Tag: UFC Fight Night 200

48-47 Hermansson: The UFC Fight Night 200 scorecard that gave Strickland an odd split decision

By the time Sean Strickland and Jack Hermansson wrapped up their 25 minutes, a good assumption was Strickland had an easy decision win.

By the time [autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag] and [autotag]Jack Hermansson[/autotag] wrapped up their 25 minutes in the cage Saturday night, the reasonable assumption was that Strickland had cruised to an easy decision win.

But when Bruce Buffer started to read the scorecards, the fighters, broadcasters and fans watching quickly realized it wasn’t going to be a clear-cut unanimous decision. When a 48-47 score for Hermansson was announced, Strickland almost certainly had visions of historic bad judging results in his head.

A moment later, Strickland (25-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC) had his hand raised for his sixth straight win thanks to a pair of appropriate 49-46 scores in his favor for a split decision over Hermansson (22-7 MMA, 9-5 UFC), who got a 48-47 from judge Sal D’Amato.

D’Amato gave Rounds 1, 3 and 5 to Hermansson. Junichiro Kamijo gave Round 1 to Hermansson and the next four to Strickland. Derek Cleary gave Round 3 to Hermansson and Rounds 1-2 and 4-5 to Strickland.

None of the MMA media outlets tracked by MMADecisions.com scored the fight for Hermansson. Of the 21 the site posted scores from, Nearly half, including MMA Junkie, scored the fight 50-45 for Strickland. Another 10 had it 49-46 for Strickland, and one had it 49-47.

D’Amato is a fixture judge at UFC fights, particularly in Las Vegas. The Strickland-Hermansson fight was his third main event in as many UFC cards so far in 2022, but it was the first split decision he was part of in nine individual fights that went the distance this year.

In 2021, D’Amato’s scores were needed in nearly 130 fights, including cards for Bellator and Cage Warriors. Eight times in that stretch, he was the dissenting judge in split decisions.

In the UFC Fight Night 200 headliner, Strickland outstruck Hermansson only 161-137 over the five rounds. But he also stopped all eight of Hermansson’s takedown attempts, according to the UFC’s official stats.

Hermansson posted on Instagram early Sunday to apologize for his performance and said not landing the takedowns led to his loss.

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Read Jack Hermansson’s clever poem apologizing for loss to Sean Strickland

Jack Hermansson’s a poet, and we didn’t even know it.

[autotag]Jack Hermansson[/autotag]’s a poet, and we didn’t even know it.

Hermansson (22-7 MMA, 9-5 UFC) dropped a split decision to Sean Strickland (25-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC) in the UFC Fight Night 200 main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday. He has alternated wins and losses for six fights now and couldn’t build on a decision win over Edmen Shahbazyan from May 2021. The win for Strickland was his sixth straight in the middleweight division.

And while the official result might imply to some the fight was close, the 48-47 score Hermansson got in contrast to the two 49-46s for Strickland was an outlier. Not one of the media outlets tracked by MMADecisions.com had the fight in Hermansson’s favor. Nearly half, including MMA Junkie, scored the fight 50-45 for Strickland.

Hermansson posted on Instagram early Sunday to apologize for his performance and called attention to one presumed game plan he couldn’t pull off: takedowns.

His apology came in the form of a cleverly worded poem.

“I’m sorry fans, about tonight,” Hermansson posted. “I had a bad performance, and I lost the fight. It wasn’t pretty, or technically sound. I couldn’t get the bastard to the ground. Sorry Sean this one went to a decision. Best of luck to murder your next competition.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/CZoVERBudoQ

Strickland took notice and responded in the comments.

“Thank you man it was an honor. I hope we meet again! True warrior …,” Strickland wrote.

Hermansson, a former Cage Warriors middleweight champ, came to the UFC in 2016 and won three of his first fight fights in a 13-month stretch. He then went on a four-fight run that culminated with a win over Ronaldo Souza in his first UFC headliner in April 2019.

But since then, it’s been up and down with setbacks against Jared Cannonier, recent title challenger Marvin Vettori and Strickland. He has a first-round submission win over former title challenger Kelvin Gastelum in that stretch, as well as his win over Shahbazyan.

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Sean Strickland says pressure from ‘suits’ got better of him at UFC Fight Night 200: ‘No bonus for me’

A lot of “suits” made Sean Strickland feel uncomfortable at UFC Fight Night 200.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag] prides himself on being a “killer,” but Saturday he went the distance in Las Vegas – and that bothers him.

In the UFC Fight Night 200 main event, Strickland (25-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC) defeated perennial contender Jack Hermansson (22-7 MMA, 9-5 UFC) by split decision (49-46, 47-48, 49-46) to extend his winning streak to six. Strickland thinks he could’ve gotten a finish, but the pressure got to him instead.

