If you were looking for a Brazilian Jiu-Jistu clinic, this was the fight for you. Vagner Rocha moved past his previous defeat to Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone at UFC 131 with a submission victory over TUF season twelve alum Cody McKenzie.
Weren’t we all looking for the patented “McKenzie-tine”? We knew it was coming and true to form there was a guillotine attempt from Cody McKenzie within the first few minutes of the first round. However, outside of the predictable guillotine, Cody Mckenzie impressed quite a bit with his submission defense and reversal of several submission attempts in the first round. The TUF alum also showcased an improved striking game as well.
However with all the improvements McKenzie made to his game, Vagner Rocha’s pedigree as a brazilian jiu-jistu ace came through as he forced the ground action once he fought through McKenzie’s striking. Once the fight got in Vagner’s world, he showed why he’s called a BJJ ace. He tried an Anaconda choke, guillotine choke, armbar, and a Darce choke in a very offensive ground assault. He also got full-mount and threw some ground and pound at McKenzie.
Had McKenzie shown a little more effort to get the fight back to standing, and wasn’t looking repeatedly for the guillotine, perhaps the fight would’ve turned out different. He simply tired out from fighting off all the submission attempts. His tap out wasn’t because of pain, it was more because he conceded to a jiu-jistu master.
Vagner Rocha will need to get serious about his stand-up game in order to move up in the division, however this was an encouraging win. McKenzie will look to round out his game in order to not be so predictable in the future.
by Bleacher Report’s Antwyn Jackson