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There wasn’t much fanfare around UFC Fight Night 137; largely a mix of the show being too close to one of the biggest shows in promotional history in UFC 229 and the card being decimated by a bunch of injury-related changes.
Dana White has often claimed that these low-name value shows are sometimes the best to watch, and he’s come under fire for that attitude, as critics claim it’s an excuse for the UFC to book weaker cards. But sometimes his claim is true, and that was certainly the case last night. We got a tremendous 10 finishes in 14 fights, and most of the show was wildly exciting.
Here are the best – and worst – moments of UFC Fight Night 137.
#1 Best: Thiago Santos could be a contender at 205lbs
It’s a well-known fact that 205lbs is probably the thinnest male division in the UFC right now. A massive example of this? Anthony Smith was mauled by Thiago Santos at 185lbs in February. He’s since moved to 205lbs, has picked up two TKO wins over a pair of ageing veterans and suddenly finds himself in title contention.
That’s why the move to 205lbs makes sense for Thiago Santos – even if it was actually caused by his willing to step in and fight Jimi Manuwa on late notice following an injury to Glover Teixeira. Of course, Santos ended up fighting a fellow blown-up 185lber in Eryk Anders last night, but after pulling out the win, you’d have to assume he could become a contender in his new division.
The Anders win wasn’t perfect. ‘Ya Boi’ is a total work in progress who took the fight on insanely late notice and yet he had success in muscling Santos to the ground at points, and stunned him with punches a couple of times too. But for the most part ‘Marreta’ stayed on offense and the finish – which saw him elbow Anders in the side of the head until he couldn’t make it to his corner at the end of the third round – was simply savage.
And if you look at the 205lbs top ten, who would you really favour over Santos? Cormier and Gustafsson are givens of course, but the likes of Jan Blachowicz (#3), Ilir Latifi (#4) and Corey Anderson (#6) have at least as many holes in their games as Santos, whose only true weakness is that he’s somewhat of a glass cannon. And with such an exciting style – he’s been to a decision just 3 times in 16 UFC fights – he’s guaranteed to be given the opportunities to make it to the top.
#1 Worst: Barao slips to new lows again
5 years is admittedly a long time in MMA, but the downfall of former UFC Bantamweight champion Renan Barao over that time period is still stunning. 5 years ago Barao turned Eddie Wineland’s lights out with a spinning kick to retain his title – last night he was well beaten by a promotional newcomer – and not really a blue-chip prospect either – in Andre Ewell.
Credit obviously has to be given to Ewell – he struggled in the first round due to the ground game of Barao and was almost submitted – but in the second and third he clearly outpointed the Brazilian on the feet, and by midway through the fight it was pretty clear that ‘The Baron’ was running on empty in terms of his gas tank.
In all honesty, this should be the end for Barao. Ewell looked like a beatable opponent on paper and yet once the fight left the first round it never really looked like the former champion would pull out the win. The likelihood is he’ll continue to fight – whether that’s in the UFC or not is anyone’s guess – but at 31 it’s clear that his time at the top of the sport is over.
He’s beginning to remind me of another once-great champion who fell hard – Jens Pulver circa 2010 at the end of his WEC run. It’s just sad to see such a fighter of his calibre fall so hard.
#2 Best: Trinaldo finds the Fountain of Youth
Francisco Trinaldo uses the nickname ‘Massaranduba’ when he fights, but he could easily change that to ‘Ponce de Leon’ as he appears to have found the fabled Fountain of Youth somewhere down in Brazil. Trinaldo was faced with Evan Dunham last night – an opponent who, at 36, had decided to retire after the fight, win lose or draw.
Looking at the two fighters it was hard to believe that Trinaldo was actually the older man, and even more unbelievable that he’s actually 40 years old. Physically, Dunham looked every bit of his 36 years and 27 fights, while Trinaldo – a veteran himself at 23-5 – appeared to be carved from granite.
The fight told its own story, too. Dunham tried – he was as aggressive as ever – but it appeared that Trinaldo was moving on another plane of speed and it always appeared just a matter of time before he caught Dunham with something nasty.
