UFC 329: An Incredible Event

Here are my thoughts I typed out in real-time as UFC 329: McGregor vs. Holloway 2 unfolded.

Takeaways

• Cody Durden: game but ass. The only pick on the card I felt was definitely a stretch but ya know, old dog, experienced, short noticed, coming off an underdog win. Maybe had some momentum. Nope.
• Zachary Reese: flat-footed and flatlined.
• John Garza has great pressure and boxing. Good bodywork.
• Basharat will likely struggle against other fighters with strong wrestling and formidable striking. His gas tank isn’t bad, but it is certainly weak in round three, and you can see it in his entries. He becomes desperate for takedowns and can’t get them against Garza, who couldn’t defend them in the first two rounds. He finally gets one near the end of the third, but it may be too little, too late for the round scoring.
• Pinas is grounded and powerful.
• Tracy Cortez had a tremendously bad game plan. Tough as nails, but not much to show for it at the end of the fight against Wang Cong.
• Wang Cong did not knock out Tracy, which is a bit surprising.
• Luke Riley might be a problem. He is now 14-0 with a first-round knockout over Kai Kamaka III.
• Yanez and Garbrandt got into a firefight, with both exchanging heavy shots, but Yanez has a chin and Cody does not. Cody doesn’t get slept, but he gets rocked and dropped enough for the referee to step in.
• Elisha Ellison threw down with Gable Steveson. Steveson used teeps, good jabs, and heavy hands. He reacted well to getting punched and had a crazy sprawl. Very reactive and bites on feints although this is a minor criticism. I imagine he'll correct with experience. He may have also had a failed takedown attempt? Need to rewatch.
• Whittaker looked sharp and reinvigorated at light heavyweight. I’ll need to rewatch it because the UFC was testing simulcasts, but Whittaker wins via third-round TKO. I’ll forever regret picking against him in this fight. Thought I had a good read but it felt sinful picking against Bob Knucks.
• T. McKinney looked to take a dive at the end of the first round from what appeared to be a glancing body shot. I say that mostly joking but I didn't get another angle of the body shot. The referee stepped in at literally the last second. King Green was otherwise getting his ass kicked.
• Brandon Royval, despite being dropped a couple of times, put an ass-whooping on Kavanagh with intense pressure and high volume. He looked like a world-beater and was easily part of the Fight of the Night up to that point.
• Bautista and Sandhagen had a competitive fight. I personally think it could’ve gone Cory’s way, but the judges scored it unanimously for Mario. It wasn’t a bad performance from either fighter, but this will definitely be worth revisiting for tape study.
• Pimblett had one of the all-time best walkouts with this one and impressively submitted BSD in 52 seconds. BSD ran directly at Paddy and got into deep water he couldn’t swim out of. The D’Arce choke was nasty.

• Words cannot express how hilarious and satisfying this is. Conor McGregor appears to have blown out his knee with the very first flying switch kick he threw wildly out of range.

  I noted during Buffer’s pre-fight formalities that both guys looked nervous. McGregor’s walkout also seemed unusually tame. Nonetheless, Max looked at the referee and told him that Conor was obviously injured, but he had to keep fighting anyway until Max mercifully allowed Conor to stand.

  Conor could not stand at all on his right leg, and the referee called it off. Many will likely view this as disappointing or anticlimactic, but I feel exactly the opposite. This is a hilarious, comical, and deserved outcome.

  I’m fine with being called a hater, but how can anyone truly feel bad, whether you like Conor or not? I thought of Chael Sonnen’s quote almost immediately after the contest:

  “You’re only going to be alive for so long, so if you can compete in a sport — don’t forget, sports are for kids — and if you’re lucky enough to do that as an adult, you’re just that: lucky.

  I will leave face down and embarrassed, the only way you should leave sports.”

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