Recap: UFC: Smith v Rakic

 Recap: UFC: Smith v Rakic

Grade for the Event: B

Picks Record for the Event: 6-2

Smith v Rakic: Rakic came out and put on a dominant performance against Smith. I had him winning all three rounds with the last round being a 10-8 round. The way he went about winning was a surprise, as he held Smith down with over ten minutes of ground control throughout the whole fight. The leg kicks were a huge factor for Rakic getting the win too. He dropped Smith in the first round with repeated leg kicks and his legs looked compromised the rest of the fight. Rakic was just to strong for Smith and put on a performance that should get him into the top five at 205lbs. A fight between him and Jiri would be fireworks if that is the direction the UFC wants to take it.

Lawler v Magny: Neil got the biggest win of his career last night over Lawler. He was in complete control of the entire fight. He also now is second all time in the Welterweight division in wins with 17. I would love to see the UFC re-book the Geoff Neal fight for Magny once Geoff is at full strength after his near death experience. Robbie, on the other hand looked like a shell of himself. He looked very gun shy and did not seem to want to really engage with Magny. This is now two fight in a row where Robbie got outclassed. I am never one to tell someone when to hang it up, but with all the MMA miles he has on him and at 38 years old, you have to wonder where he goes from here and what else does he have to fight for. To me, he is a hall of famer already so there would be no "what if" from me if Lawler decided to retire after this.

Best of the Rest: The night got off to a hot start with the first four fights all ending with a submission. The most impressive of them was from Sean Brady, who stays undefeated at 13-0. Brady looks like he is going to be a real problem at 170lbs for a long time. Also in those submissions was another comeback of the year candidate from Mallory Martin. She got cracked and dropped in the first round by Cifers and looked to be out for a couple seconds. The ref did not stop the fight and Martin survived and came back in the second round to get the RNC finish. Impa Kasanganay also looked good in his UFC debut against Pitolo. 

Tweet of the Night: @TheSchmo312

https://twitter.com/TheSchmo312/status/1299847359443030016  

Video of the Night: