UFC Fight Night 167 Post-Fight Analysis
What a weird card we had. I hate to admit it, I was largely bored. I usually aren't bored of the fights, but at least some blame lays with the fact I literally sat through 20 matches before the event to get the previews done, so by the time the actual event was near end, I was completely burnt out. Slightly losing night, but let's talk about the matches.
In the Co-Main Michel Pereira lodged himself more firmly as the guy who has lost me more money than anyone. He was already the top dog in that regard before the fight, and now I have lost two sizeable bets on the same guy. Anyway, he was hard done this time though. Yes, he kneed Diego illegally to the head. However I don't think it was intentional, it was more of a scrambling situation. Secondly, it was on the forehead, the hardest part of the head, and Diego was conscious although cut after it.
Regardless you can accept Diego feels like he can't continue after it, so we come to our final point. The fight was almost over. We could have easily dealt with it with -1 point for Pereira and then have him win a wide decision anyway after going to the cards. Diego was never winning that fight anyway and shouldn't have gotten the DQ win.
I kinda zoned out during the boring women's fight, but De La Rosa was much the better fighter and I dont think Borella has much business being in the UFC. Then we come to the other DQ of the night. This was entirely different than the Pereira one. Here Weaver was completely grounded, with no question about it, took a heavy knee on the face, and most importantly he was knocked out. He clearly went out for a moment so there was zero doubt the fight should not continue. It was also in the beginning of the fight further making it a clear case for a DQ.
Ray Borg made rather easy work of Rogerio Bontorin. His power and good grappling was nullified with Borg being able to get into controlling positions and keeping it there for most of the match.
Lando picked Yancy Medeiros apart with both fighters showing some uncharacteristic restraint. It was still a pretty good fight, even if not an big war where both take a ton of damage. Medeiros took some heavy shots and showed he still has a chin after all.
John Dodson proved that my assessment that he is still a top tier fighter was true. Too bad I again did not trust my judgment enough but rather saw these two as equals and went with the younger fighter. Wood did not look bad, but he got caught and ate a clean shot, hopefully it won't affect his career too much.
I predicted Holtzman would KO Miller if he lands one of his haymakers. Perhaps he did not land one that was fully planted fully clean, but he definitely landed ton of hard shots and Miller showed he can still take a shot. Early on he was also looking much the technically cleaner. Guess long career started weighing on him in the later rounds though, for Holtzman took over in the latter half of the fight and went away with decision victory.
Clark still looks hesitant and tentative in his fights, but still easily beat Townsend who just does not even begin to belong in UFC (yet I keep picking him cause I am an idiot). Never picking him again, he is just too easy to take down and keep there, but likely he won't fight in UFC again anyway so... lesson learned too late again.
Casey Kenney looked like he might have been able to match Merab Dvalishvili skill-for-skill, but quickly found out he just can't keep up with the crazy pace. Best cardio in 135 division? It has to be up there for sure.
Macy Chiasson gave Shanna Young a beating everyone was expecting, but she took some heavy shots herself and has still lot of sloppiness to polish to get to the top level. The girls put insane pace on the first round and hence were both quite exhausted for the latter two rounds.
Raulian Paiva used his length to pick Mark De La Rosa apart from distance, eventually finding the KO on the second. When you have short reach for flyweight division, you really have problems, and those problems only get worse when you fight a style where you don't try really push to get inside. Short guys, look at how DC fights and learn. You gotta work with what you got.
On to the next one, we are once again in a big streak of UFC events in successive weeks, so you will hear of me again next weekend.
