Last night the UFC hit the Allphones Arena in Sydney, Australia for UFC Fight Night 55, which was headlined by the long-anticipated grudge match between longtime UK standout Michael “The Count” Bisping and former Strikeforce champion Luke Rockhold. Both fighters were intent on coming out ahead in this potential title eliminator, and both men put in a great performance. Here are the Highs and Lows of UFC Fight Night 55:
The Highs
In the opening fight of the night, former TUF fighter Marcus Brimage faced Chinese fighter Jumabieke Tuerxun. Brimage’s UFC career thus far has been mixed. While he has shown very impressive moments, including big wins over two highly rated prospects in Maximo Blanco and Jimi Hettes, he has also shown vulnerabilities, Conor McGregor dispatched him with ease in Stockholm at UFC on Fuel TV 9 and Russell Doane made him look average in his bantamweight debut, so heading into last night’s fight he had it all to prove.
The fight began as many expected, with Brimage pushing the pressure, but you couldn’t have forecast what would happen next. Brimage inside of three minutes landed a picture perfect head kick which rendered his opponent unconscious. Jumabieke Tuerxun is an interesting character, but is most certainly not UFC calibre, and it’s sad to say, but his inclusion in the UFC is purely due to the fact that he is Chinese and the UFC is desperately clamouring for a Chinese star.
Regardless of his opponent’s skill level (or lack thereof), Brimage still looked very good, and I really think he could make some impact in the bantamweight division.
Judo is most certainly in the midst of its most successful period in MMA. Sure some Japanese fighters have showed hints of greatness before, but 2014 is truly the year of the Judoka. Hector Lombard and Ronda Rousey have been looking dominant as of late, but last night it was another Olympic judo standout who impressed, Daniel Kelly made his Octagon debut at 7-0 and was pitted against the durable Luke Zachrich.
The bout started with Zachrich denying a glove touch, something that didn’t seem to phase Kelly, who began strong, landing solid strikes and surprisingly electing to keep the fight on the feet, even though he is the far more decorated grappler. On the feet, Kelly continued to control, landing a series of brutal uppercuts before swiftly tripping his foe, locking up a kimura from half guard, and tapping him out.
At 37, Kelly will never be a UFC champion, but nonetheless, the judoka has proven he knows how to put on an entertaining fight.
What happens when you put a 20 year old Australian kid in the cage with a Brazilian Pan American BJJ champ? Well, the answer isn’t that obvious. Jake Matthews was most certainly favored by many going into the fight — after all, he is unbeaten and very exciting — but no one could have foreseen him tapping out Vagner Rocha. His superman punch to a no hook rear naked choke was very impressive.
After spouting a rehashing of Conor McGregor’s famous “Dana, 50Gs baby” he then called out Joe Ellenberger, a fight that would most definitely be interesting, but Matthews is obviously talented and a future star. I am expecting they’ll take the slower route, so expect the UFC to give him a few lower level guys before he faces the bigger talents of the division.
Robert Whittaker emerged to the masses when he won TUF: “The Smashes” as a welterweight. Throughout the tournament he made a statement with his slick standup, but after winning the show he began to falter. Following a tough patch, Whittaker raised a few eyebrows by announcing his intent to move up a weight class to middleweight. By no means was Whittaker a huge welterweight, but he proved the naysayers wrong with his performance last night.
Whittaker’s opponent last night was a particularly large middleweight, Clint Hester, but it was the smaller Whittaker who impressed. His slick boxing and speed neutralised Hester’s perceived strength advantage, as the Aussie consistently made Hester miss and pay with counters before dropping him with a knee and finishing him in the second round.
The Lows
It’s always a bad sign when a fighter says he is hoping to drop a weight class after his next fight, this shows his focus isn’t on his current opponent. Dylan Andrews entered the Octagon in his adopted home of Australia and looked to make a successful return from injury against “Smiling” Sam Alvey, but from the get go it looked like his head wasn’t in the game, Alvey to his credit did his bit, but in my opinion Andrews was at fault for his own demise. In the leadup to the finish, he somehow landed on his own head when trying to throw his opponent, which certainly played a part in the finish, because as Alvey mounted him he was clearly in a daze.
Andrews has a lot of talent, but time isn’t on his side, perhaps a cut to the welterweight division could cause a resurgence, but it remains to be seen if the UFC will give him another shot in the Octagon.
British MMA needs a star, but in the co-main event last night Ross Pearson suffered a devastating knockout at the hands of Al Iaquinta, and to make matters worse for the British fans, their longtime flag carrier Michael “The Count” Bisping was dominated by Luke Rockhold, dropped with a head kick, and finished with a guillotine choke. To add to that, Dan Hardy remains on hiatus. So what’s next for British MMA? With no star immediately on the horizon, the growth of the scene is at a tipping point.
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UFC Fight Night 55: Rockhold vs. Bisping took place on November 8, 2014 at the Allphones Arena in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. (Due to the time differences, the event aired on November 7, 2014 in the United States.)
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