For the first time in a long time UFC fans from America had to rise early to watch a fight card as the promotion hit Beijing for UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs. Ngannou 2. They now know how hard us Europeans have to fight to stay awake during most MMA events.
Chinese MMA Fighters put on some solid fights all night
The home grown talent, many signed for this event, put on a strong showing.
Song Yadong put in solid work with a win over Vince Morales in the Bantamweight division.
'The Kungfu Monkey' grabs the decision win! #UFCBeijing pic.twitter.com/UZeWWoBBwD
— UFC (@ufc) November 24, 2018
The best Chinese fighter of the night had to be Yanan Wu who stopped favourite Lauren Mueller with an armbar.
Beautiful work!
Yanan Wu forces the tap and earns the upset at #UFCBeijing pic.twitter.com/q8ymXrftHv
— UFC (@ufc) November 24, 2018
In this victory Wu received her BJJ blue belt inside the Octagon.
Congrats, Yanan Wu! #UFCBeijing pic.twitter.com/UigIPlpYTQ
— UFC (@ufc) November 24, 2018
The ladies continued with the submissions as Weili Zhang bagged herself with an arm bar against UFC mainstay Jessica Aguilar.
Louis Smolka earns a performance of the night bonus in UFC return
He went on a four fight skid prior to his UFC release and after a netting three wins he was invited back to the promotion and he did not waste time in re-establishing himself as a skilled grappler and finisher.
In his return!
Welcome back, @LastSamuraiUFC. #UFCBeijing pic.twitter.com/fWBkdJDxKy
— UFC (@ufc) November 24, 2018
Smolka reflects on his second chance and appreciates the positive impact it will have on his family’s future.
It’s all for you little one, daddy loves you. Thank you @ufc for having me back and giving me the chance to give her a future pic.twitter.com/PJzECdACXJ
— Louis Smolka (@LouisSmolkaMMA) November 24, 2018
Overeem earns Knockout and call for a rematch with Ngannou
Overeem starched Sergey Pavlovich in the first round to get himself back to winning ways.
The Reem dealt with back to back losses coming into Beijing, he suffered a devastating knockout to Ngannou and a grinding TKO defeat to Curtis Blaydes. Both of these men fought in the main event of the evening but he had designs on running it back with Francis Ngannou first.
Start spreading the news.@AlistairOvereem is back! #UFCBeijing pic.twitter.com/NzwDzW0eIH
— UFC (@ufc) November 25, 2018
Ngannou returns in the Main Event of the Evening
Francis “The Predator” Ngannou came back to form, making quick work of Curtis “Razor” Blaydes in explosive fashion in the first round
Some pundits believed Ngannou had lost all of his confidence following a systematic dismantling at the hands of the then Heavyweight Champion Stipe Miocic.
Following coming up short in the title effort he put on a lackluster performance against Derrick Lewis. The highly touted phenom did not fire off his power and hesitated until the final bell.
By steamrolling Blaydes he has put the Heavyweight division on notice yet again and is still possess the confidence to throw power punches.
Lessons learned.
Most importantly, FRANCIS NGANNOU IS BACK! #UFCBeijing pic.twitter.com/M0G4AyhkAf
— UFC (@ufc) November 24, 2018
The predator is back…
Thank you everyone for the support🙏🙏🙏. #ufcbeijing #theredemption #thepredator pic.twitter.com/8u5uUGSgQW— Francis Ngannou (@francis_ngannou) November 25, 2018
UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs. Ngannou 2 Quick Results
Francis Ngannou def. Curtis Blaydes TKO Round 1 0:45.
Alistair Overeem def. Sergey Pavlovich TKO Round 1 4:21.
Yadong Song def. Vince Morales Decision (unanimous) (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) Li Jingliang def. David Zawada TKO Round 3 4:07.
Early Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass)
Alex Morono def. Kenan Song Decision (unanimous) (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) 3 5:00
Wu Yanan def. Lauren Mueller (armbar) Round 1 4:00.
Catchweight (208 lbs) Rashad Coulter def. Hu Yaozong Decision (unanimous) (29-28, 29-28, 30-27) 3 5:00. Zhang Weili def. Jessica Aguilar by (arm bar) Round 1 3:41.
Liu Pingyuan def. Martin Day Decision (split) (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Xiaonan Yan def. Syuri Kondo Decision (unanimous) (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Kevin Holland def. John Philips (rear-naked choke) Round 3 4:05.
Louis Smolka def. Su Mudaerji (armbar) Round 2 2:07.