Anytime there is more on the line than just a payday, the interest surrounding the action inside the Octagon always ratchets up. That was certainly the case Saturday at UFC on Fox 14 as the three biggest bouts on the card in Sweden all came attached with additional circumstance.
Of that collective, no tilt held bigger implications than the main event showdown between Alexander Gustafsson and Anthony Johnson, as the winner would become the next contender to face Jon Jones for the light heavyweight crown.
After The Mauler nearly dethroned Bones at UFC 165 back in September 2013, there has been a lot of interest in a potential rematch between the rangy Swede and the pound-for-pound great. While the champion brushed off an immediate rematch, the UFC told the Team Alliance representative he would get another chance to fight for the belt if he defeated Jimi Manuwa in his next outing.
Gustafsson would put the British powerhouse away in the second round of their tilt in England, yet the promised title shot faded away when he became injured and Daniel Cormier was granted the next opportunity. Nevertheless, his championship hopes would be reignited when UFC President Dana White marked his next bout against Johnson as an official title eliminator to determine the next No. 1 contender in the light heavyweight fold.
While Gustafsson has been in the title picture for the past two years, Johnson is the proverbial new kid on the block in that regard. After being released from the UFC in 2012, Rumble put together an impressive six-fight winning streak with smaller promotions to earn a return call from the biggest organization in MMA. And he’s capitalized on his second chance with the UFC as back-to-back victories—including a brutal knockout over Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in his most recent showing—solidified his place as a major in the title picture at 205 pounds.
With title implications hanging over the main event showdown at UFC on Fox 14, two of the most prolific finishers in the light heavyweight division were all but guaranteed to put on a show. While the bout didn’t last long, Johnson once again proved why he’s one of the most feared fighters at 205, knocking out Gustafsson in the early goings of the tilt.
Johnson will now go on to face Jones for the light heavyweight strap, while Gustafsson’s long-awaited rematch will disappear for the foreseeable future.
While the co-main event between Gegard Mousasi and Dan Henderson didn’t have a title shot attached to it, a much different type of circumstance was hovering over their middleweight clash on Saturday. Both men have been champions under several different promotional banners, but UFC gold has eluded them thus far.
Henderson has remained a perennial contender in two different divisions during his time under the UFC banner, while The Armenian Assassin has been scrapping to gain that status since joining the promotion in 2013. Yet, recent rough patches for both Henderson and Mousasi have threatened to bump them out of the divisional upper tier at 185 pounds, and that set the stage for a crucial showdown at UFC on Fox 14.
The winner of the co-main event would remain relevant in the heated middleweight title race, while the loser would be forced to the proverbial shadows of a talent-rich collective in the 185-pound weight class.
The stakes were high going into their bout on Saturday night, and it was Mousasi who stepped up to the challenge. The former DREAM champion scored a first-round TKO stoppage to put away the MMA legend and pick up his second victory in his past three showings. While the stoppage was questionable as Henderson seemed to have his wits about him, the fight was called off, making Mousasi victorious in Sweden.
The Henderson vs. Mousasi stoppage was hardly the only suspect thing to go down inside the Octagon on Saturday night, so let’s take a look at the good, bad and strange from UFC on Fox 14.
The Good
There have been plenty of redemption stories throughout the history of combat sports, but Anthony Johnson is making his case for one of the best in the current era of mixed martial arts. Whereas Rumble was once plagued with weight-cutting issues and inconsistencies that forced the UFC to release him back in 2012, the Southern Florida transplant has re-emerged as a monster of sorts to become the next challenger to Jon Jones’ light heavyweight crown.
The Team Blackzilians representative has done so on the strength of three consecutive victories that have demonstrated his overwhelming power. The most recent example came at the expense of former title challenger Alexander Gustafsson, as Johnson drubbed The Mauler to earn the TKO finish in the first round of their main event tilt at UFC on Fox 14 on Saturday night. Johnson stopped the rangy Swede in impressive fashion and silenced 26,000-plus in attendance in Stockholm in the process.
The win over Gustafsson was the biggest of Johnson’s career and officially earned him the opportunity to face Jones in his next outing. With the one-shot put-away power Johnson possesses, he will present an interesting challenge to a champion who has overcome the majority of the obstacles he’s faced with relative ease.
While winning the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship would put a remarkable cap on Johnson’s quest for redemption, defeating Gustafsson on Saturday night and earning the chance to fight for gold already makes Johnson’s run to the top of the division as memorable as anything that has come along in years.
