It’s time to step into the Octagon once again as we take a look at the second show broadcast with the help of Rupert Murdoch’s vast media empire.
Melvin Guillard faced Jim Miller in the main event of UFC Fight Night on FX, shown live in the early hours of this past Saturday morning on ESPN here in Britain.
The broadcast began with the big guys of the heavyweight division; Pat Barry went up against Christian Morecraft.
This entertaining battle began with Morecraft catching a Barry kick and scoring with the take down. He then looked for a rear naked choke until Barry managed to escape.
Morecraft soon took the fight back to the ground, first going for an arm choke and then going for an arm bar. But, Barry managed to escape both attempts and looked good in doing so, showing how well his defensive skills on the ground are developing.
A few moments later, it was all over. A big left hook sent Morecraft down to the mat. Barry followed him down, and it wasn’t long before the referee stepped in to give Barry the impressive knockout win.
It was down to bantamweight for the next fight as Mike Easton faced Jared Papazian.
The only fight of the broadcast to go the distance proved to be a very competitive and highly entertaining back-and-forth encounter. These two began swinging from the fences as soon as the fight began, keeping up the somewhat frantic pace throughout.
It certainly was an intriguing battle.
Both guys managed to get in some good blows and combinations. There were a few clinches against the cage, and the only ground work came in the second when Easton scored with a couple of take downs.
But with the fight going the distance, the judges were called into action. Two of them gave the fight to Easton and one scored it as a draw, giving Easton the win by majority decision.
Welterweight action followed as Duane Ludwig took on Josh Neer.
A quality battle saw Ludwig taking control early on, causing problems for Neer when he connected with a series of knees to the bread basket.
But when Neer recovered, he managed to take the fight to the ground. It wasn’t long before he’d locked in a guillotine choke, and the referee stepped in when Ludwig lost consciousness, giving Neer the submission win.
The main event saw lightweight action as Melvin Guillard took on Jim Miller.
This was definitely worth it’s spot on the card. Guillard took control early with his striking and got in some good shots, especially with his knees. Miller was clearly in trouble, and it looked like Guillard was going for an early finish.
But as Miller recovered his senses, he began to work his way back into the fight, scoring with the take down. Guillard tried to escape, but Miller took his back and got him in a rear naked choke. It wasn’t long before Guillard tapped to give Miller the impressive submission win.
The show rounded out with filler material as Joseph Sandoval faced Nick Denis in the bantamweight division.
The blink-and-you’ll-miss-it affair of the show saw Denis overwhelm his man as soon as the fight began, connecting with a series of punches before grabbing Sandoval’s head and connecting with a series of elbows to the temple.
Sandoval went crashing down and the referee immediately called a halt to the fight, giving Denis the knockout win after just 22 seconds.
In conclusion, even though the UFC’s second show under their new agreement with Fox may not have had the big star power of their first show, it certainly delivered.
It really was a quality show with great performances throughout, including explosive knockouts from Pat Barry and Nick Denis, an engaging three-round affair and some nice submission work from Jim Miller and Josh Neer.
In all, UFC Fight Night on FX gets the thumbs up from this particular writer.
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