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With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best submission from October 2020.
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best submissions from October 2020: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s “Submission of the Month” award for October.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting for your choice.
Irene Aldana knew something was off with her foot, but wanted to go on with the fight, and didn’t find out it was broken until afterwards.
It appears [autotag]Irene Aldana[/autotag] is out for the rest of 2020.
The UFC women’s bantamweight contender said she suffered a broken foot two days prior to her bout with former champion Holly Holm earlier this month in the main event of UFC on ESPN 16 in Abu Dhabi. The injury requires surgery, and Aldana (12-6 MMA, 5-4 UFC) will go under the knife Monday.
“It’s broken; I have a broken bone and it’s definitely going to need surgery,” Aldana said in Spanish on “Hablemos MMA EXTRA.” “I will be getting it on Monday. It seems it’s a very simple surgery.
“I’ll need around a month-and-a-half or a month to be able to return to training, then like another month or two to be able to be return to a normal training camp. But everything is OK. It’s unfortunate that it required surgery, but it’s part of the sport.”
Aldana’s decision loss to Holm snapped a two-fight winning streak for the Mexican fighter. She hoped for a return in December, but with the news of the surgery, she expects to be out for the rest of 2020. Aldana targets a comeback for early 2021.
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“Robles” said the injury happened just a couple of days before the event. But since the fight was close and it was her first main event against a big name in Holm, Aldana decided to roll the dice.
“I was training, and I had a very strange accident; it was bizarre,” Aldana recalled. “I made a mistake and threw a kick badly timed, and that’s how I got injured. It hurt a lot, but I decided to continue. We were already there. We had everything ready. The fight was right there, so I felt like I couldn’t cancel the fight with such short notice.
“I felt that because of my training, my mentality, my character, I would be able to move forward with the fight because as an athlete I want to give my best, even in my worst days. And I also like to face those challenges, knowing I’m not 100 percent and giving it my all.”
Aldana knew something was off, as her foot hurt during the two remaining days of fight week and then during the fight. But she had no idea her foot was broken until she got it checked out afterwards.
“It was something that affected me,” Aldana explained. “I couldn’t move well, I couldn’t execute the game plan how I had it planned. I was also facing a former champ, a great athlete and a very tough competitor, so I’m not taking anything away from Holly.
“Maybe I would’ve still lost, but maybe I would’ve had a better performance or maybe I would’ve had a better shot at winning the fight. We’ll never know. But my foot started failing me in the fight, and it wasn’t responding. I panicked, and I stopped thinking on what I was supposed to do.”
Aldana admits the defeat stung and she’s upset at how things played out. Yet the Lobo Gym product is leaving the loss behind and focusing on improving and learning from the experience.
“I definitely felt the defeat, and I feel sad,” Aldana said. “No one likes to lose. I’ve obviously lost in fights before, but I’ve always felt like I could say I lost but I gave it my all, and that’s not how it was for this one, and that’s what hurts the most.
“I couldn’t fight the way I fight. I couldn’t fight and give it my 100 percent. It’s something that I’m upset about, but at the same time I tell myself, ‘Hey, I’m fighting the best in the world, in a pandemic, doing this while everything is very difficult in the world right now. I got COVID and overcame it. I’m still in the top five of the division, and they’re giving me fighters who’ve been doing this for years. I haven’t been fighting as long as these people. In a way, winning or losing, just getting to this level I can see how far I’ve come.
“It’s time to take the defeat in and act. I want to focus on what I’m going to do next, on what I can improve, so I can come back even stronger. I can’t control what happened, but I can control what I do about it.”
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Check out the latest episode of Spinning Back Clique, which covers the fallout from UFC on ESPN 16 and more.
Welcome to “Spinning Back Clique,” MMA Junkie’s weekly show that takes a spin through the biggest topics in mixed martial arts. This week, “Gorgeous” George Garica hosts a panel that includes his MMA Junkie Radio co-host.”Goze” Garcia, as well as MMA Junkie’s Mike Bohn and Dan Tom.
SHOW TOPICS
For answers to all of those questions, watch Episode 49 of “Spinning Back Clique” above.
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UFC on ESPN 16 reactions: Winning and losing fighters on social media https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/lists/ufc-on-espn-16-reactions-winning-losing-fighters-social-media/embed
Irene Aldana couldn’t execute her plan against Holly Holm this past weekend, and she admits it.
