Look back on the all the UFC action from Liverpool this past weekend, from Elias Theodorou’s opening win over Trevor Smith to Darren Till’s controversial win over Stephen Thompson in the main event.
Though there was a lot of talk following UFC Liverpool, it was for all the wrong reasons. Darren Till left his home town with the biggest robbery of the year thus far in a terribly tentative main event to cap what had largely been a miserable card. Thus, the internet was abuzz with confusion about not just the controversial nature of Till’s win, but how his missing weight for the contest affects what to do with him in the future as well. Aside from that, there wasn’t a lot that was notable… but that doesn’t mean we aren’t going over it.
Elias Theodorou defeated Trevor Smith via unanimous decision
There was no good reason for Theodorou to lose this fight. As the superior athlete with better strikes from range, all he had to do was play keep away from Smith, much like he did against Sam Alvey. Theodorou failed in that endeavor… and won anyway. His activity level was far greater than Smith’s allowing the Canadian to walk away with a W despite fading in the final round.
Credit to Theodorou for maintaining a decent offensive output in the final round despite his lack of energy. That has cost him in the past – see Thiago Santos – so it’s plausible that he could be turning the corner. Maybe he’s ready to beat ranked opposition at this point. Then again, he still hasn’t shown the ability to finish off or control his opponents for lengthy periods of time. That doesn’t bode well for him climbing the ladder.
Smith has received numerous opportunities to be more than just a mid-tier gatekeeper, failing every time the opportunity comes. This was no exception. Like Theodorou, he lacks finishing skills. Unlike Theodorou, Smith has almost no consistent offense from the outside. Given his wrestling isn’t dominant enough for him to win consistently, he’s never going to be more than what he is right now. At age 37, it’s likely he isn’t even going to be that for much longer.
Gillian Robertson defeated Molly McCann via submission at 2:05 of RD2
As an exciting striker, McCann had a nice little following going into her UFC debut. Unfortunately for her, Robertson has continued to improve and completely overwhelmed the hometown girl. Robertson, recognizing McCann’s advantage on the feet, took her down and kept her down. Though unable to find the submission in the first round, Robertson was able to do so in the second.
Nobody cared about Robertson upon her UFC entry, most expecting her to wash out relatively quickly. Instead, Robertson has not only proven to be better than expected, she has continued to improve. Given she is only 23-years old, that isn’t a surprise. She still has some work to do on her wrestling – she basically pulled guard in the second to get the fight on the ground – and striking, but she looks like she’s going to be a keeper.
McCann badly needs to work on her takedown defense and her grappling. It shouldn’t be much of a surprise as the European scene is notoriously shallow on decent wrestlers, particularly in the women’s division. Otherwise, she’ll wash out as she had nothing to offer Robertson when the fight hit the mat. Here’s hoping she can improve as she’s a lot of fun to watch when she gets to do her thing.
Carlo Pedersoli defeated Brad Scott via split decision
Pedersoli took the fight with roughly a week’s notice. Despite that, he was still thought to be the favorite according to betting lines. The youngster proved why, flicking an assortment of kicks at Scott as the Brit stalked the native of Italy. Pedersoli occasionally threw out a high-risk attack such as a spinning high kick, but never connected cleanly with any of the high reward strikes. Nonetheless, Pedersoli’s activity level was higher than Scott’s, proving to be the difference.
Perhaps the biggest surprise of the fight was Scott’s reluctance to close the distance. Dropping from middleweight, Scott has utilized a grinding approach in the past against larger opponents. Yet against Pedersoli, he was content to stay in the pocket trying to win a points fight with a quicker opponent. Granted, Scott’s combination punching continues to look better – particularly in the first round — and he does appear to have picked up some speed with the drop in weight, though his speed is still below average.
