March MMAdness: Day 16, The Sweet 16!

Photo by Josh Hedges/WEC Productions LLC/WEC Productions LLC via Getty Images

We’re over the hump, lads and lasses! So let’s pre-emptively welcome the weekend with Mania’s March MMAdness tournament.

Day 1 Results | Day 2 Results | Day 3 Results | Day 4 Results | Day 5 Results| Day 6 Results | Day 7 Results | Day 8 Results | Day 9 Results | Day 10 Results | Day 11 Results | Day 12 Results | Day 13 Results | Day 14 Results:
Day 15 Results:

• Forrest Griffin vs. Stephan Bonnar 1 (#2) defeats Robert Whittaker vs. Yoel Romero 2 (#15) with 70 percent of Maniac votes
• Zhang Weili vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk 2 (#10) defeats Mark Hunt vs. Bigfoot Silva I (#7) with 54 percent of Maniac votes

The Light Heavyweight Hall-of-Famers dispatch two elite Middleweights and two of the UFC’s smallest fighters upend two of its largest as Zhang Weili and Joanna Jedrzejczyk carry 2020 into the Elite Eight.

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Match 7: Dan Henderson vs. Shogun Rua 1 (#3) vs. Eddie Alvarez vs. Justin Gaethje (#19)

VS.

Lando Vannata may have overachieved in his battle with Tony Ferguson, but he just wasn’t “Groovy” enough to take out the No. 3 seed in the opening round. Likewise, No. 30-seeded Wanderlei Silva vs. Brian Stann failed to pull the upset, falling by more than 150 votes.

Despite valiantly sacrificing more brain cells than most humans go through in their lifetimes. Yancy Medeiros and Alex Oliveira fell short in their battle of three-round wars against Eddie Alvarez vs. Justin Gaethje. While No. 14-ranked Anthony Pettis vs. Benson Henderson 1 kept things closer by substituting finesse for blunt-force trauma, a moral victory was all it managed.

I probably use the descriptor “war of attrition” too much, but there’s really no other way to describe these two fights. Both pushed the limits of human durability and will, took years off their participants’ lives, and had near-comeback endings that could fell the faint of heart. Are you not entertained?

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Match 8: Cheick Kongo vs. Pat Barry (#43) vs. Leonard Garcia vs. Chan Sung Jung 1 (#27)

VS.

Fittingly, the lowest seed still in the running got this far by the skin of its teeth. Just 11 votes carried it past our 2017 “Fight of the Year,” No. 22-seeded Justin Gaethje vs. Michael Johnson, and the Hall-of-Fame throwdown that is No. 11-ranked Clay Guida vs. Diego Sanchez cut that margin to six. Cumulatively, Cheick Kongo vs. Pat Barry has now overcome a 53-seed disparity.

Unrelenting violence proved more popular than technical violence in Leonard Garcia vs. Chan Sung Jung’s opening-round battle with No. 38-ranked Tony Ferguson vs. Edson Barboza, netting the former 62/38 victory. Like any good zombie, it then marched through No. 6-ranked Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen 1, which failed to find its comeback magic again.

Kongo vs. Barry has dragged some phenomenal mileage out of its final 30 seconds, and it once again finds itself a violent sprint against a violent marathon. Both have strong meta-narratives at their disposal: Kongo vs. Barry for its underdog status and Garcia vs. Jung as the last surviving World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) representative in the bracket. It’ll be a heartbreaker either way.

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Also, to reiterate, spread the word, share socially … do whatever grassroots / viral “Get Out The Vote” campaign needed to ensure your favorite fights advance to the next round. Complaining in the comments section about seeding and whatnot will not impact the results and will just make you look like an unappreciative dick.

Same time tomorrow, Maniacs.

Be sure to also check out our March MMAdness archive — which includes the entire bracket — to catch up on the tournament right here.