Good main card for UFC 287.
Happy to see the Raul Sosas hype train be put to rest. Every now and then the UFC tries these type of fly-by-night stunts (see: Sage Northcutt) with new talent and then they get wrecked.
Kevin Holland fought a good fight against Santiago and I felt it was not so much a lack of skill on Santiago's part that gave Kevin the win, but instead the sheer difficulty Santiago had with Kevin's height and range. You can't hit what you can't reach.
Adrian Yanez came in confident to fight Rob Font, but I guess many forgot how effective Font's jab and overall striking is. Happy that Font was a professional with the win.
Masvidal (although Cuban), looked like a drunk Puerto Rican pretending to fight in a mixed martial arts event against a game Gilbert Burns. I honestly think Burns took it easy on him. Burns is a world class JiuJitsu player with pretty heavy hands. Gilbert could have taken him down in the first round and tapped him out at will, if he had wanted to. I think they both wanted to make it entertaining and maybe Masvidal had made it clear to Gilbert that this would be his last fight well before they stepped into the octagon. Could Masvidal have won the fight with clean striking? Sure, but you can tell he didn't show up last night.
With Adesanya V Pereira, I think if these guys fought 10 times, it would be like flipping a coin. They have had 4 fights (2 in kickboxing and 2 in the UFC) and Pereira beat Adesanya 3 times already. This was Adesanya's first win and it was an impressive one, but Pereira has knocked Adesanya out twice in the past. I believe they SHOULD have a 3rd match to put it to rest, but Dana White hinted at Pereira moving up to 205 during the post fight press conference. If Pereira wants a rematch to go "best out of 3", I think they would give it to him. That said, if Dana and the UFC entice him with more money to move up to 205lb, it would be an easy move for Pereira given that he is very big (6'4) and probably walks around at 215lb on any given day.
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