After two months away from Sin City, the UFC returned to Las Vegas with a bang for UFC 191
Not much was expected from UFC 191 and everything seemed predictable. Demetrious Johnson was always going to retain his flyweight belt, he did so. Anthony Johnson was always going to knock Jimi Manuwa out, he did so. Paige VanZant was never going to lose, you get the picture.
But as much of a foregone conclusion as UFC 191 may have been, that didn’t affect the fight card whatsoever in terms of entertainment value as we got three submissions, a one-punch knockout and a rare disqualification.
Here are UFC 191’s best performers…
Knockout of the Night – Anthony Johnson
Anthony Johnson could well go down as the hardest hitter in UFC history. Just ask Jimi Manuwa’s jaw.
Rumble has got unprecedented levels of explosiveness in his hands and such is his confidence in his striking that he feels comfortable standing in the pocket with anyone in the division.
On Saturday night, England’s Jimi Manuwa was victim to Johnson’s 14th career knockout and it was just as gorgeous a finish as we’ve come to expect from the Blackzilians standout.
After getting Manuwa to drop his hands by throwing a body kick, Rumble came over the top with a right hand that rolled Manuwa’s eyes back and put Johnson right back in the mix at 205lbs.
Submission of the Night – Paige VanZant
She may be relatively unproven at 21 years old, but Paige VanZant can’t do any more than she’s doing as she moved her UFC record to 3-0 with arguably the best performance of her career.
12 Gauge pushed a relentless pace on Alex Chambers, who always looked out of her depth and, in all honesty, VanZant literally hand-picked where she wanted each second of the fight to play out.
After picking Chambers apart on the feet and in the clinch, the Alpha Male fighter snapped her opponent down, mounted and snatched an armbar faster than you can say “why isn’t there a space between Van and Zant?”
Performance of the Night – John Lineker
It feels unfair to award just John Lineker because Francisco Rivera also played his part in this fight but it was Lineker whose hand was raised so unfortunately he gets the glory.
With 100 strikes thrown in 128 seconds, this bout was always going to be a barnburner as both fighters bit down on their mouthpieces and swung for the fences.
But John Lineker showed the fight intelligence to change tack and jump on a guillotine when the opportunity presented itself and Hands of Stone proved that he’s got the toughness to make it at 135lbs.
One to Watch – Corey Anderson
It’s hard to call Corey Anderson an unknown prospect because he’s already got four fights in the UFC but the fact that he’s only 25 years old would suggest that he’s yet to enter his prime.
A more one-sided beatdown than Anderson v Blachowicz you’re quite simply never going to see, as the American put on back-to-back shutouts in rounds two and three.
The Ultimate Fighter Season 19 winner put Blachowicz on his back and didn’t let him up, which earned him the most lopsided of lopsided decisions.
It may not have been exciting but if he can outgrapple middleweights like Blachowicz and not face even a little bit of resistance then he could be worth keeping an eye on in the coming years.