Main Card
Main Event was question of Jan's counters versus Corey's pressure and wrestling. The counters won, obviously. I don't see Jan bombing Jon Jones like that, but anything is possible when big guys fight. Still if I was Jon I would much rather jump on the chance to fight Jan than entertain rematch with Reyes. Jones needs a convincing win to build momentum for a HW money fight.In the Co-Main Michel Pereira lodged himself more firmly as the guy who has lost me more money than anyone. He was already the top dog in that regard before the fight, and now I have lost two sizeable bets on the same guy. Anyway, he was hard done this time though. Yes, he kneed Diego illegally to the head. However I don't think it was intentional, it was more of a scrambling situation. Secondly, it was on the forehead, the hardest part of the head, and Diego was conscious although cut after it.
Regardless you can accept Diego feels like he can't continue after it, so we come to our final point. The fight was almost over. We could have easily dealt with it with -1 point for Pereira and then have him win a wide decision anyway after going to the cards. Diego was never winning that fight anyway and shouldn't have gotten the DQ win.
I kinda zoned out during the boring women's fight, but De La Rosa was much the better fighter and I dont think Borella has much business being in the UFC. Then we come to the other DQ of the night. This was entirely different than the Pereira one. Here Weaver was completely grounded, with no question about it, took a heavy knee on the face, and most importantly he was knocked out. He clearly went out for a moment so there was zero doubt the fight should not continue. It was also in the beginning of the fight further making it a clear case for a DQ.
Ray Borg made rather easy work of Rogerio Bontorin. His power and good grappling was nullified with Borg being able to get into controlling positions and keeping it there for most of the match.
Lando picked Yancy Medeiros apart with both fighters showing some uncharacteristic restraint. It was still a pretty good fight, even if not an big war where both take a ton of damage. Medeiros took some heavy shots and showed he still has a chin after all.
Prelims
Daniel Rodriguez had a little rough start against Tim Means, but once he started to get going, he was looking smooth and started putting some real damage on Means. He was unlucky that the bell saved Means at the end of first round or it would have ended right there. Still he kept staying technical and outlanded Means by a lot until he found the shot that really hurt Means. Then it was just matter of a finishing touch with a guillotine.John Dodson proved that my assessment that he is still a top tier fighter was true. Too bad I again did not trust my judgment enough but rather saw these two as equals and went with the younger fighter. Wood did not look bad, but he got caught and ate a clean shot, hopefully it won't affect his career too much.
I predicted Holtzman would KO Miller if he lands one of his haymakers. Perhaps he did not land one that was fully planted fully clean, but he definitely landed ton of hard shots and Miller showed he can still take a shot. Early on he was also looking much the technically cleaner. Guess long career started weighing on him in the later rounds though, for Holtzman took over in the latter half of the fight and went away with decision victory.
Clark still looks hesitant and tentative in his fights, but still easily beat Townsend who just does not even begin to belong in UFC (yet I keep picking him cause I am an idiot). Never picking him again, he is just too easy to take down and keep there, but likely he won't fight in UFC again anyway so... lesson learned too late again.
Casey Kenney looked like he might have been able to match Merab Dvalishvili skill-for-skill, but quickly found out he just can't keep up with the crazy pace. Best cardio in 135 division? It has to be up there for sure.
Macy Chiasson gave Shanna Young a beating everyone was expecting, but she took some heavy shots herself and has still lot of sloppiness to polish to get to the top level. The girls put insane pace on the first round and hence were both quite exhausted for the latter two rounds.
Raulian Paiva used his length to pick Mark De La Rosa apart from distance, eventually finding the KO on the second. When you have short reach for flyweight division, you really have problems, and those problems only get worse when you fight a style where you don't try really push to get inside. Short guys, look at how DC fights and learn. You gotta work with what you got.
My picks
I got exactly over half right, hitting 7 out of 13 of my picks. My best pick was the brilliant Rodriguez who cashed in as a big underdog, and my worst pick was once again Michel Pereira. Its not like he did not reel in the crazy shit, he was still having plenty of gas in the last round, but the guy is just too unreliable for all his talent. Anyway I took about 1 bet worth of loss, not terrible but not great either.On to the next one, we are once again in a big streak of UFC events in successive weeks, so you will hear of me again next weekend.
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