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It was a LONG night in San Antonio, capped by a dominant decision for Leon Edwards over former champion Rafael dos Anjos. But it wasn’t all bad… right?
Normally, an event can be saved by a series of rapid finishes after a largely tedious card. After UFC San Antonio began with nine straight decisions – nine! – we may have found the breaking point for how many decisions makes a card impossible to come back from.
Yes, Dan Hooker’s KO of James Vick was impressive. So was Walt Harris’ brutal left hand to the temple of Aleksei Oleinik. Despite those quick finishes, it still felt like the card dragged on. Perhaps some of that has to do with the main event between Leon Edwards and Rafael dos Anjos going the five-round distance, somewhat diminishing the breakthrough performance of Edwards. Not everything was bad about UFC San Antonio – the brawl between Mario Bautista and Jin Soo Son was AWESOME! – but I don’t I’m going to look back on the card and have many good vibes about it. The goods just came too little, too late.
Winners
Leon Edwards: I’m trying to figure out why Edwards’ performance was so surprising to many. Well, maybe surprising isn’t the right word, but most people seemed to be picking dos Anjos despite the former lightweight champions struggles with opponents who are solid wrestlers. Edwards fits that description to a tee, taking dos Anjos down or stalling him against the fence for long periods of time and wearing down dos Anjos. Perhaps the most impressive part was Edwards composure. At no point was Edwards panicked or overly excited. He had a job to do and he went out and did it. The call out of Masvidal works for me – not for Masvidal, though he seemed fine with fighting Edwards for free a few months ago — but Edwards still needs some work on his mic skills if he hopes to get what he really wants. Nonetheless, that’s about the only negative I can think of for Edwards’ night.
Walt Harris: I was a believer in Harris for a long time. I pretty much jumped off the bandwagon after his embarrassing performance against Fabricio Werdum about two years ago. I have to sheepishly admit there is a part of me that wants to crawl back on. The flying knee-punch combo he threw at Oleinik was a thing of beauty, the type of combo only a limited amount of big men can do. Fortunately for Harris, he’s one of those big men. The only thing stopping me from committing to the bandwagon is still not knowing how well Harris’ takedown defense and grappling hold up. However, that may not matter so long as Harris continues to exploit his elite athleticism like he did here.
Greg Hardy: I don’t care about the vitriol some of you may spew at me for putting Hardy here. I get that his actions from his NFL days were despicable. But I’m talking about his MMA career and how he performed in the cage against Juan Adams. Whether you like him or not, Hardy executed a great strategy, resulting in a quick win. He knew Adams was coming into the fight emotional and looked to use a hit and run strategy while preparing for potential takedowns. Adams went for a terrible shot, Hardy sprawled to perfection, and capitalized with a flurry of punches that Adams didn’t respond to, necessitating the referee stop the contest. I wasn’t sure how much Hardy had learned from his UFC debut given the Dmitrii Smolyakov fight taught us nothing. After this performance, I’d say he’s taking his coaches’ teachings to heart.
Dan Hooker: It only took the 28th round of the evening before the San Antonio crowd got a finish, but Dan Hooker did it in his first round of action. The New Zealand native immediately became the best friend for viewers everywhere. The biggest appeal for MMA is the violent finish it can produce and it wasn’t happening. As for Hooker’s performance, he looked awesome. I’m not just talking about the finishing sequence either. Hooker was checking kicks, something that would have been useful against Edson Barboza. Plus, he wasn’t content to stand on the outside with Vick, a trap I feared he’d fall into. It seems like Hooker learns from his losses. Fun fact: not a single one of Hooker’s UFC victories has gone the distance.
Andrei Arlovski: Every time people are ready to throw in the towel with Arlovski, he finds a way to put together just enough to keep his career alive. If I’m being fair, Arlovski did more than just enough in the first two rounds, throwing all sorts of combinations against a durable Ben Rothwell, looking more lively and confident than he has in years. He did gas out in the final round, but he did survive in spite of a chin that is generally thought to be made of glass. Speaking of that chin, can we put fragility of it to rest? Arlovski has gone eight consecutive fights without being put to sleep. I don’t think there is much left in Arlovski’s tank, but there is obviously more than I would have guessed going into this contest.
Alex Caceres: Though Caceres has a reputation as one of the most inconsistent fighters on the roster, his victory over Steven Peterson was one of the most intelligent performances of his career. Making good use of his footwork, he had the uber-aggressive Peterson chasing him for the majority of the contest, Caceres avoiding most of Peterson’s attack with slick footwork. The brilliance of it was Caceres did his best work after he broke his hand. Perhaps it has something to do with him realizing his margin for error was thin as he didn’t do the usual showboating that seems to get him in trouble….
