Wildness takes over UFC 210
(Buffalo, NY., April 10, 2017) – It was a wild night of fights on Saturday at UFC 210 as a pair of Long Island fighters had mixed results filled with excitement and controversy.
Massapequa’s Gregor Gillespie didn’t disappoint with an absolute dominant performance in his second-ever UFC fight. He defeated Andrew Holbrook via TKO just 21 seconds into the first round to remain perfect in his MMA career (9-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC).
Gillespie knocked Holbrook to the ground with a hard left to the chin and followed up with a flurry of punches while on top to get the stoppage. It was Gillespie’s first-ever knockout in his MMA career.
After the fight, speaking in the middle of the Octagon, Gillespie said, “That’s my first knockout, I can’t be happier. We’ve been working a ton on my striking, and boy did it show off tonight.”
Gillespie, who grew up in nearby upstate New York, but now makes his home on Long Island, fights out of Bellmore Kickboxing Academy, was ecstatic after the fight.
“I love this place, this is my home. Rochester, Buffalo, Edinboro, this whole snow belt, I love this place. I’m so glad everyone could make it out here to see this fight happen.”
For his dominant performance, Gillespie took home Performance of the Night honors, earning him the $50,000 bonus.
In the co-main event, it was Weidman’s turn to return to dominance after dropping his last two fights.
In his way was the surging middleweight contender, Gegard Mousasi.
After clearly taking the first round using three different takedowns, Weidman was up 1-0 going into round two.
However, early in round two, Weidman shot for another takedown that Mousasi this time stuffed, leaving Weidman’s head open to a hard knee. A fighter is not allowed to kick or knee the head of a grounded opponent, and according to the new UFC rules, which the state of New York has adopted, a fighter on their feet is grounded if they have both hands on the canvas.
Referee Dan Miragliotta called time and called the knees to be illegal, but after seeing a replay and giving the allotted five minutes of time to Weidman, Miragliotta deemed the knee to be legal. After doctors checked up on Weidman, they saw him unfit to continue, thus giving the TKO win to Mousasi.
Under the new rules in New York, replay cannot be used, thus causing controversy and making for a bizarre end to a competitive fight.
Weidman said after the fight, “I’ve been through way worse than that. If it was a legal knee, I would have loved to just keep fighting. It shouldn’t have been stopped.” Weidman also said he plans on appealing the fight.
In the main event, Daniel Cormier defeated Anthony Johnson via rear-naked-choke in round two to defend his light heavyweight title. Johnson then stunned everyone with an announcement of his retirement in the prime of his career.
UFC 210 was definitely one of the most bizarre pay-per-view cards in a long time. For some, there was excitement, as Gillespie made heads turn with an outstanding performance. For others, a lot of questions still need to be answered.
MMA Long Island Magazine is published by MMA New York Media Corporation. For more information please visit www.mmalongislandmagazine.com or call (516) 318-2418.
Photo credit: Fansided
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