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The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returned to action in style yesterday (Saturday, January 15, 2021) with UFC Fight Island 7, which gave fight fans an exciting afternoon of fighting on “Fight Island” in Abu Dhabi United Arab Emirates. Headlining Max Holloway put in an incredible performance against Calvin Kattar, picking up an unbalanced unanimous decision victory (see again here). In the co-main event, Carlos Condit defeated Matt Brown in another entertaining fight.
Biggest winner: Max Holloway
This one is easy as “Blessed” looked better than ever, towering over Kattar for 25 minutes to clinch a much needed win after losing two in a row. His boxing was absolutely top notch, and that had to be because he was up against one of the best boxers at 145 pounds. But, “Blessed” was more than up to the task, going along with “The Boston Finisher,” tagging him at will while eating several of his enemies with good shots. In the fifth and final round, Holloway finished the Matrix, tagging Kattar with a straight without looking to the right, slipped a four-stroke combination, while talking to Jon Anik and Co. It was a sight to see. With the win, Holloway reminded everyone that he’s still on top of his game and isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. He made it to the top of a short list to face the winner of the recently announced title fight between Alexander Volkanovsky and Brian Ortega.
Finalist: Li Jingliang
Many probably weren’t giving ‘Leech’ a high percentage to beat Santiago Ponzinibbio – myself included – but the Chinese-born star silenced everyone and scored the biggest victory of his career, putting ‘Gente Boa’ to sleep. with a spectacular first round Knock Out. Li has now won four of his last five and this specific victory should give him a huge push up the welterweight ladder. In total, he now has seven knockout wins in the Octagon.
Honorable mention: Alessio Di Chirico
Di Chirico said he wasn’t too impressed with what Joaquin Buckley did before their middleweight drop, even that spectacular knockout didn’t do much for the Italian-born fighter. Come fight the night, Di Chirico backed up his speech by absolutely flattening “New Mansa” with a head butt before ending his night with a few follow-up strikes. As well as ending Buckley’s momentum, he also won an additional $ 50,000 in bonuses after the fight. The win also broke his three-game losing streak, so it was huge on all fronts.
Biggest loser: Santiago Ponzinibbio
It had been more than two years since “Gente Boa” had set foot in the Octagon, and it had been even longer than that since his last loss. Indeed, the last time he was in the losing column was in 2015. Since then, he has accumulated an impressive streak of seven consecutive victories. Despite all this work, he was never able to come close to a title shot. And when you add that to his long hiatus, Ponzinibbio’s momentum has slowed down considerably. Now the loss will force him to start from zero, and it will be a tough road back in the rankings as the 170 pound weight class is absolutely stacked.
For more UFC Fight Island 7 results and coverage, click here.
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