UFC Fight Night Austin Post Fight Analysis

Hello fight fans! UFC Fight Night took place this weekend at Moody Center in Austin, Texas.

Trivia (answer at end)

Who is the youngest champion ever in UFC history?

Punahele Soriano vs. Dustin Stoltzfus

Recap: This fight started out with back and forth striking exchanges.  Stoltzfus found success using his kicks and Soriano found success using his left cross (he’s a southpaw going against orthodox).  Soriano was really doing well punching with some power and you could see the damage his left cross was doing.  Stoltzfus had a couple of unsuccessful takedown attempts and secured a takedown with less than a minute left of the first round.  Soriano got to the fence where Stoltzfus kneed him before they broke.  With a minute left in the first round, Stolzfus threw a straight right cross that dropped Soriano to the ground and he “stoltz” the first round from Soriano.  In the first half of the second round, the two had back and forth striking.  Soriano slowed down a little and Stoltzfus was gaining confidence and landing his strikes.  In the second half of the round Stoltzfus kept getting takedowns while Soriano was fighting to stand up.  Then with 1:30 left of the round, Stoltzfus took control of Soriano’s back on the ground.  He fought hard to get the choke in under Soriano’s neck and at 4:10 in round 2, Stoltzfus secured the victory via rear naked choke.

What’s Next: Both these guys have a good amount of fights ahead of them to get into position to be ranked.

Clay Guida vs. Joaquim Silva

Recap: This fight was so entertaining to watch.  Guida started the fight off per usual bouncing around the octagon.  The two fighters felt one another out with Guida controlling the center.  The majority of the first round consisted of good slips and defense.  Guida did a good job of pressuring Silva and moving around (Guida has cardio for days) and Silva did a good job of staying calm.  With around a minute and a half left in the first round, Guida was attacking Silva but Silva caught him with a quick left uppercut that wobbled him.  Silva cornered Giuda against the fence and Guida went for a takedown that put him in a compromised position where Silva controlled him and inflicted ground and pound.  Guida managed to scramble to the fence while Silva kept hammering away at his head and got Silva in a clinch.  I thought Guida was going to be done but he went in survival mode and managed to get a takedown right at the end of the round to survive.  In round 2, Guida went in for more takedowns but Silva really displayed good defense and continuously got Guida in the guillotine.  The two went back and forth with good striking exchanges, takedown attempts, and good defense.  In the final round, Silva really took control of the octagon and pushed Guida back to the fence.  When Guida went for takedowns, Silva would manage to control him in a modified guillotine position.  At the end of the three rounds the judges all scored the fight 29-28 Silva.

What’s Next: I think Silva needs another fight or two to get a top 15 opponent.  He did give Tsarukyan a run for his money before he got TKO’d but he’s also up in age.  Guida is just going to keep fighting because that’s how Guida is.  He’s a madman and a fan favorite.  I hope he fights on the UFC 300 card.

Sean Brady vs. Kelvin Gastelum

Recap: This was one of the best performances I’ve seen by Brady.  In all three rounds, Gastelum came out to the center of the octagon to control the fight but Brady found ways to flip the switch with smooth timely entrances for takedowns.  One notable entrance was in round 2 when Brady got the takedown as a counter to Gastelum’s kick.  Throughout the fight, Gastelum would do a good job trying to get out of Brady’s control but Brady was always one step ahead.  His transitions were so smooth and some of the fastest I’ve seen from him.  In the final round, Brady got Gastelum in side control.  It looked like he was going to get a head and arm triangle but Gastelum did a great job defending.  Then, Brady repositioned Gastelum’s arm to one side to isolate it and he finished the fight via kimura at 1:43 of round 3.  If you want to see high level BJJ transitions, I recommend watching this fight. 

What’s Next: Brady wants Ian Garry if he gets through Luque.  That one would be an interesting matchup.  Garry isn’t known to be a grappler and Brady has good striking so I think he’d be able to keep up.  If he grapples like he did today, I think he has a really good shot with any of the guys in the top 10.  This was Gastelum’s return at 170 (he previously fought at 185). I hope he can stay here because I think this is a better weight class for him. Hopefully he doesn’t have weight cut issues like he did previously. I think he’ll need another opponent or 2 before a top 15. 

