In the five years since the WEC’s featherweight division merged into the UFC, the race for title contention in the 145-pound fold has never been more competitive than it is in 2015. While Brazilian phenom Jose Aldo came to the promotion holding the crown, and still does to this day, a collective of talented and hungry potential title threats has emerged to make the featherweight fold one of the most exciting divisions under the UFC’s promotional banner.
Two of the most promising young talents currently burning their way up the 145-pound divisional ladder squared off on Sunday night, as Max Holloway and Charles Oliveira collided in the main event at Fight Night 74. The scrappy Hawaiian brought his six-fight winning streak into Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, to face the Brazilian submission ace—who was riding a four-fight run of his own—in a bout that was set to determine which of the two would become a certified contender in the featherweight title picture.
Whereas Holloway and Oliveira were once highly touted prospects, their work inside the Octagon over the past two years has brought both to the brink of becoming major players in the 145-pound weight class. Their showdown at Fight Night 74 was the long-awaited opportunity for one to step up and earn passage into the title tier of the weight class, and it was Holloway who wound up moving closer to the divisional crown.
It was an anti-climactic finish due to Oliveira‘s crumbling over with an injury in the early stages of the fight, but Holloway still picked up his seventh-straight win in a crowded upper tier at 145. Let’s take a look at the good, bad and strange from Fight Night 74.
The Good
Expectations are never easy for a fighter to carry in combat sports. Any time a fighter generates a fair amount of hype, much bigger things are figured in their future, but actually validating the buzz and moving into the realm of title contention is a much different animal.
Max Holloway has been on the UFC scene for just north of three years, and what an incredible three years it has been for the 23-year-old scrapper. Holloway has competed 13 times over that stretch and has continued to evolve his game with each and every step forward. The current version of the Hawaiian featherweight is one that has dangerous knockout power that is set up by his versatile and accurate striking.
The proof of his effectiveness has shown in the six-fight winning streak that he added to with a win over Charles Oliveira at Fight Night 74. While the win won’t go into Holloway’s highlight reel due to Do Bronx getting injured and bringing the fight to an end, it still moves the former-prospect-turned-contender into striking distance of a potential title shot. And while the commentating team of Jon Anik and Brian Stann talked about an immediate rematch due to how this fight played out, the right move would be to pit him against No. 1 contender Frankie Edgar later in the year.
The Answer is anticipating a December date for his next showing, and with Holloway emerging unscathed from his bout in Saskatoon, an end-of-the-year showdown would make tremendous sense.
*** Neil Magny may have had his seven-fight winning streak snapped by Demian Maia at UFC 190 several weeks back, but he wasn’t interested in wasting any time getting things back on track. When Rick Story was forced out of his bout with Erick Silva at Fight Night 74, the Colorado-based fighter jumped at the opportunity to face the Brazilian striker. While he was the underdog coming into the tilt, Magny made the most of his four-day training camp, as he took the fight directly to the once highly touted prospect to pick up the split-decision victory.
*** Trends come and go in MMA, and the biggest trend of 2015 is the veteran resurgence. While Robbie Lawler, Frank Mir and Andrei Arlovski have resurrected their respective careers to become champions or potential contenders, Canadian MMA staple Patrick Cote is writing an impressive chapter of his own. The Predator has looked like a man reborn since dropping down to the welterweight division back in 2013, and he took another step in his climb back to the top on Sunday by levelling Josh Burkman in the final round of their shootout at Fight Night 74.
From the opening bell, Cote and Burkman began slinging heat, and each had success as they wobbled the other with big shots. The fight was up for grabs going into the third round, and an early firefight in the frame set the tone for insanity down the home stretch. Cote clipped Burkman with a stiff right hand and then pounded out the victory on the canvas to pick up his second consecutive win.
*** Despite a solid string of wins in the lightweight division, Francisco Trinaldo has been unable to gain any real traction in the 155-pound ranks. The wild-swinging Brazilian powerhouse accomplished that feat at Fight Night 74 by handing heavily favored Chad Laprise the first loss of his professional career via TKO in the first round of their tilt in Saskatoon. Although both men came out looking to strike, it was a left hand from Trinaldo that put Laprise on the canvas.
