Tim B. takes a look at a weird and surreal UFC 216 card in Vegas.
Tony Ferguson is a cagey, cagey man. He really hadn’t done a ton in the first two rounds of his UFC interim lightweight title fight with Kevin Lee. Lee landed some big shots in the first round and got some timely takedowns to take the stanza. Ferguson rebounded with a stronger second, but Lee had his moments there too.
Then came the third round.
Ferguson didn’t really get off to a great start. He got taken down twice and ate some big shots. But he is absolutely deadly from the bottom, and he proved it as soon as Lee took him down for the second time in the round. He immediately transitioned for an armbar that looked like nighty night, but Lee amazingly escaped. He resumed top position, but Ferguson quickly set up a triangle. And there was no escape from that. Lee was forced to tap, and immediately started to cry.
Ferguson is a strange dude, but his game is so, so pretty.
Props to Lee for fighting through a staph infection to show up for the fight, but it was El Cucuy’s night. A night that also included two draws on the undercard and some weird shenanigans.
When you see a finish to a title fight and you can't even figure out how the hell the man did that, you're witnessing greatness. Demetrious Johnson is greatness. After dominating Ray Borg for four round and doing basically whatever he wanted, he pulled off a finish for the ages, throwing Borg into the air in a pseudo-suplex and jumping into an armbar position before they hit the ground. Borg fought valiantly, but there was no way he was going anywhere. That was unreal.
Fabricio Werdum got an over-matched opponent on three hours notice, and he showed that there are levels to this game, as Daniel Cormier said. Yes, Walt Harris was handed a tremendous opportunity - but he got taken down and submitted in just over a minute. That's the way it should have gone, and that's the way it did. Sorry Walt.
Mara Romero Borella came in on short notice and completely dominated Kalindra Faria. After an immediate takedown, she moved to mount, held on well, and got the choke victory after Faria gave up her back. Very impressive.
Beneil Dariush almost finished Evan Dunham, but Dunham's heart and toughness kept him in the fight. Dariush blew his load trying to get the finish to a degree, and it let Dunham back into the fight. He won the last two rounds, and earned a draw in a very good fight.
Lightweight is such a crazy division.
Cody Stamann became the second guy on this card to stop a vaunted prospect in his tracks. Stamann, a legit prospect himself, ate some big shots early but he was able to put Tom Duquesnoy on his back consistently in the first two rounds, and actually outstrike his tired opponent in the third to take a huge win. Good work by Stamann here.
Lando Vannata and Bobby Green put on a hell of a show. Vannata looked to have Green finished in the first round, but he landed an illegal knee (sort of) and lost a point. To Green's credit, he recovered right away and put forth an awesome effort against the unique Vannata. Both men landed huge shots and engaged in some fun scrambles over the next two rounds, thoroughly entertaining the fans (especially considering it was right after two lame bouts). It went to a draw, and I'm completely okay with that. Run it back please!
Pearl Gonzalez pressed Poliana Botelho against the cage for 13 minutes and did absolutely nothing with it. Botelho landed a lot of elbows and punches, and you can count one for the judges actually picking the fighter who won the FIGHT as opposed to just winning the control portion.
Matt Schnell and Marco Beltran looked like they were sparring. That was not a good fight, and while Schnell deservedly got the win, I don't need to see either guy again anytime soon.
Wow, John Moraga. All the hype was on Magomed Bibulatov and Moraga clubbed him with two huge shots and knocked him out in 98 seconds. That was awesome.
In the opener, Brad Tavares put together one of the most complete performances of his career in taking apart Thales Leites. His piston-like jab was on point all night and he battered Leites' legs with low kicks to the point that he could barely stand. Leites looks pretty done as a ranked fighter.
