The action in the main card of UFC 183 was more hit than miss. Most of the fights were excellent, but some were not. The main event delivered from a dramatic and historic standpoint. Seeing Anderson “The Spider” Silva back in The Octagon and victorious was great for UFC fans, but truth be told, neither he nor Nick Diaz looked at the top of his game.
Silva ate far more strikes than what we’ve become accustomed to seeing in his fights, though none of them seemed to hurt him, and his movements seemed a bit more herky jerky.
Diaz has never been known for his speed, but he looked extra slow and plodding on Saturday. Still, it’s hard to say the bout didn’t deliver. Diaz did his heel thing, and the two men definitely engaged in some quality exchanges.
When it was over, Silva said he was unclear on whether he’d fight again.
If this was the last fight of his career, he at least will go out as a winner and healthy. If you’re a 39-year-old legend, it may not get any better than that. Here are the results for all of the main card bouts.
Mein Lets It Slip Through His Fingers
Despite dominating Thiago Alves throughout the first round, Jordan Mein took a tough loss when he ate a perfectly placed body kick that sucked the air out of him. After throwing a strike, he left his midsection open, and the opportunistic Brazilian took full advantage.
The Pitbull landed a right leg kick that sent Mein to his knees. Alves pounced and grabbed victory from the jaws of defeat. Mein is still a young and rising star, but this loss will sting for a while.
Leites Keeps the Brazilian Comebacks Coming
Even more so than Alves, Thales Leites was being beaten up by Tim Boetsch through the first round-and-a-half. The Brazilian was busted up and swollen from trying to trade with Boetsch in the stand-up game.
Leites clearly held an edge as a grappler, and he was finally able to get the fight into his specialty area. Boetsch has always had trouble defending submissions, and that deficiency reared its head again.
Leites looked to be headed toward a stoppage loss, but turned things around as he submitted Boetsch in the second round via triangle choke.
I wonder why it took Leites so long to take the fight to the ground, but ultimately he got the win and $100,000 in combined bonus money.
Iaquinta Pounds Lauzon
This one had Fight of the Night written all over it but fell short of those expectations. The fight was still entertaining, but it turned out to be too one-sided for that honor.
Joe Lauzon had a few moments early in the bout, but Al Iaquinta took over in the second round with a nasty combination that rocked the veteran. Iaquinta patiently stalked Lauzon and methodically forced the referee to stop the bout. It was an impressive performance for Iaquinta.
Woodley and Gastelum Put Us to Sleep
Billed as the co-featured bout, the Tyron Woodley-Kelvin Gastelum scrap turned out to be one of the worst on the entire card. Neither man did much of anything, but Woodley earned the split-decision win based on a few well-placed right hands that knocked Gastelum’s head back.
Gastelum came into the fight 10 pounds overweight, and per Dana White via Karyn Bryant of Fox Sports, the 23-year-old will not be allowed to attempt to make 170 pounds again.
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