Mookie Alexander recaps the night of action that took place at UFC Fight Night: Cerrone vs. Oliveira at the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Donald Cerrone didn’t take long to get his first win as a welterweight, as he cut through Alex Oliveira’s highly exploitable ground game and locked in a triangle choke in the UFC Fight Night 83 main event. Oliveira was aggressive and a game opponent, but he was basically out of his depth the moment Cerrone was able to take him down and get through his very very loose half guard.
Mario Yamasaki needed at least 9 taps, plus Cerrone telling him that Oliveira tapped, for Yamasaki to move in and separate them. That just about summed up the night of, shall we say, interesting officiating and judging out in the Steel City. The actual fights were pretty entertaining, the crowd was knowledgeable and lively, but Pennsylvania probably won’t be seeing another UFC show for awhile. Brian Stann was critical of commission officials all night both on Twitter and on commentary, where he was his usual exemplary self alongside Jon Anik.
More thoughts on tonight’s card:
FS1 main card
- As much as Cerrone’s striking is advertised above everything else he’s done over the years, his submission game remains as deadly as ever. I look forward to seeing him fight again next week, the week after that, and 15 times more this year.
- FS1 pacing was good tonight! I swear it was actually good! The finishes sure helped, but the card ended well before midnight ET, much to my surprise. This is how UFC Fight Nights should be. Even if it runs over 3 hours, PLEASE stop putting main cards on at 10 PM ET.
- Derek Brunson is a legitimate contender at middleweight and he needn’t be ranked only one spot above Dan Henderson anymore. He dusted Roan Carneiro on the ground with an all-out assault of punches until the referee stopped the fight. It’s time for top 10 competition for Brunson, whose only blemish is a comeback TKO win by Yoel Romero.
- Cody Garbrandt predictably knocked out BJJ champion Augusto Mendes, who accepted this fight on short notice. The bantamweight prospect was supposed to face John Lineker before he pulled out with dengue fever, and all I care about is having that fight get re-booked. Yamasaki hesitated to stop it when Mendes was out, then actually stopped it after Cody bopped Mendes in the head one more time.
- During the broadcast, viewers saw a really touching tribute to the late Kevin Randleman, who sadly passed away just over a week ago at just 44 years old. They’ve made all Randleman fight videos available to view on UFC.tv for free for the next 24 hours. Excellent work all-around by the UFC and I hope they have that tribute video up on their Youtube page in case you haven’t seen it.
- Dennis Bermudez didn’t easily defeat Tatsuya Kawajiri, but a win is a win when you’re on a two-fight losing skid. Bermudez was way too willing to grapple with Kawajiri for much of this contest, but Kawajiri faded fairly quickly and Bermudez’s whole desire to actually throw strikes meant he was in a position to get the victory. His in-fight strategic decisions remain as perplexing as ever.
- Chris Camozzi just beat the hell out of Joe Riggs in under a half-minute. It wasn’t even close. Jab, uppercut, 1000 murderous knees, fight over. Riggs suffered a broken forearm to add injury to more injury. Great performance by Camozzi, who surely has lined himself up to get a 3rd short-notice shot against Jacare Souza.
- …I can’t imagine any fan who would actually watch Joe Riggs fight in the UFC again. He can’t go a fight without his body falling apart, even when he wins by DQ. I’m just glad that he’s not in Bellator, where Leben vs. Riggs would be a thing.
- James Krause may have been disappointed with his inability to finish Shane Campbell, but he turned in arguably the best performance of his UFC career this evening. He executed a terrific, pressure-based fight plan that prevented Campbell from being able to just have a kickboxing match with him, and he proved to be more than formidable on the feet against the pro kickboxer. Krause also nearly submitted Campbell twice with rear-naked chokes, but Campbell performed quite well even in a losing effort. This was my personal FOTN.
FS1 prelims
- Alex Garcia, like Sean Spencer, are textbook examples of guys who can’t contend at welterweight by being low output strikers. Garcia had huge problems with Sean Strickland’s reach and his jab, was reduced to throwing sloppy power shots, and paid the price for it. Strickland poured on the punishment in round 3, starting with his jab, before finishing things off with a straight right that knocked Garcia out. Definitely a great finish by Strickland as he rises up the rankings, but I think it’s okay to give up on Garcia’s potential.
- Oluwale Bamgbose, “The Holy War Angel”, destroyed Daniel Sarafian with a head kick so powerful that it went through Sarafian’s guard and decked him anyway. The ensuing uppercut slept Sarafian, who was allowed to stand back up despite just getting KO’d, while the ref checked to make sure Bamgbose was okay. Yup. I definitely loved Bamgbose’s post-fight interview, which ended with a cryptic callout of a fighter (or fighters?) and then a shout of “I’M COMING!!!”
- Anthony Smith, Leonardo Augusto Leleco, and referee Chip Snider combined to create the perfect middleweight fight. Leleco doesn’t know the meaning of striking defense but is tough as hell and willing to throw back. The Brazilian dominated round 3 enough that a 10-8 wasn’t out of the equation, but he did lose a decision despite Smith’s best efforts to piss away a fantastic round 1. Where does referee Chip Snider fit in all of this? Randomly standing Smith up from BACK MOUNT while he was active at the end of round 2, and then doing the same thing to Leleco in round 3 as he was punching away at Smith’s face. Incredible stuff.
- Chip Snider was previously famous for botching the first Nik Lentz vs. Charles Oliveira fight when the UFC was in Pittsburgh back in 2011. He’s not gotten any better.
- I kinda tuned out watching Nathan Coy beat Jonavin Webb because I was still fuming over the Evans-Smith vs. Reneau decision. From what I gathered, Webb basically was screwed once he couldn’t win the scrambles, because he’s neither durable enough nor a dangerous enough striker to give Coy really serious problems. I think Webb needs some fights outside the UFC because his game is too incomplete and Coy exposed his flaws on the ground.
Fight Pass prelims
- Ashlee Evans-Smith defeated Marion Reneau by split decision in an unbelievable display of judging incompetence. Two judges, including the one who gave Reneau the win, gave round 1 to Evans-Smith, which is 150% indefensible. There was a 29-27 for Evans-Smith that was actually 29-28, but math is far too hard these days.
- Lauren Murphy got her first UFC win with a great comeback against tough newcomer Kelly Faszholz, who gave Murphy problems in the opening round before Murphy took control in the 3rd round and scored the TKO win with just 5 seconds left. Faszholz is a definite keeper and I’m glad Murphy avoided a potential 3rd straight split decision in the UFC, having lost the previous two.
- Shamil Abdurakhimov put in a solid shift by comfortably outstriking Anthony Hamilton in the curtain raiser. I was fearing the worst but it turned out to be an okay fight for lower-tier heavyweights.