Last night the UFC hit the TD Garden in Boston for UFC Fight Night 26, which was headlined by a fight between former PRIDE and UFC champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and former number one contender Chael Sonnen. Also on the stacked main card was a bout between former K-1 and Strikeforce champion Alistair Overeem and Team Jackson’s Travis “Hapa” Browne. The UFC was desperate for an impressive night of action on their debut on the new network, and they delivered. Here are the Highs and Lows for UFC Fight Night 26 on Fox Sports 1:
The Highs
In the Facebook Preliminary portion of the night, The Ultimate Fighter Season 13 runner up Ramsey Nijem faced fellow TUF alum James Vick in a battle in the lightweight division. From the bell, Nijem was looking to initiate the grappling game, which he thought would be his opponent’s Achilles’ heel; unfortunately for him, it wasn’t. Vick managed to lock in a power guillotine inside the first minute.
Next up for Vick should be a matchup with a fellow striker, perhaps KJ Noons. Unfortunately for Nijem, I believe he’s on the chopping block, and could easily find himself out of the promotion.
The UFC is stacked full with natural athletes, and there is no one on the roster with the physical attributes of Ovince St. Preux, a man blessed with God – given strength and speed. He showed it on Saturday night when he faced Cody Donovan. Donovan came out aggressive early, and both he and OSP tried to implement their striking games, Donovan eventually abandoned his striking game to take the fight to the ground, where on paper he is much stronger. Unfortunately, fights aren’t fought on paper. After a great takedown from Donovan, OSP exploded into top position and landed some brutal ground and pound, forcing the referee to stop the fight.
Next up for Ovince St. Preux should be a rematch against Gian Villante, who he controversially defeated earlier this year.
In the first fight ever on Fox Sports 1, Ultimate Fighter winner Diego Brandao faced Daniel Pineda in a great back-and-forth fight. The first round was all Brandao, rocking Pineda on numerous occasions and landing some vicious flying knees, but by the end of the round, fatigue began to set in.
In the second, Pineda came out and took it to Brandao, and after getting taken down, he managed to sweep Brandao into mount, and landed some brutal ground and pound, easily winning the round 10-9.
Entering the third, both fighters were clearly tired, but they at least brought the fight to each other. Brandao did enough by securing a few takedowns in the final round to earn himself a win in a very exciting fight.
Prior to Saturday night there was lots of talk about Conor McGregor and how great of a prospect he is, and he duly delivered in the cage. But the best prospect who appeared on the card was Michael McDonald, who at 22 is probably the best young fighter in MMA right now. McDonald faced Brad Pickett, who is pound-for-pound the toughest man in Britain, and McDonald looked amazing, landing heavy and often in the first, and nearly putting his opponent away. In the second, Pickett got a takedown but failed to stay active on the ground, as McDonald stayed busy and active off his back, before locking in a beautiful triangle choke.
What separates McDonald from the masses is his mentality. I spent a car journey with him prior his title fight in London, and was truly impressed with how articulate and intelligent he was. Also, two days away from title fight, and he was as calm as could be. This guy is going to be a champion; mark my words.
After going through a spell of losing 4 out of 5, Matt Brown appeared to be on the verge of getting cut, but since then his turnaround has been beyond amazing. He’s won six straight, and has devastated all comers — he’s even managed 5 KO/TKOs during his streak.
Against Mike Pyle it was quick and vicious. He came out hard and landed a punch, a knee, then followed up with ground and pound, and then it was all she wrote for Pyle.
Next up for Brown has to be the winner of Condit vs. Kampmann.
Is it possible to not love Urijah Faber? After having his back taken by Iuri Alcantara, and having to defend numerous submission attempts in the first, “The California Kid” came back out in the second like a man possessed. After initially struggling in the first, Faber dominated in the second, taking down Alcantara at will and landing vicious elbows from the top position.Going into the third it was one round apiece, and Urijah went out and implemented his dominant top game, and managed to earn himself a unanimous decision.
Saturday’s victory was Faber’s third of the year, and as he is easily the most marketable fighter at 135, while his rivalry with Dominick Cruz is the biggest money fight in the division. Expect the UFC to give Faber a favorable matchup next time out, and hope that Cruz beats Renan Barao in early 2014 when they fight to unify the belts, so that they can make the trilogy with Faber.
In the main event, former UFC and Pride champion Mauricio Rua faced Chael Sonnen. The man who many have dismissed as all talk and little substance really stepped up his game on Saturday night.
No one has ever put away Mauricio Rua with such ease, and no one has ever finished Shogun in the first round. Never in my wildest dreams did I believe Sonnen would win in the first — I personally thought he would grind out a decision, but on Saturday he proved me and many others wrong.
Since Brock Lesnar left the UFC there has been a void. Jon Jones, Chris Weidman, and Anderson Silva are more talented than Sonnen, but none of them can sell tickets like him. I for one believe Chael Sonnen has played a major part in the UFC’s successful partnership with Fox, and his next fight is obvious: expect “The American Gangster” to fight Wanderlei Silva on Fox by year’s end, and expect it to break some records.
The Lows
At the end of the first round of the featherweight bout between Cole Miller and Manny Gamburyan, something deeply disturbing happened. While defending a takedown, Cole Miller landed some brutal elbows to the side of Gamburyan’s head and, when the klaxon went at the end of the round, Gamburyan was unable to stand up and clearly concussed, yet the referee let the fight continue. Luckily Gamburyan was OK, but this is not acceptable officiating.
Second impact syndrome is a fatal condition that occurs if a person who has received a concussion receives another one without the first having fully healed. Even though Gamburyan won, by letting him continue to fight, the referee risked a potential second impact that could have resulted in the first death inside the cage. Officials must always err on the side of caution, and stop fights when a fighter is hurt.
I’ve followed Mike Brown for years, and it was a real low seeing his performance on Saturday night. Brown was once one of the best in the world, but unfortunately time has caught up with him. Credit to Steve Siler for a great performance, but I think it might well be time for the former WEC champ Brown to hang up his gloves.
It’s not all doom and gloom for Brown, though. As a coach he has a wealth of current and future talent to coach down at American Top Team, including top fighters Brad Pickett, Nick Newell, and a whole host of others.
In the first fight of the main card, hometown favourite Joe Lauzon faced Michael Johnson in a match he was expected to win with ease, but I guess Joe didn’t get the memo, as he didn’t look his usual self.
Lauzon came out flat-footed and ended up being a punching bag for Johnson all night. Perhaps it was the stress of fighting in a hometown fight, but the fans who turned up to see the most exciting fighter in the division left disappointed.
Alistair Overeem is the best heavyweight in the world. Well, for the first 3 minutes of a bout, then his self-destruction process gets initiated, and he grasps defeat from the clutches of victory. This was the case on Saturday night, as he faced Travis “Hapa” Browne in the co-main event.
Overeem came out strong in the first and landed some of the most devastating knees that I have ever seen, and I was 100% sure that “Hapa” was done for, but no. After Overeem blew his gas tank, Browne came back with gusto, landing a beautiful front kick knockout, reminiscent of Anderson Silva’s against Vitor Belfort at UFC 126.
Next time out we need to see Browne vs. Fabricio Werdum.
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UFC Fight Night 26: Shogun vs. Sonnen took place on August 17, 2013 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts.
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