UFC Austin - A new top contender?
Was that the best fight night of the year? I would maybe go as far as to say it might be a top 5 event of year including PPV’s, and I don’t even think that’s a reach.
In the main event, Arman Tsarukyan made a statement by knocking Beneil Dariush out in just over a minute. And while I think he’ll likely have to fight another top contender before getting a title shot, I wouldn’t mind if the UFC put him in with Islam Makhachev right away. They obviously fought once before many years ago, but both fighters have evolved a lot since then, and a fight now would look very different. In this fight with Dariush I was really looking forward to see how the grappling exchanges would play out, because Tsarukyan is an incredible wrestler and Dariush has some of the best BJJ in the division. It wasn’t to be though as just when the first minute had passed, Tsarukyan threw a knee which initially I thought was the strike that dropped Dariush, but he threw a right hand behind it which caught Dariush right on the chin and dropped him badly. Only a couple of follow up strikes were needed before referee Mark Smith stepped in and Tsarukyan could celebrate the biggest win of his career.
So what’s next for him? In the post fight interview, Tsarukyan said he wanted to fight for the belt next which I wouldn’t mind. Both Charles Oliveira and Justin Gaethje also have very valid claims for a title shot, so it will be interesting to see what the UFC go with. My guess would be that they end up rebooking the Makhachev vs Oliveira rematch that was originally set to take place at UFC 294, hopefully before Ramadan so we don’t have to wait until after the summer to see another lightweight title fight.
Another lightweight fight that took place was Jalin Turner vs Bobby Green, and unfortunately the main talking point here is the late stoppage by referee Kerry Hatley. The finish came at 2:49 of the first round, and it was a beautiful straight from Turner that rocked Bobby Green before another right hand sent him to the canvas. And Green was finished at that point, there was no need for any extra punches and Hatley should’ve stopped the fight as soon as Green went down. But that’s not what happened, as Turner was able to land ground and pound for another 10 seconds while Green was not defending himself in any intelligent way before eventually going out cold, again. It’s probably one of the worst stoppages in UFC history, and definitely the worst I’ve seen live.
Referees are there to protect the fighters, and I can’t help but think about what Adam Catterall constantly preaches on both TNT Sports and the Fight Disciples podcast, that the referees should rather stop the fight a little bit early than a little bit late, especially in a fight like this that doesn’t really have massive stakes. I would be surprised to see Kerry Hatley anywhere close to a UFC event in the near future, which is also the vibe I got from what Dana White said himself at the post fight press conference. I absolutely get that being an MMA referee is an incredibly hard job, but when fighters health and safety is on the line, a mistake like that is simply inexcusable.
There, rant over.
Deiveson Figueiredo had a successful debut at bantamweight after defeating Rob Font by unanimous 30-27 decision. He showed that his power definitely translates up a weight class and I was surprised at how well he managed the height and reach disadvantage, but he looked phenomenal. Bantamweight has a new contender for sure.
Sean Brady also made easy work of Kelvin Gastelum in what was Gastelum’s first fight at welterweight in quite a few years. Gastelum just had nothing for Brady’s wrestling, who landed all of his takedowns and controlled Gastelum for 9 minutes in what ended up being a nearly 12 minute fight before Brady sunk in the kimura. A nice win for Brady, who is now back in the win column.
As I said, one of the very best events of the year. The one next weekend isn’t quite as good on paper, but then we have UFC 296 the week after. It looks to be a strong end to the year for the UFC, in what has been very exciting year overall.