That something nasty came in the second round – a perfectly timed counter knee directly to the body. Dunham collapsed like he’d been shot and appeared to be in serious pain for some time after the fight was stopped. It was not the ending to his career that he would’ve liked, and turned out to be the most brutal finish of the night.
For Trinaldo though, it was another indicator that despite his age, he’s still very much in his prime. It was his 13th UFC win and keeps him well in the top fifteen at 155lbs – the UFC’s most packed division. How he keeps doing it is anyone’s guess, but fair play to him!
#2 Worst: Bad matchmaking gets Pedersoli hurt
The co-main event of the show saw Alex ‘Cowboy’ Oliveira take on relative newcomer Carlo Pedersoli Jr, and the result went exactly how many people expected – Pedersoli was left unconscious after just 39 seconds of action. But while the knockout was fun to watch – unless you’re a friend or relative of Pedersoli’s of course – it probably shouldn’t have happened.
Oliveira picked up his career-biggest win in April over former Welterweight champ Carlos Condit and was clearly due a step up for his next fight. He was given that in the form of top ten ranked Neil Magny, but when Magny was instead moved to the main event of the upcoming Fight Night 140, the UFC really should’ve either found ‘Cowboy’ a similar opponent, or pulled him from this card altogether.
It wasn’t like they didn’t have fair notice – Magny was moved on August 22nd, a month ago, and so surely it would’ve been fairer for the UFC to either postpone Oliveira’s fight or at least find someone more suitable as an opponent. Instead Pedersoli was wildly overmatched and basically acted as a sacrificial victim.
It was PRIDE-style matchmaking – something the UFC doesn’t usually do – and while it did provide the show with another fun finish, it wasn’t fair to a young fighter in Pedersoli.
#3 Best: Nogueira turns back the clock
The signs were looking ominous for Antonio Rogerio Nogueira coming into this show. His twin brother Rodrigo retired back in 2015, but despite not fighting since 2016 Rogerio clearly felt like he had more to offer and so at the age of 42, stepped into the Octagon last night looking every bit of that age – sporting a gut rather than the svelte abs he once had.
Opponent Sam Alvey looked like a dangerous one too – a heavy counterpuncher with the power to turn out the lights on a foe as deteriorated as Nogueira. But instead ‘Lil Nog’ somehow rolled back the years and it was Alvey who ended the night wondering what the hell had happened.
Simply put, despite his athletic prime clearly being years ago, Nogueira’s still got his sharp boxing instincts. And that was enough for him to deal with the almost criminally sloppy Alvey, as the Brazilian caught ‘Smilin Sam’ time after time with quicker, crisper punches. The final shot – a left hand to the temble – discombobulated Alvey and despite his protests, it was an excellent referee stoppage.
This clearly doesn’t mean Nogueira is a contender at 205lbs – in fact he probably ought to retire on the high – but massive credit to him for pulling out this win. And as a fan of the Nogueira brothers for well over a decade, it brought a massive smile to my face.
#4 Best: Dana White’s Contender Series continues to deliver
Since it began in the summer of 2017, Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series has become *the* best path to make it into the UFC. 58 fighters have thus far been signed from the US and Brazilian versions of the show; a mix of contracts sending them straight into the UFC, onto The Ultimate Fighter (which now feels totally redundant) or into developmental deals.
The likes of Sean O’Malley, Karl Roberson and Geoff Neal have all become solid prospects to watch since their appearance on the show, and last night offered more proof that DWTNCS works well as a talent factory for the UFC. Debutants Augusto Sakai and Ryan Spann both picked up wins, while Marina Rodriguez ended up with a draw against a very tough opponent in Randa Markos, and probably could’ve won on a different night.
Sure, the wins weren’t perfect – Sakai’s fight with Chase Sherman was criminally sloppy and Spann clearly needs to work on his takedown defense, even if his scrambling work and striking looked excellent – but these guys are prospects, not instant contenders. As it is, DWTNCS continues to produce solid talent for the UFC and long may it continue.
