UFC Fight Night 161 Post-Fight Analysis
We got a great event from Tampa Bay, though unfortunately as it was I hardly saw most of the main card thanks to the technical difficulties I kept experiencing. Anyway from the little pieces of the fights I saw I will try to write a little bit of post-fight analysis.
Co-Main also went very much like expected, with Kron Gracie's lack of well rounded MMA game getting harshly exposed. Cub might be aging and on his way out, but he is hardly shot, he can still take a punch, stay upright and moves well. Kron on the other hand needs to stop being arrogant that BJJ solves all problems and learn some offensive wrestling. Is it too late for him at 31 though, we will see.
Niko Price murdered James Vick with a horrifying upkick. There is something about Vick that always rubbed me the wrong way, but at this point, after him enduring three absolutely brutal first round knockouts in a row, you just have to feel sorry for the guy. He is probably done as a top-level MMA fighter, chin just tends to not come back and it won't be any good for him to endure any more brain damage. He just has utterly failed to fix any of his defensive deficiencies.
It is crazy how fast he has gone downhill. Just 14 months ago he was 13-1 as one of top lightweights. Now he is ripe for retirement at 32.
I thought Ribas forward motion instincts would eventually have her walk either into a bomb by Dern or straight into grappling, but she showed disciplined outside striking, great fight IQ and footwork to easily outpoint Dern. I am glad I did not feel super certain about Dern, but bit disappointed I could not see that perhaps the more fleet-footed fighter would easily win this. Like Kron, Dern needs to learn some footwork to close the distance and offensive wrestling to take fights down.
Matt Frevola's decision win over Luis Pena was kinda BS. First round was close but it's hard for me to see how Frevola got it, and under new ruleset the second round should have been textbook 10-8 for Pena. Frevola eeked out the decision which gets me a right pick, but I do have to admit I underestimated Pena's takedown defence, and even more than that his ability to just pop right back up and being a submission threat off his back.
Ryan Spann and Devin Clark has a pretty messy and slow paced fight, but if we take Spann's word for him having had a lethargic day, it was then impressive he managed to get the submission.
Mike Davis nearly killed Gifford. I figured Gifford's boxing would give him a way to victory, but whether it ever was there, just the overall kicking and power of Davis quickly compromised him to the extent that the fight was not competitive at all. Letting the 3rd round go on was a disgrace from referee and the corner. I do salute the commission for pulling the referee out of the rest of the event, even though the probably reinstate him next event, at least there was immediate consequences from fucking up.
There was no reason to see Gifford being flatlined like that. Especially if his father was supposed in the corner, as a father of a son myself how do you send your son out there after absorbing more brain damage in two rounds than most fighters take all their careers? Okay, enough angry ranting about that.
Alex Morono put on a good display to beat Max Griffin in what was mostly a kickboxing fight. It was very evenly matched for large parts and Morono hurting Griffin in the second round ended up deciding the match.
Deiveson Figueiredo easily submitted Tim Elliott whose awkward movement did make it hard for Figueiredo to land anything solid. Flyweight title picture is a bit messy with the guy arguably still the champ just winning the million dollar tournament in Asia, the champ on paper being injured and fighting in two weight classes, and Figueiredo calling for an interim belt against Benavidez, despite having lost to Formiga... I mean it kinda makes sense consider Formiga then lost to Benavidez but the whole thing is confusing. For me DJ is still the best flyweight on the planet even if he keeps getting tested hard in Asia.
The card started rough for me with four fights going wrong in a row. I definitely underrated Marlon Vera's striking and Ewell showed himself to be too one dimensional to be a threat on the feet. He might be one of the division's better boxers, but just having gas tank to box for 1.5 rounds does not give you enough to win fights. Vera looked like a legit contender level fighter, expect a high-level match-up for him next.
Guess Baeza is the real deal then - he showed powerful leg kicks and decent volume against Aldana, who to be fair does not look UFC level fighter at all. Marvin Vettori was caught with some good shots, but keeps improving his overall fighting and relies on his good chin for the rest of the way. Sanchez though was a disappointment and did not fight at all like expected, being content to fight a losing kickboxing match against the faster Italian.
Then again, Vettori seems very strong so perhaps he just immediately felt grappling would just not work, who knows.
I definitely just assessed the first fight wrong, JJ Aldrich had much the better technique and speed and at this low level that is plenty enough. Mueller also is someone who seems to athletically have it but just is not skillful enough at this level.
All-time record now after six events is 40.5 out of 71, in Main and Co-Main events I am 7 out of 10. 4 winning nights and 2 losing nights. Definitely pays to make better research, before I was just taking losses after losses.
