UFC 257 Recap
By: Michael Sewell
UFC 257 was a very big event led by the sport's biggest star, Conor McGregor, making his long awaited return to the octagon. This event was crucial to the future of the UFC, specifically for the title picture in the Lightweight division. Who would arise to the top of the division and put themselves in contention? Let's recap one of the best main cards of the year.
First off was a woman's flyweight fight between Amanda Ribas and Marina Rodriguez. Ribas was heavily favored and was looking good in the fight before she got hurt in the second round. Even after an unusual circumstance in which both fighters thought the bout had been stopped, Rodriguez was able to persevere and earned the big upset victory via TKO.
Quickly moved on to the middleweight division to witness a bout between Makhmud Muradov and Andrew Sanchez. Right away Muradov demonstrated full control of the striking exchanges. Fans could feel a finish coming but did not know if we would get it. Then in the 3rd round, Muradov landed a nasty combination of assorted strikes that led to a stoppage victory.
Our last women's fight of the night featured Joanne Calderwood and Jessica Eye. This was a very important fight for two women in the title picture, as the winner most likely receives a title shot next. It was a good back and forth bout until about midway through when we began to witness Calderwood take over. The Aussie won the fight via decision and is now firmly in line for a high profile fight.
That brought us to the co-main event and the long awaited UFC debut of Michael Chandler. He was handed a very highly ranked Daniel Hooker in his first UFC bout. They both started off very inactive, feeling each other out for the first minute and a half. Suddenly, when the strikes began, Chandler came out of nowhere and landed a nasty hook that dropped Hooker, and the end came soon after. Chandler landed the upset victory and now puts himself at the top of the Lightweight rankings and the fans are very interested to see who is next for him.
The main event and the return of the sport's biggest star, "The Notorious" Conor McGregor. A rematch from 2014 brought him in the octagon with top contender Dustin Poirier. The first round saw Poirier test McGregor's wrestling and it was a very back and forth round. Once the second round got underway, it became clear the leg kicks by Dustin Poirier were beginning to affect McGregor's movement and he was obviously in pain. Poirier began to land more offense against the stationary McGregor and a few good combos led to a knockdown. A few more ground shots came after and Poirier had his hand raised in victory and shocked the world. Both gentleman were very respectful and gracious in victory and defeat and both will be back this year possibly even for a rematch. We already have a few stacked cards coming up in February and March and we will see many of the current UFC champions defending their gold very soon.