UFC 303: Alex Pereira Retains the Belt in Spectacular Fashion
UFC 303 was one of the most fun/interesting cards of 2024. In the prelims, we saw crazy knockouts early from Joe Pyfer and Payton Talbott. In the main card, we got great fights from Alex Pereira, Diego Lopez, and Macy Chiasso. We also saw Dan Ige fill in for Brian Ortega on two-hour notice. The reaction to the news was crazy, especially online because of the circumstances. A fighter taking a fight on two hours' notice has never been seen before, especially on a main card for the UFC. UFC 303 was a paper view that we will be remembering for a very long time.
The main card started with a three-round fight between up-and-coming superstar Ian Machado Garry and Bellator legend Michael Page Venom. Garry came in as a slight favorite given how much younger and more athletic, he is, but everyone knew Page wouldn't be an easy win. The first round started off slow. Both fighters were trying to figure each other out, but that didn't last long. Garry landed a takedown with 3:55 in the first, giving him an early lead in the fight. Garry had a tight rear naked choke on Page but somehow Page was able to escape. At the end of the first, it was 1-0 Garry. The crowd wasn’t too thrilled with the second round. Up until the 1:45 mark there was a lot of grappling and not enough striking. After two rounds it felt like the fight was evened up at 1-1. The third round could have gone to any fighter. Both fighters had a lot of control time, so there wasn’t a clear-cut winner. In the end, Garry was given the win via unanimous decision.
The next fight was between Mayra Bueno Silva and Macy Chiasson. Bueno Silva came out strong, landing significant strike after significant strike. Chasson was down 1-0 and it seemed like Bueno Silva was going to win. However, things changed when Chasson landed an elbow on Bueno Silva while in mount position. The cut that Bueno Silva sustained from that elbow was so deep that the referee had to call the match giving Chasson a TKO victory.
The third fight of the main card was Anthony Smith vs. Roman Dolidze. Dolidze came in as the favorite even though he wasn’t ranked. This fight started off more exciting than the previous two given the amount of early strikes. Early in the fight, Dolidze was tearing up Smiths' calves. Dolidze ended up out-striking Smith 22-10 in the first round, giving him an easy 1-0 win. In the second round, Dolidze was able to get Smith on the ground and land blow after blow. Dolidze was dominant in the second round, with Daniel Cormier even saying, “There is no doubt Dolidze is winning right now”. With a clear 2-0 lead, Dolidze went into the third round knowing that as long as he didn’t get knocked out or submitted, he would come out victorious. The third round was more of the same, and Dolidze won via unanimous decision.
The co-main event was a three-round catchweight fight between Diego Lopez and Dan Ige. Lopez was a huge favorite given the circumstances. Originally, he was supposed to fight Brian Ortega but Ortega pulled out at just under two hours before their fight. Ige picked up the fight on short notice and it was too much surprise that Lopez agreed to fight an unranked fighter at an even heavier weight than planned. The first round was electric. Lopez came out swinging like a madman, landing three or more shots every time he engaged. Ige wasn’t bad in the first round, he responded to Lopez’s combos with well-timed counters. Towards the end of the first Lopez was able to get Ige in a tight guillotine choke, but Ige was just able to escape. In the second round, it was more of Lopez's dominance. He displayed high levels of grappling, controlling the ground game for well over a minute. Going into the third round it was 2-0 Lopez, Ige needed a miracle to win this fight. In the final round, Ige connected with some very strong punches, but in the end Lopez won by unanimous decision.
Now for the main event, Alex Pereira vs. Jiri Prochazka. The last time these two fought it resulted in a TKO knockout for Pereira in the second round. The interesting thing about that fight is that up until he got knocked out, Prochazka was winning the fight. When both fighters walked out for this fight you could just feel the energy through the screen. Although Pereira was the favorite, it wasn’t by much. The first round was electric. At the end of the round Pereira landed a left hook that knocked down Prochazka, the problem was that the round ended. Had the round not ended, Pereira would have knocked him out. However, in the second round, Pereira knocked out Prochazka with a head kick. The kick was so hard it seemed like Pereira broke his toe with Prochazka's head. What is next for the legendary Poatan?
