UFC 224: The best and worst
UFC 224 might not have been the most alluring card on paper, but despite a distinct lack of star power, boy did it deliver in terms of sheer action.
The always-hot Brazilian crowd were treated to 13 fights, with all of them ranging from solid to fantastic, and saw some highlight reel finishes to boot.
Naturally, it didn’t all go down without a hitch, but what UFC show does? Here are the best and worst moments from Saturday’s show.
#1 Best: So much violence!
The UFC’s method of matchmaking, pitting fighters of a similar skill level against one another, is brilliant when it comes to finding out exactly who’s the best fighter, but often the lack of squash matches means we’re not always treated to hot finishes.
2018, in particular, has seen a lot of cards, such as last month’s UFC 223, filled with fights going to the judges’ scorecards.
In that sense, UFC 224 was definitely an outlier. While very few of the fights looked like squashes on paper, the card delivered with sheer violence from top to bottom, surprising most fans who weren’t really expecting so much excitement.
We saw insane finishes from the prelims all the way up to the main event, with the best ones probably being Lyoto Machida’s front kick KO of Vitor Belfort, Elizeu Zaleski’s capoeira-inspired knockout of Sean Strickland, and John Lineker’s violent knockout of Brian Kelleher.
With just 2 of 13 fights going the distance, this was one of the most violence-filled cards in UFC history and actually set a modern-day record with 11 finishes on the show.
For a card not many people were hyped about, this was a massive bonus to anyone who watched.