The first time Gegard Mousasi fought in Sweden for the UFC, he was coming over from Strikeforce and looking to make an immediate case for a title opportunity in the light heavyweight division. The Dutch-Iranian fighter was initially slated to face Gustafsson, but The Mauler suffered a cut over his eye in the lead-up to the fight and was replaced by his teammate Ilir Latifi.
While Mousasi would get the victory in his promotional debut, he decided to drop down to 185 and make a run at the middleweight crown. Leading up to his bout with Dan Henderson at UFC on Fox 14, Mousasi had won only one of his three showings in the middleweight fold; he desperately needed a victory if he was going to stay relevant in what has become a heated race for a shot at the middleweight title.
Fortunately for Mousasi, he stopped the MMA legend in quick fashion as he scored a TKO finish under the two-minute mark of the opening round. While color commentator Joe Rogan argued that the stoppage was questionable, there was no doubting that Mousasi was in control and would have unleashed a flurry of shots had the referee not stepped in.
With the win, Mousasi will remain in the hunt for a shot at the middleweight title and will draw one of the division’s biggest names in his next out.
*** Bodies were hitting the floor at a steady rate in the Tele2 Arena on Saturday night, but Sam Sicilia added perhaps the most violent of them all when he decked Akira Corassani to kick off the main card for UFC on Fox 14. After a brief feeling-out period, the Washington native waded in with a monstrous right hand that pegged the Swedish striker’s chin and left him lying stiff on the canvas. It was a brutal knockout and another display of how much power Sicilia possesses in his hands.
*** Kenny Robertson has been a man on a mission since returning to the UFC in 2012. The Illinois native had won three of his five showings during his Octagon comeback and hoped to notch his third consecutive win by defeating Sultan Aliev at UFC on Fox 14.
Robertson wasted no time getting the job done as he scored the most impressive knockout of his career, nailing Aliev with a crisp counter as the Dagestan native attempted a spinning back kick. It was a violently abrupt finish to the fight and the type of stoppage that will earn Robertson more momentum heading into his next challenge.
*** Making the most of a first impression in the UFC is huge, and Makwan Amirkhani certainly capitalized on his Octagon debut on Saturday night. The promotional newcomer starched Andy Ogle in eight seconds to notch one of the fastest finishes in UFC history.
Amirkhani charged from the opening bell and landed a flying knee to the body that sent Ogle backward toward the cage. With his opponent reeling, Amirkhani planted a perfectly placed uppercut on The Ultimate Fighter alum’s chin that sparked the beginning of the end for Little Axe, and a flurry secured Amirkhani’s first UFC victory in spectacular fashion.
*** Things at UFC on Fox 14 had been somewhat sluggish until Mairbek Taisumov took the stage in Stockholm, but the Chechen turned things up a notch with a starching knockout over Anthony Christodoulou in the second round of their tilt on Saturday night. Taisumov dominated the action from start to finish, and the knockout victory scored the Tiger Muay Thai representative his third win in four showings inside the Octagon.
*** The flyweight division is in desperate need of depth, and both Neil Seery and Chris Beal were looking to move up the divisional ladder at UFC on Fox 14. The scrappy Irishman and The Ultimate Fighter alum went at it from the opening bell and continued scrapping out until the final bell sounded 15 minutes later. While both fighters had their moments throughout the three-round tilt, Seery took the nod on the judges’ scorecards as 2tap picked up his second win in three showings under the UFC banner.
*** Mirsad Bektic came into his bout with Paul Redmond at UFC on Fox 14 looking to keep his undefeated record intact and notch his second victory inside the Octagon. That’s precisely what he accomplished against the Dublin native, as Bektic used his wrestling and top control to keep the fight on the canvas and cruise to the unanimous-decision victory. While there was nothing pretty about his performance, the 23-year-old Nebraskan once again proved he has what it takes to compete at the highest level of the sport.
The Bad
Dan Henderson is a true legend of the sport, and his resume will go down as one of the greatest in the history of MMA. For the better part of two decades, Hendo has traded leather with a collection of the greatest fighters to ever compete and has come out on the winning side most of the time.
At 44 years old, the Temecula-based fighter had been getting the better of Father Time, but he carried a recent rough streak into his bout with Mousasi at UFC on Fox 14. Although the former Olympic wrestler would be returning to middleweight for the first time since he clobbered Michael Bisping at UFC 100, he had lost four of his past five showings inside the Octagon.
Henderson needed to turn things around in a big way against Mousasi, but that wasn’t to be the case.
After a few tense exchanges, The Armenian Assassin landed a right hand that wobbled Henderson and sent him reeling backward. Mousasi pounced and used a left hand to put Henderson on the canvas. Once the former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion hit the ground, Mousasi swarmed, forcing the referee to jump in to stop the fight.
