5 Things that happened at UFC 227: Dillashaw vs Garbrandt 2
UFC 227 finally saw the super fight between former friends, and now rivals, Cody Garbrandt and T. J. Dillashaw. The two had squared off once before when Cody Garbrandt had defended his UFC Bantamweight Championship against T. J. Dillashaw. On that occasion, Dillashaw had emerged as the clear victor, and after a rough first round, had come out throwing kicks in the second round. One of those kicks had connected, sending the champion to the floor, where T. J. had finished him off.
The fight was notable as T. J. Dillashaw had shown his ability to master different fight styles and switch between them during fights to throw his opponent off-balance.
However, Garbrandt had refused to admit defeat and had continued to hound Dillashaw for a rematch. The Champ had been in no mood to face him again and had taken time off to focus on recovering from his injuries. He had wanted a fight with 'Mighty Mouse' Demetrious Johnson instead, but an injury to D. J. meant he was left with no opponent. So, finally, it was decided that he would face Garbrandt almost nine months after their first fight.
In the other major fights of the night, Thiago Santos faced off against the newcomer, Kevin 'Big Mouth' Holland, and Polyana Viana faced JJ Aldrich.
Cub Swanson and Renato Moicano faced each other in another bout, while 'Mighty Mouse' Demetrious Johnson actually featured on the same card as his prospective opponent, Dillashaw.
#5 Kevin Holland's Ground Game:
Kevin Holland has been given the moniker of 'Big Mouth' by his boss, Dana White. White talked fondly of Holand in a recent interview, saying the star had won him over during his fight with Thiago Santos.
White admitted to Holland not having convinced him of being a capable fighter despite winning Dana White's Contender Series earlier in the year.
However, in this bout, the newcomer to the UFC faced off against the Knockout Artist, Thiago Santos. Santos was infamous in the Octagon, and no one had been willing to take him on; no one, except Kevin Holland.
Holland proved to White and everyone else present in the audience that he had what it takes. Preparing for the fight in less than two weeks, he lost the bout, but it was more than that.
He displayed incredible acumen on the ground and got out of sticky situations a number of times. But more than that was the full mount and the blows he landed on Santos.
Unfortunately, he did lose the bout at the end of the day with the judges awarding the fight to Santos by unanimous decision. His ability to last in the Octagon, however, still needs to be improved vastly as he was winded by the third round.