The star of UFC 218 was a deja vu moment of UFC 212 in more than one way. Max Holloway returned to face Jose Aldo to determine the king of the division. It can not be said that Aldo had a bad performance, the Brazilian showed precision, patience, power and good variety during the first two rounds. As he did in their first encounter, just as in their first encounter, Max Holloway resisted, analyzed, tired out his rival. And for the third round “Blessed” the volume went up, the pressure went up, he took the fight to a fight where he had all the advantage. And again Max Holloway knocked out Jose Aldo, at four minutes with 51 seconds of the third round .
Francis Ngannou is no longer just a hype , not after his triumph in the night co-starring against the always dangerous Alistair Overeem. The Dutch kickboxer seemed nervous, unwilling to risk exchanges, more concerned with quickly looking for the clinch or moving the trunk in an exaggerated way to avoid blows than to use his own power. And when “The Reem” thought he had found a left hook and forgot his defense, Ngannou saw his moment and connected with a brutal kickback left hook that left Overeem totally unconscious at minute 42 seconds .
Henry Cejudo has already lost to Demetrious Johnson but is looking for a rematch and beaten Sergio Pettis by unanimous decision to get closer to the belt . A clear triumph of the Olympic medalist in fight, he has improved fight after fight in the sport since starting in 2013, Pettis tried to work with his polished striking at a distance but could not keep “The Messenger” away long enough. Cejudo, meanwhile, was competent and competitive standing but dominated with his main discipline, irrevocably dragging Pettis to the canvas and controlling from there .
After his arrival at the UFC, Justin Gaethje was frank and guaranteed that his way of fighting would see him knocked out sooner or later. The prophecy was fulfilled, but Gaethje did not disappoint in one of the most anticipated games of the year against Eddie Alvarez , former lightweight champion of Bellator and the UFC. The fight was what was expected. Without truce, always forward. Gaethje pressed, used his heavy hands always looking for the knockout and worked with fierce kicks to the legs that almost left his opponent limp .
But after losing his belt at the hands of Conor McGregor and a no result against Dustin Poirier, Eddie Alvarez was not going to deny him his place in the division. “The Underground King” came out with good strategy. Combinations to the body to open the head, uppercuts to intercept the movement, never allow to finish against the cage. And finally the moment arrived. A single knee, from one exhausted man to another, left Gaethje on the canvas and Eddie Alvarez became the first man to beat Justin Gaethje, by knockout at three minutes with 59 seconds of the third round .
DETROIT, MI – DECEMBER 02: (L-R) Eddie Alvarez punches Justin Gaethje in their lightweight bout during the UFC 218 event inside Little Caesars Arena on December 02, 2017 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
The highly promoted Michelle Waterson suffered the first losing streak of her career in the opening, losing by unanimous decision against Tecia Torres . The “Karate Hottie” had its moments with his game standing at a distance and controlled much of the second round on the canvas after a knockdown, but it was not enough. Nicknamed the “Little Tornado”, Tecia Torres scored the court and set the pace of the fight based on a constant and overwhelming advance . The 28-year-old fighter showed impressive cardio attacking at all times, overwhelming her opponent and defending herself as necessary in the grappling.
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