The two-month wait since the last UFC event had been agonising, but UFC on Fuel 2 taking place in Stockholm, Sweden last night, rewarded the patient with an outstanding night of action.
At the top of the bill, Alexander Gustafsson systematically picked apart Thiago Silva over three rounds on his way to a unanimous decision victory.
His performance earned him comparisons with Jon Jones, but those comparisons are still premature for this 25-year-old Swede. He still lacks the killer instincts of the incumbent light heavyweight champion and failed to show the sort of creativity that have become hallmarks of Jones. But if his performance on Saturday night is anything to go by, those pieces will fall into place soon enough.
Gustafsson was as assured in his abilities inside the Octagon as he was methodical. Staying on the outside where he could take full advantage of his reach, a pin-point accurate uppercut, perfectly timed, sent Silva to the floor early in the first round. It was a wake-up call for Silva, returning after a year-long ban, who struggled to get on the inside of Gustafsson the whole match.
To his credit Silva never stopped coming forward, never lost his will to fight right up until the final bell. The Brazilian is always just one swing away from ending the fight and the question was: Could Gustafsson maintain his composure for three rounds?
That he did. In what will be seen as his coming-out party, in front of his home crowd, he soaked up the pressure. Loose and composed, he never wavered from his game plan of fighting in the range and keeping Silva on the end of his jab. With slips, rolls and feints, he kept Silva at a distance as he picked apart his opponent.
The light heavyweight division has been crying out for a suitable challenger to the seemingly unassailable Jones, and based on his physical similarities alone, eyes are fixed on Gustafsson.
Like Jones, he’s lanky and has a reach advantage which seems to neutralise all his opponents. Similar comparisons were being made of Phil Davies, another tall, rangy light heavyweight. But Davies’ defeat at the hands of Rashad Evans proved he was still several fights away from challenging for the crown, and that may still be the case for Gustafsson.
However, another fight or two against a top-five competitor, perhaps where he has a chance to showcase his grappling, and he could be looking at a title shot sooner than expected.
Still, the fact that his name is being mentioned in the same breath as Jones is much to the Swede’s credit. He has the athleticism and self-belief to help him go all the way.
Elsewhere, the main card provided an easy night for the judges, replete with knockouts and submissions. Middleweight Brian Stann made a triumphant return to the Octagon after his loss to Chael Sonnen last October.
In a way, Alessio Sakara was the perfect matchup for Stann. As a brawler, the Italian played straight into Stann’s game, falling into the American’s powerful Muay Thai clinch, and then being put on his back with a series of powerful knees to the head, inside the first round.
There Sakara regained his composure for a minute before Stann’s equally powerful ground-and-pound finished him off in one of the All-American’s finest performances.
It was an even shorter night for Brazilian Paulo Thiago who took on newcomer Siyar Bahadurzada. The Afghan dropped a charging Paulo Thiago cold inside 40 seconds of the first round and the match was over.
Having shown so much promise early on in his career, Thiago again fell short—rushing into a Bahardurzada uppercut, and gifting the Afghan Knockout of the Night honours in his UFC debut.
In the featherweight division, it was Dennis Siver’s night as the German beat Diego Nunes via unanimous decision.
There were no signs that the weight cut had slowed Siver in what was for the most part an even encounter. Nunes showed plenty of flashy spinning manoeuvres, but a stoic Siver was equal to the challenge. By the third round, the German had found his range and timing, and evened out the match in every respect.
The two fighters cancelled each other out for the most part and a draw would have been a fair result. But it was Siver’s night, scoring 29-28 on all three judges’ score card.
Those score cards were not needed in the welterweight match between DaMarques Johnson and John Maguire.
Proving that Englishman can grapple, Maguire had top control for most of the two rounds where he picked his shots and worked the submissions.
But Season 9 of The Ultimate Fighter runner-up Johnson showed he’s no slouch on his back, transitioning between submissions with the highest level of jiu-jitsu. Unfortunately for him, Maguire also proved his BJJ credentials and when Johnson went for a Kimura, leaving himself vulnerable to an arm bar, the Englishman was quick to capitalise forcing Johnson to tap in the second round.
In the final match on the main card, the first televised on the night, bantamweight Brad Pickett took on Damacio Page. Both fighters came out at a furious pace, looking for the knockout. Indeed a knockdown did come for the more patient Pickett early in the second round, a foretaste of what was to come.
Both men were non-stop, but Brad “One Punch” Pickett proved the superior boxer, forcing Page to scramble for a takedown and leaving himself vulnerable to the rear naked choke.
It was a great start to the season and a showpiece night of MMA for Sweden. All eyes are now on next week’s UFC 145 in Atlanta where Rashad Evans will challenge for the light heavyweight title against Jon Jones. Whatever the outcome of that night, Gustafsson’s victory in Stockholm means that the light heavyweight division just got that little bit more interesting.
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