Main Card
The Main Event went exactly as expected, though it was perhaps even more one-sided than most of us would have expected. Joanna still has been only beaten by Rose with her outstanding striking and Valentina through simply being so much bigger, no one else can touch her. With Rose having little interest in being the Champ, perhaps Joanna should challenge for the title next?Co-Main also went very much like expected, with Kron Gracie's lack of well rounded MMA game getting harshly exposed. Cub might be aging and on his way out, but he is hardly shot, he can still take a punch, stay upright and moves well. Kron on the other hand needs to stop being arrogant that BJJ solves all problems and learn some offensive wrestling. Is it too late for him at 31 though, we will see.
Niko Price murdered James Vick with a horrifying upkick. There is something about Vick that always rubbed me the wrong way, but at this point, after him enduring three absolutely brutal first round knockouts in a row, you just have to feel sorry for the guy. He is probably done as a top-level MMA fighter, chin just tends to not come back and it won't be any good for him to endure any more brain damage. He just has utterly failed to fix any of his defensive deficiencies.
It is crazy how fast he has gone downhill. Just 14 months ago he was 13-1 as one of top lightweights. Now he is ripe for retirement at 32.
I thought Ribas forward motion instincts would eventually have her walk either into a bomb by Dern or straight into grappling, but she showed disciplined outside striking, great fight IQ and footwork to easily outpoint Dern. I am glad I did not feel super certain about Dern, but bit disappointed I could not see that perhaps the more fleet-footed fighter would easily win this. Like Kron, Dern needs to learn some footwork to close the distance and offensive wrestling to take fights down.
Matt Frevola's decision win over Luis Pena was kinda BS. First round was close but it's hard for me to see how Frevola got it, and under new ruleset the second round should have been textbook 10-8 for Pena. Frevola eeked out the decision which gets me a right pick, but I do have to admit I underestimated Pena's takedown defence, and even more than that his ability to just pop right back up and being a submission threat off his back.
Prelims
Eryk Anders got the nod over Meerschaert and I kinda feel that was BS decision too. I mean, it was a close fight so no one can talk of robberies, but Meerschaert outscored Anders quite clearly in the strikes. I think his flinching when he gets hit made it look like he got hit with more heavy shots than he really was.Ryan Spann and Devin Clark has a pretty messy and slow paced fight, but if we take Spann's word for him having had a lethargic day, it was then impressive he managed to get the submission.
Mike Davis nearly killed Gifford. I figured Gifford's boxing would give him a way to victory, but whether it ever was there, just the overall kicking and power of Davis quickly compromised him to the extent that the fight was not competitive at all. Letting the 3rd round go on was a disgrace from referee and the corner. I do salute the commission for pulling the referee out of the rest of the event, even though the probably reinstate him next event, at least there was immediate consequences from fucking up.
There was no reason to see Gifford being flatlined like that. Especially if his father was supposed in the corner, as a father of a son myself how do you send your son out there after absorbing more brain damage in two rounds than most fighters take all their careers? Okay, enough angry ranting about that.
Alex Morono put on a good display to beat Max Griffin in what was mostly a kickboxing fight. It was very evenly matched for large parts and Morono hurting Griffin in the second round ended up deciding the match.
Deiveson Figueiredo easily submitted Tim Elliott whose awkward movement did make it hard for Figueiredo to land anything solid. Flyweight title picture is a bit messy with the guy arguably still the champ just winning the million dollar tournament in Asia, the champ on paper being injured and fighting in two weight classes, and Figueiredo calling for an interim belt against Benavidez, despite having lost to Formiga... I mean it kinda makes sense consider Formiga then lost to Benavidez but the whole thing is confusing. For me DJ is still the best flyweight on the planet even if he keeps getting tested hard in Asia.
The card started rough for me with four fights going wrong in a row. I definitely underrated Marlon Vera's striking and Ewell showed himself to be too one dimensional to be a threat on the feet. He might be one of the division's better boxers, but just having gas tank to box for 1.5 rounds does not give you enough to win fights. Vera looked like a legit contender level fighter, expect a high-level match-up for him next.
Guess Baeza is the real deal then - he showed powerful leg kicks and decent volume against Aldana, who to be fair does not look UFC level fighter at all. Marvin Vettori was caught with some good shots, but keeps improving his overall fighting and relies on his good chin for the rest of the way. Sanchez though was a disappointment and did not fight at all like expected, being content to fight a losing kickboxing match against the faster Italian.
Then again, Vettori seems very strong so perhaps he just immediately felt grappling would just not work, who knows.
I definitely just assessed the first fight wrong, JJ Aldrich had much the better technique and speed and at this low level that is plenty enough. Mueller also is someone who seems to athletically have it but just is not skillful enough at this level.
My picks
Despite starting with four wrong picks, I ended the night with 7 out of 14 right, exactly half of them, and thanks to better picks for bigger and smaller stakes, it was a winning night. I also feel I could have easily gotten even couple more right and should have bet more on Swanson, who was way too big of an underdog.All-time record now after six events is 40.5 out of 71, in Main and Co-Main events I am 7 out of 10. 4 winning nights and 2 losing nights. Definitely pays to make better research, before I was just taking losses after losses.
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