The App is Back! Don’t forget to download the NBC Sports EDGE app to receive real-time player news, mobile alerts and track your favorite players. Plus, now you can check out articles and player cards.
Bellator, UFC and Top Ranked Boxing kept combat sports fans captivated on Saturday with great fights, storylines and the introduction of a boxing star. Let’s take a look back at the Hits and Misses from this past weekend.
Saturday 3pm ET, Bellator 269
• HIT Fedor Emelianenko wins (+185) via Knockout (+200) vs. Tim Johnson
What a return back to his home country for “The Last Emperor '' as Fedor Emelianenko set the VTB Arena in Moscow, Russia on fire with a first-round knockout of the dangerous, and much younger opponent, Tim Johnson. It seemed inevitable that these fighters had a gentlemen’s agreement to stand in the pocket and wing punches until someone’s lights went off. What a fight for one of the greatest fighters of all-time in Emelianenko. It’d be nice to see the 45-year-old legend go out on top, but his lust for cage time is one of the reasons he’s achieved such status in the sport.
• HIT Usman Nurmagomedov wins (-3333) via Submission (+300) vs. Patrik Pietila
Nurmagomedov gets a submission. Where have you heard that before? Over the past few years, it was Khabib touting that last name and getting wins. Now that Khabib has moved on from competing himself, he has shifted his focus to a coach’s role and saw his cousin Usman remain undefeated and dominate Patrik Pietila at Bellator 269. It was a tough line at -3333 to make any money on, but as I pointed out in the preview, historically, Dagestani fighters are heavy and technically advanced grapplers. Usman continued this tradition by getting ahold of his opponent and dragging him down to the floor and controlling the action like a big brother over a little brother to snatch up the rear naked choke submission.
• MISS Said Sowma wins (+280) via TKO (+450) vs. Vitaly Minakov
Minakov’s broken finger, caused by bumping his non-punching hand on Sowma’s knee late in the third round, led to the referee stopping the fight immediately. The injury caused Minakov to play with the finger and left the referee no choice but to stop the bout. A member of Team Fedor, Vitaly Minakov was a huge favorite going into this fight against Surinamese fighter Said Sowma, but the books got the carpet pulled from underneath them with the ruling. Having only one career loss beforehand, Minakov was assumed to dominate, but Sowma was going to make it a close call had it gone to the judges, regardless of the actual outcome because he was landing effective and damaging strikes.
[[ad:athena]]
Saturday 4pm ET, UFC Fight Night 196
• HIT Marvin Vettori wins (-222) via Decision (+450) vs. Paulo Costa
After one of the most ridiculous fight weeks in terms of storylines for a main event, Paulo Costa and Marvin Vettori finally met on Saturday. Costa, one of the biggest fighters to make the 185-pound weight limit, was openly explaining how he was not going to make his agreed upon weight. Costa finally landed on 205 pounds as a reasonable weight class to compete (20 pounds above normal). Credit to Vettori for accepting the fight and all the late changes, as the Italian went out there and won a hard-fought decision. While Costa had the weight and power advantage, Vettori weathered all of the Brazilian’s barrages by asserting cage control and a high output in the first round. Vettori has put himself, once again, right at the door of another title shot.
• MISS Alex Caceres wins (+210) via Submission vs. Seungwoo Choi
What a performance from the long-time UFC veteran, Alex Caceres, who beat the money lines bigtime. In the first round, Caceres was getting handled on the feet by Choi, who dropped Caceres. But after Choi landed an illegal knee, “Bruce Leeroy” was able to reset and find his groove. Caceres took the momentum into the second round and controlled a clinch position against the fence that led to a nifty transition to his opponent’s back and neck. Caceres secured the win with a rear naked choke, making it five victories in a row.
10pm ET, Top Ranked Boxing: Stevenson vs. Herring
• HIT Shakur Stevenson wins (-909) via TKO (+150) vs. Jamel Herring
Stevenson, a Newark, NJ native who’s known for his defensive prowess, proved to walk the walk as he remains undefeated and on the road to stardom as he elevated his status in the boxing world against a tough veteran in Jamel Herring on Saturday night. Stevenson was not flustered by the pre-fight promotion and stayed true to himself by keeping a tight guard and using his footwork to evade potential damaging strikes. It was a cat and mouse game that ended with Stevenson becoming the cat. The young star was patient and methodical in the way he broke down Herring. Ultimately, the fight was halted in the 10th round when Stevenson’s power and precision was too much for Herring. Great win for the New Jersey native and 2016 Olympic silver medalist. A spectacular match between Stevenson and fellow young superstar, Oscar Valdez, could be next.
Stay tuned this week for DWCS week 9, PFL Finale, UFC 267 and more!
PointsBet is our Official Sports Betting Partner, and we may receive compensation if you place a bet on PointsBet for the first time after clicking our links.
