Amanda Nunes Calls it a Career After Defending Women’s 135-Pound Crown at UFC 289

Amanda
Nunes capped off her hall-of-fame career by masterfully
defending her
Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s bantamweight title
Saturday night, cruising to a unanimous decision victory (50-44,
50-44, 50-43) over Irene
Aldana in the UFC
289 main event at Rogers Arena in Vancouver.

Nunes easily picked apart Aldana on the feet and took advantage of
the challengers’ slow pace. Nunes (23-5) landed hard jabs, right
hands, leg kicks and basically anything she wanted as Aldana
refused to open up. Nunes tripled Aldana’s output and barely broke
a sweat. Aldana’s corner begged for the Guadalajara, Mexico, native
to go for broke, but Aldana was helpless to Nunes’ control on the
feet and ground.

At age 35, many wondered what would come next for the champion.
Archrival and former bantamweight champion Julianna
Pena was in attendance. Pena was slated to face Nunes in a
trilogy bout before pulling out due to injury. Nunes wasted no
time, cutting her gloves off and placing them in the middle of her
bantamweight and featherweight belts.

Oliveria Starches Dariush

Fresh off of one of the most debilitating losses of his career,
Charles
Oliveira turned back the clock to stop the hottest fighter in
the division. Beneil
Dariush couldn’t believe that it only took one round for “Do
Bronx” to snap his eight fight win streak, but that’s how quickly
the tide can turn against a fighter like Oliveira.

Both lightweights’ striking was highly respected coming into the
three round title eliminator but it was Oliveira and Dariush’s
battle on the ground that told the story for most of the first
round. Pulling Dariush into his guard, Oliveira looked for
submissions off his back. Dariush brought the fight back to its
feet but was quickly knocked back down after taking a hard
roundhouse to the jaw and a cluster of hamerfirsts on the ground.
As Dariush’s eyes began to look up towards the lights the fight was
stopped with 50 seconds left in the round.

Oliveira’s performance put him back on the path for a rematch with
UFC Lightweight kingpin Islam
Makhachev. In a loaded division like lightweight, there are
several interesting options for the champ, but “Do Bronx” may have
just put himself back in the driver’s seat.

Malott Caps off Undefeated Night for Canadians

Nova Scotia’s own Mike Malott
put the final stamp on an undefeated night for Canadian fighters
(5-0) after tapping out Adam Fugitt
in front of thousands of screaming countrymen in the second
round.

Malott (10-1-1) came in hot with five straight finishes in a row.
All five of those wins came within the first round and even though
Fugitt was still standing at the end of the first round, the end
always seemed within reach.

Malott would close the show in electrifying fashion after dropping
the 34-year-old in the second round and then immediately sinking in
a wicked guillotine at the 1:06 mark. Malott’s win only increases
his stock moving forward in the welterweight division.

Ige Slows Down “The Train”

A stand up battle between two of the most explosive featherweights
in the world didn’t disappoint.

Nate
Landwehr and Dan Ige have 13
knockouts between them and wasted no time trying to grapple.
Trading leather at will, Ige edged out Round 1 after dropping
Landwehr to his knees with an overhand right in the final seconds.
Landwehr immediately bounced back to his feet, but knew the flash
knockdown was exactly what Ige needed to steal the round.

Ige found a home for his left hook in Round 2 and nearly turned out
the lights on Landwehr with 20 seconds left in the stanza. Ige
pounced on the floored Landwehr but “The Train” was able to
scramble long enough to survive another late round knockdown.

Landwehr went out on his shield in Round 3, desperately looking for
a finish, down 2-0. Mixing grappling to set up unorthodox shots,
Landwehr forced Ige to stay disciplined throughout the final five
minutes.

Unfortunately for Landwehr it wasn’t enough, as Ige’s poise carried
the
Xtreme Couture veteran (29-28, 29-28, 30-27) to the unanimous
decision and his second straight win.

Barriault Outpoints Anders in Firefight

Eryk
Anders and Marc-Andre
Barriault kicked off the UFC 289 main card with a middleweight
banger. After dropping Anders with a straight right early, “Power
Bar” seemed destined to pick up his second straight TKO victory
after following up with shots on the recovering Anders.

Anders quickly dashed Barriault’s hopes for a quick night by
engaging with textbook clinch work. “Ya Boi” landed crisp elbows
and knees to Barriault’s astonishment and before the two knew it, a
war broke out in the center of the Octagon.

The back-and-forth action bled into round two and saw Anders start
to mix in some grappling with his striking. Barriault landed well
too, but multiple low blows caused a break in the action and a halt
in momentum.

There were no breaks in the action in Round 3. Anders continued to
push forward but Barriault’s jab repeatedly punished him. Neither
man took their foot off the pedal and they showed their respect by
embracing at the final bell. In the end, Barriault’s (16-6)
consistency gave the Quebec native the edge and the unanimous
decision win (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).

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