Rob Font vs. Deiveson Figueiredo

Recap: Welcome to the Bantamweight division Figgy and what a performance!  Figueiredo previously fought in the Flyweight division and showed us that he is here to compete and isn’t going anywhere in his fight against Rob Font, who is no easy matchup especially for a first fight.  In all three rounds, Figueiredo showed us his power during the striking exchanges and his grappling skills.  The two would strike back and forth, Figueiredo would go in for the takedown, Font would reverse and get out, and repeat.  Font had good defense during the grappling exchanges and he displayed his strong striking but Figgy was too dominant on both ends.  The fight ended with the judges scoring it 30-27 for Figueiredo.

What’s Next: This was Font’s second loss in a row.  He previously lost to Sandhagen who used his grappling against him.  I hope he takes some time to work on that weakness and come back strong next year.  As for Figgy, he definitely made it to the top 10 after his debut at Bantamweight.  There’s a lot of talent in this division so I’m game for whoever he fights next.  Lots of awesome fights can be made with his style.

Jalin Turner vs. Bobby Green

Recap: Bobby Green was originally supposed to fight Dan Hooker but Hooker re-injured himself during sparring so Jalin Turner stepped in on 9 days notice and came out triumphant.  (Turner previously turned this fight down because he and Bobby Green grew up in the same neighborhood).  The two started off the fight with striking exchanges and Bobby Green was being well Bobby Green.  By that I mean hands down, being methodical with his shots, using feints, and talking to his opponents a lot (Turner mentioned in the post conference interview that it threw him off a little).  Turner looked very composed, used his speed, and seemed to be striking a lot harder than his previous fights.  Then a little more than halfway in the round, Turner punched Green behind the ear with his right and Green dropped to the canvas immediately.  Now, the rest of the fight was a little hard to watch.  Green fell at the 2:22 mark, his face was down on the canvas, and Turner was mounted on him from behind punching Green (as he should).  It was CLEAR at around the 2:19 mark that Green was out.  However, the ref didn’t call the fight and allowed Turner to continue punching Green until he called it with 2:11 left.  This was probably the second worst stoppage I’ve seen (first being Saint Denis’s first fight where there was no stoppage) and very out of character for ref Kerry Hatley. I love both fighters, I’m happy for Turner’s win, and I’m happy that Green is doing ok. Both these guys are awesome for taking this fight on short notice.

What’s Next: Even though Turner fought someone ranked below him, don’t be alarmed if he moves up in the rankings after this performance.  I would love a striking fight between him and Saint Denis or Fiziev.  Regardless, I hope Turner is working on his takedown defense (lost to Gamrot with grappling even though I could see that fight go either way) to make him solid all around and ready to move towards a title fight.  Green fought four fights this year.  In my opinion, I think he needs to take a break and rest up.

Beneil Daruish vs. Arman Tsarukyan

Recap: What a spectacular fight for Tsarukyan!!! The odds had him beating Daruish but I did not think this fight would go the way it did.  Tsarukyan finished in fashion.  Dariush started the fight off well with his kicks and movement.  Then a minute in, Tsarukyan showed a right knee that missed to the left of Dariush and with his knee still up in the air, he threw a crazy right hook that clipped Daruish on the chin that dropped him.  Tsarukyan finished with ground and pound at 1:04. 

What’s Next: After this knockout, Daruish should take whatever time he needs to get back to it.  This is his second loss in a row both via TKO.  This huge win brings Tsarukyan in the top five of this stacked Lightweight division.  I think he’ll move to the 4th spot. He wants Islam but I think his next fight would be against Poirier or the loser of Oliveira and Makhachev.  Gaethje has earned the winner of that one and Poirier doesn’t have a fight lined up.

Trivia Answer

Jon Jones

Until next time fight fans!

BMF

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