UFC on ESPN 8 is in the rear-view mirror with the close of the main event late Saturday night in Jacksonville.
In the headliner on Saturday, top contenders in the UFC’s Heavyweight division were on display as No. 8 contender Alistair Overeem (46-18, one no-contest) stopped Walt Harris (13-8, one no-contest) by second-round knockout to close the show.
Just minutes after the fight, Overeem turned 40 years old.
Breaking down the main event at-large:
The match itself proved to be a chaotic one, as in the first round, Harris scored a takedown of Overeem and nearly scored a knockout of his own, but Overeem fought back and survived the first round.
It didn’t take that long after the second round began for the pendulum of momentum to swing in Overeem’s favor.
A few minutes into the second round of the scheduled five, Overeem had Harris on the cage mat inside Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena, landing a barrage of punches.
With one minute and 58 seconds left on the clock in the round, Dan Miragliotta, who refereed the main event on Saturday night, had seen enough and called the fight in Overeem’s favor.
This was the fifth stoppage of the evening, as well as the only stoppage on the main card.
Harris’ effort commendable win or lose:
Regardless of the outcome on Saturday evening, Walt Harris’ effort in this, his first fight back following the death of his stepdaughter Aniah Blanchard late last fall, deserves our collective applause.
UFC President Dana White said it best in the post-fight press conference:
“Win, lose, or draw, being here is a win for him.”
This is a man who lost a member in his family very recently and Saturday night was a contest fought in memory of Aniah Blanchard.
No matter what happened on Saturday, Aniah Blanchard is watching over her stepfather and smiling down on him.
As far as the show’s backdrop against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Dana White reported during the press conference that no fighters involved with Saturday’s card are or have gotten ill.
White also mentioned that, as of Saturday night, he still does not know the status of the scheduled May 30 UFC Fight Night at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, but the promotion is still targeting that date for its next show, regardless of the venue, saying:
“If we can’t get May 30 at the Apex, it’s going to be super disappointing, but we will go somewhere else.”
The Nevada State Athletic Commission’s ban on combat sports still had yet to be lifted as of Saturday night- a ban that’s been active since mid-March.
In addition, White said that employees at the UFC’s Las Vegas headquarters will be allowed to return to the office for the upcoming work week, including a match-making meeting this Tuesday.
If the May 30 UFC Fight Night cannot be held in Nevada, White is looking at Arizona as a back-up, saying:
“That’s where I’ll go”.
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey signed an executive order last Tuesday, lifting his state’s ban on professional sporting events as of Saturday.
The fights themselves:
UFC on ESPN 8 featured five stoppages on Saturday night.
As far as the three shows held over the eight-day span between May 9 and May 16, 15 of the 32 fights contested in Jacksonville ended in stoppages, meaning roughly 47 percent of the fights ended in stoppages, an average of five stoppages per show.
Saturday night’s stoppages were primarily in the prelims, including the first two undercard fights.
Rodrigo Nascimento (8-0) submitted Don’Tale Mayes (7-4) (second-round rear-naked choke) to begin the evening, followed by Cortney Casey (9-7) stopping Mara Romero Borella (first-round armbar) in the next fight.
The other two stoppages during the undercard were both knockouts.
Kevin Holland (17-5) scored a first-round knockout (knee strike followed by ground and pound strikes) of Anthony Hernandez (7-2) in the penultimate prelim, followed by Miguel Baeza (9-0) stopping Matt Brown (22-17) (second-round knockout, left hook) in the featured prelim.
Irwin Rivera proves impressive in debut on short notice:
Former TITAN FC Bantamweight champion Irwin Rivera (9-5) stepped in on just a few days’ notice on Saturday to fight Giga Chikadze (10-2) in a Featherweight fight on the undercard, with Chikadze winning by decision.
Despite Rivera’s loss, he put on an impressive showing in his UFC debut, connecting on 35 total strike attempts in the three rounds.
Rivera has a bright future in the UFC.
Bad judging:
The card had its questionable moments, particularly in the Dan Ige (14-2)vs. Edson Barbosa (20-9) main card fight and the Claudia Gadelha (18-4) vs. Angela Hill (12-8) co-main event.
Both of those mentioned fights caused some dissension among fans, but questionable judging is part of MMA and combat sports at times.
All in all, UFC on ESPN 8 was an entertaining show.
It’s a solid B-plus in my gradebook.
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