UFC Charlotte: About Saturday's Action...
Taking a look at everything that transpired inside the Octagon in "The Queen City" and what it all means going forward
Heavyweight Officially Has a New Contender
Jailton Almeida is a legitimate problem in the heavyweight division.
The Brazilian moved to 5-0 with five stoppages in the UFC with a first-round submission win over Jairzinho Rozenstruik to close out the show in Charlotte, which should earn him a place in the Top 10 and a date with another established name next time out. Almeida made it look easy, corralling Rozenstruik’s legs and depositing him on the canvas in under a minute before patiently working to mount and making “Bigi Boy” choose between getting punched in the face or giving up his back for a choke.
Rozenstruik turned, Almeida laced up the choke, and the fight was over.
What makes him such a threat is that few of the names standing between Almeida and the absolute top tier of the division right now are going to be susceptible to this same tactic — they’re big boys that like to throw hands and struggle off their back, and “Malhadinho” could conceivably waltz in there, submit a few more dudes, and quickly work into title contention.
I said I wouldn’t be surprised to see him challenging for championship gold in the next 18-24 months in my OSDB Sports column this week, and I want to revise that already — Almeida will be there in 12-18 months, if not sooner; it all hinges on who the UFC puts him in there with next.
Johnny Walker Keeps Winning
Brazilian light heavyweight Johnny Walker picked up the biggest victory of is career on Saturday, securing a unanimous decision win over former title challenger Anthony Smith.
Walker has worked diligently to dial in his crazy and use his natural gifts, and he found a nice blend of the two here. The steady diet of low kicks eventually chopped the lead leg out from under Smith and his natural, freakish power put “Lionheart” in trouble midway through the first. He has all the tools to be a threat against just about anyone, and now he’s finally taking a more measured, tactical approach to things, and it makes him all the more intriguing.
As sharp as Walker looked, Smith looked a little checked out to me. While he was undoubtedly dealing with a bad wheel and the challenges Walker presents, he’s also a guy that historically has bitten down on his gum shield and gone forward, and we didn’t see that at all. There was a “just trying to get through this one” feel to his effort, and I’ll be interested to hear what he has to say in the hours and days following this contest in regards to his performance and future.
This is a very good win for Walker, who should replace Smith in the Top 5 when the rankings update early next week, and should position him for any one of a number of interesting matchups going forward. He’s in the mix at the top of the division, and a date with someone like Aleksandar Rakic or Magomed Ankalaev would certainly make sense… and I wouldn’t be upset if he were tabbed to welcome Alex Pereira to the division either.
Ian Machado Garry Delivers
“The Future” is ready for the spotlight. Ian Machado Garry disposed of Daniel Rodriguez in just under three minutes midway through Saturday’s fight card, hitting him with a high kick and a series of coffin nails to collect his sixth straight UFC victory and push his record to 12-0 overall.
This was expected to be the Irishman’s toughest test to date, but instead, Machado Garry turned it into a showcase bout, getting the best of every exchange, showing tremendous range management and decision-making on the way to become the first man to finish Rodriguez with strikes. He was a little too loose for my liking early in his UFC run, but the 25-year-old has replaced that brashness with more contained confidence, and we saw it here, as he controlled things from the outset and looked like a future contender.
I love the Neil Magny call-out — he’s another veteran test, and both his length and wrestling could be a problem; it’s the exact step up Machado Garry needs as he looks to keep working his way up the welterweight ranks. He’s continued looking the part more and more each time out, and it’s going to be real intriguing to see how he keeps progressing as the matchups get more and more daunting going forward.
Ulberg Shines, Cruz Steals His Spotlight
Carlos Ulberg collected a third consecutive first-round stoppage win on Saturday, sparking Ihor Potieria with a check left hook and ground-and-pound blows to wrap up the win in just over two minutes. Rather than raising up “Black Jag” as an ascending talent in a shallow division, Dominick Cruz used his time to voice three-year-old gripes with referee Keith Peterson.
Cruz, who accused Peterson of smelling like booze and smokes when he stopped his bantamweight title fight with Henry Cejudo, questioned the stoppage and made it about himself, which is a terrible look on a couple different levels.
First and foremost, it’s not about you, Dom — it’s about the guy that’s in there competing, and Ulberg deserved tons of praise for his patient, precise finish. Secondly, it was three years ago… how is carrying this grudge serving you at this point? And lastly, both stoppages were good stoppages — Cruz was in a bad spot against Cejudo, and Potieria was dead-to-rights on Saturday. Could both have gone a tick longer? Sure, but they didn’t need to, and are you really going to hoot and holler about a guy not taking more punishment because you’re still bitter about a fight that took place three years ago?
