The UFC Card Of The Year Is Off To An Amazing Start

UFC 291 has been hyped as the card of the year on paper, and honestly - so far, so good! Three fights, three finishes!

Miranda Maverick kicked things off with another dominant win (and another armbar), this one over Priscila Cachoeira - who has been accused by many of being one of the division’s dirtiest fighters. This may explain the weird tap/stoppage sequence, as Maverick even referenced Cachoeira's past tactics in her post-fight interview. I think she knew she had to hold on to the armbar until the ref stepped in to avoid a “Brazilian tap” AKA fake tap - and it actually looked like Priscila tried as much....

All of that nonsense aside tho, Maverick is as real as it gets. I'm not holding her last loss (against Jasmine Jasudavicius) against her, and I don’t think I’d want anything to do with her if I were a UFC Flyweight. She straight up snatches arms.

Semi the Jedi and Uros Medic then stepped into the octagon, each with something to prove, and they beat the piss out of each other in a slobberknocker that may be hard to top tonight....

Semelsberger dropped Medic twice in the first round before getting rocked with an upkick, and then the tide totally changed as the fight slowed down in the second. 

Semelsberger started to gas, The Doctor took over, and by the third round - Medic landed an UNREAL spinning back elbow ground-and-pound combo to finish the fight….

Some would even say he Order 66’d the Jedi. I wouldn't say that, because I love Semi the Jedi, but some would say that.

In the third fight of night, Jake Matthews took down short-notice welterweight Darrius Flowers, whose best moment of the night was unfortunately his Bruce Buffer introduction….

Matthews has been a monster since moving to welterweight, and I love his attitude and outlook on fighting overall. I think he's got a good head on his shoulders.

We still have a lot of great fights ahead of us (plus Spence Jr vs Crawford later), so tune on in to ESPN+ and load up for a night of violence. War Poirier.

P.S. CHIHUAHUA AT THE FIGHTS, I REPEAT, CHIHUAHUA AT THE FIGHTS!! 

Is that one of the Nelk boys? I see the Happy Dad hat but don’t recognize the guy.

Hopefully that dog is okay being in a loud ass arena and this isn't some zany prank. Don't mess with dogs. 

That said, if the dog is cool with it, I hope he/she enjoys the fights.