Pedersoli didn’t look as sharp as he had on the regional scene, though that shouldn’t be unexpected given the short notice nature of the contest. What is impressive was his ability to push an insane pace without seeming to tire. His ability to rapidly and accurately fire kicks to the midsection could prove to be his calling card. Given attacking the body is one of the most underutilized skills in MMA today, it could prove to be a major key to success for Pedersoli.
Lina Lansberg defeated Gina Mazany via unanimous decision
Advertised as a battle between ranked women at bantamweight, that statement should let fans know everything they need to know about the sad state of women’s 135. Lansberg and Mazany spent a majority of the fight engaged in the clinch against the fence, looking to score with knees or elbows. Mazany tried to take the fight to the ground on multiple occasions, but could never keep Lansberg down for long, nor could she disengage long enough to deliver enough credible offense from a distance. Though the fight was nondescript, the judges made the right call awarding Lansberg the victory.
Lansberg and Mazany are both tough as nails, but limited to a single area of strength: the clinch for Lansberg and wrestling for Mazany. Despite those strengths, the fight was there for the taking for both competitors at any point. Translation: neither is strong enough in those areas to overwhelm their opponents. Though Lansberg took the win, Mazany appears to have a brighter future as she is younger and shows greater potential to expand her skill set. Despite that, she has a very long way to go if she hopes to become a contender.
Tom Breese defeated Daniel Kelly via TKO at 3:33 of RD1
Breese originally entered the UFC as a monstrous welterweight. To no one’s surprise, he was forced to make the move up to middleweight, this contest being his debut at his new weight class. Breese had looked lethargic at welterweight. That wasn’t the case at all here. Breese was energetic, slick, and put a major hurting on Kelly from the beginning with his boxing. It was an uppercut that proved to be the beginning of the end for Kelly, Breese following up with some brutal ground strikes to end the contest.
Given boxing isn’t thought to be Breese’s strength, his performance was very encouraging. Breese’s energy level and enthusiasm in the cage is contrary to his earlier appearances. It’s clear Breese was completely depleting himself to make 170. It isn’t like he was the smaller man against Kelly. Breese is still bigger than most middleweights on the roster. He’s on his way to being a force to be reckoned with at 185.
On the flip side, Kelly may be at the end of the line. He’s now 40 and had talked about retiring if he lost this contest. He even tried shaking things up by working with John Kavanagh and the SBG gym for this camp. If anything, the results were worse than they had been in Kelly’s previous two losses. At 40-years old, Kelly has had a long career in physical competition. Given how quickly Breese was able to put him away, it’s more than plausible his lauded durability could now be fading.
Darren Stewart defeated Eric Spicely via TKO at 1:47 of RD2
Even though Stewart was the better athlete by a long way, Spicely’s submission savvy was expected to get the better of Stewart. In fact, this appeared to be the best version of Spicely we’ve seen. He was throwing a jab with great efficiency and putting together simple combinations. However, Stewart was at his best too, showing accuracy and timing on his punches that hadn’t been displayed previously. Stuffing all of Spicely’s takedown attempts, Stewart eventually found a way to put Spicely on his ass and finish off the submission specialist.
It’s a shame Spicely couldn’t find a way to pick up a win. He clearly put in a lot of work into his striking, allowing him to hang with Stewart longer on the feet than anyone expected. Unfortunately for the American, Stewart put in plenty of time on his takedown defense for this camp, stuffing all of Spicely’s attempts to get the fight to the ground with ease. Now with a 2-4 UFC record and three losses in a row, it’s more than likely this is the last we’ve seen of Spicely in the UFC.
Stewart finally did more than just swing wild hooks at his opposition. It’s no coincidence that his finally learning to actually box a bit came with his first UFC victory. It’s amazing what you can accomplish when you do more than just try to overwhelm your opponents with your physicality. If Stewart continues to refine his game, he could prove to be an action fighting mainstay at middleweight.