As for Ulberg, this was an extension of his fight with Nicolae Negumereanu last time out – poised, steady, and sharp; he made his reads, found his timing, and then dispatched Potieria swiftly. He’s improving each and every time out and I already can’t wait to see him back out there in the second half of the year.
Gotta Love Guys Like Alex Morono
The main card kicked off with a welterweight clash between stalwarts Alex Morono and Tim Means, with 32-year-old Fortis MMA representative grabbing onto a second-round guillotine choke to secure the finish.
Morono is one of those cats that hovers just below the radar and just outside the rankings, but he’s won five of his last six and did well against Santiago Ponzinibbio last time out before losing focus and getting stopped. He’s knows exactly who he is inside the Octagon and out, playing to his strengths and not overshooting his shots, as he showed by calling out Bryan Barberena for what is sure to be another wildly entertaining scrap whenever it comes together.
I know I say it all the time, but we need to appreciate dudes like Morono way more because in addition to being vital to the movement within weight classes, they’re also consistently entertaining and go out there with specific focus of putting on exciting fights. Too often, fighters like Morono get brushed aside as a part of a “whatever” matchup early on the main card or late in the prelims, but these are the matchups and veterans that people often wax nostalgic about when lamenting how things have changed since “The Good Old Days.”
Preliminary Card Thoughts
Matt Brown closed things out with a bang, parking a right hand on Court McGee’s chin in the final minute of the opening round to collect the knockout victory. He’s now tied with Derrick Lewis for the most knockouts in UFC history, and showed he can still bang it out with fellow veterans and lower-tier talents. As for McGee, I think this needs to be the end of the line for my guy — that’s two straight knockout losses after never being knocked out before, and he’s just got too much more to offer the world.
All week, I said how Karl Williams looked against Chase Sherman would dictate my assessment of the sophomore heavyweight’s potential in the Octagon. Williams scored a unanimous decision win, and my assessment is this: unless he grows in leaps and bounds over his next couple fights, he’s always going to remain at this level, as his skills are limited and more experienced, more skilled competition will wipe him out, probably pretty quickly.
No issues with the scoring of the Douglas Silva-Cody Stamann fight, which ended in Silva earning a unanimous decision victory with scores of 29-28 across the board. The fans booed, but it was a reasonable decision, as the broadcast team had pointed out the whole way through. Close fight, competitive fight; moving on.
So the fight between Mandy Bohm and Ji-Yeon Kim was a weird one, as Kim was docked two points, the fight was stopped a minute into the third due to an illegal blow, and resulted in the first technical split decision I can remember. Kim actively gave this fight away, disregarding the instruction of her coaches and letting the animus she felt for Bohm rule her actions, resulting in her losing a pair of points and ultimately the fight.
We need to sit these analysts down and explain to them that it’s okay to just say you’re not sure what’s happening and not crush referees, judges, or commissions when things go cattywampus in the Octagon. While the referee Larry Carter was a little late with his point deductions, this was a messed up fight that forced some scrambling, and there was no need to bury the poor folks for having to sort things out.
Local boy Bryan Battle put Gabriel Green out with a right hook just 14 seconds into their welterweight scrap, following it up with a nod to “The Nature Boy,” hitting the Ric Flair strut and “Woo!” in front of an appreciative and excited partisan crowd. The TUF 29 middleweight winner has always shown sound fundamental pieces and good intangibles, but he was taken down repeatedly last time out, and needs to address it… unless he just wants to spark dudes out before they can
Great performance from Tainara Lisboa in the opener, as the Brazilian newcomer pieced up and eventually choked out Jessica-Rose Clark to collect her first UFC win. I was concerned about the poor level of competition she’d faced on the way to the Octagon, but it clearly wasn’t an issue, at least this weekend, as she thoroughly controlled this fight and showed good foundational pieces to build upon going forward
Not sure what the future holds for “Jessy Jess” after this one, as she made familiar mistakes and was defeated for the third straight time. While I’m tempted to give her some grace as this was her first fight after a year off and a gnarly injury, Lisboa was making the walk for the first time, sidelined for a year as well, and didn’t have her head coach in her corner, and she did well. Her decision-making is questionable and her results indicate she’s not able to compete at this level, so it will be curious to see if the UFC gives Clark one more shot after this one.