With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best fights from December 2019: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s “Fight of the Month” award for December.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting on your choice.
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Rob Font def. Ricky Simon at UFC on ESPN 7
Rob Font (17-4 MMA, 7-3 UFC) had to battle through early adversity to get his 17th professional win, topping a game Ricky Simon (15-3 MMA, 3-2 UFC).
Font came back from getting dropped in the first round to outpoint Simon in a unanimous decision. The judges’ scores were 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27, giving Font back-to-back wins for the first time in more than two years.
Kamaru Usman def. Colby Covington at UFC 245
The highly anticipated welterweight title fight between Kamaru Usman (16-1 MMA, 11-0 UFC) and Colby Covington (15-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) surpassed all pre-fight expectations, but in the end it was the champion who came away with his title reign intact.
Usman and Covington went toe-to-toe for nearly five rounds, exchanging strikes on the feet and not once putting a wholehearted effort into a takedown attempt. Usman proved more dangerous on the feet in the matchup of wrestlers, breaking Covington’s jaw before dropping and stopping him in the fifth for the fight-ending TKO.
Charles Jourdain def. Dooho Choi at UFC on ESPN+ 23
After falling short in his UFC debut earlier this year, Charles Jourdain (10-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) showed what he was all about in his sophomore octagon appearance when he won a featherweight thriller against Dooho Choi (14-4 MMA, 3-3 UFC).
Jourdain gave “The Korean Superboy” a rude welcome back to action from a long layoff when he fearlessly found a home for his strikes for nearly two full rounds. Eventually Choi couldn’t hold up, because Jourdain connected with a shot that set up a TKO to end the “Fight of the Night” affair.
A.J. McKee def. Derek Campos at Bellator 236
Derek Campos (20-10 MMA, 9-8 BMMA) showed off his trademark toughness, but it wasn’t enough to stop A.J. McKee (16-0 MMA, 16-0 BMMA) from picking up another impressive win to extend his record winning streak in Bellator.
McKee fought Campos from every area over the course of the bout, then suddenly in the third, from his back, he pulled off a slick armbar that forced Campos to tap out and made him the first man to advance to the semifinals of the Bellator featherweight grand prix.
Tofiq Musaev def. Patricky Freire at Rizin FF 20
Tofiq Musaev (18-3 MMA, 5-0 Rizin) made light of his underdog status as he surged into the Rizin lightweight grand prix final and claimed a unanimous decision victory over pre-tournament favorite Patricky Freire (23-9 MMA, 2-1 Rizin).
The two semifinal matchups in the lightweight grand prix tournament produced brutal, quick-fire finishes as Azerbaijan’s Musaev and Brazilian Bellator star Freire registered impressive stoppage wins. They went all three rounds in the final, though, each trying to overcome severe hand injuries. Musaev had the bigger moments, though, and was given the nod by the judges.
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The Winner: Usman vs. Covington
After a heated buildup and a compelling fight, Usman came out “and still” the UFC welterweight champion.
With the clock winding down in the UFC 245 main event, Usman finished former interim champ Covington at 4:10 of Round 5 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
As Covington walked out to Kurt Angle’s WWE theme song, he was met with boos and middle fingers from the crowd, although the controversial competitor also had a noticeable share of supporters. A calm, cool and collected Usman made the walk second, draped in the Nigerian flag.
When it came time to fight, the two combatants, who did not touch gloves at the outset, delivered. Known for their wrestling abilities, not one takedown attempt was tried. Covington set a frenetic pace in the first, while Usman was more calculated with his strikes.
After three rounds of back-and-forth face-punching, Covington informed his corner he thought he broke his jaw. Upon replay, a hard straight right was the culprit.
Fighting through the pain in the fourth round, Covington showed tremendous heart. He stunned Usman on multiple occasions and dug deep to return to his first-round pacing.
With the fight being relatively close, there was no consensus leader entering the fifth. It could have been anyone’s fight. Midway through the round, Usman showed championship mettle and began to land some of his hardest punches of the fight.
In a wild fifth-round sequence, Usman battered Covington, dropping him to the canvas. Covington survived, but only for so long. He was promptly met with more hard shots from the champion. As a bloody, battered, and swollen Covington clutched onto a single leg, Usman’s hammer fists finished the fight.
Upon the stoppage from referee Marc Goddard, the bloodied and battered Covington protested, but to no avail.
After the fight, Covington left the cage and ran to the back. He did not give a post-fight interview.
Conversely, Usman took the high road. The champion celebrated his win, but also turned attention to a tragedy his family had recently endured. Usman’s brother Mohammed, a pro MMA heavyweight, lost his son in a drowning accident earlier this year.
The victory means Usman has now won 15 straight outings. As for Covington, the loss was only the second of his career.
MMA Junkie's 'Fight of the Month' for December: A slugfest between wrestlers
