UFC 326 Breakdown.

Written By Patrick O'malley.

Intro.

Over the past few weeks i've started to play catch up on all things Ultimate Fighting Championship. I plan on covering all events from this past Febuary this week in a special combined piece, which should be out by this weekend. I got the chance last night to watch UFC 326, so here's my Breakdown of the main card.

Gregory Robocop Rodrigues vs Bruno Ferreira Middleweight Division.

This fight never made it out of the first round. Robocop knocked out Bruno out in quick fashion. As much as I love a good old fashioned knock out, I felt a bit let down by how Ferreira played out his game plan. It's known that Ferreira has a solid ground game, so the fact that he never attempted to take down Rodrigues just said everything that I need to know. He stayed standing, and he got found out. Rodrigues was one of four fighters who received a performance of the night bonus. I mean I can see why.

Drew Dober vs Michael Johnson Lightweight Division.

I've been watching Michael Johnson since his days on season 12 of the Ultimate Fighter, so seeing him put in a performance like this, felt a little disheartening. Drew Dober knocked him with a perfect crisp right hook straight punch combo. This came in the second round, and at first I thought I thought this round would follow the first round went, a rattled cagey affair, but I was wrong. Drew's stand up has improved. I thought that this fight would be won on the ground, given both mens pedigree for the groundgame, but all this has done is prove that sometimes it's ok to be completely wrong. Drew was also given a performance of the night bonus.

Rob Font vs Raul Rosas Jnr. Bantamweight Division.

This fight was a look into what a study in contrast looks like. Rob Font has an underrated groundgame that is centred around his jiu jitsu skills, whilst Rosas Jnr is a stand out in the striking department. However what transpired was a backwards look at swapping styles. Rob Tried to stay on his feet whilst Rosas Jnr took him down and dominated him over the three rounds. Raul Rosas Jnr showed on Saturday that his Wrestling has improved since his last outing. Raul Rosas Jnr got the win via unnanamous decision. Was this fight good. Yes, but am I going to be talking about this in three months time, well if i'm being honest no.

Caio Borralho vs Reinier De Ridder. Middleweight Division.

On paper I thought that this would be a safe win for the fighting nerds. And I was kind of right. Over the three rounds what we got was Caio owning his Dutch counterpart in what was a complete let down. Neither man showed their abilities to at their best. Caio is a promising striker, whilst Reinier has one of the most underrated Wrestling Games in the whole UFC Middleweight Division. So seeing these try and play it safe, was a bit of a let down. Caio got the win as the three rounds came to a close. I'm just going to say it. This fight was the one that I was most looking forward to when the card came out, next to the main event, and what I saw was a let down. Both performances looked phoned in, and it showed.

Charles Oliveira vs Max Holloway 2 BMF Championship.

This fight left me feeling bemused, but also amazed at the same time, let me explain. When this fight got confirmed in the back end of last year, I was excited to see how it would play out. I'm a big fan of both men so as you could imagine my excitement levels went through the roof. Both men have a steller groundgame, but only one man showed that. Charles proceeded to dominate Max with ease over the five rounds. I was amazed how Charles was able to neutrilise Max's superior striking, by using his Wrestling, and. Jiu Jitsu, and it was stunning to see Max got owned in this fashion. This wasn't a five round war, this was a five round manhandling. Lets just put it this way. Max only landed 26 strikes to Charles over the five rounds, whilst Charles neutrilised his offence for nearly 21 minutes. Now that Charles is the new BMF Champion. I have started to wander what is next for Max. I would like him to face someone like Paddy Pimblett, or Maybe Drew Dober, because stylistically these fights would make sense. This was a career best performance by Oliveira. He truly is the BMF.

Overview Of UFC 326.

This PPV online has been hit with it's critics, and look I get it, but in my opinion, if you move the main event to one side, this was a bang average PPV. I liked the opening fights, whilst Font vs Rosas Jnr was decent, but it was Borralho vs De Ridder that to me was a let down. But in reflection this night was about taking at where the UFC should take Max Holloway next. Whilst Charles Oliveira sits above his throne.

UFC 326 is a high 7/10.