Henderson immediately protested the call, but ultimately that won’t matter in the bigger picture. Mousasi will walk out of the Tele2 Arena with the victory, and Henderson will have to deal with losing five of his last six fights inside the cage. Furthermore, two of his three most recent losses have come as the result of being finished by strikes—a feat that had never happened before Vitor Belfort knocked him out in November 2013.
That said, Henderson has to make the decision to retire. He has defied the boundaries that typically apply to most fighters, but there is no doubt age is beginning to catch up to him in some regard. It’s also worth noting that parting ways with the UFC may not be his choice to make, as his recent skid may be enough to cost him his place on the roster.
Nevertheless, should that come to pass, Henderson will be a surefire member of the UFC Hall of Fame. But until anything official happens, it is safe to assume he will be looking to get back into the Octagon and get things back on track in the time he has left.
*** When a fighter is competing at the top level of the sport, every matchup presents various degrees of dangers. Alexander Gustafsson knew he was jeopardizing his long-awaited rematch with Jon Jones by facing heavy-handed knockout artist Anthony Johnson at UFC on Fox 14, but the Swede is a fighter in the true sense and wanted to prove he was the true contender to the 205-pound crown. Nevertheless, Johnson’s power was ultimately too much for The Mauler to handle, and he suffered a TKO finish in the first round of the main event in Stockholm.
There’s no doubt losing his title shot and being bested in that fashion in front of the Stockholm crowd was painful for Gustafsson, but he’s a resilient fighter and has bounced back from losses before. Yet, this setback will be difficult for him to swallow because so much was on the line. It will be interesting to see how he responds to this adversity.
*** While Andy Ogle’s heart and natural grit earned him a place on the UFC roster following his time on The Ultimate Fighter: Live, his time competing inside the Octagon came to an end on Saturday night. Coming into his bout with Makwan Amirkhani at UFC on Fox 14, The Little Axe was in desperate need of a victory due to three consecutive losses. Unfortunately for Ogle, a flying knee and a flurry along the cage forced the referee to step in to make his fourth consecutive loss official.
Although there is no exact formula as to what gets a fighter released from the UFC, having lost four straight and notching only one victory in six showings under the UFC banner will surely be enough to send Ogle packing from the biggest stage in the sport.
Furthermore, if Ogle’s rapid-fire drubbing wasn’t bad enough, color commentator Joe Rogan couldn’t seem to let go of the fact he believed the bout was stopped prematurely. Once the referee stepped in to stop Amirkhani from furthering pummeling Ogle, the Englishman shot in and followed through with a single-leg takedown on the official. Rogan saw this as Ogle still having his wits about him, and despite this being proved false in multiple slow-motion replays, the longtime commentator stuck to his guns.
Whereas Amirkhani should have been celebrating an impressive victory, instead he was left trying to explain the stoppage to Rogan.
*** While his performance on Saturday night was impressive, Nikita Krylov will continue to land in this dubious category due to having one of the worst nicknames in MMA. While “Al Capone” is better than the 11,000 “Pitbulls” or “Albert Einstein,” it still is a cringe-worthy moniker. It’s unfortunate too because Krylov seems to be finding his footing inside the Octagon. The 22-year-old Ukrainian picked up his second victory in three outings as he submitted Stanislav Nedkov in quick fashion in the first round of their tilt at UFC on Fox 14.
*** Speaking of Albert Einstein, thanks to Albert Tumenov that terrible nickname also made an appearance at UFC on Fox 14. The 23-year-old Russian faced Swedish striker Nico Musoke on the final bout on the preliminary portion of the card. While Tumenov would defeat Musoke via unanimous decision to earn his third consecutive victory inside the Octagon, his nickname does his rising profile in mixed martial arts no justice.
The Strange
The light heavyweight division has been a competitive weight class for years, and both Phil Davis and Ryan Bader have had chances to break through into title contention. Mr. Wonderful has been on the verge of getting championship opportunities on two separate occasions but was turned back by Rashad Evans and Anthony Johnson.
While Bader’s distance from a shot at UFC gold hasn’t been quite as clear cut, the former wrestling standout from Arizona State University has been involved in a handful of high-profile fights that could have launched him to the front of the line at 205. That said, the Power MMA leader has been turned back in big-opportunity fights against Lyoto Machida, Glover Teixeira and a pre-championship Jon Jones.
