUCTION by Carlos Prates. Sometimes you watch a guy fight and you just know instantly he is destined to be a top-level contender in the near future. That was this performance for me and I’m buying all of the Prates stock I can. Just watch this magic below.

• Raul Rosas Jr. versus Ricky Turcios was wild as expected for as long as it lasted. Rosas Jr. would battle through a few scrambles with Turcios before finally locking in that RNC finish. This is just the 4th time in his pro career (9-1 overall) that he’s seen a 2nd round.

  • I teased it off the top but, Raul Rosas Jr’s “CHIWIWIS” shout in his post-fight interview got me hyped up. I don’t know why, I don’t know what it means, I don’t know what it stands for, but damnit…CHIWIWIS!!!

• Zach Reese’s finish of Julian Marquez was IMPRESSIVE even if it was just 20 seconds of violence. I won’t bore you with words, watch this:

• The last finish I’ll show you was a video game combo out of Brunno Ferreira aka “The Hulk” improved to 12-1 in his pro career with an epic spinning elbow straight to the orbital of Dustin Stoltzfus.

• The $50,000 bonuses went to Raul Rosas Jr., Brunno Ferreira, Zachary Reese, and Carlos Prates

Is This The End for Dustin Poirier?

UFC Legend, and surefire future hall-of-famer Dustin Poirier is still licking his wounds after an epic UFC 302 title clash with Islam Makhachev. His interviews after the fact have us thinking we may have seen the end for “The Diamond”

• In a recent interview on “The MMA Hour”, Dustin was incredibly honest about what’s next for him, and what the prophecy was prior to his defeat at UFC 302.

The unfortunate thing about the lightweight division in the UFC is…this is just where we are at.

The star-studded 155lbs division we once knew is slowly fading before our eyes. Gone are the names like Conor McGregor, Rafael Dos Anjos, Eddie Alvarez, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Tony Ferguson, Paul Felder, the list goes on.

Now add Dustin Poirier to the list of the legends hanging up the gloves. It almost brings a tear to your eye seeing this generation of fighters grow old. Unfortunately in MMA, this sport is not kind on the way out.

POUND 4 POUND PODCAST

Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo sit down with a boxing legend in David Benavidez on their latest episode with a new one dropping later this week!

New episode will drop on Thursday!

LISTENER’S HOT TAKES

“This UFC card being In Louisville made It feel like a big event to me. I really miss these smaller local shows”

Me too Justin, me too.

My first fight night as a fan was way back in December 2016, a heavyweight bout up in Albany, NY between Derrick Lewis and Shamil Abdurakhimov. Historically it’s one of the most boring cards in UFC history with 6 decisions but I don’t remember it that way.

The most noticeable thing about this UFC Louisville crowd was how engaged they were. Even after a lackluster start with a ton of decision, they absolutely POPPED during the Prates knockout. You could hear loud chants of “F*CK YOU RICKY” during Rosas Jr. vs Turcios (which c’mon how can you hate on “pretty Ricky”).

Furthermore, this is how you build and rebuild stars! Dominick Reyes’ KO is 10x more marketable with it being in an arena as opposed to an empty warehouse. The Rosas Jr. fan love is clear and it’s smaller shows like this that will build his fanbase for years to come.

I hope this show serves as a prime example towards doing away with the UFC Apex cards.

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