Once he had his opponent where he wanted him, Trinaldo unloaded a flurry of heavy shots that forced the referee to step in and stop the bout. With the win Trinaldo has now emerged victorious in four straight fights and will move closer to the next tier of competition in his weight class.
*** Olivier Aubin-Mercier may not have capitalized on his chance to become the next Ultimate Fighter, but he’s shaping up to be a solid addition to the UFC’s lightweight roster. The Quebec Kid was turned back by countryman Chad Laprise on the reality-based fighting tournament but has gone on to win all three of his showings inside the Octagon since. The Tristar representative picked up his third victory in as many outings on Sunday, as he out-worked and out-grappled Tony Sims to pick up the unanimous-decision victory. The fight was a grappling clinic from start to finish from OAM and will guarantee that his next bout will come against a more established name.
*** It hasn’t taken long for Valerie Letourneau to establish a reputation for being an exciting fighter in the ranks of the women’s strawweight division. Both of the Montreal native’s showings inside the Octagon leading up to her bout with Maryna Moroz at Fight Night 74 were knockdown, drag-out brawls, and Trouble continued that trend on Sunday night in Saskatoon. The American Top Team product wasted zero time making the fight a gritty affair and dropped Moroz with a clean shot in the early goings. Moroz would bounce back to make things interesting, but it wouldn’t be enough to stop Letourneau from picking up her third consecutive victory under the UFC banner.
*** Nikita Krylov has only been competing inside the Octagon for two years but the Ukrainian has already established a cult-like following among hardcore MMA fans. The 23-year-old light heavyweight is most likely your favorite writer’s favorite fighter, and the lore surrounding him will only increase following his first-round submission victory over Marcos Rogerio de Lima at Fight Night 74. Al Capone survived two failed guillotines to lock in a rear-naked choke of his own that brought Krylov‘s current winning streak to three straight. Granted, there was an obvious and illegal fence grab that came before the finish, but Krylov‘s mystique won’t be hindered by rules.
The Bad
At its best MMA is an exciting and inspiring piece of willpower and physical poetry, but at its worst it is a violent and brutal thing.
Sam Stout is 31 years old—the age most fighters are finding their physical primes—and already it appears that the best years he had to offer inside the cage are far behind him. While Hands of Stone held status as one of the scrappiest fighters in the 155-pound ranks for the better part of the past decade, recent years have signalled a sharp turn south for the savvy veteran.
Whereas Stout once got by on his grit and power inside the Octagon, those weapons have fallen dull on his most recent streak of fights as the once durable fighter began to hit the canvas at a frequent rate. He came into his bout with Frankie Perez at Fight Night 74 having suffered back-to-back losses where he was put away with strikes in each of those showings. Stout certainly needed to prove that he still belonged in the UFC on Sunday night, and being starched by a stiff right hand from Perez wasn’t the way to get that done.
Whether Stout’s current string of knockouts is a sign of his chin being eroded by a decade of wars or simply a sign of the Toronto native being passed up by the next generation of fighter, there is very little working for Stout in his current form. And even though fighters who struggle to find traction are prone to dropping weight or attempting to change things up stylistically, Stout’s approach was the same in Saskatoon as it was nine years ago in his UFC debut against Spencer Fisher.
That said, only Stout will know whether or not he’s ready to walk away, but it would be a shock if the UFC allows him one more go after losing all but one of his last five fights.
*** The time has officially come to certify the fact that Erick Silva is never going to be the world beater he was once figured to be. While the Brazilian powerhouse got off to a great start to his run in the UFC settling opposition in furious fashion, his lack of consistency when facing tougher competition has become a serious problem for the Team Nogueira fighter. And just when he finally started to build momentum with back-to-back victories, a lackluster showing against Neil Magny once again served to erase any traction gained. Although the bout was technically a split-decision loss, whatever judge gave two rounds to Silva probably felt bad for him, because Magny dominated the fight.