Therefore, coming into their bout at UFC on Fox 14, the stage was set for either Davis or Bader to step up in the light heavyweight picture. Not only did both fighters know they needed a win in Stockholm, but they needed to do so impressively to bolster their image in the competitive ranks of the title race in the 205-pound division.
It was a big fight on a big stage, and the end result was a flat line registered with the fighting faithful who tuned in to watch the matchup. To be fair…it was a tough fight where both combatants did their best to score on an opponent with a similar skill set, but it wasn’t what either athlete needed to produce in Sweden. Bader would get the split-decision nod on the judges’ scorecards, but his performance didn’t warrant any major movement in the divisional ranks.
Props to Chris Hall for finding this real-time depiction of the crowd reaction to Bader vs. Davis:
Granted, a win is a win, and that’s what ultimately matters, but Bader won’t experience too much of a lift, and Davis won’t drop that far either. That’s a strange dynamic but absolutely true in regard to how the fight at UFC on Fox 14 will affect both fighters.
Speaking of promotion, let’s take a look at the big sell, or lack thereof, in the lead-up to UFC on Fox 14 in Stockholm, Sweden.
The coveted stadium show has been all the rage with the UFC’s promotional machine over the past two years. While the UFC was originally attached to superfights from stadium shows when Dana White first began talking about fight fans filing into the enormous venues, anytime the UFC has made mention of a stadium show as of late, it has come with the name Conor McGregor affixed to it.
Talk of championship showdowns in a Brazilian soccer stadium or Dublin’s legendary Croke Park has been all the rage as of late, and it would be difficult to imagine a stadium show flying under the radar with the promotion putting so much emphasis on how monumental it would be.
Yet, Saturday’s show in Stockholm took place at the Tele2 Arena and featured one of the biggest stars to emerge in recent years in Gustafsson. Where McGregor is the bright new shiny thing under the UFC banner and has anchored the organization’s return to Ireland, The Mauler is already a certified star on the European scene just as Sweden has proved its love for MMA time and time again.
Where other certified stars the likes of Jon Jones and Anthony Pettis regularly compete stateside in front of crowds of 15,000-17,000, Gustafsson competed on Saturday night in a venue that regularly holds over 30,000 for FIFA-regulated football games. That said, Gustafsson’s star power warranting a stadium venue for his hometown clash with Anthony Johnson was hardly mentioned in the buildup to UFC on Fox 14.
Other than E. Spencer Kyte’s article on The Province addressing the topic, the issue fell by the wayside across the grand scope of MMA media, which left more questions than answers.
With the UFC’s global push in full swing, anytime there is a legitimate commodity in a particular market, the UFC typically drills into the fanbase’s psyche at high repetition. Anyone remotely paying attention in the MMA community throughout McGregor’s rise to title contention has heard sound bites about the entire country of Ireland shutting down to watch him fight or a certain percentage of ticket sales being bought by McGregor’s countrymen and women.
Therefore, with Sweden already being an established market and Gustafsson its biggest star, where was all the hyperbole in the lead-up to UFC on Fox 14? With all the McGregor fodder blasted out of the UFC’s promotional machine over the past six months, fans could have handled a solid dose of push for the man who took Jones to his physical limits.
Furthermore, the entire Swedish market was initially hinged on Gustafsson’s popularity in his home country, and it would have seemed fitting to see a Gustafsson-themed commercial or a special for him on Fox Sports 1.
McGregor had three different programs on the UFC’s network partner in the lead-up to Fight Night 59, which is three more than Gustafsson had in the buildup to UFC on Fox 14. While Notorious has been largely untested—or at least has benefited from favorable stylistic pairings—Gustafsson’s talent is certified by all measurable standards.
That’s why it seemed so strange that Gustafsson got next to no promotional push in the run-up to his bout with Johnson in Stockholm. But then again, maybe the machine was drained after all the effort that was put into the SBG Ireland representative’s bout with Dennis Siver at Fight Night 59.
Granted, the historically short-worded Gustafsson doesn’t register in the same league as McGregor when it comes to microphone skills, but his resume is far deeper than what the Dublin native has to offer.
It’s also worth noting the main card at UFC on Fox 14 got underway at 2:00 a.m. on Swedish time, yet despite the late hour, the Swedish MMA crazies were still willing to burn the midnight oil. That’s a passionate bunch, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the UFC made stopping in Stockholm twice per year a regular part of the schedule.
On a final note, Henderson tweeted a picture of the post-fight surgical work he received on his eye before leaving Sweden. It’s a sharp look from a true MMA legend. Until next time, folks.
Duane Finley is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. All quotes are obtained firsthand unless noted otherwise.
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