On Saturday night the UFC hit Seattle’s Key Arena for UFC on FOX 8, which was headlined by a battle between former NCAA Division 1 wrestler John Moraga and the UFC’s first ever flyweight champion, Demetrious Johnson . In the co-main event, The ever-exciting Jake Ellenberger faced future star Rory MacDonald in a highly-anticipated bout. Here are the highs and lows of UFC on FOX 8.:
The Highs
In the Facebook Preliminary portion of the night, former Fight of the Night winner John “Prince” Albert faced The MMA Lab’s Yaotzin Meza. In Albert’s previous bout, he fought Scott Jorgenson, and after an initial period of dominance in that fight, he winded up suffering defeat. On Saturday night he suffered the same fate. After locking in a triangle, Albert gassed out and faltered, leaving his opponent Meza to capitalize by securing a rear naked choke.
After an impressive outing in his divisional debut, it will be interesting to see who Joe Silva matches Meza with next.
A pair of massive middleweights were pitted together next, as Ed Herman faced Trevor Smith. From the opening bell both fighters came out swinging; the first two rounds consisted of both Herman and Smith landing heavy and often, rocking each other in the process.
In the third, Herman was clearly fresher than Smith, and utilized his grappling to secure the round, and thus earn the decision. This fight was among the best fights of the year so far. I hope the UFC matches Herman up with Francis Carmont next to really test the Frenchman’s skills.
I’ve long been a fan of Melvin Guillard, but he has always struggled to put his skills together. But on Saturday night, I think we finally bore witness to the new Melvin Guillard. In his fight with Mac Danzig he looked like a new fighter on the feet, electing to throw counter punches instead of being his usual aggressive self. In the second round, he dropped Danzig and finished him with some of the most brutal hammer fists I have ever seen.
I honestly believe Melvin still has the potential to be a UFC champion. If he keeps his head clear, and sticks with his new team at Grudge MMA, he’ll be a force to be reckoned with.
In the first fight on the main card, former women’s bantamweight title contender Liz Carmouche faced Jessica Andrade and really made a statement. After an even first round, Carmouche came out possessed for the second, and took Andrade down, mounting and dominating her opponent with solid ground and pound. Carmouche is a Top 5 fighter, and I expect her to face Rousey again in the future.
Robbie Lawler looked fresher on Saturday night than he did when he made his Octagon debut at 20. Lawler faced granite-chinned Bobby Voelker, and from the get go controlled the exchanges on the feet to such a degree that his opponent never really got his offense off.
In the second round, Lawler came out lusting for blood, and scored a head kick knockout early on.
With a UK card coming up in October, and seeing that Bellator has released Paul Daley, how good would a matchup between these hard hitters be?
The Lows
The first low of the event for me came in the prelim fight between Daron Cruickshank and Yves Edwards, Cruickshank has to be given credit for stepping in on short notice, but throughout his fight he simply didn’t seem like he wanted to engage. I’m all for counter striking, but it seemed to be that Cruickshank was content with doing the least damage possible en route to a decision victory.
Next up for Cruickshank I would love to see a fight with Melvin Guillard.
In the co-main event, top contenders Jake Ellenberger and Rory Macdonald faced each other in a highly-anticipated bout which, like many expected, ended up being disappointing. MacDonald put in a perfect performance, utilising his footwork and jab perfectly, but what frustrated me was Ellenberger’s lack of activity.
Ellenberger seemed confused on his feet, and didn’t throw with his usual ferocity, which played into MacDonald’s game plan of staying on the outside. Ellenberger is a lifelong wrester, yet he only shot for two takedowns, which perplexed me.
Next up I’d like to see MacDonald face Tarec Saffiedine , or the winner of Kampmann vs. Condit.
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UFC on Fox 8 took place on July 27, 2013 at the KeyArena in Seattle, Washington.
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