Jon Jones def. Dominic Reyes via 5 Round Decision UFC 247: Jones vs. Reyes 2020.02.08 Jon Jones seemed to be losing momentum in his fight with Anthony Smith in 2019. The longtime champion had only fought twice in the previous two years and didn't look sharp in the bout, allowing a journeyman to take him the distance. In his next defence Jones looked about the same, rising to the level of his competition but not overpowering him, taking a contentious split decision. The pickings were ripe for contender Dominic Reyes, who is younger, about the same size, and undefeated at that point. The fight was Jones' biggest challenge since his first fight with Alex Gustafsson. Reyes showed no fear, arguably winning the first three rounds, before losing pace in the championship rounds. Like with the Gustafsson bout, the crowd reacted badly to the unanimous decision for Jones, but a rematch is looking unlikely. Weili Zhang defeats Joanna Jędrzejczyk via 5 Round Decision UFC 248: Adesanya vs. Romero 2020.03.07 Coming off of a decision win over Tecia Torres, Weili Zhang seemed to be a rushed title challenger in a thin division when she was thrust into the main event of UFC on ESPN+ 15 against incumbent champion Jessica Andrade in Shenzhen, China. Zhang TKO'd Andrade 41-seconds into the bout to become the new UFC Strawweight Champion. After suffering back-to-back losses to Rose Namajunas, Jedrzejczyk had rebounded with wins over Torres and Michelle Waterson bookending a disappointing loss to Valentina Shevchenko. The fight that ensued between Zhang and Jedrzejczyk was an all-action five round affair that is (to date) one of the best WMMA fights of all time. Justin Gaethje def. Tony Ferguson via KO/TKO at 3:39 of Round 5 UFC 249: Ferguson vs. Gaethje 2020.05.09 There are many great, memorable fights that were not closely contested, and Justin Gaethje beating the living hell out of Tony Ferguson is in that group. Riding a 12-fight winning streak into the bout, Ferguson was paradoxically also suffering from a lack of activity, having had nine fights canceled during that same period of time, resulting in him fighting only once per year from 2017-2019. However, Ferguson had earned stoppage wins over Kevin Lee, Anthony Pettis, and Donald Cerrone. Standing across from him was Justin Gaethje, coming-off three wins, having fought twice per year during that time frame. The fight itself was volume (Ferguson) vs. accuracy (Gaethje), with Ferguson throwing about 100 more strikes but landing at a 45% clip compared to Gaethje (72%). As the fight progressed, damage accumulated on Ferguson's head and face, eventually inspiring referee Herb Dean to intervene. Dustin Poirier def. Dan Hooker via 5 Round Decision UFC Fight Night: Poirier vs. Hooker 2020.06.27 Dustin Poirier worked his way up to a title shot against Khabib Nurmagomedov by winning five of six bouts (one no contest) from 2017 to 2019. After being defeated by the champion, Poirier might've decided to "get a win" by taking a fight with a middling opponent. Instead, he faced Dan Hooker, winner of seven of his last eight bouts, in a borderline title eliminator fight for the Kiwi. Hooker attacked Poirier's legs while The Diamond responded with well-placed counterpunches. As the fight progressed it was a close contest but Poirier's striking accuracy was the difference. Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Brandon Moreno ends in a Draw UFC 256: Figueiredo vs. Moreno 2020.12.12 Despite being the smallest UFC Champion, Deiveson Figueiredo has proven to be one of the most ferocious. Deus de Guerra has blasted through the UFC rankings in the last few years, fighting frequently and winning all but one of his fights (Jussier Formiga, 2019). His run since beating Alexandrew Pantoja on 07/19 has been remarkable, with the Brazilian finishing Tim Elliott, Joe Benavidez twice, and Alex Perez (substituting for Cody Garbrandt). Barely a month after the Perez bout, Figueiredo jumped into another title defence against Brandon Moreno, who was a 3-to-1 underdog in the fight. A drag-out, back-and-forth battle ensued, lasting the entire five rounds and flummoxing the judges into scoring a draw, setting up an anticipated rematch for the New Year.
Great write ups as always. I've got to go with Gaethje / Ferg just because it was the first thing out of the pandemic and I don't think many people expected that beat down. Weili and JJ was amazing as well. Actually, in retrospect I should have voted for that one.
