#ufc323

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.

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.

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.

amazing kickboxing, really good takedown defense as well, and he has the hell of an attitude

Had it a draw myself with Guskov picking up a 10-8. But if you hurt a 42 year old man in one of the first two rounds of a fight and don't win decisively, you deserve to lose. Personal philosophy.

Thank you for saving us from 15 minute Dawson fights Torres. Dawson is one of the most uncomfortable ranked fighters on the feet I've seen in a minute. If he can't rack up 80% of top control time, he will just get hurt on the feet. Discomfort probably doubled by the fact Torres is just as long as him if not longer. Torres was patient, let Dawson throw some really ugly overhands and kicks as he got a beat on the distance. Dawson tried to shoot but was waaay too far out to get anything meaningful going.

Didn't think anything would match the Aslan-Baraniewski fight on sheer goofiness, this was great. McKinney, in McKinney fashion, comes out and instantly hurts Duncan. Duncan struggles for like 60 seconds just to get his feet right as McKinney tries to land a kill shot. Eventually Duncan finds his feet and cracks back, badly hurting McKinney. Duncan gets McKinney's back along the cage and just starts going ham with GnP. Little uppercuts under the arms of a kneeling McKinney. McKinney is clerly done but the ref won't stop the fight so instead Duncan sits through for the D'arce and gets the instant tap.