I decided to go back and watch the fight to see if I was missing anything and nope. It was just like I remembered.
Oezdemir 1. Reyes 2,3.
Dan Hardy was so biased. He either ignored or dismissed any kind of work Reyes did.
Over a minute into the 2nd, Reyes lands a nice push kick to the body. Oezdemir taps his stomach as if to say, "That didn't hurt."
What does Hardy say? "Good work by Volkan Oezdemir". What work? He completely ignores Reyes' strike.
Reyes lands a really hard leg kick. Oezdemir doesn't do anything. Hardy says, "The low kicks are great from Dominick Reyes but I do like what Volkan's doing here." Hardy acknowledges it this time but quickly dismisses it.
More exchanges where Reyes lands a nice left, a low kick. Whiffed strikes by Oezdemir followed by a glancing Reyes counter. Commentary instead says nice pressure by Oezdemir.
Oezdemir plods forward, no strikes, while Reyes throws strikes. Commentary talks about Oezdemir utilizing the full spectrum of his weapons. What spectrum? Walking forward?
Oezdemir continues to do nothing. Hardy talking about Oezdemir feinting and slipping punches.
Reyes goes for a TD that Oezdemir defends. "Nice defense by Volkan!"
Volkan immediately goes for a TD of his own that is completely shaken off even easier by Reyes. No acknowledgement from Hardy. Instead he says, "I love that aggression by Oezdemir.
Reyes lands a hard kick to the liver. "That didn't bother Oezdemir at all."
Oezdemir misses with a knee, "Nice knee!"
Reyes lands another hard kick the body. They say Reyes is gassing. A hard left breaks through Volkan's guard. Nothing from Hardy. Instead, he praises Volkan's confidence.
Continue to say Reyes is gassing even though he is more active. Reyes misses a jab, "He's not commiting to his punches any more.". Volkan misses with a double jab. "Nice work!"
That's not even all of it. There was just too much.
And round 3! What an atrocity. The commentators get the strike stats and can't believe how close it is. Because from what they saw, Oezdemir was landing every strike and Reyes barely. So now, they start defending their commentary for a minute or so. Ignoring more work from Reyes.
Reyes slips a punch and lands a nice straight. "Both guys looking to land". What? Reyes did land.
Pass the halfway point of the roun and all those body kicks that Reyes landed in the previous round has Oezdemir gassed.
A kick from Oezdemir is blocked. "Nice job neutralizing that left arm of Reyes."
Volkan shoots for a takedown and clinches to catch a breather. On the break, Reyes lands a straight down the middle. Then lands a hard thudding knee to the body that has Oezdemir hurt. He covers up and backs away while Reyes is on the attack.
The final two minutes go by with Reyes stalking and striking while Oezdemir covers up. Commentators ignore it all and go off on a tangent about training.