Fight Island 7 Main Event
Michael Chiesa and Neil Magny met this past weekend for UFC Fight Island 7. This fight was a late replacement for the highly anticipated bout between Leon Edwards vs. Khamzat Chimaev and had a lot to live up to because of that. Chiesa would end up taking the bout by decision after a hard-fought five rounds by both fighters. The fight itself saw Chiesa force the action spending basically the entire fight setting up takedowns, attempting to finish takedowns, and passing guard. Magny defended very well on the ground and was never in submission danger. He attempted a couple of takedowns finishing one, but Chiesa turned his back and popped right up. The other two takedown attempts from Neil Magny caused scrambles that ended with his opponent on top.
First Round Once he closed the distance between him and his opponent, Chiesa would enter an over-under tie-up with Magny and connect his hands. Chiesa would then step his knee in between Magny's legs, change direction, and bring him to the ground. After the takedown, they would end up in lockdown half guard with Chiesa on top. Magny would get both under hooks, which is necessary to stand, sweep, or enter the legs from lockdown. Despite getting the necessary under hooks, Magny was flattened out and unable to create the necessary angle to attack his opponent in any way. Chiesa would stay on top in lockdown and normal half-guard for the rest of the round.
Second Round
Chiesa would waste no time pressuring Magny, immediately moving towards Magny and throwing a left kick. Magny caught the kick and the clinch was initiated. Chiesa freed his leg and got an over-under grip once again connected his hands, but this time was stuffed. He pressed him against the fence and would end up getting a body lock and separating Magny from the fence to take him to the ground. After a somewhat extensive scramble, Magny would get back to his feet and get a body lock of his own. He would attempt to lift and throw Chiesa but end up on the bottom. Magny ate a couple of big elbows from inside his closed guard and was briefly passed but recovered to half guard. He would get butterfly hooks towards the end of the round but ate a couple more elbows and was forced back to half guard to end the round.
Third Round
Neil Magny would come out throwing in the third, likely knowing he had dropped the first two on the cards. He backed his opponent up against the cage and landed a couple of hard shots before getting a body lock and taking him to the ground. Michael Chiesa would turn his back to stand and fight the hands. Magny would get one hook in but was unable to get the other hook or secure a seatbelt grip leading Chiesa to stand and break free. Magny would once back Chiesa up against the cage but would eat a left hand and have to move backward. Chiesa would use his feints to back Magny up against the cage and punch his way into the clinch. He would attempt an outside trip and Neil would give his back as a result. Chiesa tried to put his hooks in to take the back but ended up finishing a head-outside single to get it to the mat. He would end up in mount and would take Magny back to the ground with a front headlock. The round would end in a Simpsons Esque exchange of punches from half guard.
Fourth
Chiesa would land a big right hand and attempt an outside trip directly afterward, switched it to a double, and finished the takedown. He would land some elbows from inside of Magny's closed guard forcing him to open it, allowing Chiesa to force half guard and try to pass. They would end up in quarter guard and Magny would bail fearing the pass and retreat to the fence. Chiesa would take the back standing, put both hooks in, and take it to the mat. He would lock a body triangle, but Magny defended quickly by sitting to the side where the triangle was locked and clearing his opponent's strangle arm. Clearing the arm allowed Magny to turn around in the body triangle and a scramble for top ensued. Chiesa won the scramble and took mount, but Magny would kick off of the fence and use it stand. Chiesa would get the back with both hooks as his opponent was standing up, but bailed on the position in fear of a deleterious outcome. Magny would attempt an inverted triangle which he would lose with about ten seconds left in the round.
Fifth
Magny came out aggressively cutting off Michael Chiesa with his footwork knowing he needed to make something happen, but was hesitant to pull the trigger on anything in fear of a takedown. Chiesa appeared tired and to just be avoiding damage until he could find an opportunity to take it to the ground. About two minutes into the final round Chiesa would initiate the clinch and Magny would get a body lock and attempt to take the back. Again, Magny would end up on the bottom after attempting to take down his opponent. Chiesa would spend the rest of the round on top and win the decision, despite his opponent's best efforts to create a different outcome.
Michael Chiesa performance review
From the first two minutes of this fight on, it was evident that Michael Chiesa had done some evolving as a fighter. He utilized his feints and footwork to a greater degree than usual as well as circling off of the cage with the requisite haste to avoid getting boxed in and letting Magny pick him apart. Those two things allowed Chiesa to relocate himself to the center of the cage when he was getting backed up. Magny is very dangerous when he can trap his against the fence as his reach allows him to manipulate his opponent's guard and land at the end of the extension of the punch where it is most powerful. So avoiding this scenario proved pivotal to the success of Chiesa. He would utilize the feints to close a lot of distance and get into the clinch quickly without taking damage. This is something he has improved on a great deal since his last bout.
Neil Magny performance review
Neil Magny is a perennially underrated fighter. He has the second-most wins in welterweight history with seventeen, trailing only George St. Pierre's nineteen. Magny is the definition of well-rounded and consistent and he showed it in this fight despite losing. Magny got the better of most of the few exchanges on the feet and held his own on the ground. Magny made use of good wrist control and kuzushi to disrupt Chiesa's base, which was the difference that mitigated damage. Magny did not have his guard passed for that long in the fight and quickly recovered his guard or stood up both times. He escaped the back when he had it taken and was never in submission danger. In fact, he had the closest sub attempt with an inverted triangle. Magny also showed his wrestling repeatedly turning his back to stand and breaking the lock to escape. Despite his valiant and technically sound effort magny was unable to win this fight.
What's next?
Now that the bout has concluded, the logical question of who should these fighters face next arises. The next step for Chiesa is very clear. After his dominating performance, he called out the UFC's most irritating fighter, Colby Covington. The fight with Covington would surely involve a lot of trash talk leading up to the bout and is likely to be an exciting fight. Both Chiesa and Covington are gifted grapplers with the latter having a better wrestling background on paper and the former being a much bigger and stronger fighter with superior submission skills. I would like to see Neil Magny face Geoff Neal. both fighters are coming off of losses and are sitting close in the rankings. The fight itself is interesting stylistically and would prove a lot for either fighter.
Takeaway
This fight had a lot to live up to given the one it was replacing and was a predictably grappling heavy bout. Chiesa showed new skills that made a big impact in this bout and won via unanimous decision. Magny did a good job of defending everything and didn't take an exorbitant amount of damage in this bout, but in the end, it wasn't enough to thwart Chiesa's grappling onslaught. Both fighters appeared to be healthy after the bout and not sustain that much damage during the course of it so quick turnarounds are likely. While this is a tough loss for Magny, he was on a three-fight win streak so his spot on the roster is in no danger. Chiesa put on a dominating performance and capped it off with a great callout of Colby Covington.
Image Credits to https://www.mmaweekly.com
Author: Nick Marroso
Twitter@MMAnickmarroso
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