On Saturday night the UFC hit the Ginásio Paulo Sarasate in Fortaleza, Brazil. for UFC on FUEL TV 10, which was headlined by a rematch between PRIDE heavyweight standout Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt and ADCC champion Fabricio Werdum. In the co-main event, The Ultimate Fighter Brazil 2 finalists met, as William Macario faced Nova Uniao’s own Leonardo Santos. Brazilian cards have a tendency to be enjoyable, and Saturday night’s card was no exception. Here are the highs and lows of UFC ON FUEL TV 10:
The Highs
In the Facebook Preliminary portion of the night, former Strikeforce fighter Anthony Smith faced Antonio Braga Neto. Prior to the fight I gave Smith the clear striking edge, which proved to be right, but it didn’t matter. In the first round, Neto recklessly shot and reshot before securing back control. To Smith’s credit he recovered guard, but his safety was momentary. Brago Neto attacked first with a heel hook, then transitioned to a tight knee bar, and forced the tap.
Neto has always been known as a Jiu Jitsu wizard, and Saturday night showed just how good he is. Next up I’d like him to be challenged by a stronger wrestler than Smith to see just how good his takedowns are.
A pair of massive middleweights were pitted together next, as Karlos Vemola faced Caio Magalhaes. From the opening bell Vemola implemented his usual game plan, which consists of putting his opponent on his back and putting his fist in their face. All seemed good in the first for Vemola, but his dominance was to be short lived. After surviving a beating in the first, Magalhaes turned the tables and showed just how strong his spirit is, as he took Vemola down and submitted him with a picture perfect rear naked choke.
The card supplied a number of beautiful submission finishes, and this was a particular high for me. It’s great to see fighters at the highest level implement techniques they’ve spent years to hone. In particular, Rony Jason’s triangle choke vs. Mike Wilkinson and Raphael Assunção‘s armbar over Vaughan Lee pleased me. It’s rare in the UFC today to see complete one-sided grappling domination, but Saturday was different. Spurred on by their home crowd, the Brazilians seemed to thrive in their native martial art.
Next up for Raphael Assunção needs to be a Top 5 fight. He has proven time and time again that he is a force to be reckoned within the UFC, and he needs to be paired with someone who matches his ability. I would love to see him fight Eddie Wineland.
Thiago Silva is a name synonymous with violence. Coming off a few years of bad fortune and sheer stupidity, he looked to make 2013 the year he finally realised his obvious talents, but Silva was matched against the ever-entertaining Rafael Cavalcante, and from the get go both fighters came out swinging. In the early exchanges Silva favoured the counter-striking approach and had a lot of success with leg kicks, but after a very grueling first 3 minutes, it was anyone’s fight to win. Visibly spent from his first round flurries, Cavalcante was on the back foot from the bell in the second, and Thiago smelled blood. He used his newfound technical striking to pick his punches before rendering “Feijao” unconscious in style.
Next up for Silva I would love to see a fight with Glover Texiera. Both fighters are known for their power and grappling, and it’d be a good test for Glover before pairing him with the seemingly untouchable Jon Jones.
The Lows
The first low of the event for me came about on the morning of the weigh-ins, when the very talented Ronny Markes was involved in a car crash which gave him a concussion and ruled him out of a prospect vs. prospect fight with Derek Brunson. While I hope Markes is okay, I think it was very unprofessional on his part to be driving while in the process of cutting weight, especially when the UFC drives fighters who request it wherever they like.
Hopefully this fight can be remade soon, as I was particularly interested in seeing how Brunson’s speed served him against Markes’ power.
A problem in the UFC of late has been the one-sided matchmaking, and it reared it’s ugly head on Saturday. Some of the fights simply shouldn’t have been made — the main examples of this were the pairings of Raphael Assunção, a definite contender, and the middle-of-the-road Vaughan Lee, and another contender in Fabricio Werdum facing a past it Big Nog.
To their credit, Lee and Nogueira fought valiantly, but it was always going to be an uphill battle for them. Maybe it’s the congested schedule of cards that forced Joe Silva and Sean Shelby to match up these guys, but regardless, this shouldn’t happen. The UFC’s mantra has always been “the best fight the best,” and its about time they started living by it.
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UFC on FUEL TV 10: Nogueira vs. Werdum took place on June 8, 2013 at Ginásio Paulo Sarasate in Fortaleza, Ceara, Brazil.
Click the stars to rate how good you think UFC on FUEL TV 10 was.
Is Silva known for his grappling?
Did you mean power and striking?
Thats an interesting fun fact that ufc will drive fighters during weight cuts.
I didn't know that.
+1 for ufc.
A well written article.
A smooth read.