[autotag]Irene Aldana[/autotag] couldn’t execute her plan against [autotag]Holly Holm[/autotag] this past weekend, and she admits it.
Aldana (12-6 MMA, 5-4 UFC) dropped a one-sided unanimous decision to former bantamweight champion Holm in the UFC on ESPN 16 headliner at Flash Forum on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi in what was being dubbed a No. 1 contender fight for the Mexican standout.
The 32-year-old Aldana had a hard time cutting off the cage against Holm (14-5 MMA, 7-5 UFC), who used her movement, wrestling and diverse striking to keep Aldana guessing.
Aldana acknowledged as much in a statement posted on her Instagram.
“Today things didn’t go my way. First of all I want to apologize to my corner because we had a very specific fight plan that I could not execute. I felt that something was wrong with my left foot; it wasn’t responding since the beginning of the fight. No excuses, I still know that I faced the best version of Holly, and I congratulate her for winning. I am proud to know that I am competing with the best in the world. This is how this is. This is how sport is: We win, we lose. But as I’ve always shown, the only thing that’s next for me is to train harder, improve and come back stronger than ever. Thanks to all the people who have shown me their support in good and bad times. Thanks to my sponsors for their incredible support always! Ready for what’s next.”
Aldana entered the fight having won five of her past six but will look to get back to the drawing board.
Holm meanwhile, at 38, remains very much in the women’s 135-pound title picture. Since losing the belt in 2016, Holm has received three title shots but come up short each time to Germaine de Randamie and Cris Cyborg at featherweight, as well as Amanda Nunes at bantamweight.
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Jordan Williams appears to be all kinds of messed up following his loss to Nassourdine Imavov at UFC on ESPN 16.
[autotag]Jordan Williams[/autotag] appears to be all kinds of messed up following his loss to Nassourdine Imavov on Saturday at UFC on ESPN 16.
In a matchup of fighters making their UFC debuts, Williams (9-4 MMA, 0-1 UFC) dropped a unanimous decision to Imavov (9-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) in their middleweight bout at Flash Forum at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi.
It was a grueling three-round fight, and far from clean. Williams got hit with two head butts, one in the first round and one in the third, that the referee failed to identify. He also got hit with a low blow from Imavov. Williams hung tough through it all, but he couldn’t overcome everything and lost the fight.
After a post-fight trip to the hospital, the fact Williams was even in the octagon at UFC on ESPN 16 was apparently a remarkable feat. He said he suffered a broken nose and orbital in the fight, but the more stunning part of his post-fight injury report was the claim he entered the cage with a compromised vertebrae.
“Just got back from the hospital and the verdict is a broken nose, multiple fractures,” Williams said in a post-fight statement on Instagram. “I have a broken orbital bone from that illegal head butt, the second illegal head butt. This (cut on my head) is from the first illegal head butt. And, apparently, I broke my back in the last fight. I have a crack in my C-3 vertebrae.”
The back injury, Williams asserted, occurred in his knockout win at Dana White’s Contender Series 33 on Sept. 15. Williams was awarded a UFC contract for his performance in that fight, and slid into his UFC debut just three weeks later.
Williams didn’t appear to be in serious agony in his video statement, and closed with a positive message as he works toward recovery.
“That’s the fight game,” Williams said. “And we came to fight. That’s the beauty of the fight game, baby.”
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MMA Junkie’s Mike Bohn plays matchmaker and looks ahead to what makes sense for Irene Aldana in this edition of “Sean Shelby’s Shoes.”
MMA Junkie’s Mike Bohn plays matchmaker and looks ahead to what makes sense for Irene Aldana in this edition of “Sean Shelby’s Shoes.”
Julianna Pena will not be deterred following a crushing loss to Germaine de Randamie at UFC on ESPN 16.
[autotag]Julianna Pena[/autotag] will not be deterred following a crushing loss to Germaine de Randamie on Saturday at UFC on ESPN 16.
In a crucial fight for the women’s bantamweight division, Pena (9-4 MMA, 5-2 UFC) suffered a stunning third-round submission loss to the former champion de Randamie (10-4 MMA, 7-2 UFC) in their matchup, which took place at Flash Forum at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi.