“You know what it is, man? I let the pressure get the better of me,” Strickland told MMA Junkie at a post-fight news conference. “I knew I was better than him. You guys knew I was better than him. He was a guy that I should have, maybe not finished, but he should’ve been more bloody and messed up after the fight. But he wasn’t. That was because I took my foot off the gas. I just coasted through that fight. I don’t really even think I was trying that hard. I kind of sucked, but it is what it is. That’s what you get for being a p*ssy. No bonus for me.”

The headlining bout wasn’t Strickland’s first in the promotion. By “pressure,” he didn’t mean the media or fan attention, he said. He meant the important people behind the scenes putting out feelers about a potential title opportunity in the not-so-distant future.

“I’ve got a lot of fancy f*ckers wearing suits, and they come up and talk to me about title fights and things of that nature,” Strickland said. “You hear that all the time and you start thinking, ‘Do I really want to risk getting knocked out when I can go for a title fight?’ So I let the fancy folks in the suits throw me off a little bit. But it won’t happen again.”

Strickland said he’s a company man and will turn around whenever matchmaker Mick Maynard calls him. Against who? Will it be a title shot? Strickland gave his perception of the lay of the land.

“At the end of the day, if f*cking ‘Izzy’ (Israel Adesanya) wins, man, unless (Jared) Cannonier wins, he’s ran through the division. Come on, let’s get some fresh blood in. We don’t want to see another repeat. Let’s have one white trash motherf*cker take a crack at it.”

Both Adesanya and Cannonier compete on next Saturday’s UFC 271 pay-per-view main card in Houston. Adesanya fights Robert Whittaker in the main event shortly after Cannonier battles Derek Brunson.

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UFC Fight Night 200 bonuses: Julian Erosa pockets $100k for Fight of the Night

Check out who took home a bonus for their performance at UFC Fight Night 200 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

The UFC returned to its home base at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday and delivered a fight card filled with exciting finishes.

After the event, the promotion awarded two Performance of the Night bonuses for their exciting finishes. The Fight of the Night bonus, which is usually shared between both competitors, went to one fighter this time around. Julian Erosa and Steven Peterson’s three-round battle earned the award, but due to Peterson missing weight, he was ineligible to receive his share of the award.

Check out who all earned a bonus for their performance at UFC Fight Night 200 below.

UFC Fight Night 200 results: Sean Strickland slowly outclasses Jack Hermansson

Sean Strickland keeps on rolling at middleweight.

[autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag] at middleweight proved unbeatable once again Saturday.

In the UFC Fight Night 200 main event, Strickland (24-3 MMA, 11-3 UFC) defeated perennial contender [autotag]Jack Hermansson[/autotag] (22-6 MMA, 9-4 UFC) by split decision (49-46, 47-48, 49-46) to extend his winning streak to six.

The fight largely could be categorized as a technical boxing match. Strickland proved to be more polished in that world, which ultimately won him the fight. Behind his jab, Strickland methodically picked Hermansson apart on the feet.

Round 1 was closely contested, but the gap widened in Round 2 when Strickland dropped Hermansson. Round 3, Hermansson let his hands go a tad more but came across a bit too wild to top Strickland’s patient high-accuracy approach. Body punches became a big part of Strickland’s attack as the fight progressed.

Through the championship rounds, Strickland kept a slow pace, but it was effective. Hermansson was unable to answer most of Strickland’s best shots and his takedown efforts were denied. In the final seconds, a bleeding-from-the-nose Strickland barked at Hermansson as the two traded.

Strickland, 30, continues to roll at 185 pounds. Since he made the jump from welterweight in 2020, Strickland has gone 5-0 with his other victories coming against Jack Marshman, Brendan Allen, Krzysztof Jotko and Uriah Hall.

Hermansson, 33, continues to be competitive at the top of the middleweight division, but with mixed results. Since April 2019, he’s alternated wins and losses with a 3-3 record in that stretch.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 200 results include:

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Twitter reacts to Sean Strickland’s win over Jack Hermansson at UFC Fight Night 200

See the top Twitter reactions to Sean Strickland’s puzzling split decision over Jack Hermansson in the UFC Fight Night 200 main event.

[autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag] continued his momentum on Saturday when he defeated Jack Hermansson in the UFC Fight Night 200 main event.

Strickland (25-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC) extended his winning streak to six fights with a unanimous decision victory over Hermansson (22-7 MMA, 9-5 UFC) in the matchup of middleweight contenders at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Check below for the top Twitter reactions to Strickland’s victory over Hermansson at UFC Fight Night 200.

UFC Fight Night 200 results: Diaz brothers protege Nick Maximov outworks Punahele Soriano

Nick Maximov’s grappling pressure was too much for Punahele Soriano in the UFC Fight Night 200 co-main event.

[autotag]Nick Maximov[/autotag]’s grappling pressure was too much for [autotag]Punahele Soriano[/autotag] in Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 200 co-main event.

Maximov (8-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) survived some hard early shots from Soriano (8-2 MMA, 2-2 UFC) and put his wrestling game to use for the majority of three rounds to win a split decision by scores of 28-29, 30-27 and 29-28 and keep his undefeated record intact.

The middleweight bout was the UFC Fight Night 200 co-headliner at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. It aired on ESPN+.

