UFC 274 Results : Olivera stuns crowd, Namajunas loses belt!
UFC 274 results: Charles Oliveira no longer has the UFC lightweight belt.
Even so, Oliveira once again established that he owns and controls the lightweight division with another dominant performance.
In the UFC 274 main event, Oliveira forced Justin Gaethje to tap out before the first round was over. Despite the win, Oliveira’s title was stripped from him after he failed to make weight for the fight. It’s a terrible way to drop a championship by losing it on the scale, but it doesn’t appear he’ll be without it for long.
Oliveira won the fight by rear naked choke submission in the first round. Gaethje landed a handful of shots, but Oliveira’s technique, striking, and jiu-jitsu were superior. Oliveira’s distance over the rest of the division expanded even more, and he proved that not even Gaethje was in the same class as him. Oliveira will now compete to reclaim his title, which he will almost certainly do against Islam Makhachev. Oliveira mentioned Conor McGregor, who is also a possible opponent, but McGregor would be a stronger match for Michael Chandler.
Chandler produced one of the most sensational knockouts of all time in his fight with Tony Ferguson.
Ferguson was thrown into a different dimension by his front face kick, and the scene was quite terrifying, with Ferguson lying on the floor with his eyes open after slamming his head on the mat. Chandler took a barrage of blows in the face from Ferguson to start the first round, causing notable swelling around his eye, but he landed a takedown and closed the round with a punishing array of ground-and-pound. Then came the second round, when Chandler struck Ferguson in the face with a field goal kick.
Ferguson has now lost four consecutive matches. His future in the octagon is doubtful as he continues to plummet in the lightweight rankings. Chandler is back in title contention after losing his previous two fights. A battle with McGregor would be a huge attraction, with the winner having a chance to fight for the title.
UFC 274 Results: One of the worst title fights in UFC history followed that stunning finish.
Carla Esparza took the strawweight title from Rose Namajunas by split decision in a fight that neither fighter appeared to win.
Namajunas lost her title through the judges’ scorecards, considered to be one of the worst ways possible. Esparza didn’t beat or finish her, and while she pushed the grappling, she didn’t accomplish much with it. It’s a frustrating loss, especially when Namajunas was winning the exchanges but didn’t engage and produced almost no offense.
One of the judges actually gave this bout a 49-46 score in favor of Esparza, which is difficult to believe. But that is the risk in allowing judges to decide the conclusion of a fight. In circumstances like this, I usually side with the champion, but two of the three judges disagreed. This decision reminded me of Henry Cejudo’s flyweight title win over Demetrious Johnson in 2018, which was also a 25-minute bout with no clear winner, until the judges awarded Cejudo the finish (and title) by split decision. Esparza encountered the same thing here, defeating Namajunas for the second time to win the title.
UFC 274 results: The Namajunas-Esparza rematch wasn’t the only one on the card. Ovince Saint Preux and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua fought for the first time in 2014, when Saint Preux won via knockout in 34 seconds. This, like the women’s strawweight title fight, was a letdown. The bout was slow-moving, with neither Rua, 40, nor Saint Preux, 39, dictating the tempo or flow of the fight. It went the distance, with Saint Preux prevailing by split decision over Rua, whose storied career is coming to an end.
Randy Brown won by a close split decision over Khaos Williams to open up the main card.
In an extremely competitive fight, Brown was able to sway the judges by inflicting enough damage on Williams. The fight was originally set to be between Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone and Joe Lauzon, but it was postponed as Cerrone was unable to compete. The main card provided an excellent platform for two talented welterweights, and Brown’s victory puts him in the top-15 welterweight rankings.
The UFC 274 results had their share of lows, but they also produced exceptional highs. Chandler’s knockout will go down in UFC history as an all-time classic. Daniel Cormier has been named the next member of the UFC Hall of Fame, a well-deserved honor for one of the sport’s legends. And with Oliveira also dismantling Gaethje in less than a round, he removed any lingering doubt that he has a real lightweight rival.
Oliveira’s night belonged to him, belt or no belt.
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