Fifty thousand dollars. That’s the reward the bantamweights Brad Pickett and Damacio Page earned for their electrifying opening bout of the UFC on Fuel TV 2 broadcast.
The “Fight of the Night” performance is nothing unexpected for fans who followed the now-defunct WEC. Although it’s been over a year since the promotion was absorbed by its big brother, its former fighters still fly under the radar to a large majority of the UFC’s viewing audience.
The back-and-forth battle that Pickett and Page engaged in was a testament to how special the lighter weight classes truly are.
In addition to the typical level of skill that fighters in the UFC exhibit, the pace that flyweights, bantamweights and featherweights can maintain is amazing. You’d be hard-pressed to find fighters in any of the aforementioned divisions who struggle with cardio issues.
Take the opening round, where the two fighters managed to score three takedowns—returning to the feet each time—inside of the first two minutes. And that was just the grappling.
In the second frame, Pickett rocked Page with a left hook and sent him crashing to the mat. However, Page survived Pickett’s onslaught and brought the fight back to the feet.
Ultimately, Pickett would force Page to give up his back and submit him, but the nine minutes that the fighters spent in the cage were undoubtedly the most exciting of the event.
And that’s just one fight.
Every time lighter weight fighters step into the Octagon, you can expect some of the most exciting action of the night.
Rob Tatum is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report MMA. You can also find Rob’s work at The MMA Corner. For anything related to MMA, follow him on Twitter.
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