I didn't have high hopes for this show, mostly because the interesting fights were lost to injury and the overall depth of this UFC Fight Night just wasn't deep. Thankfully, this was one of those cards that featured several finishes and entertaining fights, so it was a largely enjoyable card in Rio de Janeiro. It also helped that a lot of the Brazilians won so we weren't treated to prolonged periods of silence like last month's Bigfoot vs. Mir card.
Granted, Demian Maia versus Ryan LaFlare wasn't a thriller and towards the end both men were just physically spent. Kudos to Maia for certainly proving me wrong about his potential age-related and health-related decline. While he didn't get the submission he was looking for, he proved to still be the tremendous grappler that made him a middleweight title challenger and currently makes him a top 10 welterweight even as he nears 38. Credit must be given to LaFlare for managing to avoid getting submitted, powering his way out of full mount on multiple occasions, and at least trying to make one last push for a win in the final round, but this was definitely a case of "too much, too soon" despite the betting odds being in his favor. He really didn't impress as a striker and Maia was just way too strong for him before he was heavily fatigued.
Some more thoughts on tonight's action:
- Fox Sports 1 shows are paced really really really badly. There's no reason for a main card to end at 1:15 AM ET when the previous 5 fights all ended inside the distance, with 3 of them not even seeing a 2nd round. This is what makes Fight Pass cards (yes, Fight Pass cards) so enjoyable. Without any commercial restrictions aside from the UFC's in-house promos, the events just move more smoothly. FS1 shows just drag on seemingly forever. If the UFC and Fox Sports 1 want to do 6 fight main cards, don't start them at 10 PM ET because they consistently end up finishing at least 20 minutes later than most pay-per-views.
- Josh Koscheck was a damn good fighter in his prime in addition to being a great "villain" role player. He went up to Montreal and trash-talked the fans over the Canadiens NHL team after beating Paul Daley in a classic post-fight interview. Unfortunately, the damage he suffered to his right eye in the GSP fight basically started his decline and it's clear that he is now a shot fighter. I really don't want to see him fight again and I hope he does decide to hang it up now that his current contract has been completed.
- Erick Silva and Alistair Overeem broke their "can't win 2 in a row in the UFC" hexes just a week apart. Go figure.
- As unwatchable as most of Leonardo Santos' UFC fights have been, he's yet to lose inside the Octagon, and his set-up for the fight-ending choke vs. Tony Martin was sweet. His style really is not suited to beat any ranked fighter but he's at least going to stick around for awhile and prove himself to be better than the lower and middle tiers of 155.
- Amanda Nunes blasting Shayna Baszler was utterly predictable, but the ending of that fight was just uncalled for. She threw a pretty clear illegal strike to the spine after Baszler went down and looked like she was still throwing even after Mario Yamasaki stopped the fight. That seemed to be really glossed over on the broadcast.
- What a comeback by Gilbert Burns to beat a very game Alex Oliveira to deny him what would've been a huge upset. Burns was clearly down on the scorecards but he went to his sensational Brazilian jiu-jitsu skills to get the last-ditch victory. By no means did Burns perform well, but just simply getting the win when clearly behind is very encouraging as he aims to be a potential LW contender. I also applaud Oliveira for his performance and hope he sticks around for awhile.
- It's hard to believe Godofredo Pepey has 3 straight wins in the 1st round, but he's managed exactly that following his upset over Andre Fili. He may not be a future champion in the making or anything near that, but he's turned his UFC career around quite nicely.
- Kevin Souza hits really hard. The way Katsunori Kikuno went down to Souza's right hand you'd have thought that one of those bank safes from a 1940s cartoon fell right on top of his head.
- Referee Eduardo Herdy was staggeringly incompetent tonight. I already detailed his screw-ups from this evening, but I might as well just emphasize again that he is terrible. The Drew Dober-Leandro Silva fight was just incredibly awful process. There was zero chance Dober was ever going to tap to Silva's loose guillotine, and he stopped the fight as he had his head just about free! Herdy shouldn't be on another UFC event again. Heck, take him away from MMA shows for awhile whether it's the UFC or Jungle Fights.
- A Brazilian beat a guy named Cain. Ominous sign for the UFC 188 main event? Or just me messing around with a bit of wordplay? The answer to your question is "yes".
- Fredy Serrano's KO of Bentley Syler was one of the hardest ones I've ever seen in a UFC flyweight fight. It was the highlight of the fight ... no seriously, it was the only highlight because the previous 11 minutes largely sucked. But I must stress again that the KO was awesome.