The judges took the night off on Friday at UFC Fight Night 55. All 11 fights on the card ended by way of knockout, TKO or submission.
According to UFC President Dana White, the event broke the company record for most finishes:
UFC has come under fire recently for possibly over-saturating the market, which as in turn watered down card and left fans disappointing; however, nobody could’ve watched UFC Fight Night 55 and wanted more. Few cards have been as exciting from top to bottom.
UFC Fight Night 55 Results
Main Card Recap
Soa Palelei def. Walt Harris
Walt Harris likely felt good about how the fight was unfolding after the first round. He deflected most of Soa Palelei’s biggest blows while managing to land a couple of punches and kicks to Palelei’s gut.
Once the bell for Round 2 sounded, things slowly but surely went downhill for Harris.
Most of the round was rather innocuous, with neither fighter gaining much of an edge. Then, as the round was nearing its conclusion, Palelei landed a takedown and mount on Harris before unleashing with a flurry of blows.
None of Palelei’s punches looked devastating, but Harris failed to put up any sort of a defense and the referee called it.
Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Snowden was particularly critical of Harris’ offensive execution:
The bout wasn’t particularly pretty, but Palelei picked up a nice victory.
Robert Whittaker def. Clint Hester
Whereas the first fight on the main card was back and forth, Robert Whittaker’s victory over Clint Hester came with relative ease. The 23-year-old New Zealand native outclassed Hester in the Octagon.
Bleacher Report MMA felt that Whittaker’s more nuanced approach left his opponent with no chance:
After the fight, Whittaker admitted that he didn’t plan on ending the fight early, but he couldn’t help himself, per Dave Doyle of Yahoo Sports:
Hester wasn’t completely hapless. He and Whittaker put on a thrilling display of striking at times, with their blows very audible through the microphones surrounding the cage:
Their offensive show impressed White:
In the end, one only needs to look at the numbers to understand whom was the superior fighter. According to UFC.com, Whittaker landed 62 significant strikes to Hester’s 28. Whittaker also landed nearly 60 percent of his punches, compared to 44 percent for Hester.
Al Iaquinta def. Ross Pearson
Ross Pearson went on the offensive right from the opening bell, and that proved to be his ultimate undoing.
The strategy proved fruitful in the first round, which Pearson arguably won. He kept Al Iaquinta on the back foot and continued pressuring the 27-year-old.
Then, in the second round, Iaquinta blocked an attempted high kick from Pearson and landed a vicious right hand. Sensing the opportunity, Iaquinta went in for the kill and sent Pearson to the canvas for a second time. With that, the fight was over.
Fox Sports’ Marc Raimondi felt that the win will be a major boost to Iaquinta’s going forward:
Iaquinta likely won over even more fans with his post-match interview, during which he channeled former pro wrestler The Iron Sheik. B/R’s Jeremy Botter was one of many who was beside himself with joy:
With such a resounding win, Iaquinta will be a fighter to follow in the coming months.
Luke Rockhold def. Michael Bisping
Luke Rockhold made it a perfect 4-for-4 in terms of second-round finishes with his submission victory over Michael Bisping.
After a hotly contested first round, Rockhold made quick work of Bisping in the second, sending Bisping to the mat with a head kick and eventually locking in a guillotine. Bisping had no choice other than tapping out.
The sequence leading to the submission was brilliant from Rockhold. There were no wasted motions between the leg kick and subsequent headlock that led to the guillotine.
Following the fight, Rockhold needed little time before looking ahead to his future. He alluded to a potential rematch with Ronaldo Souza, per Ariel Helwani of MMAFighting.com:
Helwani believes that that fight would be the way to go:
MMA writer Josh Gross feels that Rockhold’s success will only allow the middleweight division to remain captivating throughout:
A rematch between Rockhold and Souza might be the low-hanging fruit, but many fans would agree that it’s the fight that needs to happen.
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