The best and worst from UFC on ESPN: Ngannou vs Velasquez

The UFC’s first full show on ESPN is now in the books, and nobody can really say it wasn’t eventful. UFC on ESPN: Ngannou vs. Velasquez took place live in Phoenix, Arizona last night, and we got some pretty huge moments – most notably in the Heavyweight main event.

Maybe not everything went quite as the UFC had planned – and maybe we could’ve done with a couple more finishes, too, particularly with 6 of the 10 televised bouts going to decision. But for the most part this was a fun and watchable show and definitely felt faster-paced than the UFC’s fare on Fox.

Here are the best and worst moments from UFC on ESPN: Ngannou vs. Velasquez.

#1 Best: Did Ngannou punch his ticket to another Heavyweight title shot?

Could Francis Ngannou gain a title shot from last night's win?

Back in November 2011, the UFC started its Fox era with a big Heavyweight fight – a title match between then-champ Cain Velasquez and challenger Junior Dos Santos. The fight ended early in the first round with Velasquez on the wrong end of a TKO.

Who would have figured the UFC’s ESPN era would start in 2019 with almost the exact same finish?

Many people were expecting a war between Velasquez and Francis Ngannou in the main event – even those picking Ngannou to win. So to see the fight end in favour of ‘The Predator’ in just 26 seconds was pretty incredible.

Sure, the win maybe comes with an asterisk. Ngannou did land a clean uppercut as Cain attempted to clinch, but it looked like it was a knee injury that actually sent the former champ down. At the end of the day though, a win is a win.

This one might prove even more valuable for Ngannou, too. After he lost his 2018 title fight with Stipe Miocic in one-sided fashion, it appeared that the road back to another opportunity would be a long one. But now, perhaps that isn’t the case.

This win joins his November victory over Curtis Blaydes, but more to the point it came over the primary training partner of current UFC Heavyweight champ Daniel Cormier.

Cormier has already expressed an interest in ‘avenging’ his teammate’s defeat. And with the status of Brock Lesnar still up in the air, a fight between Cormier and Ngannou might be the best story the division can tell going forward – which makes ‘The Predator’ the biggest winner of last night’s show.

#1 Worst: Velasquez’s body betrays him again

Cain Velasquez was betrayed by his body in his loss

Back in 2008, people in the know believed that the only thing likely to stop Velasquez from becoming the greatest Heavyweight in MMA history would be his own body breaking down. A decade later, that would appear to be the case.

After a total of 2 years and 7 months on the shelf during his latest injury hiatus – a period that also saw him denied a licence from the Nevada State Athletic Commission due to concerns over his health – he was supposed to be 100% healthy last night. But that clearly wasn’t the case.

The former Heavyweight champ came into his fight with Francis Ngannou looking, well, old. And just 26 seconds into the fight he was stopped following a combination of an uppercut from Ngannou, and his left knee buckling underneath his weight after he simply planted his foot.

How long this new knee injury will keep him out for is anyone’s guess. But the likelihood is that we’ll probably never see Cain healthy in the Octagon again.

Maybe it's time we accepted that his prime came in 2010 – when he took the UFC title from Brock Lesnar – and that the real Velasquez is gone for good due to all of his various injuries.

#2 Best: Luque and Barberena’s crazy war

Vicente Luque and Bryan Barberena went to war last night in a classic

While the UFC’s shows on ESPN in 2019 have been fun thus far, up until last night we hadn’t been treated to a truly classic fight. Well, Vicente Luque and Bryan Barberena changed all that, going to war for almost 15 minutes and treating the crowd in Phoenix – as well as the viewers at home – to an instant Fight of the Year Candidate.

The fight was simply incredible. Both men threw everything they had at one another, and somehow managed to absorb an insane amount of punishment.

Luque appeared to be winning the first round handily but then got dropped by a Barberena left hook. Barberena appeared to be ahead in the second before he got dropped by a knee. Then the two men simply brawled through the third round before a pair of knees from Luque finally made Barberena’s body give out.

The craziest part? It was Luque’s 8th UFC win, and he’s finished all of his victims before the final buzzer – leaving just 6 seconds remaining here – while it was the first time Barberena had ever been stopped by strikes.

Whether both men have granite-filled craniums is a theory that probably needs checking out after a war like this. Sure, taking that many punches won’t do them any good in the future, but it sure as hell was fun to watch.

#2 Worst: Sterling’s coming out party belonged on the main card

Aljamain Sterling's big win over Jimmie Rivera belonged on the main card of the show

Okay, so maybe I’m being petty here. After all, the preliminary fights on last night’s card – after the first three, anyway – aired on the main ESPN network, just the same as the main card did.

But how many fans would’ve simply skipped the prelims and decided to check out the main card only? Probably quite a few – which means they would’ve missed a fight between two top-5 calibre Bantamweights.

Quite why the UFC left Aljamain Sterling vs. Jimmie Rivera on the prelims, when fights with much lower title implications like Cynthia Calvillo vs. Cortney Casey and Myles Jury vs. Andre Fili made the main card, is baffling really. It’s not like either man is known for having dull fights, and Sterling is one of the more colourful personalities in the division, too.

In the end the fight was a high-level, competitive one that saw Sterling win a clear decision – picking up probably the biggest win of his UFC career. Marlon Moraes clearly deserves the next title shot, but if he were unavailable for some reason, the promotion could easily give Sterling the shot, and it wouldn’t be too outlandish.

Anyone that close to a title shot should be on a UFC main card, plain and simple. Hopefully not too many missed his fight last night, as it could be viewed as a coming out party for ‘The Funk Master’. The fact that the UFC made it a preliminary fight was criminal.

#3 Kron Gracie makes good on his debut

Kron Gracie looked fantastic in his UFC debut

There was quite a lot of pressure on Kron Gracie coming into last night’s fight – his UFC debut, against Alex Caceres. The eldest son of the legendary Rickson Gracie, not only was Kron bringing in a stellar reputation from the grappling circuit, but he was also looking to become the first member of the Gracie family to pick up a UFC win since Royce in 1994.

Since then, members of MMA’s First Family had looked pretty farcical inside the Octagon. Royce had been crushed by Matt Hughes upon his return in 2006, Renzo had arrived far past his prime and also been beaten by Hughes, Roger lost to Tim Kennedy in a dull 2013 fight and was then released, and the less said about Rolles’ terrible performance in 2010 against Joey Beltran, the better.

But Kron changed all of that last night. After some feeler strikes, he quickly closed distance on Caceres, clinched with him and used a beautiful trip to get him to the ground and take his back. Seconds later, Kron had a rear naked choke sunk in, and Caceres was tapping out.

It was the prototypical Gracie victory – right out of Royce’s early 90’s playbook – and really, the big debut couldn’t have gone any better for Kron. How far he can go in a packed Featherweight division is anyone’s guess, but he’s clearly a very talented fighter.

And to see a Gracie finally succeed in the UFC – in 2019 nonetheless – was awesome.