UFC Fight Night Hermansson Vs. Pyfer

After last week's somewhat disappointing card in Imavov V. Dolidze, we needed a banger to bounce back into the fighting spirit a week before UFC 298. This Main Card delivered making all of these fights exciting and energetic. Let's get into them.

To kick off a Middleweight filled Main Card, started with Rodolfo Vieira and Armen Petrosyan. Vieira started the fight while maintaining good distance with his jab and controlling the fight's pace. Petrosyan, the less experienced grappler, shot for a questionable takedown and came up short. Vieira countered this landing three straight unanswered takedowns to land in top position. Petrosyan's fate was sealed there and then, as Vieira moved to half guard and settled in an arm triangle position. Petrosyan tapped with twenty seconds left in the round. It was a performance that Dana White found good enough to net him a Performance of the Night Bonus.

Following this was a lightweight bout between a veteran in Michael Johnson and an upcoming talent in Darrious Flowers. Both of these men have had their battles and now got to settle in the cage. Flowers started the round off by showing his very improved karate with his lead side kick to the body managing the opening minutes, but Johnson stayed calm and went back to his boxing roots. In the second round, Johnson picked up right where he left off, landing damaging body straights and shot for a takedown later in the round. This display showed Johnson's time in the octagon showing his smarts and that he looks for the long run with top pressure and body shots. The third round started where the second one ended on the ground. Johnson's strategy paid off as by the time Flowers got to his feet, there was no time left for him to make anything come from it. Johnson won across all three judges' scorecards 30/27.

The next Middleweight fight between another veteran Brad Tavares and Gregory Rodrigues. The first round kicked off with good boxing from Rodrigues, but even better counterattacks from Tavares who does not hit lightly. Rodrigues shot for a takedown that came up short because of Tavares's great defense but successfully executed a hip toss to end the round on the ground. In the second round, Rodrigues was dominating on the ground and feet, getting takedowns and rear body locks. Later in the round, Rodrigues is connecting on his crippling calf kick which did not go unnoticed by Tavares. In the third round, Tavares had good early pressure, but Rodrigues came back with a beautiful boxing combination. The fight ended with three crushing right hooks against the cage from Gregory Rodrigues.

The last Middleweight bout before the Main Event wasn't the most entertaining fight for fans. Robert Bryczek faced off against Ihor Potieria. The fight started with a mental chess match between these two with Potieria's leg kick setting the pace, while Bryczek's right hook was landing consistently. In the second round, Potieria was putting his defensive skills on display, yet putting pressure and good striking on Bryczek's body. The final round was more of the same with good distance management from Potieria and connected on a combination that knocked down Bryczek, which took us to the end of the round. Potieria won via Majority decision.

The Co-Main Event was between Dan Ige and Andre Fili. Both of these men are known for their striking and strike they did. They were tight in the pocket together; Ige was looking for the finish with his pressure and Fili was looking for the counter shots. Just past the halfway point, Ige connected with a crushing overhead right that knocked down Fili and followed up with another right hand to finish the fight. Ige lived up to his nickname and netted the extra 50k with a Performance of the Night Bonus.

Onto the Main Event, was Jack Hermansson against Joe Pyfer. This fight was the definition of a veteran trying to bounce back facing off a promising rising star. The first round was all Pyfer as he was looking to finish the fight with his left hook that was coming with an ungodly power behind it, whilst also landing crushing leg kicks. Round two started in the same way with Pyfer leading the dance, defending takedowns, and landing body shots. The round ended with Hermansson getting somewhat comfortable which came to realization in just a minute. In the third round, Hermansson started landing his jab and leg kicks to win the round convincingly. The fourth round was more of the same with Pyfer trying to jab but Hermansson countering with leg kicks. Pyfer shot for a takedown in the final seconds and could not finish it. The fifth and final round started with more leg kicks and with Hermansson shooting and landing the first takedown and finished the round on top. Hermansson won unanimously 48/47.

This card was an entertaining one and a great way to lead into fight week of UFC 298 Volkanovski V. Topuria. This card has some great fights across the board and all of us at Fighting-Yo are excited to see what happens. Will Topuria upset one of, if not the best Featherweight of all time, or will Volkanovski show his dominance once again? We will find out next week.