Mookie Alexander recaps and analyzes the night of action that took place at UFC Fight Night: Hendricks vs. Thompson at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Tonight’s UFC Fight Night: Hendricks vs. Thompson card was televised on FS1 instead of staying on PPV. The main card was mostly a slog, but the main event miraculously ended before 1 AM ET thanks to Stephen Thompson, who delivered a sensational performance vs. Johny Hendricks in the main event. Hendricks tried to close the distance and make the fight a bit of a grind for Thompson. Not only did Wonderboy have an answer for it, he wiped out Hendricks standing like no other fighter has ever done to “Bigg Rigg” in his entire MMA career. Picture-perfect kicks, precise punches, perfect power and placement, and a lot of other words that begin with “p”.
I may be on a high from the performance and drastically over-selling what Thompson did tonight to a former welterweight champion known for his ridiculous chin and dangerous skillset, but I think we just watched the new UFC welterweight champion. That’s right. If the UFC were to pass on Lawler-Condit 2 (I hope they don’t), I would pick Stephen Thompson to defeat Robbie Lawler. Thompson had a big test to pass considering he hadn’t really beaten a truly elite welterweight, and he absolutely smashed Hendricks to pieces in a way Lawler couldn’t through 10 rounds. Thompson passed his test with flying colors, now it’s time for a title shot. Apologies to Tyron Woodley, but you’ll have to take another fight.
More thoughts on tonight’s card:
Main Card
- Johny Hendricks absolutely needed to perform well to get rid of the bad taste of 2015, which included a rather drab fight with Matt Brown, blaming fans for his not getting another title shot, and then the weight-cutting hospitalization that cancelled the Tyron Woodley bout. He got annihilated and his granite chin finally crumbled. Tonight was the worst case scenario for Hendricks, and while it’s foolish to just write him off as someone who’s unlikely to challenge for a title again, he’s nowhere near the title picture right now. Hendricks has a lot of work to do beyond just consistently nailing down his weight cut.
- Roy Nelson defeated Jared Rosholt by unanimous decision and we will not discuss that wretched fight any further.
- Jared Rosholt has 5 UFC main card appearances in 8 fights. When Khabib Nurmagomedov fights Tony Ferguson in April, it’ll be only his 3rd main card appearance in 7 fights. Free agent bantamweight Aljamain Sterling has 0 main card bouts out of 4 outings. The UFC can’t complain about Rosholt when they’re the ones who set the bout order. I sure as hell can complain about him, though.
- Ovince Saint Preux broke his foot early in the 1st round vs. Rafael Cavalcante and still managed to win every round on two scorecards. There’s no real point in criticizing OSP for the way he fought because he spent 12+ minutes of it hobbled, but Feijao was getting eloquently torn to shreds by Brian Stann for his performance. He shelled up and was hurt whenever OSP landed flush punches on him and was largely inert off of his back. Feijao attacked OSP’s busted foot in the 1st and went all wacky for about 20 seconds to start the 3rd, but he otherwise fought like a guy who didn’t really want to be in there. He won’t be in the UFC after this, and yes, it is fair to question whether his awful UFC run is directly tied to his suspension for PEDs in Strikeforce, where he was once the LHW division’s champion.
- Joseph Benavidez should fight the Demetrious Johnson vs. Henry Cejudo winner next, if only because … well, why would you deny him? He looked really good vs. Zach Makovsky, who was able to take him down but was wholly incapable of keeping him there longer than 3 seconds. Benavidez dominated the 3rd round, outstruck him, and picked up the decision win. I really don’t think that he’ll beat Mighty Mouse a 3rd time (yeah, Johnson will defeat Cejudo) but he’s earned the right to prove me wrong.
- Misha Cirkunov is a real danger when he has you on the ground, and he broke Alex Nicholson’s jaw with a vicious neck crank in the 2nd round. Cirkunov even said he heard his jaw crack, and I certainly did on the replay. Nicholson was throwing (and missing) millions of spinning strikes, while Cirkunov fought a calm, measured fight and seized the opportunity as soon as it was presented to him. The Canadian is one to watch at light heavyweight, a division desperate for new talent to rise to the top 15. Hopefully Nicholson’s jaw heals up quickly, because he’s getting married soon.
- Don’t think anyone expected 40-year-old Mike Pyle to have anything left after nearly getting knocked out in the 1st round vs. Sean Spencer, but he pulled off an impressive comeback, capped off by a spinning elbow and a vicious set of strikes to put Spencer away. Spencer had Pyle hurt in round 1 but didn’t finish him, Pyle had Spencer hurt in round 2 and didn’t finish him, but “Quicksand” made no mistake in round 3. That’s a great moment for Pyle and a terrible one for Spencer, who just hasn’t got the output or a varied enough attack to compete with too many welterweights in the UFC.
Preliminary Card
- Josh Burkman and K.J. Noons had a horrifically boring fight, mostly because Noons just flat out refused to let his hands go. It was excruciating to watch as Burkman just kicked Noons’ legs while Noons feinted for no discernible reason. Burkman was gassed in round 3 and Noons still didn’t have enough offense to turn things around. I don’t see a reason for Burkman to stay at 155, and I don’t see any reason for Noons to still be in the UFC.
- Derrick Lewis is only 31 years old (happy birthday, Derrick!), which makes him a teenager in heavyweight years. Dare I say he has top 10 potential? He’s looked vastly improved in his last two fights, including tonight’s mauling of Damian Grabowski. “The Black Beast” has ferocious punching power, a dangerous top game, and improving ground skills. If he doesn’t pan out as a fringe contender, at least he’s a good enough fighter to stick around for another few years or so.
- Justin Scoggins was masterful against Ray Borg and dominated him every which way you could imagine. He owned him striking, stuffed his takedowns, and when it did go to the ground, he dominated the transitions and didn’t let Borg put him in prolonged bad spots. Scoggins had a pair of losses to Dustin Ortiz and John Moraga, but the 23-year-old’s performance tonight definitely looks to me as if he’s a future contender in the flyweight division.
- Diego Rivas pulled off a sensational flying knee KO over Noad Lahat, who pretty much had a 10-8 1st round in my opinion. It’s going to hold up as one of the best KOs of 2016. Lahat is in the hospital after spending several minutes lying on the canvas, having suffered his 2nd flying knee KO in the UFC.
- Mickey Gall ended Mike Jackson’s night in 45 seconds. It looked like a fight between a heavily favored 1-0 fighter and someone making his professional debut. Gall will fight CM Punk in the summer and probably beat him. They even let CM Punk have an in-cage meet-and-greet with him, something the UFC hasn’t bothered to do for most of their actual championship fights.
- Alex White looked improved from his previous reckless brawling, winning a clear unanimous decision over Artem Lobov by throwing (and landing) more than his opponent, as well as taking him down multiple times with relative ease. Lobov probably shouldn’t be in the UFC at all given how inept he looked in this fight and his Finale loss to Ryan Hall, but that connection with Conor McGregor probably will earn him some really undeserved leeway.