It was arguably an even fight after two rounds, but then Pena got sloppy in pursuit of a takedown and caught in a guillotine choke. It’s not an attack anyone has come to expect out of de Randamie, but she committed to it, and managed to put Pena all the way out cold.
“The Ultimate Fighter 18” winner is taking the outcome in stride. She released a statement hours after suffering her defeat and said she needs to come back stronger in order to be an example for her young daughter, and hopes to do it soon (via Instagram):
You win some, you learn some. Wasn’t my night! Massive Congratulations to @ironladymma it was an honor to compete against you and thank you for your service of upholding the #thinblueline 🙏🏽 Thank you @danawhite and @ufc for the experience #inabudhabi
I can’t wait to get back to this little love of mine!! I’ve missed her so much! Your kids don’t always follow your advice, a lot of times they follow your example. I’m uninjured and Dont want to take too much time off. I want to show my daughter that just because things didn’t go my way, doesn’t mean I quit or give up on my goals! This is a game of inches and I will hold my head up high and move on to my next challenge! Thank you to everyone who has supported me in my fight journey and sorry I didn’t walk away with the Win. And to those of you just tuning in, get your popcorn ready because I’ll be back soon!
Pena entered the fight with de Randamie with just one loss in her UFC career. That came against Valentina Shevchenko, also by submission.
Although she expressed a desire to get back in the octagon soon, it remains to be seen whom the UFC matches her up against.
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Holly Holm is keeping her options open after a one-sided victory over Irene Aldana in the UFC on ESPN 16 main event.
ABU DHABI – [autotag]Holly Holm[/autotag] is keeping her options open after a one-sided victory over Irene Aldana on Saturday in the UFC on ESPN 16 main event.
Holm (14-5 MMA, 7-5 UFC) put a clinic on Aldana (12-6 MMA, 5-4 UFC), dominating all five rounds for a unanimous decision in the women’s bantamweight headliner at Flash Forum at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi. The win put her on a two-fight winning streak, which is her first run of consecutive victories since starting her career unbeaten through 10 fights.
Given her name value and status in the sport, Holm is always in the conversation to be fighting for a title. She turned back a highly touted rising contender in Aldana, and while it could be argued it’s enough right now for another one, Holm said she’s not going to get her hopes up for anything in particular.
“I’m going to keep working hard,” Holm told reporters, including MMA Junkie, post-fight at UFC on ESPN 16. “That’s what I’m going to do. I know (dual champion Amanda Nunes has) got a lot doing on right now, with another fight already scheduled. There’s some tough girls coming up. I feel like the 135-pound division’s always pretty stacked, so I’m not going to set my sights on something too hard. I’m going to let the opportunity come and the next fight after the next fight. And whatever that may be, I’m going to put my heart and soul into it and do it again.”
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If Holm doesn’t get a title opportunity with Nunes, another option that could make sense is a rematch with Germaine de Randamie, who picked up a submission of Julianna Pena at UFC on ESPN 16. The two fought to a controversial decision at UFC 208 in February 2017, which de Randamie won to claim the inaugural women’s featherweight title. Nearly four years later, Holm wouldn’t be opposed to running it back.
“That’s definitely an option,” Holm said. “I think everybody probably thought her and I might meet up again in there, so we’ll see what happens. We’ll see where it goes from here.”
Holm has received criticism in some of her recent fights for a lack of action and aggression. That wasn’t the case Saturday. She left it all on the table over the course of five rounds. The reviews call it one of the best performances of Holm’s career, and while she’s pleased to have put it together more than she had in a lot of other bouts, she said it wasn’t wholly satisfying.
“It felt good to just go in there and get a dominating performance and not something that’s just too close,” Holm said. “There’s fights I’ve had that are brawls and some are in the clinch, and I’m like trying to put it all together and be a well rounded fighter. I felt I was able to do a lot of that tonight, but yes, I always want to do more.
“I think just coming over here, it’s just a lot of sacrifice from my team and I just wanted to get in there and I didn’t want to let the time pass me by without making the most out of it. Get out there and get it done. We came this far for 25 minutes, I better at least do something for 25 minutes.”
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UFC on ESPN 16 bonuses: Germaine de Randamie leads four $50,000 winners https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/lists/ufc-on-espn-16-bonuses-germaine-de-randamie-leads-four-50000-winners/embed
