Fight Island 6- Results and What's Next
- Combat Sports Journal
- Oct 19, 2020
- 6 min read
Another UFC Fight Island has passed as bald Brian Ortega defeated Chan Sung Jung in a dominant performance. I ended this event with prediction scores of 7-4, bringing my total predictions for UFC events to 22-12-1, while my overall MMA picks are at 23-13-1 (1 NC).
Here are the results from the event and my breakdown of what I'd like to see next.
Main Event:
Bald Brian Ortega defeats Chan Sung Jung by dominant five round unanimous decision.
Dana White said this fight would most likely produce the next title challenger at 145. Brian Ortega dominated the fight from start to finish. He landed a crazy spinning elbow in round 2 to drop the Korean Zombie almost ending the fight. That would have been quite the KO win, especially with the way Yair Rodriguez finished Chan Sung Jung with the up elbow in their fight two years ago. Chan Sung Jung even stated later that he doesn't remember the last three rounds, after that elbow landed. Which makes sense judging by the way he fought. He did not come forward in his usual style, never really getting going with any good shots at all. It was mentioned in the broadcast that maybe the Korean Zombie needs to hear the sound of the screaming crowd to activate Zombie mode to push him to fight. I'm not taking anything away from Brian Ortega at all. He looked to have made significant improvements sin his nearly two year layoff. This victory for T-City lands him as the for sure number one contender, earning the #1 ranking in My UFC Rankings. This sets him up for a featherweight title fight against Alexander Volkanovski (assuming the retired Triple C, Henry Cejudo doesn't cringe his way into a title shot there). There is also a big question mark for Brian Ortega in another fight against Max Holloway. Max completely dominated the fight in striking against Brian Ortega nearly two years ago. Ortega looks to have made significant striking improvements, making a future rematch with Holloway a for sure exciting and challenging bout for both.
I'd like to see get the featherweight title shot he deserves after this victory, so a bout against champion Volkanovski is my call for what's next for him. I do want to see a Holloway rematch later on down the line, however after two "defeats", I'd like to see Max get another victory before another title shot. With a Zabit Magomedsharipov vs Yair Rodriguez booking both of them up, I think the best opponent for Holloway would be against Calvin Kattar. Kattar said on recently he has a bout announcement coming soon, so let's see if I am right on this one at featherweight.
As for Chan Sung Jung, this loss moves him to #5 on my featherweight rankings. I expect he will need some significant time off. When he is ready to come back, I expect to see him fight against someone in a lower rank, somewhere in that middle-tier of the ranked fighters at featherweight.
Co-Main Event:
Jessica Andrade defeats Katlyn Chookagian by TKO in round 1 due to body shots.
In the co-main event, Jessica Andrade became the first female fighter in the UFC to earn victories in three different weight classes. I'm not 100% sure on this, but I think she might even be the only female fighter to even fight in three different weights in the UFC. Andrade won with brutal body shots, the first one making Chookagian turn away, with Andrade swarming to get the first round TKO finish. This earns Jessica Andrade my #1 spot at women's flyweight, and most likely earning her a shot at the title which will be on the line next month. I think it would be worth it for Andrade to wait for the title fight next month between Valentina Shevchenko and Jennifer Maia, and fight the winner of that fight. Also, to stay ready and be prepared to possibly step in on short notice for that fight in November if need be.
Jimmy Crute defeats Modestas Bukauskas by KO in round 1.
I found out during the broadcast that Australian Jimmy Crute was born just the day before me. Crute earned a big KO victory over the former Cage Warriors champ. This brings Crute's UFC record up to 4-1, setting him up for some bigger fights I would say. Crute called out Nikita Krylov, who I have ranked at #8. Crute's one defeat was against Misha Cirkunov who I currently have at #10. Crute is not currently ranked, but does hold a win over my 15th ranked Paul Craig. I like the callout and if it were up to me, I'm all for Crute vs Nikita Krylov up next.
James Krause defeats Claudio Silva by unanimous decision.
