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UFC 298 featured some of the most recognizable names in today's MMA era. This capped off with one of the most anticipated title bouts in recent history. There were many great fights but let's start with the Middleweights.
The opening main card bout was a fight between two masters of their craft: Roman Kopylov, a knockout artist boasting 4 knockouts in the UFC, and Anthony Hernandez, one of the best grapplers in the 185 lb. division. This fight started looking good for Hernandez as he put pressure throughout and had a hugging session against the cage. This soon landed a takedown and Hernandez spent the rest of round 1 on top. Round two started the same way: pressure, hugging, takedown. Except this time, it ended with Hernandez taking back control and finishing with a Rear Naked Choke. This finish showed us how far Hernandez has come in recent times.
The next fight was a Bantamweight bout featuring two of the biggest names, Henry Cejudo and Merab Dvalishvili. This was one of the more exciting fights of the night with the two contenders battling it out the entire fight. The first round was relatively slow, with a mostly feeling-out that ended with Cejudo landing a flush left hand but that's pretty much it. Round two opened with a big shot from Merab that rung Cejudo followed by a textbook single-leg trip and spent the rest of the time rag-dolling Cejudo. Merab kept the pressure going and landed the same takedown that landed in the previous round and spent the rest of the round putting ungodly pressure on Cejudo. The fight went to the scorecards and Merab won unanimously practically guaranteeing him a title shot next after O'Malley V. Vera.
Our next Welterweight bout was a fight between Ian Machado-Garry and Geoff Neal. This was not the most entertaining fight, but it was a technical showcase. Round one started with the pressure from Neal by taking center octagon and pressing forward, while Garry used his lengthy kicks to control distance. The second round was more of the same with Neal pressuring and Garry controlling the distance. Round three was just a replay of the first two rounds and went to the judges' scorecards, where Gary won via Split Decision.
The Co-Main Event was one of my favorite fights in recent history with Robert Whittaker facing off Paulo Costa. The first round started with great leg kicks from both men, with Costa looking for a lead head kick up the middle every few shots. The leg kicks were the entire first round until the last 6 seconds where Costa landed a spinning wheel kick out of nowhere and rocked Whittaker but was saved by the bell. The second round was more of the same with more energy and intent from both men. Whittaker's leg kicks were slick and his blitzes were smooth and accurate. Costa spent the entire round looking for a head kick, but couldn't find it. The final round was intense as no one was sure who was ahead because of the first two being neck and neck. Whittaker looked for leg kicks and openings to blitz and was looking confident as Costa was slowing down and looking sluggish. The fight went the distance, with Whittaker winning via UD.
The Main Event was one of the most anticipated fights of the year so far, Volkanovski vs. Topuria. The first round's pace was set smoothly by Volk moving around and landing good kicks. The pressure was going back and looked good until the buzzer went off to close round one. Round two started right where the first ended, with good movement from Volk and good pressure from Topuria. Volk was setting the tempo with his leg kicks and movement up until the last 90 seconds where Topuria landed a right hand to end the Champion's long reign. This made Topuria the fifth person to hold the Featherweight belt and the second person to finish Volk. What can we say, he was right.
This card was incredible with many good fights across a bunch of weight classes. Next weekend we have a rematch between Brandon Moreno and Brandon Royval for a likely shot at the Flyweight title. Thank you for reading and will see you next weekend.
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