UFC Vegas 74: About Saturday's Action...
Recapping the results from inside the Octagon on Saturday night at the UFC APEX
Close Fight, Uncertain Scoring
Amir Albazi picked up the biggest win of his career to close out this weekend’s event, coming away on the happy side of a split decision verdict in his clash with Kai Kara-France.
This wasn’t a robbery by any stretch — it was an ultra-close fight between two very skilled flyweights — however the scorecards illustrate why there were plenty of questions being asked after the results were read aloud. Albazi won the second and third on all three scorecards, taking the first on one and the fourth on another to edge out Kara-France, who scored one unanimous round (the fifth) while getting the 2-1 edge in Rounds 1 and 4, coming away on the frustrating side of what the Scott Fontana of the Couchside Judges podcast calls an “Alternative Decision.”
Beyond the scoring and result, what this fight showed us is that Albazi is certainly capable of competing at this level, even if it wasn’t a clear cut victory. He went 25 minutes primarily on the feet with a dangerous striker in his first main event and Top 15 pairing. He’s as good as advertised, and has to be included in the championship conversation, while Kara-France doesn’t lose any ground.
Hoping to carve out time Sunday or Monday to watch this one back, but with UFC 289 on the horizon, there is a lot on my plate already this week.
Featherweight Chaos
It’s not going to win Fight of the Year or anything, but the co-main event between Alex Caceres and Daniel Pineda was every bit as entertaining and chaotic as anticipated.
Caceres won the opening round and Pineda seemed on the brink of being sent packing at the close of the first five minutes, but then “The Pit” rallied and won the second, leaving the victory hanging in the balance heading into the third. Early in the third, Caceres punished Pineda, burying heavy shots into his midsection, prompting referee Mark Smith to take a closer look and tell the Texan he needed to fight back, and Pineda obliged. Right until the final horn, these two were getting after it, with Caceres claiming the victory to move to 7-1 over his last eight fights.
This is one of those situations that always confuses and annoys me when folks are talking about these cards, because everyone that says how much they crave entertaining scraps should have known this was going to be insanity, but they also lament bouts like this being in the co-main event. We can’t do boring stylistic matchups as mains and co-mains, even when the athletes are ranked, but when we get excitement guaranteed in a fight like this, they’re not big enough names and we should have had ranked athletes in this spot.
Which is it?
Jim F’n Miller
How about registering the fastest finish of your career in Fight No. 54?
Jim Miller planted a left hook on chin of Jesse Butler, sending the late replacement newcomer to the Ancestral Plane, halting the fight in just 23 seconds. The 39-year-old now has 41 appearances and 24 victories inside the Octagon, tops in both categories, with all of those victories coming in the lightweight division, which is another entry carrying his name in the UFC record books, and as much as you don’t want to make too much of a win of this magnitude against an opponent that took the fight on Wednesday, it makes that trip to UFC 300 seem all the more likely for Miller.
It’s really heartening to see a veteran fighter that wants to continue competing approach things the way Miller has over the last several years — taking on all comers, not worrying about rankings or anything other than stepping in the cage and testing himself. This was an outstanding finish and an ultra-cool moment for a consummate professional.
Records Don’t Tell Complete Stories
Tim Elliott is 8-10 in the UFC, but that record doesn’t accurately convey the level of talent, the wealth of experience the awkward flyweight has amassed over the course of his two stints competing in the Octagon.
Elliott earned his second straight win and fourth victory in five appearance on Saturday, grinding out a grappling-heavy victory over Victor Altamirano. He uses every little sneaky tactic possible, isn't afraid of getting hit in the least, and is able to just lean on his veteran savvy and general toughness against these less established fighters in the 125-pound weight class.
For folks that want to say, “How is a dude that is 8-10 in the Top 15?” go look at who Elliott has faced and the dudes that have beaten him — five of the last six are Top 15 talents, and his four losses during his first run came against legitimate contenders as well. The only time he’s caught an unexpected setback came against Ben Nguyen, which was a 49-second guillotine choke finish, and Nguyen was a solid fighter.
The 36-year-old is another one of those veteran hands that needs to be appreciated more than he is by the “records and titles” set that discount and dismiss too many good hands.
Killer Indeed
Karine Silva needed less than two minutes to collect her second straight submission win inside the Octagon, dropping back for a kneebar against Ketlen Souza just 1:35 into the opening stanza.
“Killer” was looking for a heel hook, but torquing twisted the knee in an awkward direction, causing Souza’s knee to pop. The 29-year-old Dana White’s Contender Series graduate tapped out Polyana Botelho in the late stages of the first round in her promotional debut last year, and has now won seven straight overall. While it’s a little early to start calling her a contender, this effort made it clear that she’s someone to keep close tabs on going forward in the loaded flyweight ranks.
Top 15 opponent next time out?
EZ Does It
Elizeu Zaleski Dos Santos pushed his record to 10-3 inside the Octagon with a split decision win over Abubakar Nurmagomedov to kick off the main card.