Claudio Silva defeated Nordine Taleb via submission at 4:31 of RD1
Prior to this contest, the last time Silva stepped into the Octagon, the San Francisco Giants were fresh of their latest World Series win. For those of you unfamiliar with baseball, that was November 2014. Would cage rust affect him? It appeared to early as he rushed Taleb, the Frenchman countering Silva with punches and even dumping him on his ass once. Silva persevered, eventually getting the contest to the ground on his terms. Rather than get to his feet, Taleb went after Silva’s leg, allowing the Brazilian to take his back and sink in an RNC. Taleb resisted as long as he could before being forced to tap.
While Silva’s win after such a long absence is impressive, Taleb handed him the win. A noted kickboxer, Taleb had no business willingly entangling himself on the ground with Silva. He gave the grappler exactly what he wanted. It isn’t like Taleb wasn’t winning the standup battle prior to the fight going to the ground. In fact, Taleb appeared to be as sharp as ever on the feet, landing with power. It seemed like a matter of time before Silva couldn’t withstand the punishment any longer. If only Taleb had gotten back to his feet….
I’m happy for Silva as the story is inspiring, but I don’t like his future prospects. His striking doesn’t appear to have improved in his time away. The overall level of striking in the UFC has improved in that time to the point where grapplers have rarely been able to use their striking solely to close the distance as they were in the not-so-distant past. At 35, Silva is at an age where improvements are incremental. He’ll need more than incremental improvement to remain relevant. Then again, Silva has proved to be resilient….
Makwan Amirkhani defeated Jason Knight via split decision
Bad blood was abound between these two before the contest as their war of words at the weigh-ins proved. The words – and faces – continued throughout the fight. Amirkhani displayed his improved striking early, landing some hard shots on his American opponent early. Knight eventually got Amirkhani’s timing down, landing a pair of hard shots that put Amirkhani on his ass. Not wanting to toy with Knight in that manner any longer, Amirkhani resorted to his wrestling to win the final two rounds and the fight.
Though the contest was close – I thought Knight’s striking was more effective than Amirkhani’s wrestling in the second round – Knight gave away the fight with his willingness to operate off his back. No one is questioning the effectiveness of his guard, but even an effective guard has a low success rate in terms of nabbing a submission. On the feet, Knight looked more like himself than he did against Gabriel Benitez, but still wasn’t quite to the level of comfort he displayed prior to his violent KO loss to Ricardo Lamas. There’s a possibility he may never recover the level of confidence he once displayed. That’s a shame as he looked like he could develop into a star prior to that.
While Amirkhani’s improvement in his striking was noticeable, it was foolish for him to try to hang with Knight on the feet. Amirkhani’s strength is his wrestling; he should have been leading his attack with takedowns from the get-go. His striking defense has always been poor, illustrated perfectly by Knight flooring him twice in the first round. Amirkhani would be well served to increase his activity level on the ground too as he’s been too reliant on maintaining position. Perhaps an even bigger problem: his level of activity in general. One fight a year – his current trend – isn’t enough for him to climb the ladder into contendership. He might want to work on his post-fight speech skills too.
Arnold Allen defeated Mads Burnell via submission at 2:41 of RD3
Many expected Allen to bully Burnell as the Danish prospect was only able to pick up his lone UFC win when he missed weight for his contest with Mike Santiago. The opening round was Arnold mixing up his punches to the head and body while Burnell was looking to score takedowns. Allen’s energy level was noticeably lower at the end of the opening frame, allowing Burnell to finally secure a takedown. That was the story of the rest of the fight, Burnell getting Allen to the mat whenever Burnell wanted. Allen began focusing all of his energy on stopping those shots in the final frame, securing a front choke on Burnell as the Dane drove in for a shot. Burnell couldn’t escape Burnell’s vice-like grip and was forced to tap.
