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UFC Fight Night: Dariush v Tsarukyan — Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Last night (Sat., Dec. 2, 2023), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) ventured forth to Moody Center in Austin, Texas for UFC Austin. Was it the best free card of the year? The main card was stacked with well-known — and FUN! — names from top-to-bottom, a nice mix of ranked contenders and veteran scrappers. UFC steps it up when the promotion leaves the Apex, and that boost in quality was on display.

Let’s take a look at UFC Austin’s best performances and techniques:

A Statement Made

Folks were cooling down on Arman Tsarukyan for some reason.

It never made much sense to me. We’re holding the judges getting it wrong in his fight versus Mateus Gamrot against him? That hardly seems fair. Oh, he got clipped by a short-notice replacement (who happens to be quite good) in his last fight? Unforgivable. Forget the fact that he won the fight via stoppage in the next round — clearly, he’s no good.

Now, Beneil Dariush is an elite contender and presented an obvious stylistic issue for Tsarukyan. I’m not dunking on anyone for backing Benny in this match up, merely pointing out that the idea that Tsarukyan was failing to live up to his hype was absurd. Wherever those critics are now, they’re residing quietly. Tsarukyan didn’t shoot a single takedown last night. Instead, he put a right hand on Dariush’s jaw and knocked him out in 64 seconds. No room for interpretation on that one!

He sure looks like a future champion to me.

The Referee Commits An Atrocity

Oh, Texas. The most notorious athletic commission in combat sports managed not to screw up any decisions — probably because there weren’t that many of them — but referee Kerry Hatley also did his best to watch Bobby Green die inside the Octagon.

I think I miss the bogus split-decisions.

It’s hard to focus on much else besides Green’s limp body getting battered, but I will say one thing from a technical standpoint: this was a terrible style match up for “King.” Turner deserves his props for stepping up on short-notice and making the weight, but Green’s style of head movement and distance management simply wasn’t going to play well against a 6’3” Lightweight with ferocious knockout power.

Think about the history of combat sports for a second. Guys like Muhammad Ali, Israel Adesanya, Anderson Silva that rely on reflexes, perfect timing, and slick head movement to make opponents miss and land punches from the outside … they tend to be pretty tall and lanky, huh? You don’t see many folks with Henry Cejudo’s build moving quite like that. I’m imagining someone will want to bring up Mike Tyson, who was short and did move his head very well, yes, but did so in an aggressively different manner than those three or — more to the point — Bobby Green.

There’s a reason, and that reason is because it doesn’t work. There’s no range where Green can lean back, make Turner miss, and connect on his own simultaneous counter shots. That’s the realm in which he thrives, but Turner’s build and striking style meant that it doesn’t exist.

Respect to Bobby Green for taking the obvious trap fight. The referee made sure he suffered fully for that decision.

Brady Stymies Gastelum

Expect a full piece on Sean Brady dismantling Kelvin Gastelum to be posted in the morning, but I would be wrong not to at least briefly mention his dominance here as well.

Brady schooled Gastelum. He out-struck him, took him down easily, and then ran laps around him on the floor. Early in the third round, he locked up a perfect kimura to seal the deal in style. It was about as perfect a performance as is possible against elite opposition, and it scored Brady the best win of his young career.

If you wrote Brady off after the Belal Muhammad loss, it’s time to amend that.

Vintage Takedown Tate

Miesha Tate straight up ran over Julia Avila.

She landed her first double leg of the fight in just a handful of seconds, and it quickly became clear that Avila wasn’t going to be able to scramble back to her feet. Tate methodically advanced position while maintaining total control, utterly dominating the positional battle.

She didn’t land a ton of shots, but that changed in the second. Tate again locked down an early takedown, and she was far more active with her ground strikes. They were mostly short and frequent, but some were fairly punishing. Either way, Avila was totally worn by the start of the third, and the rear naked choke came quickly.

Tate hardly took a shot in the process! At 37 years of age, Tate looked at peak form, which means that while the odds are still against her, there’s always a shot for her to work back into the title mix.

