UFC Fight Island 5: MORAES VS SANDHAGEN | The 6th Round Post-Fight Show

Zane Simon & Eddie Mercado are back to breakdown the card with hot takes, possible next fights, as well as reactions to the overall event.

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Overall, this 13-bout card saw 5 swift finishes in Rd 1, no subs, but a total of 6 KO/TKOs, & an overwhelming 7 decisions! Rounding things out, bonuses for putting forth POTN efforts went to Joaquin Buckley, Cory Sandhagen, Chris Daukaus, and Tom Breese; and FOTN honors went to... none.

Tonight’s card showcased a bantamweight bout for the main event. It was a tilt between the #1 ranked superlative veteran kickboxer, Brazilian ‘Magic’ Marlon Moraes, & the #4 ranked fellow knockout artist from CO, Cory Sandhagen. Magic, working on his 3rd year in the UFC, last defeated José Aldo at UFC 245, in Dec ‘19, via a controversial Split Decision; which many felt he should have lost. Sandhagen walked into the Arena in his 5th year with the UFC, coming off a title-eliminating loss to Aljamain Sterling at UFC 250, back in June of this year; which brought his win streak to a grinding halt. Both men appeared to be looking to prove something, while seeking some sort of redemption in this fight. But more than that, both men were fighting with the title shot in mind. Moraes was predicted to utilize his speed advantage here, while Sandhagen was expected to gain an advantage in later rounds with his ability to pace himself — we didn’t get to find out, since the clash ended in the 2nd Rd!

Also on the card, a co-main event at featherweight, which was a collision between the Muay Thai specialist, Edson Barboza, Jr., who had only won 1 of his last 6 bouts, (2 of which were debatable losses, especially after his brutal weight cut) and Makwan ‘Mr. Finland’ Amirkhani, who was coming off an impressive 1st Rd sub win, via Anaconda Choke, against Danny Henry at UFC 251, back in July of this year. Amirkhani entered this bout considered to be a talented wrestler with an excellent strangle game, having also taken time recently to work on his boxing skills. The Finnish model ‘slash’ knockout artist was perhaps best remembered for his 1st Rd 8-sec KO of Andy Ogle 5 years ago, we were waiting to see if he would obtain another swift KO tonight, but that was not the case.

As if that’s not enough action, we had an exciting, allbeit short & sweet, middleweight brawl between Markus ‘Maluko’ Perez & Dricus ‘Stillknocks’ du Plessis — the South African kickboxer impressing us all in his short-notice UFC debut tonight with a 1st Rd knockout victory — all of this MMA entertainment was preceded by a surprisingly decent undercard...

Here’s a look at the UFC FIGHT ISLAND 5: ‘MORAES VS SANDHAGEN’ RESULTS & UPDATED FIGHT RECORDS:
MAIN CARD
13. Cory Sandhagen (13-2) DEF. Marlon Moraes (23-7) - KO/TKO, Spinning Wheel Kick at 1:03 of Rd 1

12. Edson Barboza (21-9) DEF. Makwan Amirkhani (16-5) - DEC, Unanimous

11. Marcin Tybura (20-6) DEF. Ben Rothwell (38-13) - DEC, Unanimous

10. Dricus du Plessis (15-2) DEF. Markus Perez (12-4) - KO/TKO, Left Hook at 3:22 of Rd 1

9. Tom Aspinall (9-2) DEF. Alan Baudot (8-2) - KO/TKO, G & P at 1:35 of Rd 1

8. Ilia Topuria (9-0) DEF. Youssef Zalal (10-3) - DEC, Unanimous

PRELIMS
7. Tom Breese (11-2) DEF. KB Bhullar (8-1) - KO/TKO, Power Jab & Hammerfists at 1:42 of Rd 1

6. Chris Daukaus (10-3) DEF. Rodrigo Nascimento (8-0) - KO/TKO, Hooks at 0:45 of Rd 1

5. Joaquin Buckley (11-3) DEF. Impa Kasanganay (8-1) - KO/TKO, Jump Spinning Back Kick at 2:03 of Rd 2, Total 7:03

4. Tony Kelley (7-2) DEF. Ali AlQaisi (8-5) - DEC, Unanimous

3. Giga Chikadze (11-2) DEF. Omar Morales (10-1) - DEC, Unanimous

2. Tracy Cortez (8-1) DEF. Stephanie Egger (5-2) - DEC, Unanimous

1. Tagir Ulanbekov (13-1) DEF. Bruno Silva (10-6) - DEC, Unanimous

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