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UFC Fight Night 148 was one of those shows that will live long in the memory thanks to what happened in the main event, but prior to that moment, it wasn’t too memorable at all. Sure, some of the fights delivered pretty decent action, but overall this felt like a flashback to the FS1 Fight Night days at times, which wasn’t so good.
Of the 6 main card fights, we got just 2 finishes with the other 4 fights going the distance, and the prelims were an equally mixed bag with some good stuff mixed in with some bad. As always though, there were plenty of talking points.
Here are the best and worst moments from UFC Fight Night 148: Thompson vs. Pettis.
#1 Best: That superman punch
Well, it was a no brainer what would be considered the best thing on this show in the end. Anthony Pettis was looking likely to be two rounds in the hole going into the third, as Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson largely used his striking skills to bloody up the former UFC Lightweight champion despite taking some pretty decent leg kicks from ‘Showtime’.
Well, that turned out not to be the case, as Pettis suddenly sprung off the cage wall and clocked Thompson with a superman punch that knocked him silly with seconds remaining in the 2nd round. Post-fight, Pettis mentioned that he was attempting to use his leg kicks to set up a big shot to the head, but nobody could ever have expected a knockout like that to be delivered in this fight.
It was probably the best knockout of Pettis’ career – which says a lot considering some of the stuff he’s previously delivered – and as far as I can remember, it’s only the second superman punch knockout in UFC history following Travis Browne’s stoppage of Stefan Struve back in 2011. If this doesn’t end up being the knockout of the year in December, then I’ll be hugely surprised.
#1 Worst: The awful Makdessi vs. Pinedo fight
There were numerous forgettable fights on this card – the opening two were pretty poor and the fights between Luis Pena and Steven Peterson and Jennifer Maia and Alexis Davis were okay at best – but the worst offender by far was a Lightweight fight between John Makdessi and Jesus Pinedo. To defend both men to start with, the fight was a late-notice one after injuries sidelined the original opponents of both men.
But wow, this was a bad showing. The fight dragged badly due to the slow pace set by both men, and they seemed to be content to put on a point-fighting affair, catching one another at the end of the majority of their strikes with neither man coming close to a finish. The Nashville crowd booed throughout, and really, it was hard to fault them for doing so.
It’s not that either fighter is bad per say; Makdessi has some all-time great highlight reel moments on his ledger and Pinedo’s highlight reel suggests he’s usually exciting too. But this was just a bad clash of styles and it made for one of the worst televised fights of 2019. And on a show that was already beginning to drag a little, it was the worst possible thing that could’ve happened.
#2 Best: Curtis Blaydes shows his worth
In late 2018 it looked like Curtis Blaydes was closing in on a Heavyweight title shot after a stellar campaign that saw him defeat longtime veterans Mark Hunt and Alistair Overeem. Faced with Francis Ngannou – who’d looked a shadow of his former self in a loss to Derrick Lewis – Blaydes appeared to be one fight away from greatness. And then he got knocked out violently in under a minute, as Ngannou suddenly found his confidence again.
Normally a loss for a prospect on the way up wouldn’t be so bad, but it was the way that Blaydes was finished that was worrying more than anything. Last night he took a dangerous bounce-back fight against Justin Willis – undefeated in the UFC at 4-0 and willing to talk a ridiculous amount of trash – and ‘Razor’ came through with one of the best performances of his career, showing that he’s clearly an elite-level fighter at Heavyweight.
Willis – who had to cut weight to make the 265lbs limit – was thrown around like a ragdoll for practically the full 15 minutes, and when he was on his feet, he was badly hurt by the punches of Blaydes and was almost finished early in the second round. It was a major lesson for ‘Big Pretty’ – a training partner of current Heavyweight champ Daniel Cormier – that there are levels in this sport and Blaydes is still one above him right now. And for the doubters, it was proof that ‘Razor’ is still probably the best prospect in this division.
#2 Worst: Flyweight is on its last legs
Okay, so don’t get me wrong here; the fight last night between Jussier Formiga and Deiveson Figueiredo was a perfectly acceptable MMA fight, and when it was over there was no doubt that Formiga deserved the judges’ nod despite being cut open badly by an elbow and almost taking the third round off. But unfortunately, the result has probably done more harm than good to the future of the 125lbs division.
Whether or not the UFC decide to can the division is still up in the air, and could depend on the result of a likely fight for the now-vacant UFC Bantamweight title between Marlon Moraes and current Flyweight kingpin Henry Cejudo. But Figueiredo had gone 4-0 in the UFC before last night and had looked like a super-exciting fighter in his victories. A win for him last night could’ve set up a title fight with at least some interest.
Instead, he was stifled by the ground skill of Formiga, who unfortunately has already lost to the de facto top two Flyweights in the game in Cejudo and Joseph Benavidez. And neither fight was all that competitive, meaning nobody will be likely to want to pay to see him rematch Cejudo. Formiga is a great fighter, no doubt – but he isn’t selling tickets any time soon and the fact that he’s now in line for a crack at the title could force the UFC’s hand when it comes to shutting down the division – which would be sad indeed.
#3 Best: Barber’s big comeback
After a big win over Hannah Cifers in her UFC debut back in November, Maycee Barber garnered a bunch of hype. Just 20 years old, ‘The Future’ looked every bit the big star in the making and talked a good game too, as she stated her aim to become the youngest champion in UFC history. Faced with journeywoman JJ Aldrich last night, she was looking to take another step on the path to that lofty goal.
Aldrich almost stopped her in her tracks. Barber was being pieced up throughout the first round by Aldrich’s cleaner counter-punching style; she was simply leaving herself too open when throwing her own strikes, and it looked like the former TUF contestant – on a 3 fight win streak of her own – was on the way to ending the hype train for the time being.
But then the second round came along and evidently Barber got herself fired up, and where she was leaving herself open to counters in the first, here she began to walk through them to deliver heavier shots of her own. A big left hand had Aldrich rocked and from there Barber poured on the aggression until the fight was done, with Aldrich still standing, simply covering up to avoid any further punishment.
Barber may not reach that goal of hers – she looked very raw last night and would probably lose to the top fighters in the Flyweight division right now – but she’s clearly got heart for days and that should take her very far while she rounds out her skillset. ‘The Future’ appears to be an apt nickname for her.