Nurmagomedov buzzed the Brazilian right out of the gates, but from that point forward, Zaleski Dos Santos got the better of the striking exchanges while doing well to shut down a great deal of the Russian’s wrestling entries and ideas. While Nurmagomedov landed some shots of his own, Zaleski Dos Santos was the far more active and effective of the two, resulting in the win.
This is one of those fights where I’d love to chat with the judge that scored the fight in favour of Nurmagomedov — not in a combative way, but to find out how he arrived at that score. Giving him Round 1 is understood, but from there, he was ineffective with his grappling — no real takedowns, no submission attempts — and Zaleski Dos Santos was clearly the more effective striker.
The right man won in the end and that’s what matters most, but I still wish we hadn’t fewer of these unnecessary split decisions.
Preliminary Card Thoughts
Give me all the Daniel Santos fights please! The young Brazilian bantamweight is a bundle of energy and action, from the opening seconds ‘til the final horn sounds, and while he might not be someone that makes a real run to contention in the 135-pound ranks, I don’t care — not everyone has to be chasing gold; sometimes an all-action fighter is all you need.
Santos took the fight to Johnny Munoz Jr. from the outset, punishing the Californian for pulling guard and having no Plan B when attacking of his back wasn’t working. Although the fight was highlighted by three low blows — two from Santos, one from Munoz — this was a strong showing from a developing young fighter who is proving fun to watch every time out.
Don’Tale Mayes picked up the biggest win of his career on Saturday’s prelims, sparking out Andrei Arlovski midway through the second round with an overhand right that landed flush.
The sales pitch on Mayes’ skills as he headed into the cage felt overboard, but his power is undeniable, as Arlovski fell quickly and was done in a hurry as soon as “Lord Kong” landed flush. He’s a huge man that looks like he should be more dangerous and dynamic than he is, but he’s also only 31 years old, which makes him a baby for the heavyweight division. That being said, don’t expect a massive rise for “The Best Things Smokin” any time soon — he’s a mid-pack and lower talent and destined to be part of fights like this throughout his career.
Fun fight between John Castaneda and Muin Gafurov resulted in the former getting a unanimous decision win and the latter showing he’s got a future in the Octagon, but the greater talking point came in the second, when Gafurov was docked a point for leading with his head.
Referee Chris Tognoni was quick to pause the action and take a point from Gafurov, which of course prompted the usual “ah, I don’t like it” reactions from some. To me, you have to take a point, especially here because it was egregious, but also because that’s the only way to start minimizing fouls and not penalize the fouled fighter. Think about it: you catch a headbutt, have to deal with that discomfort, and nothing else happens… how’s that fair?
This was absolutely the right call, and while I get not wanting to impact the outcome of fights, the reality is that the offending athlete is the one impacting the contest with their inadvertant or blatantly illegal actions.
Muhammad Naimov, put a right hook on the chin of Jamie Mullarkey midway through the second round that put the Australian on the canvas and gave the newcomer a thrilling debut win.
A natural featherweight who took the fight at the start of the week, Naimov did well prior to the finish, landing a few good shots, but it seemed like Mullarkey was just starting to settle in and take control. But he got a little loose as he looked to close the distance and Naimov made him pay, finding his jaw and sending him crashing to the canvas. Just an absolutely tremendous debut win for Naimov, who gets the “circle this guy for next time out” treatment given that he’ll be heading back down to featherweight in the future.
There isn’t a lot to say about Elise Reed and Jinh Yu Frey, which played out largely as anticipated, with Frey starting well and fading, and Reed being solid on the feet, but nothing special.
I’m not trying to be dismissive, but this was one of those instances where it’s difficult to take a lot away from the fight because we didn’t learn anything new — Reed is still too slow to react when she gets put on her back and takes too long to get into her attacking rhythm, while Frey seems to have five minutes of confidence and then has to try to gut things out from there. Reed will get another look later this year, but she’s always going to struggle to have consistent success in the Octagon, which honestly makes her better suited for returning to the regional scene, where she was dominant before graduating to the UFC.
That was the kind of performance I was looking for out of Da’Mon Blackshear, as the former CFFC standout finally broke into the win column,n on Saturday.
With Luan Lacerda focused on hunting leg locks, Blackshear defended well in both the first and second, staying safe and extracting his leg in the first before opting to simply pound the Brazilian into a pulp in the second. This was a perfect example of the risk that comes with committing to attacking the legs on the canvas, and Blackshear made Lacerda pay a costly price for selling out on the mat. Now 1-1-1 in three UFC appearances, I expect Blackshear to continue being an entertaining, durable, tough out in the 135-pound ranks going forward.
Philipe Lins keeps posting wins. While this one wasn’t nearly as exciting as his 49-second finish of Ovince Saint Preux last time out, the 37-year-old Brazilian did what he needed to do in order to dispatch Maxim Grishin and run his winning streak to three.
A three-pack of wins doesn’t carry you to the brink of breaking into the rankings in most divisions, but at light heavyweight, it gets you close, and that where Lins should find himself now. The competition is going to get tougher as he keeps working forward, but the results and the performances have been solid and it’ll be interesting to see how long he can keep this run of success going.