UFC on ESPN+7 is in the books, and it’s time to take stock in the performances. MMA Junkie takes a look at who’s up, who’s down and who’s flat after a night of action in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Stock Up: Alistair Overeem, Sergei Pavlovich, Roxanne Modafferi, Alexander Yakovlev, Michal Oleksiejczuk, Magomed Mustafaev.
Stock Down: Marcelo Golm, Antonina Shevchenko, Keita Nakamura, Marcin Tybura, Rafael Fiziev.
No change: Arman Tsarukyan, Krzysztof Jotko, Movsar Evloev.
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Stock up
Alistair Overeem
We knew Oleinik could catch anyone napping with a submission. We probably didn’t give Overeem enough credit for his ability to assess and neutralize the threat. Things didn’t look great for “The Reem” when a bolo seemed to send him into survival mode against the fence. But then he weathered the storm and nailed the Russian with a knee right out of his best days in K-1. For that, we say bravo.
Sergei Pavlovich
Even with an impressive highlight reel, Pavlovich got no easy treatment with a debut fight against Overeem last November. A matchup against Junior Dos Santos training partner Marcelo Golm on Saturday was just the thing he needed to remind us how terrifying he is in the first round. Let’s see if he keeps it up.
Roxanne Modafferi
“The Happy Warrior” also should be known as “Most Durable Upset Warrior.” Just about every second Modafferi was on her feet against Shevchenko, she was getting tooled. But she took all of the punches and put Shevchenko on her back, where every grappling flaw was exposed. Modafferi not only cashed as a +270 underdog, she knocked off a big prospect. Every time you count her out, you do so at your own peril.
Alexander Yakovlev
At 2-4, the Russian didn’t have much room for mistakes heading into his bout against da Silva. And he nearly wound up knocking himself out – a la Jarred Brooks against Jose “Shorty” Torres – when he slammed Silva to the mat in the second. But when the Brazilian exposed his neck against the fence, Yakovlev made him tap with an unconventional guillotine he called an old wrestling move.
Michal Oleksiejczuk
How many uppercuts does it take to stop a charging Russian? Three, give or take. Antigulov thought he’d shake Oleksiejczuk with an early blitz. Instead, he hit the canvas no less than three times as counters found his chin. Forty-four seconds later, Oleksiejczuk owned two straight first-round stoppages, a much better look after a one-year suspension for clomiphene.
Magomed Mustafaev
Sidelined two years from a broken arm suffered in a fight against Kevin Lee, Mustafaev had good reason to aim high in his return. It wasn’t terribly surprising when he couldn’t find Fiziev’s chin with the low-percentage spinning back kick. But he didn’t miss by much, so he tried again. All the elusiveness in the world couldn’t save Fiziev from the next shot, and Mustafaev calmly stopped his own fight after a few more follow-up shots. Pretty gangster and also ironic that Fiziev, signed for his Matrix-like kick dodges, gets flattened by one his first time out.
Stock down
Marcelo Golm
The Brazilian is now 1-3 in his past four fights, and a first-round blowout doesn’t bolster his case that he’s up to snuff in the UFC heavyweight division. With so few bodies, he just might get another shot. He’s just running low on chances.
Antonina Shevchenko
The older sister of Valentina Shevchenko can strike. We knew that going in. When she’s on her feet, she’s a handful for anyone in the flyweight division. The question is whether she’s able to compete as a well-rounded MMA fighter, and a decision loss to Modafferi shows reason for concern.
Keita Nakamura
The Japanese vet has been grinding it out in the octagon since his first run with the company in 2006, and he struggles to build any momentum in his second octagon stint. He put up a good fight against Sultan Aliev, catching the vet with several high kicks. But you have to wonder what the end game is when he continues to seesaw.
Marcin Tybura
At one point, Tybura looked the next big thing in the heavyweight division with three straight wins. Then he lost his mojo with back-to-back setbacks against Fabricio Werdum and Derrick Lewis. Against Abdurakhimov, his standup was ineffective and exposed him to the counters that ultimately led to his demise.
Gadzhimurad Antigulov
The Dagestani heavyweight is pretty much guaranteed action when he steps into the octagon; he has yet to see a second round. If he’s going to move any higher than the middle of the pack, he’s going to need to put together a more solid strategy than just blitz. There’s only so many times that’s going to work in a division where one punch changes everything.
Rafael Fiziev
People get caught, but it was especially rich that the viral sensation would fall prey to the type of attack he’d so expertly avoided on the regional circuit. It appears he’s in need of a restart after a heavily hyped debut.
No change
Arman Tsarukyan
The UFC newcomer had a big task taking on the surging Makhachev in his first outing. But he gave Khabib Nurmagomedov’s training partner everything he could handle over three rounds. With a little more gas in the tank, he might have even turned the tables. A decision setback doesn’t look great on his resume, but he showed some serious skills that looks promising for the future.
Krzysztof Jotko
The Polish vet certainly stopped a precipitous slide with three straight losses. And his passion is clearly evident from his post-fight speech. He’s battled back from a lot. Now he just needs some more time to find the fighter that won five straight. He’s close.
Movsar Evloev
He’s still undefeated after 11 fights, and he showed a lot of promise against Seungwoo Choi. Let’s see what the former M-1 bantamweight champ can do against more seasoned UFC competition.
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