UFC Fight Night 18 Recap & Analysis

UFC Fight Night 18 from Nashville, TN wasn't exactly the welcoming the UFC wanted when a crowd of booing fans disagreed with a decision in a well-fought, Fight of the Night deserving battle between Carlos Condit and Martin Kampmann, but the event delivered some key observations as to where some of the younger fighters within the UFC ranks are headed.

Martin Kampmann def. Carlos Condit via split decision (29-28 Kampmann, 29-28 Condit (Peoples), 29-28 Kampmann): This was a deserving Fight of the Night battle between two very evenly matched opponents. As Brent wrote previously, I'm not exactly sure how this epic war between combatants didn't score a huge bonus in the end, but it will definitely be remembered as a solid UFN headliner.

Whether you agree with the scoring or not, we have to look at some of the big pluses each fighter showed in this fight. Condit was very dynamic in his striking ability as we knew he could be. Front kicks, head kicks, solid jabs, uppercuts, and body blows were all within his arsenal. His jiu-jitsu on the floor wasn't dominating in this fight, but only because Martin Kampmann's abilities to recognize and escape were phenomenal.

Kampmann had a knack for looking for submissions during Condit's takedowns, and he obviously has a plethora of knowledge in the ground game to recognize when he's in danger. My only concern for Kampmann is his standup game. While he's known as a world champion kickboxer, his standup was underperforming at times. His defense, in some instances, was lacking. He would lurk into the pocket against Condit, and easily eat a few jabs before shooting for takedowns.

Kampmann is still looking solid at 170 pounds, and it's likely the concensus that this should be his weight class in terms of not having guys who overpower and tower over him. He needs to begin reworking his standup in my opinion. If he can bring that back to a dangerous level, he could be one of the few Welterweights with solid abilities in both departments.

It's back to the drawing board for Condit, but he showed that he belongs in the UFC. He wasn't thrown an easy fight here, and he'll likely notch some solid wins down the road. Conditioning became a problem in the third round, and Kampmann almost looked as if he gained a second wind during the action. That'll be one area in which Condit will want to improve.

Quick Hits

Ryan Bader def. Carmelo Marrero via unanimous decision: For a guy being hailed as a solid wrestler, Marrero has almost zero takedown defense. It's obviously his Achilles heel as anybody can just take him down at will and pound on him from top control. While I would have liked to see Bader use his powerful hands more often, a win is a win. Hopefully Bader will begin to improve and slip out of that Jake O'Brien type of mold.

Cole Miller def. Junie Browning via guillotine choke, Round 1: This is almost what I expected, although not as quickly. It was evident that Browning wasn't letting his hands go at all, and Miller was taking some big risks in coming forward aggressively. Browning didn't make him pay for it, and Miller easily was able to sink in a choke. We can't take too much out of this fight, but we can say that Browning looked very nervous and gunshy.

Tyson Griffin def. Rafael Dos Anjos via unanimous decision: A lot of fans were pissed about all three judges scoring this 30-27, but the evidence was quite high on Griffin winning at least 2 of the rounds decisively regardless of what the scoring was in the end. Griffin's jab and striking overall was landing effortlessly on Anjos' face for most of the fight. Griffin would miss looping punches, but Anjos never made him pay for it with a counter.

Solid outing for Griffin, although I still would love to see him become more technical in his striking with straight punches instead of looping overhands. Anjos needs some technical boxing in his skillset. If he would have had some type of quick counter abilities, Griffin could have been caught on multiple occassions.

More analysis after the jump...

Rest of the card...

Gleison Tibau def. Jeremy Stephens via unanimous decision: Tibau worked the perfect gameplan in taking down Stephens at will during this matchup. Stephens needs to gain some sort of ability on the ground to stop opponents from bringing this type of gameplan to the table. It probably didn't help that Tibau has some solid power to begin with. All we need now is both guys to make weight next time.

Ricardo Almeida def. Matt Horwich via unanimous decision: Another Team Quest fighter bites the dust. Horwich didn't have anything to offer in this fight, and it's amazing that these Team Quest guys are being taken down so easily. I will say that Almeida is a damn big test for Horwich, and his skills on the floor are definitely more impressive. Horwich probably couldn't handle the power that Almeida presents, but he was at least able to evade submission.

Brock Larson def. Jesse Sanders via rear-naked choke, Round 1: Did you expect anything less? Larson's ability is no joke. He got the takedown, Sanders gave his back, Larson sprawled him out, and beat on him until Sanders gave up his neck. Perfect outing for Larson. He should begin ascending within the division.

Tim Credeur def. Nick Catone via guillotine choke, Round 2: Very interesting bout. Catone was on the offensive for most of the fight, but the offense was nullified by Credeur's dynamic ground attack. He was moving for armbars and triangles for most of the time while on his back, and Catone was on the defensive for two rounds. Credeur ended up catching him after the fight got back to the feet when Catone went for yet another takedown. A solid outing for Credeur. He showed that he has the jiu-jitsu chops on the floor to create opportunities for himself even off his back.

Jorge Rivera def. Nissen Osterneck via unanimous decision: My upset pick didn't get it done, although it was a close fight. Osterneck got dropped in the second round, and by that time, both Rivera and Nissen were gassing hard. Rivera definitely won the last two rounds in this fight, but the bigger story was the amount of sweeps that happened in the first round. It was pretty impressive to see both these guys executing those kinds of transitions.

Rob Kimmons def. Joe Vedepo via guillotine choke, Round 1: Kimmons is much more experienced than Vedepo, and this result obviously shows that Vedepo needs to work on avoiding the guillotine choke if he's going to be an overpowering wrestler in the cage. Kimmons actually caught him in a standing guillotine and choked him unconscious.

Aaron Simpson def. Tim McKenzie via technical knockout, Round 1: My second upset pick, although he became the favorite over the past week. McKenzie came out franticly, was subsequently dropped by a right, put on the floor, and then destroyed on the feet after he got back up. It just wasn't McKenzie's night, and his frantic pace at the beginning of bouts seems to be more disadvantageous than benefiting him.

Overall Thoughts

It was a solid event in terms of having two fantastic bouts in Griffin vs. Dos Anjos and Condit vs. Kampmann. I would have loved to see some preliminary bouts, but both those decisions were well-fought wars in the cage. Bader's win over Marrero was rather boring as it turned into a lay and pray battle due to Bader's injury and Marrero's non-existent takedown defense.

Chuck Liddell's interview was actually a bit more lively than usual. Honestly, he used to be the most dull interview in the world with his cliche answers to everything, but at least he looked awake this time. Rogan and Goldberg were solid, and Rogan's enthusiasm over Griffin's leg being twisted was a bit comical at times.

Betting Recap

Very good event in terms of betting... and parlays paid out very well. I won't divulge amounts, but here's the breakdown:

Kampmann-Miller-Tibau - parlay
Simpson-Miller-Tibau-Kampmann - parlay
Simpson over McKenzie - single bet
Osterneck over Rivera - single bet
Almeida over Horwich - single bet
Catone over Credeur - single bet

I dropped both my Osterneck bet and Catone bet, but paid out on the rest of the card. Very solid event in terms of betting if you could avoid huge bets on Catone or Osterneck, but the event favorites won for the most part.