*** Yves Jabouin has seen better days inside the cage. Whereas Tiger was once considered one of the most game fighters in the lighter weight classes, Jabouin has struggled in recent years to find success at a consistent clip. The Tri-Star fighter came into his bout with Felipe Arantes on Sunday in desperate need of a victory but instead found himself off a fight-ending armbar late in the opening frame. With the loss Jabouin has now suffered setbacks in all but one of his past four showings, with two of those defeats coming on Canadian soil.
The Strange
In the mind of an up-and-coming fighter, there is nothing bigger than getting that first victory under the UFC banner. Just making it to the biggest stage in MMA is a huge accomplishment, but getting your hand raised after throwing down inside the Octagon is something everyone dreams of.
For New Jersey native Frankie Perez, not only was the first win the big one, but the drubbing he put on Sam Stout will be the only one.
Following his impressive first-round knockout over the tough-as-nails Canadian, the 26-year-old lightweight should have been riding a tremendous wave of momentum. Not only did he get the biggest victory of his career against Stout, but he did so in highlight-reel fashion, as a slick right hand separated his opponent from his senses. Those circumstances typically combine to create an ample amount of buzz around a young fighter, but Perez didn’t use his post-fight interview platform as most do.
He retired.
The Ricardo Almeida-trained fighter told Jon Anik that he was officially walking away from the sport, and social media platforms lit up across the MMA community. Perez—a fighter’s name few would have recognized coming into Fight Night 74 before his bout with Stout—suddenly became the fighter every fight fan was talking about following his shocking announcement.
Whereas most fighters are prone to staying around long after their primes have passed, to the point that they are being carried out more than Chinese food, Perez’s decision will ensure that he will not suffer the damages of time that are guaranteed to come from a career in combat sports. Although Perez didn’t share the reason for his retirement, his directness in the biggest moment of his young career showed it was a decision he had put a heavy amount of thought into.
So there it is. Perez stumbled in his first go, but made good in his second and walked away. Oh so strange, yet, oh so cool.
Moving on…let’s talk about Canada for a moment.
While it has been long figured that the loss of pound-for-pound superstar and one of the greatest fighters of all time Georges St-Pierre would hurt the MMA market in the “Great White North,” it seems the former welterweight king’s retirement has nearly killed the UFC’s juice throughout the Provinces. Over the past decade, the promotion rolled through a variety of Canadian markets and consistently did strong numbers, but the days of 55,000 strong at UFC 129 in Toronto are just a distant memory now.
And that all makes sense without GSP leading the charge, but should his absence really have done that much damage? Seems a bit strange to me.
Rory MacDonald is the biggest thing rolling north of the border, and even though the Red King is as gifted as they come on the current landscape of MMA, thus far there has been a disconnect between the British Columbia native and Canada’s fighting faithful. Granted, it could all be linked to MacDonald having yet to track down UFC gold, or his reluctance to really engage with media the way St-Pierre used to, but either way you break it down, the heat once generated from the Canadian market has fallen to lukewarm status.
Nevertheless, the lack of pop doesn’t just rest on the shoulders of the Canadian representatives on the UFC roster, as the promotion itself has really pulled back from giving them platforms to shine on their native soil. The two biggest Canadian markets, Toronto and Montreal, have struggled to lock down events, and the promised “make-up card” in Calgary has been put off so long that it’s become the stuff of MMA folklore. Instead, the UFC has decided to push into the uncharted waters of Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan, where the Fight Night format has replaced the pay-per-views that typically served as the vehicles for Canada-based events.
Again, other elements, such as television rights being switched and the next wave of talent rising slower than previous generations, certainly play into how things have stalled out in Canada. But there has yet to be a tell-tale reason emerge for the decline, and it therefore remains a mystery.
Not more of a mystery than what exactly happened to Charles Oliveira in the main event, but a mystery nonetheless.
Duane Finley is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. All quotes are obtained firsthand unless noted otherwise.
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