MMA took over Germany on Saturday with a UFC Fight Night 93 card that saw Josh Barnett stop Andrei Arlovski with a third-round rear-naked choke submission in the heavyweight main event showdown.
The 38-year-old Barnett has been inconsistent during his latest stint in the UFC, owning a 2-2 record coming into Saturday’s event. His submission victory marked his first finish since he knocked out Frank Mir in August 2013.
Here are the full results from UFC Fight Night 93:
Finish of the Night
Ryan Bader seems to get lost in the light heavyweight shuffle. He had a strong 20-5 career record entering Saturday’s fight, including wins over Rashad Evans and Phil Davis.
There have been stumbles in big matches, though. His list of losses includes Jon Jones, Lyoto Machida, Glover Teixeira and Anthony Johnson, all of which were via finish. If you want to challenge for a title, those are the names you have to beat.
Hoping to get back on track following his January loss to Johnson, Bader squared off against Ilir Latifi on Saturday.
Perhaps it was the heat of the moment or he just took the right chance at the right time, but Bader scored a dazzling second-round knockout with a knee that caught Latifi square in the face.
Latifi fell back, and the referee immediately stopped the fight and awarded the win to Bader.
UFC heavyweight Ben Rothwell was impressed by what he saw:
Latifi entered the fight on a roll, with three straight wins and a 5-2 overall record in the UFC. He had not been challenging top-tier competition, so this was an opportunity for him to showcase his skills.
Instead, Bader reminded the world why he was once regarded as one of the top two light heavyweight prospects along with Jones. He has work to do before he can challenge for the title in a loaded division, but this was an excellent first step back for the 33-year-old.
Main Event Reaction
Arlovski and Barnett are not known for their finesse, so it’s hardly a surprise that the two veteran heavyweights wasted no time attacking with punches in the first round.
The UFC captured a highlight of Barnett nearly knocking Arlovski out less than 30 seconds into the fight:
Arlovski has been eating too many punches lately and doesn’t have the same jaw that helped him win the UFC heavyweight title in 2005. He’s now lost three straight matches in 2016, with the previous two coming by technical knockout.
Barnett has knockout power, but he’s more comfortable on the ground. He was able to use that punching prowess to daze Arlovski early, leading to the rear-naked choke in the third round.
Prior to Barnett’s submission, there was a sequence in which he was accidentally poked in the eye and tried to walk away to compose himself, but the referee missed it.
That could have been a dangerous sequence, leading to Arlovski stealing a victory. Instead, Barnett found his bearings quickly and worked the fight to the ground.
Barnett didn’t make it out of the fight unscathed. Arlovski has his flaws in the Octagon at this point in his career, but there’s still plenty of power in his strikes. During that early exchange, the Belarusian Pit Bull landed plenty of big shots that rocked Barnett.
MMA Fighting’s Chuck Mindenhall captured that early brutality:
The end of the second round signaled doom for Arlovski, who got caught in Barnett’s mount and ate punch after punch before the bell finally signaled to end the round and saved him for a couple of minutes.
The damage was done by that point, though, with the only thing left for Barnett was to officially finish the match. He got to Arlovski’s back after attempting to work an armbar and locked in the rear-naked choke to secure the tapout.
Per FightMetric’s Michael Carroll, Barnett continues to move up the ladder for the most career submissions in a major MMA promotion:
The loss for Arlovski leaves him with no clear direction. He entered the fight as the No. 6 heavyweight in the UFC’s rankings, though that was due, at least in some part, to the division’s lack of depth more than his performance.
At 37 years old, Arlovski is in the twilight of his career. He can be beaten by anyone who can throw a punch at his chin. There’s no doubt he’s exciting to watch because of his power, but that will carry him only so far.
Barnett needed to get back on track after his recent string of mediocrity. His loss against Rothwell was largely due to Barnett’s overaggressiveness in going for a takedown that led to his getting caught in a chokehold.
The UFC should push Barnett onto another free-TV main event or perhaps the main card of a pay-per-view against Rothwell or Junior Dos Santos as a potential warm-up act for a title fight at some point in 2017.
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