It took only 34 seconds for Ovince St. Preux to vanquish Brazilian MMA legend Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in Uberlandia, Brazil on Saturday night. A check hook from OSP sent Rua to the mat and the 31-year-old pounded Rua until the bout was halted.
Mike Bohn of USA Today added perspective to OSP’s win.
There isn’t much to analyze in a 34-second beatdown, but essentially, Rua’s usual aggression got him into trouble. He charged ahead and ran into a huge shot that spelled the beginning of the end. The night ended with a bang, but the event
The card took a hit before it even began. The co-feature was cancelled when Ian McCall had to withdraw from his bout with John Lineker due to illness. At least Lineker was entertaining with his quote about his inactive opponent.
The fighters who were in action did a good pretty job supplying the action. Here’s a breakdown of all the results from the card. Just beneath the table is a closer look at the bouts leading up to the main event.
Colby Covington is Impressive
In his second UFC fight, Covington dominated Wagner Silva and submitted him in the third round of the UFC Fight Pass preliminary bout.
In August, Covington made quick work of Anying Wang, but this performance showed off more of the 26-year-old’s grappling skills. He took control with strength and technique from the beginning and dominated the fight.
He’s one to watch over the next few years in the welterweight division.
Thomas Almeida Wins a Spirited Scrap
Almeida’s beard was tested in a major way against Tim Gorman. After being rocked in the first round, Almeida was able to right the ship and win a unanimous decision.
Despite sporting visible damage from the power of Gorman’s punches, Almeida did the better work in two of the three rounds and deserved the win. Both men saw their stock rise in this obvious Fight of the Night candidate.
Charlie Brenneman Loses Again
The curly-haired and energetic Brenneman is one of those guys who you kind of expect to lose whenever you see his name on a card. He held true to form on Saturday night. His most-recent defeat might be his last in the UFC.
On Saturday, he was submitted via rear-naked choke by Leandro Silva. That makes three-straight losses for Brenneman. In his career, he’s 19-8 overall, but he’s 4-8 in the UFC.
Seems like he can’t compete at the highest level. Ben Fowlkes of USA Today and Luke Thomas chime in on Brenneman’s seemingly bleak future in the UFC.
That Was Quick
Caio Magalhaes scored a TKO win over Trevor Smith in just 31 seconds. However, the last few strikes he landed could have gotten him disqualified.
The UFC Twitter account called Hellboy out on his strikes to the back of the head.
Magalhaes was lucky he wasn’t penalized. The questionable tactics don’t totally detract from his explosive performance, but he must show more self control in future bouts.
Diego Rivas Wins a Snooze Fest
If there was a fight that fans wished was part of a blackout, it was the Diego Rivas-Rodolfo Rubio bout. Both men were passive throughout and generate little offense. They briefly responded to the groans of the crowd by trying to push the action, but ultimately fell back into a lull.
Some matchups simply make for boring fights. This was one of them. Rivas earned the decision with more effective striking.
Juliana Lima Out Worked Nina Ansaroff
In the lone female bout on the card, Lima used her ground control and edge in physical strength to win the bout. Ansaroff was the quicker fighter in stand-up exchanges, but she couldn’t maintain distance against her opponent.
Per UFC.com, Lima spent 5:04 in ground control and that was the major factor in the bout.
Dhiego Lima Too Big and Strong For Jorge de Oliveira
de Oliveira showed a ton of heart, but his takedown defense was suspect. From the very beginning, Lima took de Oliveira down almost at will. Lima scored five takedowns in all, per UFC.com and had his opponent in survival mode the entire fight.
Silva gained full mount on two different occasions, but he couldn’t come up with the finish. It seemed as if a submission or even a TKO victory might be in the cards for Lima, but de Oliveira was able to survive.
Lima earned the unanimous-decision win, but he’ll need to be better if he hopes to beat the better welterweights in the UFC.
Silva Earns Split-Decision Win
By dominating the striking exchanges and getting key takedowns in the third round, Claudio Silva earned what should have been a unanimous-decision win. Per UFC.com, Silva landed 98 strikes compared to 42 for Leon Edwards.
The latter looked to be the more skilled striker early, but he tired midway through the second round and Silva cruised to the win in a mildly interesting bout.
Warlley Alves Gets a Gift Win
To put it plain, Alan Jouban beat Warlley Alves, the judges just missed it. Officially, Alves was awarded the unanimous-decision win, but it looked as if Jouban won the second and third rounds.
Per UFC.com, Jouban out-landed Alves 96-51, and did more damage with significant strikes (79-47).
UFC on Fox also disagreed with the decision, and Fox Sports’ Damon Martin showed the judges’ ridiculous scorecards.
Hopefully Jouban gets a rematch, or at least another choice spot on a main card. It would be a shame for him to fall in the rankings because of this decision.
Follow Brian Mazique on Twitter. I dig boxing and MMA.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com