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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
There was a lot of MMA action on TV this weekend, with 21 fights from the UFC alone between their two events spread over FX, Fuel, and Facebook. Most of that was entertaining, with Saturday night's Ultimate Fighter Finale especially providing a lot of exciting action. Here's what's sticking with me after a fun couple nights of fighting.
--There were no surprises in last night's TUF 16 Finale main event. Matt Mitrione, at 34-years-old, after a year out of action, and with only six fights under his belt, wasn't going to come in and beat a fighter like Roy Nelson. Though Nelson isn't an elite heavyweight right now, he seems to only lose to elite heavyweights, and that's not at all what Mitrione was coming into the fight. He had a few moments of positive action, but it always seemed like just a matter of time before he got cracked by Nelson, and that's just what happened. This doesn't say much for Nelson, or whether or not he's improved since losses to top fighters in Fabricio Werdum, Frank Mir, or Junior dos Santos, but a win's a win, and he moves on for his next fight.
--Referee Steve Mazzagatti has made some pretty egregious mistakes throughout his career, but he had one of his worst head-scratchers ever in the TUF 16 Finals bout. Colton Smith landed a clear kick to the groin, and Mike Ricci reacted as you'd expect one to act when getting kicked between the legs. Mazzagatti failed to react immediately, then looked like he might step in, and then ultimately didn't halt the action as Smith re-engaged. It was absolutely unacceptable, and completely unfair to Ricci in that moment. Granted, the rest of the fight was awful without the missed call, but that was just unbelievably ridiculous and negligent on Mazzagatti's part.
--I'm very happy for Pat Barry getting another highlight reel win in the UFC. He's not among the elite heavyweights in the UFC, but he's incredibly exciting to watch in the right matchup, he's got great power and great killer instinct, and he's simply one of the most likable fighters in the entire sport. His beast mode knockout of Shane Del Rosario will be up there among "Knockout of the Year" nominees, and though I think it falls just shy of Nate Marquardt's KO over Tyron Woodley earlier this year, there's no denying the viciousness, brutality, and excitement that Barry's finish yielded.
--On only a slightly different note, Dustin Poirier's slick D'Arce choke against Jonathan Brookins was a nice piece of poetic justice for the young featherweight. That's the hold he found himself submitted by against "The Korean Zombie" in May, but he came back with one of his own in Las Vegas. He's always exciting to watch, and seeing him bounce back like that was very positive. He got himself in trouble a bit early with those crazy striking exchanges, but he calmed things down late and ultimately took control. It was a very good performance overall, and a very fun fight from the two featherweights.
--Before we get to the prelims, some bluntness here: it sucked losing the Melvin Guillard-Jamie Varner fight from the FX broadcast. Not only was that one of the more anticipated fights on the entire card, but losing it from the FX broadcast led to one of the most poorly-paced UFC shows in a really long time. It was Bellator-esque on Saturday night, and really made for a long night with extended commercial breaks and time between live fights.
--That said, it also left time open to show some of the exciting action from the prelims, including the highly impressive UFC debut from Russian lightweight Rustam Khabilov. He hit multiple suplexes in the fight, and knocked Vinc Pichel out with the final one. It was extremely exciting, not to mention brutal, and the UFC made sure to get it on the FX broadcast. Also on the undercard, Mike Pyle, Johnny Bedford, and Hugo Viana all had highlight-reel striking finishes, while T.J. Waldburger and Mike Rio missed things up with impressive submissions. It made for a very exciting preliminary card, and a fun kick off to the night before the FX broadcast.
--Friday night's card from Australia wasn't nearly as exciting top to bottom, but there was still a lot to like about the card. The main event brought out an excellent performance from Ross Pearson, who looked fantastic in his first fight at 155 lbs. since August of last year. His takedown defense and striking advantage were the story of that fight, and he fought a mostly intelligent fight en route to the third round stoppage.
--I didn't care for the lightweight finals from TUF: The Smashes, but I was very impressed by Australia's Robert Whittaker, who won the welterweight finals from the international season of TUF. He showed a lot of promise, and though he's got lots to improve upon, the fact that he's only 21-year-old puts him in a great spot and leaves me optimistic that we'll be seeing a lot of improvements from him in years to come.
--Hector Lombard destroying Rousimar Palhares wasn't all that surprising. It was going to be that outcome, or he was going to sneak by with a lackluster decision. He was a good enough grappler to deal with Palhares' ground game, and his striking is vastly superior. That was clear from the outset, and he picked his shots before finally scoring the knockdown and earning the finish.
It was an entertaining weekend overall, and a nice way to go into a two-week break. Everyone can enjoy the holidays in the next week and a half, and then we'll be turning our attention to a very exciting UFC 155 event to close out 2012!
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Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/penickstake/article_15344.shtml
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