Raquel Pennington: After a brutal beating at the hands of Amanda Nunes and a flat performance against Germaine de Randamie, Pennington proved she isn’t done quite yet. Some may argue Irene Aldana handed her the victory when she chose to engage in a leglock game, but there were times where it felt like Pennington could have folded up and packed it in. Instead, she listened to her coaches, upped her output after a flat first round, and came out on top in a battle of attrition on the ground. Pennington is unlikely to have her name mentioned in title talks ever again, but she can still be a tough gatekeeper.
Ray Borg: Borg is here with a caveat. The former flyweight title challenger rebounded from a rough opening round to push a hard pace on the UFC newcomer, Gabriel Silva, for a well-deserved win. However, given Borg’s talents and reputation, that opening round has to be concerning. He should be dominating someone like Silva from bell to bell. I acknowledge Borg has had a rough road with all of the issues his young son has endured and I pray those are a thing of the past. Perhaps I’m being too harsh as Borg was in firm control of the final two rounds, but that’s only because I believe Borg is that damn good.
Mario Bautista and Jin Soo Son: Bautista may have been the only one on the official ledger to walk out with a win, but Son walked out of the cage with just as much love from the spectators. These two went to war, exchange heavy artillery from bell to bell and giving fans reason to be excited about the future of both competitors. I always try to acknowledge when I’m wrong. I was wrong about Bautista. I was sold on Son’s chin and wild output. I didn’t realize Bautista could throw down with the man Mookie dubbed the “Bantamzombie,” seeing as how Chan Sung Jung already has the moniker of Korean Zombie. Bautista is a legit prospect and I’m hungry to see him in the cage again very soon.
Felipe Colares: I’m admittedly going easy on Colares as I didn’t think he won the contest. However, it was close and I feel like gloating a bit given I was the only staff member to pick him to secure the upset. I get where the staff is low on Colares as he doesn’t seem to have much urgency and put himself into several bad positions. However, he not only survived, he put Domingo Pilartes into several poor positions of his own with his methodical approach and scored the most effective offense in the fight with his GnP. The young Brazilian could have a bright future.
Losers
Rafael dos Anjos: Can we give up on the notion of dos Anjos competing for the welterweight title? I realize that most people didn’t think of him that way coming into the contest, but there seemed to be quite a few people jumping back on the dos Anjos bandwagon after he upended Kevin Lee. Having now dropped his third fight in four contests, it’s clear dos Anjos isn’t an elite welterweight. I’m fine if you want to call him a top notch gatekeeper to the upper echelon – he does have a victory over Robbie Lawler – but he’s lost too many to be anything more. Hopefully, the UFC stops throwing wrestlers at him. In other words, can we please not pit him against Ben Askren? I want to see dos Anjos against someone like Santiago Ponzinibbio or Darren Till, someone who he might have a striking battle with. However, keep an ear out for rumors of dos Anjos moving back down to lightweight. He’s already teased that before and having dropped another fight expedites the likelihood.
Aleksei Oleinik: It’s hard not to feel for Oleinik. There isn’t a fighter on the roster with the frame and mannerisms of a quirky, awe-shucks dad than the tricky submission specialist. To see him put away in such a violent manner at the age of 42 is painful. The loss calls into question Oleinik’s durability as it was a single shot to the temple from Harris that did the trick. Did Harris just hit him in the right button or has all the damage caught up to him? It could even be a combination of both. Regardless, I don’t think Oleinik is completely finished yet, but he’s closer than what I thought after his loss to Alistair Overeem earlier this year.
Juan Adams: While I already complimented Adams’ opponent for his willingness to discipline himself, I wonder if this will be a wakeup call for the massive mountain of a man. Adams’ shot a terrible looking takedown and had zero reaction to the countless shots to the head Hardy laid in on him. The kid has bragged about the amount of junk food he eats after weigh-ins. While it is amusing from a fans point of view, I can’t imagine a coach who would be happy with that. It has long made me wonder what else Adams shirks on. Perhaps this loss is what turns things around for him. If it doesn’t I don’t know what will.
James Vick: Vick isn’t going to be cut, even if this was his third loss in a row. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if this is his last performance at lightweight. Vick doesn’t seem to be able to take the damage he used to, resulting in his second KO loss. It shouldn’t be a surprise given Vick’s 6’3” frame is huge for lightweight and it gets harder to make weight the older you get. I also understand he doesn’t want to mitigate that advantage, but the lack of water to his brain from the continued weight cuts is apparent. Plus, it doesn’t seem likely he’ll stop fighting tall defensively any time soon. That chin is there to be tested.
Alexander Hernandez: I don’t care what the judges thought, Hernandez lost that fight to Francisco Trinaldo. Formerly a hard-charging wrestler, Hernandez spent most of the fight going against type by engaging in a point fight with Trinaldo from the outside. Sure, he was the more active fighter, but that doesn’t mean he was the more efficient fighter. I suppose Hernandez could have taken this approach knowing Trinaldo is a counter striker, but I worry about his potential moving forward if he opts to take this approach more regularly.
