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UFC 221 was the first UFC event in Perth, Western Australia, and buoyed by a hot crowd, the fighters on show delivered hugely.
It wasn't the strongest card on paper - particularly after Aussie hero Robert Whittaker had to drop out due to a bad staph infection - but we got great finishes and exciting fights up and down the televised card, and why else do we watch the UFC at the end of the day?
Here are the best and worst moments from UFC 221.
#1 Best: The rise of the Razor
The Aussie fans didn't like the fight between Heavyweights Mark Hunt and Curtis Blaydes all that much, largely because Aussie favourite Hunt came out on the wrong end of the decision. But in reality, it was one of the better Heavyweight fights we're likely to see in the UFC this year and it also produced a new contender in a thin division.
Blaydes has looked good in the UFC ever since his debut in a tough fight with Francis Ngannou, but Hunt was his trickiest test by far and he passed with flying colours. Not only did he show off his stellar wrestling - and incredible strength - as he threw Hunt around, but he also showed a granite chin to survive a huge barrage from the Super Samoan in the first round.
With Ngannou going down against Stipe Miocic in January, Blaydes is now the best prospect in the division when it comes to championship hopes - and at 26 he's incredibly young for a Heavyweight. With the UFC having to make a Miocic/Daniel Cormier superfight later in the year due to the dearth of contenders at Heavyweight, we could see Blaydes in line for a title shot sooner rather than later. Last night was his first step towards that.
#1 Worst: Romero's weight issue causes more chaos at Middleweight
Yoel Romero has been a human highlight reel ever since his UFC debut in 2013 and last night was no exception. After his trademark slow start, the Cuban cruelly exposed the holes in Luke Rockhold's defensive boxing by turning his lights out with a pair of vicious left hands. He should be sitting pretty now with the interim Middleweight title, but he isn't.
Why? Because he missed weight, coming in at 187.5lbs, two-and-a-half pounds over the limit for a title fight and thus wasn't allowed to take the belt even with a win. And so once again, chaos reigns at 185lbs.
Is Romero the #1 contender now? Or does someone like Jacare Souza, Chris Weidman or Kelvin Gastelum have a claim due to the weight miss? And if full champ Robert Whittaker can't return quickly, should the UFC put together another interim title match between Romero and one of those three men?
Some could argue that the issue just makes Middleweight more interesting, but after almost two years of bizarre flux, what the division needs more than anything is some clarity. Rockhold winning last night would've given us a proper title fight later in the year between him and Whittaker but now - despite a great knockout - everything is up in the air at 185lbs, again.
#2 Best: Pedro and Tuivasa have fun in violence
In the modern-day UFC, when there’s so much talk of money fights and superfights and complaints about Reebok and Dana White, it’s nice to see fighters just going out into the cage to perform violence while having fun. And last night, that’s what young Aussie stars Tyson Pedro and Tai Tuivasa did, both picking up first-round victories over Saparbek Safarov and Cyril Asker respectively.
Granted, neither man’s win was perfect – Pedro’s defensive wrestling didn’t look great at points while Tuivasa’s opponent Asker was probably the closest thing you’ll find to a tomato can in the UFC in 2018, but they picked up massive points for finishing in style – Pedro catching Safarov in a beautiful kimura from a sweep and Tuivasa simply destroying Asker with a barrage of punches and elbows.
Their post-fight interviews, however, couldn’t have gone better. Showing tremendous charisma and really getting the crowd behind them, both fighters came off like they’d had the time of their life inside the cage. That bodes well for them in the future as the UFC is more likely to get behind such personalities, and with exciting fighting styles to match, these two could help to usher in a golden age of Australian MMA.
#2 Worst: Formiga buried on the prelims
One of the more impressive performances last night came from Brazilian Flyweight Jussier Formiga. After controlling two rounds, he knocked Ben Nguyen down with a spinning backfist before finishing him with a rear-naked choke. It was probably the most highlight-worthy finish of his six-year UFC career and probably should’ve been enough to net him a title shot.
Except there was one caveat – it happened on the prelim card. There is an argument to suggest that more people would actually see the free-TV prelims than a likely low buyrate PPV like this one, but Formiga/Nguyen didn’t even headline the FS1 portion – that honour went to unranked Lightweights Dong Hyun Kim and Damien Brown.
If the UFC is wondering why the Flyweight division doesn’t draw then they should look no further than decisions like this. On a lesser PPV, this was the perfect opportunity to showcase two of the best and highest ranked 125lbers in the promotion and instead they were buried on a prelim card and Formiga’s great finish was likely forgotten. It just doesn’t make sense.
#3 Best: Last Stylebender delivers in style
The debut of ‘The Last Stylebender’ Israel Adesanya was one of the most hyped fights on this card due to Adesanya’s flashy kickboxing style. It was a style that had people making comparisons to Michael ‘Venom’ Page and even Jon Jones, but realistically, Adesanya had never truly been tested against a high-level opponent – outside of the shot and far smaller Melvin Guillard.
Nobody would claim Rob Wilkinson to be a world-beater but he tried his best, stifling Adesanya’s vaunted striking game in the first round with a lot of clinching and attempted takedowns. But Adesanya stood firm and showed a decent defensive grappling game to tire Wilkinson out. By the second round, Wilkinson was exhausted and Adesanya used him as target practice en route to a TKO stoppage.
He went on to cut one of the more charismatic promos in recent UFC memory and with that and a nice debut knockout under his belt, it’s possible that he could go on to stardom. Had he switched Wilkinson’s lights out instantly then it would’ve made for a cool highlight, but beating some adversity this way told us more about Adesanya and so his hype train will only grow. It’ll be a treat to see him fight again soon.
#3 Worst: Jingliang's eye gouge goes unpunished
The mid-card bout between Jake Matthews and Li Jingliang ended in a unanimous decision win for the Aussie Matthews, but it was somewhat bittersweet as the fight probably should’ve ended in the second round, either by submission or by a rare disqualification. Matthews had Jingliang caught in what looked to be a fight-ending guillotine choke, but the Chinese fighter found a way out – by blatantly gouging Matthews’ right eye in front of the referee.
Somehow referee Mark Simpson not only allowed the fight to continue, but he didn’t even dock a point or appear to warn Jingliang for the infraction. Matthews clearly struggled with his vision throughout the rest of the round before winning the third to secure the fight. Post-fight he almost excused Jingliang’s behaviour as being instinctual, but it was still a shameful moment.
We’re all used to seeing fouls go unpunished – stuff like fence grabs – but while they can have an effect on the outcome of a fight, they’re not as dangerous as something like an eye gouge. We’ve seen even errant eye pokes end careers before or come close – ask Anthony Johnson or Alan Belcher.
How Simpson missed something so blatant is beyond my comprehension, and Matthews is lucky to have escaped with his vision intact. Hopefully Simpson never referees in the UFC again – and hopefully, Jingliang cleans his act up in future fights, too.
