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#4. Jason Witt and Bryan Barberena put on a classic
The best fight on offer at UFC Vegas 33 by a mile was the welterweight clash between Jason Witt and Bryan Barberena. This clash was largely flying under the radar coming into the event, but if there’s a better single round in the remainder of 2021 than their third stanza, it’ll be a surprise.
The first two rounds of the fight were largely dominated by Witt, who was beating ‘Bam Bam’ in all areas, even dropping the durable veteran with a left in the second round.
But the third round saw Witt tire somewhat, and that allowed Barberena to drag himself back into the fight with his punching power, dropping ‘The Vanilla Gorilla’ on more than one occasion.
However, Witt had enough about him to fire right back, hurting Barberena on the feet and on the ground in return. And so we were treated to a completely explosive, albeit sloppy, brawl that somehow ended without either man suffering a knockout, with Witt instead taking a decision.
Fans of MMA’s technical side probably would’ve hated this, as both fighters were throwing crude strikes with nothing in the way of defense, and both men looked as exhausted as bar fighters. However, from an entertainment perspective, this was a fantastic UFC bout.
#3. Jared Gooden takes full advantage of a last-minute booking
Sometimes, to succeed in the UFC, a fighter simply has to capitalize on every opportunity given to them, and that’s just what Jared Gooden did with an explosive finish against Niklas Stolze last night.
On Tuesday, ‘Nite Train’ wasn’t even expecting to compete at UFC Vegas 33, before he took a last-minute booking to replace Mounir Lazzez, who was forced out with visa issues. To say this was a risk would be an understatement.
Gooden was coming off two losses in his only two UFC appearances, and a third here, regardless of the late notice, probably would’ve meant his release from the promotion, particularly in today’s cutthroat climate.
But ‘Nite Train’ absolutely threw caution to the wind and brought the fight to Stolze early on, literally chasing him with strikes. And as the first minute of the fight ended, he came good, landing a right hand that sent the German flying, knocking him silly in the process.
This was an incredibly explosive finish and while it didn’t net Gooden a $50k bonus, it probably saved his UFC career, which is more important in the long run.
