Tag: UFC 187

In a battle between welterweight veterans, Dong-Hyun Kim took on Josh Burkman at UFC 187. It was a deceptively important fight between two experienced grapplers who were desperately looking to secure their footing in the stacked welterweight division.  

After a back-and-forth first round, Kim asserted himself in a big way in the second, dominating Burkman along the cage and bullying him on the ground. While Burkman mustered up a strong offensive volley in the third, Kim would retake the fight, muscling Burkman back to the ground and locking him up with an arm-triangle choke for the submission finish.

So what did we learn from this fight? 

 

“Gunslinger” Kim Is Gone, and That’s Good

Kim has been a good fighter for a long time, but he never quite jelled with UFC brass due to his grinding style. In an attempt to fix that, Kim adopted a Rambo-like striking attack, swinging early, hard, often and without thought. While that resulted in two brutal knockouts of Erick Silva and John Hathaway, it came as no surprise that the high-risk style eventually led to a brutal loss at the hands of Tyron Woodley.

The big, long-term question with Kim entering this fight was which version of Kim would show up against Burkman. Well, it was the old, methodical Kim.

That’s for the best, of course. Dong-Hyun Rambo may have provided some great highlights, but his staying power as a top welterweight was non-existent. This version of Kim is a troublesome opponent for anybody at 170 pounds. Hopefully, he knows it.

 

Josh Burkman Just Plain Isn’t a Top Welterweight

Comebacks are all the rage these days. Matt Brown, Robbie Lawler, Andrei Arlovski…the list goes on. The former Mr. Arianny Celeste wanted to be a part of that group but, alas, it wasn’t meant to be.

Burkman came up well shy of beating Kim and, save a 20-second spree of offense, never really felt like he was in control of this fight. Worse yet, the size, weight and strength differential with Kim was obvious from bell to bell as Kim outright bullied Burkman throughout the fight.

The People’s Warrior can still get wins in the UFC. It just doesn’t feel like those wins can come at the expense of Top 10 opponents.

 

The UFC Is Very Lucky

The UFC put on a stadium show in Sweden earlier this year, and, boy, it did not go well for the local favorites. Every single Swedish fighter, most notably Alexander Gustafsson, lost decisively, and the UFC’s long-term viability in Sweden suffered greatly as a result. 

Last week, something quite similar happened with the UFC announcing that it was poised to put on its first-ever show in South Korea…right on the heels of an 0-3 Fight Night 66 for its Korean fighters. The UFC needed Kim to win here, and he did it.

Kim, by a mile, is the biggest star in Korean MMA and is the most likely candidate to headline the show in Seoul. Having his footing secure and his future certain is a big, big deal. If Kim, alongside Tae-Hyun Bang, Hyun-Gyu Lim and Yui-Chul Nam, entered the event coming off a loss, it could have led to a UFC on Fox 14-style catastrophe for the promotion.

 

Burkman Doesn’t Have Awesome Cardio

Kim is the kind of fighter who can sap an opponent’s strength. He is an absolute master of wearing opponents down with his judo-based clinch attack. That said, Burkman just didn’t look up to snuff here.

He had a wide-open window to victory in the third round, clipping Kim with a punch and nailing him with a knee. While Kim was on wobbly legs, Burkman just couldn’t summon up enough offense to get the win.

Again, Burkman is a solid fighter, but in this deep welterweight division, a fighter needs to have 15 minutes of hustle to climb up the ladder. If he can’t muster that, his shelf life just won’t be that long.

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Rafael Natal nabbed a contentious split decision from Uriah Hall, but it wasn’t an egregious outcome.

Natal won the second round with an early takedown. Hall did well to close out the round with one of his own, but Natal clearly did more in the second frame to even the fight. It looked like Hall may have done enough in the third, but Natal landed his own offense as well.

Perhaps Hall’s counterstriking style looked like he was backing away and avoiding the fight. It would not be the first time we have seen inept judging. Even still, Natal did enough to at least make it close. This win should not be seen as a robbery, and he should not suffer from the potentially controversial nature of the result.

This is what we learned from the middleweight affair.

 

What We’ll Remember About This Fight

Was the opening groin kick intentional? Was it inadvertent?

Natal connected with a suspicious inside leg kick that landed flush on the groin on the very first strike of the fight. After all the trash talk between the two fighters, one has to question the intentions behind it. UFC color commentator Joe Rogan was suspicious of it as well and asked for a replay to see the angle of the kick.

It was a curious start to the fight.

 

What We Learned About Uriah Hall

He still has a ways to go before being called elite.

He had a decent fight but did nothing spectacular. Natal took him down fairly easily in the second round, but most of the credit goes to the Brazilian for timing the level change beautifully. Hall also got clipped by an overhand right.

Losing may have been the best outcome for Hall. He is not ready for the top end of the division, and a win would have forced him into fighting someone in the Top 15.

 

What We Learned About Rafael Natal

If you thought Natal was going to get knocked out by a quicker athlete, you were wrong. I was right there with you in that thinking, but he proved that he still comes to fight. He took some big shots in the bout and kept coming.

That was impressive. We learned Natal can make us eat crow.

He is tough. He is a grinder. He kept coming forward and making Hall circle away. Natal did what he could to get the fight to the ground. It was a solid performance but nothing to set the world on fire.

 

What’s Next for Hall?

How about Dan Kelly? Sure.

Kelly was undefeated before Sam Alvey iced him in early May. Hall could do the same thing, but Kelly’s judo background could force Hall to improve his takedown defense as well.

It’s a quality rebound fight, which is what Hall needs.

 

What’s Next for Natal?

Natal is a solid name in the division but lacks the skill to break through to the next level. He is a good undercard guy who can challenge those on the brink. In other words, he’s a gatekeeper. That is the role he played at UFC 187.

After this win, Natal should return home to Brazil for a fight on home soil. The winner of Ricardo Abreu vs. Jake Collier would be my choice, but any other lower-level middleweight would do the trick. Natal should not be fighting anyone of note after this win.

The UFC can build Natal up just a bit more before putting him against another up-and-comer who has eyes on the Top 10.

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