Well, 2021 has been a wild year in MMA and it seems to be getting crazier.

This year has been packed with many unexpected moments in the sport and things just got a lot more wild with Mateus Santos’ submission win at Open Fighting Championship 2 in Russia.

The Brazilian picked up a strange first-round submission over Alexander Volodin while defending a tight omoplata from Volodin. Santos (15-6 MMA) put Volodin’s right leg behind his head, grabbled Volodin’s foot, then put his head to the canvas and pulled on Volodin’s right foot. The maneuver hyperextended Volodin’s foot, causing a strange toe-hold submission.

The video quickly picked up traction online. It’s definitely one of the weirdest submissions seen this year and maybe even in MMA history.

With the result, Santos snapped Volodin’s seven-fight winning streak and bounced back from a loss in September. Santos is now 4-1 in his past five performances.

Below is Santos’s odd submission win at Open Fighting Championship 2:

Still waiting for the expert breakdown of this absurd submission from Matheus Santos yesterday pic.twitter.com/DIjjmm81py

— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) February 21, 2021

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2021/02/video-mateus-santos-strange-toe-hold-submission-omoplata-mma

Watch the recap and highlights from the UFC Vegas 19: Blaydes vs. Lewis main event between Curtis Blaydes and Derrick Lewis from Saturday’s event at The Apex in Las Vegas.

TRENDING Belal Muhammad steps up to face Leon Edwards at UFC Fight Night 187 on March 13

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Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/ufc-vegas-19-recap-curtis-blaydes-vs-derrick-lewis

Having last fought in August of 2019, lightweight Devonte Smith was looking to get back into the Octagon with a bang when he faced Justin Jaynes at UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs. Volkov in early February.

With just over a minute remaining in the second round of the bout, the fight was stopped after Jaynes was unable to see out of a badly swollen eye. It was Smith’s his first win in almost exactly two years.

“I felt good,” Smith told MMAWeekly.com. “I feel like I did good considering it had been something like 536 days since (I was last) fighting. I got back in and felt like I was present, I felt like I was there, and performed like I wanted.”

While Smith would have liked to have put a definitive stamp on his return, he’s happy to have gotten the win any way it came to him.

“I didn’t really notice (Jaynes’ eye) until he got out of the choke and tried to get into my guard,” said Smith. “I (then) noticed his eye was swollen and I thought that they were going to end it because you can’t see out of your eye when it’s swollen.

“When (the referee) stopped it, I was very surprised that he stopped it, but I wasn’t mad he stopped it. A win is a win.”

Back on the winning track for the first time in a long time, Smith now turns his attention towards continuing to improve his game. He knows he needs to keep getting better should he want to work his way up the lightweight ranks in the UFC.

“I want to get better in everything: wrestling offense and defense, my striking, my boxing, my Muay Thai, every single skill,” Smith said.

“I want to get better in a great manner because the 155-pound division is very stacked. In the Top 10, Top 15, they have very big competition, so I’ve got to be on my toes, and use whatever fighter IQs to beat these guys.”

While he knows the competition only gets more difficult from here, Smith feels like with his win on Feb. 6, he’s on the right path for 2021.

“This year is better than last year because last year I didn’t fight,” said Smith. “I feel like I’m headed in a positive direction.

“(Whether I have) three or four fights this year, that’s the goal. I feel like I’m going to go in the right direction to get to that goal. I’m excited to finally be back in there instead of taking constant breaks.”

TRENDING UFC Vegas 19 results: Derrick Lewis ties record with Curtis Blaydes knockout

Derrick Lewis addresses late KO shots on Curtis Blaydes at UFC Vegas 19

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Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/devonte-smith-excited-for-the-year-ahead-in-the-ufc

Derrick Lewis added another highlight-reel knockout to his resume Saturday.

At UFC Fight Night 185, Lewis (25-7 MMA, 16-5 UFC) knocked out Curtis Blaydes with a violent counter uppercut at 1:26 of Round 2. The finish came after a challenging opening nine minutes for Lewis.

The heavyweight bout was the UFC Fight Night 185 main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. It streamed on ESPN+.

The first round was a striking display from Blaydes (14-3 MMA, 9-3 UFC). In one of the first exchanges, Blaydes ate a big punch. From there, however, Blaydes took over. He landed punches to the head and heavy leg kicks on Lewis.

In Round 2, Blaydes shot for a takedown, but Lewis denied it. Shortly thereafter, Blaydes shot again. This time, Lewis landed a perfectly timed uppercut that folded Blaydes over backward. Before referee Herb Dean could step in, Lewis landed two coffin-nail punches to a stiff Blaydes.

MY WORD. pic.twitter.com/Y6Soja9Rut

— Justin Russo (@FlyByKnite) February 21, 2021

Blaydes was down on the canvas through the following broadcast commercial break, but he was awake and present for the official decision.

With his 20th career knockout, Lewis extended his winning streak to four. He now shares the record for UFC knockouts with Vitor Belfort at 12. Of his most recent nine outings, Lewis has won seven. During that stretch of fights, Lewis has defeated Francis Ngannou, Alexander Volkov, and Marcin Tybura, among others.

As for Blaydes, the loss snaps a four-fight winning streak. It was the first pro defeat he suffered to someone other than Francis Ngannou. It’s the third time Blaydes has lost by TKO in his professional career, but the first time he has been knocked out cold.

Complete UFC Fight Night 185 results include:

• Derrick Lewis def. Curtis Blaydes via knockout (punches) – Round 2, 1:26
• Yana Kunitskaya def. Ketlen Vieira via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Darrick Minner def. Charles Rosa via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 29-27)
• Chris Daukaus def. Aleksei Oleinik via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 1:55
• Phil Hawes def. Nassourdine Imavov via majority decision (28-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Tom Aspinall def. Andrei Arlovski via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 1:09
• Jared Gordon def. Danny Chavez via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
• John Castaneda def. Eddie Wineland via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:44
• Julian Erosa def. Nate Landwehr via TKO (flying knee) – Round 1, 0:56
• Casey O’Neill def. Shana Dobson via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 3:41
• Aiemann Zahabi def. Drako Rodriguez via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 3:05
• Serghei Spivac def. Jared Vanderaa via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 4:32

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2021/02/ufc-fight-night-185-video-derrick-lewis-knocks-curtis-blaydes-stiff-scary-uppercut-knockout-ko

By MMA Junkie Staff
February 21, 2021 12:07 am

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Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/lists/ufc-fight-night-185-bonuses-derrick-lewis-earns-extra-50000-after-brutal-knockout