The Main Event Went Our Way, Just Not Our Method
Mike Malott beat Joaquin Buckley in Edmonton Saturday night, the winner we called at 66% confidence. We had it going the distance on the scorecards. Instead Malott landed a knee to the head at 2:32 of round two and finished it right there. Buckley came in explosive as always, but the same pattern that cost him his last two fights showed up again: he couldn't keep Malott at the range he needed, and this time it ended in a finish instead of a decision loss.
A Card Full Of Real Upsets
This was a rough card for favorites across the board, not just for us. Jasmine Jasudavicius beat Erin Blanchfield on the scorecards as a real live underdog. Marc-Andre Barriault, who'd lost five of his last six, knocked out Kyle Daukaus in the first round. Tanner Boser, himself on a losing skid, finished Jhonata Diniz in round three. And Chelsea Chandler submitted Melissa Croden in the first round as a sizable underdog, the biggest single upset on the card. Steven Koslow kept his own streak alive on the other side, extending his perfect finishing record to 7-0 by submission with a third-round choke of Chad Anheliger. And Katlyn Cerminara, who's never finished a UFC opponent across eleven prior wins, got her first career finish, a first-round knockout of debutant Mackenzie Stiller.
The Record
We went 5 of 10 on graded fights, 50%. Vegas went 4 of 10 on the same card, 40% -- a rough night for the market too, not just the model. Our hits were Malott, Cristian Perez, Timmy Cuamba, Mandel Nallo, and Su Young You -- two of those (Cuamba and You) were picks we flipped away from the model's original lean after real tape-read conviction, and both landed. The misses were Blanchfield, Daukaus, Diniz, Anheliger, and Croden.
What's Next
We're headed to Abu Dhabi for UFC 333: Volkanovski vs. Evloev, a genuine title doubleheader -- Alexander Volkanovski defends the featherweight belt against Movsar Evloev, and Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili run it back a third time for the bantamweight title.