2 weeks Ago By Mike Johnston
The UFC 314 lineup was chock full of some of the best featherweight talent in all of mixed martial arts and divisional stalwart Dan Ige showed out in the featured preliminary bout. Ige snapped Sean Woodson’s seven-fight unbeaten streak, mounting a third-round comeback. Woodson stands 6-foot-2, which is extremely rare and tall for the 145-pound weight class, and Ige had some trouble getting inside his opponent’s reach during the first two rounds.
Early in the third, though, Ige found the mark with an overhand left that landed flush and wobbled Woodson. Ige was picked his follow-up shots wisely and although it appeared as though Woodson was recovering, the referee halted the action resulting in a technical knockout. Ige had lost two in a row and three of four prior to UFC 314.
The 33-year-old is 11-8 in the UFC but has stood opposite the division's best for years. The commentary team of Jon Anik, Daniel Cormier and Joe Rogan all said they thought it was an early stoppage. Veteran 145-pounders Darren Elkins and Julian Erosa were also in action at the Kaseya Center in Miami and Erosa made this one look like a mismatch.
Elkins is 40 and has been in the UFC since 2010. He has developed a reputation over the years for being durable and Saturday was his 30th UFC appearance but he took lots of damage in a fight that only lasted 4:15. Erosa, who also holds a previous win over Woodson, walloped Elkins repeatedly until a powerful right knee and right elbow sent Elkins to the canvas before the referee eventually called off the fight.
Erosa has now won three in a row, all first-round finishes. Another fighter in their 40s was unable to get his hand raised as Jim Miller lost a unanimous decision to Chase Hooper. Miller, 41, is the UFC’s all-time wins leader but had difficulty with his much younger opponent’s leverage and skill set on the ground.
Hooper is just 25 years old and has won five in a row since moving up from the featherweight division two years ago. Virna Jandiroba positioned herself for a strawweight title shot by extending her winning streak to five and smothering one-time title challenger Yan Xiaonan for three rounds. Women’s 115-pound champion Zhang Weili is enjoying a dominant second title reign and does not have her next fight lined up.
Xiaonan has been the No. 1-ranked contender since last year. Jandiroba was the No.
3 contender entering Saturday’s matchup and the only top-five contender yet to fight for the title. Marco Tulio won his 10th pro bout in a row and improved to 2-0 in the UFC with a second-round stoppage of Tresean Gore in a spirited albeit one-sided middleweight bout. Tulio had a significant strike advantage of a whopping 127-17 before putting Gore away with a stiff straight right hand.
Also on the prelims, Su Mudaerji got the nod in a split decision with fellow flyweight Mitch Raposo and Michał Oleksiejczuk outclassed Sedriques Dumas and picked up a first-round technical knockout win to snap a three-fight skid. Nora Cornolle, the lone fighter on the card to miss the mark at Friday morning’s weigh-in, opened the prelims with a submission victory over Hailey Cowan in their catchweight bout. France’s Cornolle missed the non-title women’s bantamweight limit of 136 by 1.
5 pounds and forfeited 20 per cent of her purse to her opponent. Missing weight did not seem to impact the 35-year-old in the cage. Typically known for her striking prowess, Cornolle picked up her second career submission when she sunk in a rear-naked choke.
Cornolle was the No. 13-ranked women’s bantamweight fighter entering UFC 314 and called out No. 8 Ailin Perez after her win.
Cornolle is now 9-2 as a pro and 3-1 in the UFC. Both of her pro losses were decisions to No. 12 Jacqueline Cavalcanti.
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