UFC 206 was an exciting event, headlined by the Interim Featherweight Title match between Max “Blessed” Holloway and Anthony “Showtime” Pettis, the event featured some back and forth wars between some of the UFC’s toughest competitors. Here are 5 things we now know.
Max Holloway will now fight José Aldo for the Featherweight belt in 2017
Holloway put on a solid display against an out of sorts Pettis, moving well to evade strikes and throwing punches at the body, dominating the clinch and mixing some trips into his stand up game. Now on a massive 10 fight win streak since his decision defeat to McGregor in 2013, after this victory against a former Lightweight champion, the title match against Aldo is definitely the next one for Holloway.
Something needs to change for Anthony Pettis
UFC 206 was a disaster for Pettis, missing weight and losing some of his purse, seemingly breaking his hand early in the fight and being taken out by a savage flurry of punches. After the fight Pettis has said due to the difficulty of the weight cut he is going back up to 155 pounds. However even at 155 he was struggling in his last couple of fights and he is going to need to get his mojo back if he is ever going to wear a belt again. He has not been landing his signature kicks against fighters that slip and rip and move more effectively, and his own movement is lacking, staying in the pocket too long after throwing his own strikes and getting caught with too many counter shots.
Donald Cerrone is a real competitor at Welterweight
Matt Brown provided Cerrone with a real opportunity to show he can hang with a tough natural 170 pounder and he looked great. Both fighters came out all guns blazing in a back and forth stand up war, but Cerrone caught Brown again and again with a switch high kick. He ended the fight with a perfect switch high kick again right on the jaw of Brown leaving him flat out on the canvas. Brown is now on a 3 fight losing streak but his performance was OK and the UFC will most likely give him an easier opponent for his next fight.
Cub Swanson and Doo Ho Choi have chins of steel
The Fight of the Night bonus was awarded to Swanson and Choi in a bout that was all action from the first second to the last. Choi who has 15 MMA wins, 12 of which are by knockout ate some of Swanson’s best punches and returned fire of his own putting Swanson in real danger. The contest also showcased some excellent scrambles and submission attempts too making it an instant classic.
Lando Vannata knows how to make a highlight reel
Vannata against Makdessi proved to be a short fight at 155. Vannata throw an outstanding spinning heel kick in the opening round, which knocked Makdessi out. Not only bagging himself a Performance of the Night bonus but also possibly the Knockout of the Year.