Recap: UFC 202

The main event lived up to the hype surrounding it.

Although not as great as some will claim, the main event of UFC 202 was certainly a slobber knocker. Nate Diaz and Conor McGregor went toe-to-toe, bringing out the best in one another over the course of five rounds. McGregor bossed the stand up in the opening two rounds but, in typical Diaz style, the Stockton native weathered the storm and fought back, putting McGregor in some tough spots – particularly late in the second round. The Irishman managed to cling on, even finding a second wind in the fourth round, and securing the majority decision win.

The King is back…

It took Anthony Johnson all of ELEVEN seconds to knock Glover Teixeira into next week with a humongous uppercut that put the Brazilian flat on his back – two more shots and the fight was done. Anthony Johnson is a bad, bad man [in every sense of the word – Editor].

Donald Cerrone took a little while to get going against Rick Story but when he did, it was glorious. The first round was closely contested, with Story finding joy on the ground and controlling Cerrone (once he shook off the half-hearted submission attempts). As the first round wore on, Story made an unwise decision to try and trade on the feet with Cerrone, something that was never going to end well. Story continued this flawed game plan in the second round, and was made to pay after a big body shot led to a huge headkick from Cerrone that signalled the beginning of the end; a couple more punches to Story against the cage and Cerrone was pulled away by the referee.

Mike Perry announced himself to the welterweight division with a three-and-a-half minute dispatching of Hyun Gyu Lim, leaving his opponent face down on the canvas. Perry landed the heavier of the shots throughout the opening minutes of the round, having Lim in trouble several times before he managed to secure the finish. Perry has some serious power in his hands and shouldn’t be overlooked by anyone at 170lbs.

Tim Means overcame some early trouble against Sabah Homasi to deliver a thorough beating, leaving Homasi bloodied and battered against the cage in the middle of the second round. Homasi found some early success with the his takedowns, but as soon as Means got back to his feet, he proceeded to pick Homasi apart with hellacious elbows that bloodied him up. Means carried on the onslaught in to the second round, forcing the referee to mercifully stop the fight.