The contrast in strategy was evident from the outset. Soriano was immediately throwing heavy shots, while Maximov was hunting for the takedowns at any opportunity. Soriano got up from the first takedown, and found an opening to crack Maximov with a combination capped off by a brutal knee that split the nose open. Maximov responded with a desperation attempt to grapple, and it worked out well because he took the back of Soriano from a standing position to regain his wits until the end of the round.

Maximov wasted no time shooting for a takedown to begin Round 2, but Soriano was sharp in his defense and didn’t allow himself to get controlled or held down over the first two minutes. Maximov was relentless, though, and kept on the legs and waist of Soriano near the fence. The damage was minimal, but Maximov burned a lot of time off the clock with control and took some of the spring out of Soriano’s step.

It took less than 30 seconds into Round 3 for Maximov to get on Soriano’s legs and drag him to the ground near the fence. He kept the pressure on, switching between low leg attempts and waist control. Soriano did his best to land short shots and create space, but he appeared to have suffered a leg injury earlier in the fight, according to replays, and couldn’t get his opponent off him for the remainder of the round.

“It was exactly what I expected,” Maximov said in his post-fight interview with Michael Bisping. “He’s a tough Hawaiian. I wish I could’ve got the finish, but it’s all good.”

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 200 results include:

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UFC Fight Night 200 video: Shavkat Rakhmonov crushes Carlston Harris with spinning wheel kick

Saturday, Shavkat Rakhmonov lived up to his reputation as one of the brightest prospects in the UFC.

[autotag]Shavkat Rakhmonov[/autotag] can’t lose, or at least he hasn’t yet.

At UFC Fight Night 200, Rakhmonov (15-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) crushed opponent [autotag]Carlston Harris[/autotag] (17-5 MMA, 2-1 UFC) and kept his unbeaten career record intact when he landed a spinning wheel kick and follow-up punches en route to another TKO finish at 4:10 of Round 1.

Harris, the only fighter in UFC history from Guyana, tried to tie Rakhmonov early. However, once the fighters separated Rakhmonov landed the finishing sequence necessary for another highlight – which you can watch below.

UFC Fight Night 200 took place Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and streamed on ESPN+.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 200 results include:

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UFC Fight Night 200 results: Brendan Allen taps Sam Alvey after big left hand

The winless streak continues for “Smile’N” Sam Alvey.

The winless streak continues for [autotag]Sam Alvey[/autotag] – and the most recent extension is thanks to [autotag]Brendan Allen[/autotag].

After a competitive opening round, Allen (18-5 MMA, 6-2 UFC) submitted Alvey (33-17-1 MMA, 10-12-1 UFC) with a rear-naked choke at the 2:10 mark of Round 2.

The light heavyweight bout was part of the UFC Fight Night 200 main card at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. It aired on ESPN+.

The fight predominantly took place in the striking department with Allen pushing the pace. Alvey, known as more of a counter-striker, found some success. But late in Round 1, Allen rocked Alvey, who was saved by the bell.

In Round 2, the dance continued. It was Allen who landed the first massive shot, and it was a game-changer. Alvey hit the canvas and covered up. Alvey tried to escape damage, but Allen jumped on his back. Allen quickly snuck his arm under the chin. The hooks weren’t locked in, but it didn’t matter. The choke was so deep, Alvey tapped anyway.

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With the victory, Allen reentered the win column after a TKO loss to Chris Curtis in early December. The win came in his light heavyweight debut, a bout that happened at that weight because Alvey’s original opponent, Phil Hawes, withdrew earlier in fight week.

The loss for Alvey extended his winless streak to eight including seven losses and one draw. Since his promotional debut in August 2014, Alvey has competed 23 times for the promotion. With the lengthiest winless stretch in the UFC right now, it’s unknown if Alvey’s bout Saturday was his final one under the promotion’s banner.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 200 results include:

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UFC Fight Night 200 video: John Castaneda shines, chokes Miles Johns unconscious after barrage

The win marks two in a row for “Sexi Mexi.”

[autotag]John Castaneda[/autotag] was more seasoned than most when he entered the UFC, but he long road appears to be paying off.

For the second straight fight, Castaneda (19-5 MMA, 2-1 UFC) impressed with a finish victory Saturday when he defeated Fortis MMA standout [autotag]Miles Johns[/autotag] (12-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC) via technical submission (arm-triangle choke) at 1:38 of Round 3.

UFC Fight Night 200 took place at the UFC Apex and streamed on ESPN+.

After two hard-fought rounds, Castaneda marked the beginning of the end with a knee and punches on the feet. The combination dropped a tired and hurt Johns to the canvas. Castaneda’s gas tank was strong. He quickly pounced on his downed foe and locked in an arm-triangle choke. Johns went to sleep and the fight was called off.

With the victory, Castaneda has now won two fights in a row since a failed UFC debut against Nathaniel Wood in July 2020. His other UFC victory came against Eddie Wineland when he defeated the former UFC title challenger via first-round knockout in February 2021.

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