5 Amazing Takeaways from UFC Vegas 17

Jimmie Flick is Legit

Jimmie “The Brick” Flick came out and proved that he belonged in the UFC tonight! Taking on Cody Durden, the battle quickly turned into a frantic grappling match. In fact, both men looked to seize an advantage. Jimmie Flick would throw a kick, that Durden would catch. Leading ”The Brick” to go for a flying triangle, that was money all the way.

Now on a 4 fight win streak, with 14 wins by submission, get used to hearing the name; Jimmie ”The Brick” Flick! Now, I know what you came here for! Up next, more takeaways from UFC Vegas 17!

Greg Hardy Needs to Improve his Grappling

While a super controversial man, one thing is not. Greg Hardy has definitely shown a lot of improvement since the start of his UFC career. Looking loads more technical and precise, Hardy was putting it on Marcin Tybura pretty good. Correspondingly, It seemed like Tybura just couldn’t hang for long; absorbing the fearsome power of Greg Hardy. Rather than get knocked out, Marcin Tybura started to try and take the fight down to the canvas.

In round 2, Marcin managed to get him down. While doing good at defending the takedown, it quickly became apparent that Greg Hardy was in a bad place. Raining down hammer fists, Tybura just battered the ex-NFL defensive linemen. Exposing Hardy in a big way, showing that the man has a ton of work that needs to be done not only cardiovascularly but grappling wise as well. While still a great prospect, Greg Hardy should definitely turn his focus more towards the realm of wrestling and BJJ. Now, on to bigger and better takeaways from UFC Vegas 17!

Rob Font is an Animal, is Marlon Moraes’ Chin Fading?

Takeaways from UFC Vegas 17 keep coming, and so does Rob Font. Before we get into Marlon Moraes, let’s just talk about the pure tenacity of Font. He stood his ground, he walked him down; and earned that TKO. Now, Marlon Moraes. Coming off of two losses by KO/TKO after tonight’s bout, things aren’t looking so great for Marlon.

We last saw him compete against Cody Sandhagen in early October. By now, I’m sure mostly everybody knows what happened. Cody caught Marlon with a wild spinning kick that landed near-perfect, and shut the lights off. It’s the type of kick that could possibly change a fighter, the way it brutally landed. Now tonight, we saw Marlon Moraes and Rob Font exchanging, and it almost appeared like a stiff jab wobbled Moraes at first. What followed was many punches by Rob Font as he swarmed his opponent to get the victory. Leaving everybody with a question: Is Marlon Moraes’ chin fading?

Flair and Power- Michel Pereira is a True Contender!

Next stop, on this list of takeaways from UFC Vegas 17, we dissect the battle of Khaos Williams vs. Michel Pereira! Looking back, I think everybody expected this one to end early. Khaos Williams was coming off of two lightning-fast victories by knockout, and Pereira has always been known for his power and wild ways.

It quickly became apparent though, that one fighter was a bit more advanced than the other, on the feet. Firing off hard teep kicks, and staying supremely elusive; Michel Pereira was floating like a butterfly and stinging like those killer wasps that went viral earlier this year! It seems like Khaos was just too one dimensional to compete.

We all know he’s got mad power, and above-average boxing; but his kicks were needed this fight to set it all up. What we saw were a lot of big misses, and sloppy kicks. Not something you anticipate from the next big striker coming up the rankings. In fact, as the fight wore on; Michel Pereira was making Khaos Williams miss more and more, while really finding his range. Winning by decision, Pereira showed that while wild, he is a serious threat to the upper echelon of fighters at 170 pounds!

Is Wonderboy the Best Striker at 170 Pounds?

Next up, on my takeaways from UFC Vegas 17; we talk Wonderboy and his masterful striking! First off, I’m wondering if I was the only one getting ”final match of the karate kid movie” type vibes heading into that last round? I mean, the karate master Stephen Thompson had to have been channeling his inner Daniel Larusso, with his right leg compromised like that!

Anyways, lets be real. When you talk about strikers at 170 pounds, names start to come to mind. Jorge Masvidal would probably be one of the first, and maybe someone like Michel Pereira even. If you want to talk about the most well-rounded, the most technical; then Wonderboy has got to take the cake! Firing off vicious kicks and punches, we saw Stephen Thompson really put that Karate base to work tonight.

The back and forth moment of the feet, matched with sudden explosions; equaled a hard strike that Geoff Neal would have to eat. The kicks were there, the jab was there, and Wonderboy just really put on a showcase. Going into this fight, a lot of the talk was about the footwork. The way Stephen Thompson is so careful to set his strikes up or use his push kicks to separate back into safety.

The way he always circles, and keeps moving. Careful to try and avoid getting trapped against the black, merciless cage. Where so many men have met their doom against power strikers like Neal. Even more impressive perhaps, was the head movement. Somebody needs to grab a couple of clips from this fight and make one of those ”matrix” near-miss video collages! Because if Michel Pereira was floating, then Wonderboy was flying! Slipping and ripping, in the very essence of the words. Well, that’s it for my takeaways from UFC Vegas 17! I do hope you enjoyed it, and ill see you next year!

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