UFC 321: Brutal Beatdowns in Abu Dhabi
While UFC 321 had been built up to be one of the best cards of the year, many fans are feeling slightly perturbed by the result of the final fight. What had originally been scheduled as a five-round championship fight for the Heavyweight belt between Tom Aspinall and Ciryl Gane ended in a no-contest between the two formidable adversaries. Aspinall was poked in both eyes, and even after the full five-minute break could no longer continue to fight. This unfortunate ending stalled all the momentum the champion had been building during his year-long layoff as he waited for former champion Jon Jones to finally unite the interim and official titles. What could’ve been the ultimate showing of the next evolution of the Heavyweight Division ended in a sour, anticlimactic stoppage. Though the ending of this card was less than riveting, the fights leading up to it did not disappoint.
My personal favorite fight of the night was Umar Nurmagomedov versus Mario Bautista. What was expected to be a fight that relied on control over position or submission ended up being three rounds of the best mixed martial arts has to offer. Both men are highly skilled wrestlers, but had no issue meeting each other in numerous striking exchanges. One exchange in the second round even resulted in Umar being knocked down, but due to his ability to quickly recover, the younger man was able to get back into the fight and ultimately beat Bautista. Some of the best wrestling and positional movement I have ever witnessed in my time as a fan of martial arts. While the decision was unanimous, every round was razor close and could’ve been either man’s win on the scorecard should a big moment have presented itself.
The other notable fight was the co-main event between Virna Jandiroba and Mackenzie Dern. The fight went the full five as both women showed the completeness in their skill set. Both competitors are high-level Brazilian jiujitsu practitioners and, despite that, opted to stay striking for most of the fight. Dern’s jab was working overtime as she quickly created a welt under the eye of Jandiroba. To minimize her damage, Jandiroba would sporadically take down Dern, though she did not make much effort to advance her position. The women ended the fight cut, bruised, and swollen as they struck each other to exhaustion. Ultimately, when the scorecards were read, Dern was named the new champion of the Strawweight Division. While this may not have been the night many fight fans were expecting, I believe showings like Dern’s and Umar’s are excellent for the sport and won’t be overshadowed by the no-contest that bookended the night.