Allen may have escaped with the win – and $50K – but Burnell was the one who had his stock go up. His wrestling didn’t look nearly this good in his win over Santiago and his head movement was something to behold. Sure, he may want to utilize his footwork a bit more in the process, but he’s showing skills that most weren’t sure would translate over when he was on the regional scene. Still just 24-years old with less than five years professional experience, Burnell is emerging as a surprise prospect to watch at featherweight.
Allen’s lack of improvement from his UFC debut is very concerning. He’s still relying heavily on his physical skills, his strength allowing him to cinch in the choke. The only thing that’s appears somewhat improved is his strike selection, which he displayed early. His shallow gas tank is a major concern. His inability to stuff Burnell’s takedowns early is as well. Plus – much like Amirkhani – he only fights once a year. The cut to 145 appears to be taking too much out of Allen. I’d like to see him move up to lightweight.
Neil Magny defeated Craig White via TKO at 4:32 of RD1
Taking the contest on short notice, few were giving White a chance to emerge victorious against Magny. Despite that, White took the fight right to Magny, quickly engaging in the clinch with his American opponent. Both tried to get the action to the mat unsuccessfully, working with knees and short punches. Towards the end of the opening frame, Magny scored a knee that crumpled White, Magny following with strikes on his wounded opponent to secure a win.
Even though Magny looked solid here, the win does nothing to help him as he needed to look spectacular. What a lot of people don’t pay attention to is White’s tendency to make fights ugly, thus making it hard for Magny to look spectacular. Magny was preparing for a completely different style opponent when Gunnar Nelson got hurt. Despite that, Magny still secured a first round finish. Magny called out Kamaru Usman, but that seems like a longshot. Given the bad blood that has already developed between him and Jorge Masvidal, it would be stupid for the UFC to move away from that contest.
White doesn’t look like anything special as a prospect. Despite being relatively young at 27, White has been a pro for over eight years now. Plus, he’s not much of an athlete. In the right matchups, he can become a fun action fighter thanks to his tenacity. However, in the wrong matchups, his fights can turn into clinch wars that nobody wants to see. Here’s hoping the UFC utilizes him wisely.
Darren Till defeated Stephen Thompson via unanimous decision
While there were very few people picking Till to win, the consensus was that it wouldn’t be a surprise should the young Brit find a way to upset the established contender, Thompson, in a breakout performance. Till got the win, but it wasn’t a breakout performance. Instead, what we got was a tepid showing from both competitors, neither wanting to commit to their strikes for fear of being countered by their opponent. Thompson appeared to pick his spots with greater wisdom, but the crowd no-sold every bit of his offense while exploding at every little thing Till did. Thus, the referees were swayed by the crowd to give Till what the majority of the MMA world believed was an undeserved decision victory.
Controversial scoring aside, Till’s win puts the UFC in a pickle. The youngster missed weight for this fight, the second time in his last four fights. It’s rare a fighter is able to get his weight in check as they get older as their metabolism slows. Making weight isn’t going to get easier for the 25-year old. He has already talked about fighting at middleweight in the future, but he’ll probably be forced up there sooner than he’d like if he misses weight one more time.
Regarding the controversial scoring, many surmise Till’s cage control – he was moving forward the majority of the bout – was the reason he deserved the win. It has been clarified many times the last few years that cage control should only come into play if – and only if – the effective striking and grappling were even. There aren’t many who believe Till was scoring the more efficient offense over the first four rounds. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t a close contest and Till did score the only knockdown of the fight, but the overwhelming majority of fans, fighters, and media members side with Thompson.
Thompson may permanently be knocked out of the title picture with this loss. There are other young welterweights making their way up the standings and Thompson, now 35, has already had two cracks at the belt. Nonetheless, Thompson can still fill the valuable role of an action-fighting gatekeeper at the top. However, this fight – and the contests with Tyron Woodley – proves he needs the right type of opponent in order to be entertaining. As it is, he may have been able to pull out the win had he just let loose a bit more. Apparently, he didn’t learn his lesson from his loss to Woodley.
Well, those are my collective thoughts. Until next time…