Francisco Trinaldo: While I would have given the fight to Trinaldo on my scorecard, that doesn’t necessarily mean I felt Trinaldo deserved a win either. The Brazilian didn’t look like he lost anything physically despite being less than a month away from his 41st birthday. He just refused to be the one to throw first. Where were the jabs? Where were the kicks? It was a terrible fight and it resulted in the ninth consecutive decision to open the card. Ouch.
Ben Rothwell: I didn’t want to put Rothwell here. The lumbering big man has never been a good athlete, making up for that with his toughness and power. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t land frequently enough to put Arlovski to sleep despite Rothwell’s best efforts. Rothwell looked like he may have been having vision issues in the final round as blood was pouring down his face. It’s hard to rip on someone when they are making that type of an effort. However, it is the third loss in a row for Rothwell and he did land some clean shots. Perhaps he doesn’t have the power anymore to make up for his lumbering frame. This could be the end of the line for the longtime UFC vet.
Steven Peterson: If you ever want to know why footwork is so important, watching Peterson chase Caceres ineffectively for the majority of their fight is a great lesson. Peterson threw a lot of volume, little of it landing cleanly because he did a poor job using angles and cutting off the cage. While I never mistook Peterson for a technical savant, I didn’t think he was the type to have Alex Caceres outsmart him. It’s possible the loss will have Peterson on the outside of the UFC looking in.
Irene Aldana: I hate when fighters go for a leglock for any reason other than creating a scramble to get to the feet. Aldana had the opportunity to scramble back to a vertical stance in the final round and chose instead to hang onto the leg. WHY!? Aldana looked like the fresher of the two fighters in the final round and had enough success on the feet that I would have thought she would have taken her chances trading fisticuffs. Nope. It’s mental mistakes like this that will keep Aldana from breaking into the upper echelon of the division. As she goes deeper into her career, it’s more unlikely she’ll correct that flaw.
Sam Alvey: Alvey may still have some fan support given he had the crowd chanting his name early on, but that may not be enough to preserve his job. Falling to Klidson Abreu for his third loss in a row, Alvey’s inability to be anything other than a counter striker has hurt him exponentially. Opponents know if they carefully pick their spots, staying mostly at a distance, Alvey isn’t going to hurt them. Given the lack of KO’s in his recent contests – and high volume of boring decisions – it wouldn’t be surprising if this is the last time we see Alvey in the UFC.
Roxanne Modafferi: While I’m not totally sure what Modafferi could have done differently, this may very well have been her last chance to make a solid case for a title chase. In other words, it was a missed opportunity, coming up short for the second time against Jennifer Maia. Everyone knows Modafferi’s physical limitations would always be a major obstacle – she is one of the worst athletes on the roster – but you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who works more diligently to improve their craft. Because of that, you get the feeling the UFC saw her as a gatekeeper going into this contest and only feel more justified in that observation walking out of this contest. Given how well liked Roxy is, this is a major bummer.
Gabriel Silva: Silva had nothing to be ashamed of in his loss to Borg. He surprised his more experienced opponent by outgrappling him in the opening round. However, he was unable to capitalize on the early lead he acquired, allowing Borg to dominate from there. It feels like a missed opportunity to me, perhaps brought on by Silva having Octagon jitters in his first UFC contest and allowing his adrenaline to sap his energy. At least that’s the way it appeared to me as Silva lacked the burst he showed early on. I like his potential and feel like he’ll rebound in his next contest
Domingo Pilarte: I’ll admit I wasn’t very high on Pilarte going into his fight with Colares and my opinion hasn’t changed. Pilarte’s striking defense is terrible and I haven’t seen enough wrestling for me to believe he can take advantage of his dangerous submission game. It isn’t like Pilarte can’t turn things around and become a mainstay, but I also think he might be better off moving to featherweight given his low energy levels.
San Antonio: Not that the fans in San Antonio suck. I was actually very impressed with their energy. It’s that they were inundated with nine consecutive decisions to open up the card. Given the amount of fans there for the early contests, they deserved better.
Neither
Klidson Abreu: Putting Abreu here doesn’t take anything away from the quality of Abreu’s win. It was a smart performance from the Brazilian. Sure, there are plenty of reasons to crap on Alvey, but Alvey has always been tough to put away and his KO power is legit. It’s just too bad Abreu couldn’t put on a more entertaining performance to persuade fans and the UFC brass to get behind him a bit more. The win does ensure Abreu keeps his job, but he’ll need to show more in the future if he hopes to get a push.
Jennifer Maia: This should have been a great moment for Maia’s career. Picking up her second career win over one of the most respected veterans in women’s MMA, Maia would have had as much reason to call for a title shot as anyone once her hand was raised over Modafferi. Unfortunately, Maia missed weight by a considerable margin, tainting what was an otherwise tactically impressive win. I’m unaware as to why Maia missed weight so badly as she traditionally hasn’t had weight issues in the past, but here’s hoping it doesn’t happen again. Otherwise, it won’t be very long before we see the talented Brazilian at bantamweight.