#ufc323

God fucking damnit. Fucking hell.

Pantoja throws up a head kick and Van catches it on the shoulder and throws Pantoja to the mat. Pantoja goes to brace and his arm just snaps at the elbow. It looks completely broken.

This sucks. Sucks for Pantoja who loses the title and breaks his arm. Likely not fighting again til god knows when. Sucks for Van, who doesn't get the satisfaction of winning the title the old-fashioned way. Sucks for all of us who miss out on amazing fight. Just a shit way for a fight to end. We didn't even make it out the first minute. Hope Pantoja is all right.

Yan went from being 0-5'd be Merab to 5-0'ing Merab (even if the judges disagree). That was an all time performance from Yan. Like one of the greatest efforts Ive ever seen in the cage. Insane to see the version of him late in their first fight that looked like he knew he could not beat this guy to this version that is throwing spinning backfist into overhands because he knows he's got Merab's number. Crazy!

Don't even know where to begin. Yan looked like the version of himself that beat Magomed Magomedov years ago. On point, a step ahead and just to wiry and slippery to hold down or hold onto. Jabbing consistently between Merab's entry attempts. A consistent, if still underutilized, body attack where he is visibly hurting Merab almost every round. This is one that I have to look at again tomorrow.

Another banger of a fight. Talbott really is coming into his own as a top level fighter at an alarming rate. Still not sure if he's *there* quite yet but reassured that's he progressing quickly from this one.

I expected Talbott to kind of body Cejudo on the feet. Cejudo's strengths as a striker have always come from quickness and durability. Like he's technically fine, but not very flexible. I don't think he's a guy who deals well with longer strikers beyond just charging into range and he did that here. Tried to push Talbott back, get his wrestling going. Tried to slow down Talbott's offense with kicks and had some success. When it broke out into a straight up firefight, he got his licks in but was still getting hit by this absurdly powerful puncher.

There's a lot of things on full display here from Talbott. The wrestling has not only been 'fixed' but it is a thing he can actually go to if he needs to. As cool as the big 1-2s were, his reaction to the counters of just stepping off and pivoting was great to see. Great on the counter. When he chose to really punish the body, not only was it working but he was using those punches to secure underhooks and avoid takedowns. Just a very cohesive game all around. Not all perfect. He definitely just decided at points he wanted to go to war with Cejudo, who is still 38 years old. He ate a LOT of those leg kicks. But again, he's 12 fights into his career and this is his 3rd competitive fight ever?

Sky is the limit with Talbott. Absurd physical gifts mixed with a great technical foundation and understanding of modern MMA.

Merab Dvalishvili vs Petr Yan 2 - Petr Yan has spent the better part of the last two years rebuilding his confidence after that 3 fight skid that started with him losing to Aljo and ended with Merab breaking him on pace. And I think he’s as close to that form as anyone could ever expect him to be at this stage of his career. But he’s never addressed the underlying problems that caused him to struggle with Merab, O’Malley, and Aljo - a lack of a range game. Yan has a good jab and is a very good boxer, but he eschews it to be a pocket pressure fighter. He wants to be inside range, ripping punches and pushing opponents back. The problem is that invites constant TD opportunities for Merab. And while I think Yan showed he was more than capable of wrestling/grappling with Merab for small stretches, he can’t keep up with the pace and volume that Merab puts on folks. I expect this to look similar to their first fight, though I doubt Merab shoots 50 times. With Merab’s improved boxing skills and conf, maybe Yan is able to draw out some more big moments but hard to envision a path to victory for him without that one change.

Alexandre Pantoja vs Joshua Van - I love both these guys. Extremely entertaining fighters. Think the world of Van. He’s got good Robbie Lawler energy. Fully expect to see him get worked here. A lot of the issues I see in the Dvalishvili-Yan rematch, I see here for Van. Except while Pantoja is nowhere near as conditioned or skilled a wrestler as Merab, he is infinitely more difficult to kill. And he’s just as insistent with what he wants - a connection. Pantoja isn’t looking to run thru the double, he’s looking for paths to the back where he can look for his crab ride and get the back. Van has shown he’s a good defensive wrestler but struggles with separation. And realistically he will be coming forward looking for counters (left hook/right overhand). Without having seen him diffuse a grappler like Pantoja, it’s hard to see anything other than a Pantoja RNC. Especially if Van can’t go out there and immediately get some respect.

Brandon Moreno vs Tatsuro Taira - for all the ways Moreno has lost of late, getting ground down by a grappler with limited striking skills hasn’t been one of them. While Taira looked good against Park on the feet, it was Park. Taira has some of the same back taking skills guys like Pantoja and Formiga have that could pose threats, but Moreno ultimately survived those moments. He’s a fantastic back take artist himself and one of the best scramblers in the sport. And if Taira freezes up again like he did against Royval at range (who is a worse wrestler), what really is his path to the back?

Henry Cejudo vs Payton Talbott - we’re a year removed from Talbott getting thoroughly outwrestled by Raoni Barcelos. He looked improved in his fight with Lima, but this is a bigger step up. Cejudo hasn’t won a fight since 2020 but he’s also just been fighting way stiffer competition than Talbott. But pushing 40 and with retirement on his mind, is that enough to push Talbott over the top should he be able to stop the takedown?

With GnP from the back! Taira taking away he needs to do damage when he gets dominant positions from his fight with Royval is fantastic news.

Taira shot in on Moreno in the first round, but ended up in a scramble where Moreno locked up a reverse triangle before locking one up on the proper side. Held it for like 3.5 minutes. Didn't look like either were bothering Taira as he had Moreno stacked but it won Moreno the round cause it was the only thing happening. Taira and Moreno exchange on the feet a bit in the 2nd. Taira still looks basic there tbh, but it eventually leads to Taira grabbing a body lock and hitting a trip to end up in mount. Moreno reaches down with both hands to pull Taira over the top but Taira secures head control and circles to the back. From there it was GnP to the finish.