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The UFC is officially 20 years old - time flies - and last night's Fight Night 139 from Denver, the birthplace of the promotion, was an excellent advert for the UFC in 2018.
The show had solid fights up and down the card and ended with one of the most entertaining wars in a long time between Yair Rodriguez and the Korean Zombie.
Not everything went smoothly of course, but for the most part, it was one of the more watchable UFC shows of the year. Here are the best and worst moments of UFC Fight Night 139.
#1 Best: Rodriguez pulls off the miracle
When it was announced that Yair Rodriguez and not the injured Frankie Edgar was set to face Chan Sung Jung in the main event of the show, many fans - myself included - were overjoyed.
Sure, Rodriguez isn't quite on Edgar's level as an elite fighter yet – Edgar actually smacked the Mexican around in his last fight back in May 2017 - but in terms of producing entertaining fights, he's miles ahead of the former champion. That was proven true last night as Jung and Rodriguez put on a war for the ages.
It was one of those fights where defence felt like a dirty word at times. Both men were hurt on numerous occasions, with Rodriguez catching Jung with his flashy kicks and the 'Korean Zombie' using a clearly superior boxing game to damage the Mexican, leaving him a bloody mess.
When the fight headed into its waning seconds, it looked like Jung would come away with the victory; he'd done enough to outpoint Rodriguez in probably 4 of the 5 rounds. But that was before Rodriguez uncorked an upward elbow, of all things, to leave Jung unconscious just one second before the final buzzer.
A comeback for the ages? Check. A knockout for the ages? Check. Simply put, this was an instant classic.
#1 Worst: TUF 27 remains a disappointment
The 27th season of The Ultimate Fighter was largely maligned for the level of its talent - eventual winners Mike Trizano and Brad Katona just didn't seem as good as previous victors of the now-tired reality show, and nobody really paid much attention to July’s Finale outside of a breakout performance from non-TUF fighter Israel Adesanya in the main event.
Despite this, it felt like the UFC had stumbled on one great talent in Lightweight Luis Pena, AKA 'The Violent Bob Ross'. With good size for the division, well-rounded skills and a ruthless streak, many observers felt that he would've won the season had he not been forced out with an injury. Throw in his colourful personality, and it was understandable why the UFC would want to push him.
Pena made good in his Octagon debut in July by submitting Richie Smullen, and when he was matched with Trizano last night it felt like the UFC was trying to put things right and crown the true winner of the season.
How wrong was that idea? The fight was close, but in the end, it was Trizano's largely superior striking skills that allowed him to win a decision in what was a somewhat underwhelming contest. It wasn’t a bad fight by any means – just unmemorable, kind of like the majority of fights produced by TUF 27.
Only time will tell whether Pena will join the likes of Phillipe Nover and Rony Jason as an overhyped talent coming from TUF, but this wasn't the best start.
#2 Best: The UFC's throwback feel worked
The UFC doesn't often look to make changes to the presentation and feel of its shows, and for the criticism of that from some people, for the most part, it works as you always know you're watching a UFC show. Sometimes it’s simply better not to mess with a proven successful formula.
The last time they did make a change, it was a disaster - for UFC 200 the powers-that-be decided on a gold canvas for the Octagon, but instead, it looked bright yellow and invoked the cheap feeling of early 2000's King of the Cage shows.
Thankfully, last night's retro feel - the original UFC logo on an old-school looking canvas, the vignettes highlighting the history of the promotion, the original graphics and music and the cool opening video package - hit just the right notes, instantly taking viewers back to 1993. UFC legends Dan Severn and Art Jimmerson were even in attendance!
Sure, the actual fighting was far beyond what we used to see back in the early 1990’s, but on the prelims, there was somehow a fight that brought memories of Royce Gracie's old jiu-jitsu flavoured squash matches as Davi Ramos submitted an overmatched John Gunther with absolute ease.
Despite not being a big-time pay-per-view, this was a well-delivered 20th-anniversary show - so all credit to the often-criticised WME management.
#2 Worst: The Chas Skelly mess
It seems like we can't go one UFC show without some kind of refereeing or judging controversy, and last night was no different as Chas Skelly was completely robbed in his fight with Bobby Moffett due to a refereeing gaffe.
Moffett caught Skelly in an admittedly deep D'Arce choke, but despite Skelly not tapping out, referee Tim Mills called a stoppage, feeling 'The Scrapper' was unconscious. It came as no surprise when Skelly then leapt to his feet to protest the call.
Things then got even weirder. Colorado is one of the states that allows for instant replays, but rather than admit his mistake - and turn the fight into a No Contest - Mills decided to claim Skelly's arm was limp, and so the decision to award Moffett the win by TKO stood.
Skelly took the decision surprisingly well, proving he's a classy sportsman if nothing else, but he simply didn't deserve a loss on his record in this fashion.
Quite what Mills was thinking I don't know - whether his pride got the better of him or he genuinely believed Skelly was out is a mystery, but two things can't be denied - one, that Skelly was robbed and two, even after 20 years, the rules of MMA aren't perfect.
#3 Best: Cerrone is back on track
Donald Cerrone has fallen on hard times lately, and it honestly looked like 'Cowboy' was on his way down the ladder after his disappointing June loss to Leon Edwards. Faced with Mike Perry in what had become somewhat of a personal match, many were giving 'Platinum' the edge due to his punching power and Cerrone's deteriorating chin.
That was all proven wrong though. Cerrone looked sharper than he had in a long time, punishing Perry with his jab, and then when Perry inexplicably decided to take him down, 'Cowboy' quickly used his underrated ground game to school his former teammate, finishing him with an armbar.
The win gave Cerrone the record for most wins inside the UFC and most finishes in the UFC too - a massive achievement by anyone's standards - and while he might not challenge for a title again, it certainly proved that there's life in this old dog yet. And if he does mean to move back to 155lbs - Cerrone vs. Poirier, anyone?
#3 Worst: What was Perry's gameplan?
The UFC clearly loves Mike Perry's fighting style and personality and so it's doubtful that his loss to Donald Cerrone will cause his stock to drop too much, but it was still a worrying performance from 'Platinum', who didn't appear to come into the Octagon with anything resembling a game plan.
I've expressed a concern in the past that Perry will become the modern-day version of Phil Baroni - a loveable and entertaining brawler who's ultimately too limited to truly reach the top - but under new coach Mike Winkeljohn that was meant to change. His July win over Paul Felder, in particular, was promising, but last night was another step back for him.
Perry was back to the predictable, winging power hooks that allowed past opponents like Max Griffin and Santiago Ponzinibbio to pick him apart, he had no answer for Cerrone's jab and quite what possessed him to take a grappler as venomous as Cowboy down I don't know. And as we saw, the move didn't pay off as he was quickly forced to tap out.
Perry is young enough to bounce back from this loss, but considering he appeared to have turned a corner in his fight with Felder, this showing felt like a massive letdown for the Floridian.
