Van Zant vs Chambers

She's a good-looking girl, cute in a girl-next-door sort of way, which comes up constantly whenever her name is mentioned. What I like about Paige Van Zant, however, is how she pushes the pace, she's incredibly aggressive and always comes forward. In this fight she showcased that relentless work ethic in addition to a mean Muay Thai clinch, though she did get tagged with punches while in it. That's something that she'll have to correct if she wants to hang with the polish champion, Joanna Jedrzejczyk, who's a beast in the striking department. She did show a complete arsenal, with knees to the body, that took out Chambers' gas tank, punches to the head, a judo hip throw and securing the win via armbar in a lightning quick submission. She's only getting better at 21 years old though I think she still needs more experience before taking on someone like strawweight champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk. 

Ronda Rousey is the scariest fighter!

She was already quite fearsome as a marauding armbar-finisher, capable of securing the submission from any position and against any opponent regardless of their preparation in training. With her judo background the grappling aspect was pretty much taken care, you can see what she did against a grappler like Meisha Tate, rag-dolling her in both outings against Rousey. The lingering question was what would she do against a top-quality striker, someone like Holly Holm with her world champion boxing skills or Cat Zingano's formidable attack or the hulkish strength of a Cyborg.

The answer, her striking has caught up to the rest of her already outstanding abilities. We saw it in her latest fight, beating Bethe Correia at her own game with strikes! I don't think there are enough hyperboles for this woman, it's for damn sure that they've all been used up and for go reason, she's that good. Jon Jones is a scary man too and been just as dominant but the thing about Rousey is I'd say she's a more complete fighter than Jones, in all aspects she's heads and shoulders above her peers. Jones proved fallible against Gustafsson (and the specter of drug use) but Rousey is doing it all with gusto, she doesn't spurn the spotlights, the magazine covers, the interviews, the movie roles and still manages to finish fights in spectacular fashion. We're witnessing our MMA GOAT and most won't want to admit it either because she's a woman or because of the so-called inferior quality of opposition in her division but let's face it, she's the best around and no one's gonna ever keep her down.

Max Holloway vs Cub Swanson

At UFC on FOX 15 the real story was the complete performance by Max Holloway. The Hawaiian put on display his full arsenal, utilizing a long jab and reach, kicks, knees and great footwork to evade the power of Swanson and finish him. Swanson, though possessing one-punch knockout power, was predictable throughout, waiting to find the counter but each time he thought he had an opportunity Holloway was gone. Using his reach and output he reminded me of Nick or Nate Diaz but what you don't see from those fighters is the full scope of MMA weapons, knees and leg kicks. It was this key element that kept Cub not only guessing but also hurting, several knees found their mark to the midsection and many leg kicks to the head also had him on the back foot. All those stand-up strikes set up his submission, showing that wherever he saw an opportunity, he took it.

He reminds me of the featherweight version of Carlos Condit, a man that's not known for his power but for being an incredibly well-rounded fighter, something that's key to being successful, I feel. I liken it to Barcelona's success in soccer this year, they used to be a predictable foe using total football to maintain possession but now that they've added the counter their opponents have to plan for multiple forms of attack. This was Max Holloway in this fight and I can see this kid not only competing for the belt but holding it the one day, he has a very bright future.