Catching back up to where we left off in part one we are jumping right into the exciting Welterweight bout between Carlos Condit and Micheal Chiesa. Chiesa moved up in weight here from Lightweight and looked phenomenal, physically as well as in his performance. And to the dismay of me, submitted Condit early in the 2nd round with a 1 handed Kimura. This was the fight in which I was hoping that Condit, who is always one of the most brutal warriors out there, was going to get things back on track after losing four straight fights, but this was not the case.
Condit is the 4th fighter on my list to be considered and End of an Era fighter from this amazing night. Condit is a fighter who should be remember for his epic wars and highlight reel KO's. Coming into the UFC from the WEC he was the Welterweight Champion and had a 23-4 record, every win was a finish. Of those finishes 13 were submissions and 10 KO/TKO and only one fight had even gone to a decision. But since joining the UFC he has only managed a 7-9 record, and gone to a decision 7 of those times (2-5 in those fights).
With only two wins since 2013, and the last being in May of 2015, we may have arrived at the point where Condit hangs up the gloves and calls it a career. He is a man who fought the way we wish everyone wished fighters would and put it all on the line in all 43 of his career MMA fights. He also competed as a professional kick-boxer amassing a 3-1 record, the lose coming to Andy Souwer, one of the best ever. His MMA record now stands at 30-13, but may forever be scared by the five straight loses. But he should be remember as the ultimate competitor, a fierce warrior, The Natural Born Killer, and Champion. If this it for Condit, may his legend live on forever.
As for fighters being remembered as Champions, I now take you to the Co-Main Event of the evening. A title fight the pit Champion vs Champion, as Amanda Nunes moved up in weight from Women's Bantamweight to take on Cris 'Cyborg' in the Women's Featherweight division. And holy hell what a 51 seconds it was, as both fighters are known to be heavy handed knockout artists, we got the knockout, just maybe not the one we we're used to.
Cris Cyborg, who has been the terror of female MMA for over a decade, was the one who ended up on the receiving end of the now 'Champ Champ' right hand. Both Cyborg and Nunes, who has dominated most of the women she has faced in the bantamweight division, came out swinging for the fences intermediately, with both fighters being rocked. But Nunes was the one who was able to maintain her composure as she landed right hand over right hand, dropping Cyborg 4 times including the finish.
Nunes now has to be considered as the greatest female fighter in MMA history with this win. She is a true KO artist and the first multi-division champ. Though there aren't many contenders in the featherweight division, bantamweight may be a different story. The division has notable fighters such as Holly Holm, Raquel Pennington, and Cat Zingano (who fought this night at featherweight as previously mentioned). But it seems the next test may come from Ketlen Vieira, but time will tell who the Lioness faces next.
And last but not least, we reach the main event, likely the most anticipated fight(and rematch) of the year, for the Light-Heavyweight title, Jon "Bones" Jones vs Alexander "The Mauler" Gustafsson. But to say this fight lived up to the hype is a complete bold faced lie. The 1st fight between the 2 was an absolute war that went the distance with Jones winning a unanimous decision back in 2013. But this time is was no contest at all, Jones basically wiped the floor with Gustafsson.
Jon came into the fight, after basically a year and a half off, and was calm, cool, and collected the entire time. He maintained his distance perfectly and elude nearly all of Gustafssons boxing, all the while landing his own shots and immobilizing Gus with a brutal low kick. Then in the 3rd round he changed it up, nailed a take down, and from there is was game over as he finished Gus earning a TKO. To say it he made a world class fighter look like a bum would be accurate. His movement and timing were a thing of beauty and he hardly broke a sweat. And now that he is back, with his title around the waist, he is moving on the next one already.
Jones is already slated to take on the 3rd ranked Anthony Smith in March at UFC 235. Smith who has won 6 of his last 7 fights has shot up the Light-Heavyweight Rankings like a cannon since moving up in weight 3 fights ago. And those fights include 2 1st round KO and a 3rd round sub. Smith could very well be a solid challenger to Jones seeing as he has been in the game a long time (31-13 record), but in those 13 loses he has been KO's 8 times and Submitted 4.
Those KO's will take their tole over time and he certainly goes to war when he fights and stepping in against a fighter the caliber of Jones, he'll certainly have his hands full. And of his 23 wins Jon has 10 KO/TKOs and 6 Subs on his record. Not to mention he is one of the most dynamic fighters the game has ever seen. He uses his reach just as good, if not better, than any fighter before him. He is elusive, yet aggressive at the perfect times. But most of all, he is mean and enjoys putting a hurt on people just as much as winning and I have no doubt that is what he'll be looking to do to Smith, and make a statement to everyone in the sport at the same time.
And with that we have wrapped up not only the year of 2018 but also potentially wrapped up a few careers from fighters that have defined an epic era of MMA. With the legacy of the sport growing and a new year and era of fighters upon us. We should be anticipating a great year of fights to come! And it all kicks off in two weeks on January 19th when we have a headlining super fight on ESPN as Henry Cejudo defends his Flyweight Championship against the Bantamweight Champion T.J. Dillashaw!
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