24 MMA fighters were able to get this opportunity last Saturday during the UFC 194 PPV event held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Now that the event is over, it is time to acknowledge the top three MMA fighters of the night.
Third Place: Max Holloway
Even though this fight wasn’t as fun to watch compared to the other fights, Max Holloway, now holding a record of 15-3 MMA and 11-3 UFC, deserves to be acknowledged for this win against Jeremy Stephens. Stephens, on the other hand, is holding a record of 24-12 MMA and 11-11 UFC. This win marks Holloway’s 8th consecutive outstanding appearance in the promotion.
Holloway was tagged as the 12th MMA fighter in the UFC history to achieve eight or more consecutive wins when he defeated Stephens by unanimous decision. At a young age of 24, “Blessed” has already managed to have 11 UFC wins on his record, and he does better each time he fights.
Not all MMA fighters can achieve that kind of winning streak. And in Holloway’s case, he was able to hit this achievement early on his career. With this, the Hawaiian fighter might be one of the fighters to watch out for in the featherweight division.
Second Place: Luke Rockhold
Before the fight against Chris Weidman (13-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) took place, Luke Rockhold, who now has a record of 15-2 MMA and 5-1 UFC, mentioned that he will be taking the UFC middleweight belt from the former champion. It was clear that he meant every word.
Rockhold made a lot of harsh comments about Weidman before the fight, but it was evident that he didn’t just throw these shades at the former champ for no reason. He really meant what he said about winning over Weidman and it showed when he went inside the cage and showed Weidman and everybody that he is not some fighter who can be taken lightly.
After some slip ups in the first two rounds, Rockhold was able to find his groove as the rest of the bout continued. He started to throw powerful kicks, landing punches and several takedown attempts. He was able to dominate the third round and managed to keep Weidman on the mat before finally finishing the bout by TKO in the fourth round.
First Place: Conor McGregor
Conor McGregor has managed to amaze every MMA fan yet again.
McGregor, now holding a record of 19-2 MMA and 7-0 UFC, has knocked out longtime featherweight champion, Jose Aldo, in just 13 seconds into the first round. Aldo, now with a record of 25-2 MMA and 7-1 UFC, unfortunately lost the much-awaited fight of the UFC.
With the short amount of time McGregor spent inside the cage, there’s not much to evaluate. McGregor went inside to fight for his interim belt, threw a powerful punch on Jose Aldo’s chin, and emerged victorious- all in just 13 seconds.
While majority of the fans are very happy with McGregor’s victory, analysts and some MMA fighters are quite disappointed because the fight didn’t really show which among the two great fighters really deserved the title.