Four UFC events, combined with shows from Bellator, World Series of Fighting, ONE Championship and Invicta Fighting Championships, among others. April has been packed full of mixed martial arts action.
The Last Word on Sports MMA department have compiled their monthly list of the very best fights available. Using our complex, top-secret scoring system, here is our top three countdown to April’s fight of the month.
#3 – Will Brooks vs Dave Jansen, Bellator FC 136
Votes: 1st x 1 (Stephen Rivers)
Bellator Fighting Championships’ lightweight title holder was made to work in his first full defense. Season 7 tournament winner Dave Jansen, came out firing wildly, throwing 99 strikes in the first five minutes, and managing to hurt the champion in the clinch with knees and elbows. Brooks was able to slow his opponent down over the course of twenty five grueling minutes, consistently landing clean shots and controlling the action. All three judges scored the bout 49-46 in Brooks’ favor.
#2 – Gian Villante vs Corey Anderson, UFC on Fox 15
Votes: 1st x 2 (Moe Fuggahn, Michael Hutchinson), 3rd x 1 (Trent Dozier)
For two rounds of this light-heavyweight contest on the Fox preliminaries Gian Villante consistently landed brutal leg kicks to slow down his opponent, previously undefeated Ultimate Fighter winner, Corey Anderson. It was the third round that was perhaps the most troublesome for Villante, as Anderson increased the tempo and won most of the punching exchanges. It was also the round in which he won the fight. Villante landed a thunderous right hand that had Anderson stumbling sideways towards the cage. Villante followed up and forced the stoppage at 4:18 of the final round.
#1 – Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic vs Gabriel Gonzaga, UFC Fight Night 64
Votes: 1st x 3 (Melanie Gale, Trent Dozier, Stephanie Schneider), 2nd x 1 (Moe Fuggahn), 3rd x 1 (Michael Hutchinson)
It was the show people pretended they weren’t excited by, the fight that we all suggested was out of place in 2015, yet here it is standing head and shoulders above the rest as Last Word on Sports’ fight of the month.
Headlining what had been by all accounts a lackluster show in Krakow, Poland, Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic looked off the pace through the first two rounds. He was cut, he had been mounted, Gabriel Gonzaga appeared to be in control of the fight.
Midway through the third it had been more of the same. There had been nothing to suggest that when Gonzaga pushed Cro Cop up against the fence and clinched, he would be met with a stinging elbow from the Croatian. Sensing that Gonzaga was hurt, Cro Cop threw another that had his opponent’s legs wobbling.
Louder than they had for any fighter throughout the course of the evening, the crowd began to get behind Cro Cop. They sensed that the MMA legend could win the fight. Uppercuts would start to connect, as Gonzaga was driven to the mat. Elbows and punches rained down until referee Leon Roberts was forced to stop the fight.
Gabriel Gonzaga’s forehead looked like it had received a blow from an ax. Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic, at 40-years-old, had just secured his greatest moment in the UFC.
Other fights to receive votes
Delaney Owen vs Sharon Jacobson, InvictaFC 12 – 1 x 2nd, 1 x 3rd
Aisling Daly vs Randa Markos, UFC 186 – 1 x 2nd
Max Holloway vs Cub Swanson, UFC on Fox 15 – 1 x 2nd
Paige VanZant vs Felice Herrig, UFC on Fox 15 – 1 x 2nd
Luke Rockhold vs Lyoto Machida, UFC on Fox 15 – 1 x 2nd
Chad Mendes vs Ricardo Lamas, UFC Fight Night 63 – 2 x 3rd
Joey Beltran vs Brian Rogers, Bellator FC 136 – 1 x 3rd
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