Wow.
UFC252 lived up to the hype in surprising ways.
Chito Marlon Vera stops the unbeaten Sean O’Malley in great style. By all reports it was Vera’s great kicks to O’Malley’s legs that caused the leg to buckle. And Vera, like the warrior he has proved himself to be, finished O’Malley. Thumbs up for Vera. And hats off to O’Malley, he is a young tough guy, falling down and learning from it, should only make him a better fighter.
Stipe defeats Cormier by decision. I heard the play by play and have seen the screen grabs, what a great fight. Stipe gets it done, cementing himself as one of the best and longest running Heavyweight champions (adding all his time as heavyweight champion, and all his title defenses).
And Cormier’s already high stock, only goes up with this fight. To put on the kind of performance he did, from bell to bell, and after effectively losing an eye in the 2nd round— wow. When you use the term legend and champion performance, its hard not to have Daniel Cormier in mind.
It does bring up the thought they need to either alter the gloves like fighter Cory MacDonald suggested, so that fighters can still grapple but not fully extend their fingers, to make eye-pokes less prevalent, or have these guys go in with at least protective contacts. Contacts won’t help with avoiding a detached retina (that may come with a severe eye-poke), however they should help protect the cornea from getting scratched, which is potentially the more severe issue.
That damage to DC’s eye looked very severe. Hoping he gets immediate and great care, and that therE is no permanent or irreparable damage. He can go into retirement knowing he has repeatedly fought the best in the world and, in victory or in defeat, always been the best in the world.
My best goes out to all the fighters, and hoping they all have a speedy and full recovery.
Heroic Times 