Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face. It’s probably the biggest cliché to come out of boxing, but it proved itself to be the case yet again last night. The main event saw one fighter with incredible toughness, come up against a generational talent, with once in a millennia power. The talent and power won out. Elsewhere on the card there was a return to form, a couple rising stars and a few good old fashioned quick finishes. For a card that hinged on the main event to generate interest, the results of the card as a whole gave us a lot more than many were expecting. 

Prelim performer: Abubakar Nurmagomedov 

Khabib’s cousin’s put on a showcase against Jared Gooden. Gooden opened up with low hands, wary of the Nurmagomedov affect. Turns out that Abubakar didn’t need to dip into his wrestling much at all. Short and aggressive striking helped him cruise to a dominant victory. His movement in and out is reminiscent of ‘The Eagle’ but there appears to be a much greater depth of understanding in the realm of striking for the welterweight than for his retired lightweight counterpart. Strike variety with an exceptional pace left Gooden with no real answer. When Abubakar took it to the floor we saw immediate control of the legs, and the Daghestani handcuff being used to excellent effect. He’s doubtless one to watch, and particularly with a striking performance like that, a main card and a ranked opponent should be next. 

The ‘Suga Show’ is back on the road

All the talk going into this bout was that Almeida was being set up to get knocked out by Suga Sean. O’Malley, Dana White and just about everyone except referee Mark Smith, thought that he’d done it in the first round. Credit to Smith, as Almeida rose from the dead to continue the fight well into the third. Ultimately O’Malley had too much to offer. Almeida was stuck in his high Muay Thai guard and couldn’t get anything going. O’Malley did an excellent job of moving southpaw to keep his ‘glass ankle’ away from Almeida’s low kick, and kept him at range primarily with kicks. The front kick to the body was there all night long and Sean used it to great effect maintaining a long range to keep Almeida’s counter right over the jab out of the equation. Some will, and did, criticise O’Malley’s repeated attempts to gain a walk off knockout. Frankly, why shouldn’t he try? He was completely safe in the Octagon, Almeida didn’t pose any real threat. When he eventually did get the finish in the third it was emphatic. Where he goes from here will be interesting to see, the Bantamweight division is stacked with talent. A Frankie Edgar type may well be an excellent test for him, a veteran figure of some kind should definitely be his next test. Almeida looked stunned by O’Malley’s variety as have most he’s fought for any long period of time. A tough test for him will be someone who is not fazed by the variety, and forces O’Malley to work diligently and punish his lapses in concentration.  

What to do with Woodley?

‘The Chosen One’ looked to be back against Vicente Luque, a strange statement considering Woodley was caught in a D’Arce choke in the first round. The aggression was back, the power was on display, but he’s lost four in a row, the latest now by finish. It’s an unfortunate circumstance but Woodley would now appear to be fighting for his job. The entertainer in me sees Khamzat Chimaev ranked at 14, but the technical fan in me sees Magny and Neal ranked at 9 and 11 respectively. Both would pose and interesting challenge, and both need opponents soon to stay relevant in an ever moving Welterweight division. 

A new Luque? 

Luque withstood some serious blows from Woodley, who landed his famous overhand right on the Brazilian a few times flush. Luque looked tough, but we knew that about him from the Fight against ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson. Ultimately we have not learnt much more about him from this fight. A rematch with Thompson or a bout with Leon Edwards seems the way to go, and might well gives us a bonafide number 1 contender to face the winner of Usman Masvidal 2.

Patience, patience, patience

Francis Ngannou is officially the baddest man on the planet. Credit needs to go to Stipe’s chin, which dragged this fight into the second round. Many lesser men would not have made it out of the barrage Ngannou threw after the failed takedown attempt from Stipe. Ngannou’s newly acquired defensive wrestling was on excellent display, and left Stipe looking lost. When he disengaged after the failed shot, Stipe seemed to have very little to offer the challenger. This was proved emphatically when in the second round the now former champ threw a right hand that hit Ngannou clean in the temple. The predator shrugged it off, closing and finishing with a clean efficiency and patience. I talked before the fight about the importance of patience, Ngannou limited his work in the first round, vary his target for strikes, not just headhunting. This approach paid off, every strike that Ngannou landed partially at worst, and connected in full at best. From there his otherworldly power took over.

Ngannou will almost definitely face off against Jon Jones in his first defence. Dana seemed hesitant to commit to it in the post-fight press conference, but frankly the matchup is too big to ignore. Ngannou has a chance to dethrone two goats in a row if he fights Jones. His performance was so good last night that I’ve no doubt that Ngannou could easily open as the favourite against the greatest fighter in Mixed Martial Arts history. Whatever plays out over the next year or so, Ngannou proved last night that he is the scariest human being walking the earth.