Or face Ronda Rousey at UFC 300?

Night Of The Slam KO

It’s been a bit over a year since Drakkar Klose was last in the Octagon, but the veteran made up for lost time.

Joe Solecki started strong with a takedown in the opening seconds of the fight and looked to advance position towards the back, but Klose spun into top position to counter. Solecki responded with a solid armbar attempt. Klose showed off his physicality, lifting Soleck into the air easily and slamming him side-of-the-head first into the Octagon floor, immediately putting the grappling ace unconscious. It was a brutal moment, yet there was a clear strategy in how Klose lifted and slammed his foe — it was no moment of panicked strength.

The victory makes it three in a row for Klose, who’s been flirting with a ranking for pretty much his entire UFC career. Number by his name or not, he’s a top-notch Lightweight that is always in gritty, violent fights.

Cody Brundage must have been in the backstage taking notes. Immediately following Klose’s heavy slam victory, Brundage scored his own slam knockout — the 13th and 14th such stoppages in UFC history! This time, Brundage bulldozed his way into top position early, but he found himself in a triangle choke just over a minute into the first round.

Immediately, he stood up and lifted Zachary Reese into the air. That’s the ideal moment to either 1) hook a leg or 2) let go of the triangle and try to stand. Reese tried to hook a leg on the way up but didn’t catch it, and Brundage brought him down with all the thunder of a young Quinton Jackson.

Just a vicious pair of stoppage wins.

An Absurd Second Round

Rodolfo Bellato vs. Ihor Potieria was one hell of a scrap. From pretty much the first bell, Bellato wanted to press his opponent, and Potieria was content to actively counter fight from his back foot. The first five minutes were highly competitive, and they saw some nasty close range exchanges in the clinch too.

I won’t mince words: Potieria knocked his opponent out early in the second. One of his combinations floored Bellato, and he followed up with a downright vicious barrage of hammer fists. The Brazilian bounced in-and-out of consciousness, but he always kept fighting, pushing off his opponent with his legs and shifting his hips side-to-side in a desperate attempt to survive.

Thanks to an … old-school referee, it worked!

Bellato recovered, and Potieria was the most gassed anyone’s been in the Octagon since Shane Carwin in round two vs. Brock Lesnar. In the very same round that he tasted the shadow realm, Bellato regained his feet and scored a takedown. He advanced to mount immediately, and Potieira was too fatigued to defend himself. A flurry of punches ended the fight in short fashion, and none of them were a third as damaging as the shots that Bellato had absorbed two minutes earlier.

It’s a strange situation, but one man was actively defending himself (or at least trying to) and the other wasn’t.

Additional Thoughts

Dustin Stoltzfus defeats Punahele Soriano via second-round rear naked choke: I’ve always felt that Stoltzfus was better than his 1-4 UFC record, a skilled enough Middleweight to at least make it as a UFC fighter in a less-than-stellar division. Tough stylistic match ups can explain away a defeat or two, but at a certain point, winning a fight becomes really necessary! Such was the case last night, as Stoltzfus surely would’ve been released with another loss. Instead, he grit through some power shots, stunned Soriano with his own right hand, and then was able to implement his grappling advantage in the second round to secure the finish. Suddenly, he’s won two of his last three, so maybe some job security is finally secured?
Jared Gooden defeats Wellington Turman via second-round rear naked choke (HIGHLIGHTS): The first finish of the evening was actually a nice comeback moment. Turman stole the first round with a takedown in the latter half after some competitive stand up exchanges, and the Brazilian then stormed out of the gate in the second with a nasty left hook connection. Gooden was in all sorts of trouble, but as Turman swarmed, Gooden looped a big shot over the top and stunned him badly. Gooden advanced into mount and started landing heavy elbows straight to the side of the head, opening up an easy rear naked choke on the barely-conscious jiu-jitsu black belt.

For complete UFC Austin: “Dariush vs. Tsarukyan” results and play-by-play, click HERE!