James Krause after this fight called out knock out of the year candidate Joaquin Buckley. Crazier things have happened in the combat sports world. Comment blow if you think James Krause should go back up for another middleweight bout. Buckley recently announced his next fight taking place next month. Krause had some sort of knee injury in this bout, having him likely out for a few months. Depending on how Joaquin Buckley's fight goes, those timelines may line up leading to a 2021 middleweight bout for The James Krause.
Jonathan Martinez defeats Thomas Almeida by unanimous decision.
The two bantamweight fighters fought this fight at 145. I'm not sure if Martinez plans to stay at 145 or go back down to bantamweight. Almeida's last fight before this was a KO/TKO loss to Rob Font. Font has not fought since December of last year, and I think him against Jonathan Martinez would be a great next fight.
Prelims:
Guram Kutateladze upsets Mateusz Gamrot to win by spilt decision.
Guram defeated the former two division champion of big Polish promotion KSW, Mateusz Gamrot. Islam Makhachev next weekend is down an opponent as Rafael Dos Anjos tested positive for Covid. Makhachev has been taken off of next weekend's UFC 254 card. I think the win over the big name of Mateusz Gamrot does great things for Guram, and I think a bout against Makhachev would be great, especially since Makhachev needs an opponent with Dos Anjos being out of that fight.
Gillian Robertson earns the record of most wins at women's flyweight by defeating Poliana Botelho by unanimous decision.
Robertson did not make my UFC rankings, as she might lose her 15th ranked spot once their rankings are updated to include co-main event winner Jessica Andrade. That being said, I do think Robertson is a great fighter and does deserve a ranked opponent next. Robertson called for a bout against the champ's sister, Antonina Shevchenko. However, Shevchenko has a fight booked next month against Ariane Lipski. Until then, I have another ranked opponent in mind for Robertson. With Alexa Grasso recently earning a victory in her flyweight debut, which earned her my #13 spot, I think a next fight between Gillian Robertson and Alexa Grasso is a good next move.
Jun Yong Park channels his inner Chimaev to defeat John Phillips in a dominant unanimous decision.
Jokes aside, Jun Yong Park completed dominated Phillips and did actually land more strikes than Chimaev did against John Phillips. I must say though, that I love how Chimaev could be seen backstage before this fight helping out Phillips showing him some wrestling defense techniques. With Chimaev having such a tough time finding opponents right now, I think there's an interesting story to be told in a fight between him and Jun Yong Park. Who will have the wrestling advantage in that fight? I think Chimaev would have the significant advantage, but let's see. Park took very few strikes and looked possibly ready for a quick turn around, so let's make that fight as soon as possible. Another interesting part to the story is that Park did actually call for a fight against Chimaev, who was in the audience, sitting beside Dana White for the fights.
Fares Ziam defeats Jamie Mullarkey by unanimous decision.
Ziam earns his first victory in the UFC. He called out Bobby Green after the victory. I think this is a big step up for Ziam, but makes an interesting bout that I am all in for seeing next.
Fight Pass Prelims:
Maxim Grishin defeats Gadzhimurad Antigulov by TKO late in round 2.
Maxim Grishin earns his first UFC victory with a TKO win. Grishin is now 1-1 in the UFC, with his first bout being a short notice defeat against against Marcin Tybura, in his first heavyweight bout in nine years. Grishin is very experienced outside the UFC, including competing in two PFL tournaments and multiple Russian MMA championship bouts. I'd like to see a bigger name fight for Grishin next. Alonozo Menefield would be my pick for Grishin's next opponent.
Said Nurmagomedov defeats Mark Striegl by quick KO in the first minute of round 1.
Nurmagomedov gets a big KO win in the first fight of the night. Unrelated fellow Nurmagomedov, Umar was supposed to fight next weekend against Sergey Morozov. Unfortunately Umar was hospitalized with an illness in Abu Dhabi. Said Nurmagomedov stated that he would be willing to step up to fight Morozov. I like this fight and want to see it next. Whether it is this weekend or sometime soon, I think that would be a great next move.
You can view my results on Tapology here:
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