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The UFC’s latest visit to Florida is in the books, and Fight Night 161: Jedrzejczyk vs. Waterson turned out to be a largely fun show. The main event saw former UFC Strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk return to form with a bang, picking apart Michelle Waterson for a lopsided decision, and while the main card lacked a lot of fun finishes, the prelims delivered in that aspect hugely.
Did everything go perfectly? Well, no, and to be honest a lot of the fights on the show will be forgotten in a week or two, but that’s the breaks when the UFC puts on so many shows and fights these days.
Here are the best and worst moments from UFC Fight Night 161: Jedrzejczyk vs. Waterson.
#1 Best: Niko Price does it again
When the UFC lost a main card bout between Brok Weaver and Thomas Gifford last week, it didn’t look like they were planning to elevate a prelim upwards and would simply carry on with a five-fight main portion. In the end, the promotion changed their mind, bumping the Welterweight bout between Niko Price and James Vick up, and the decision paid off massively.
Not only did the fight give us the only finish of the main card, but it was an incredibly violent one too, as Price knocked Vick out with a vicious upkick in just under two minutes, leaving Vick slumped over on his knees, completely unconscious. Due to the rare nature of an upkick knockout, as well as the disturbing visual, I’d call it one of the best KO’s of 2019.
Given the loss was Vick’s fourth in a row – and the third by knockout – it could spell the end of the UFC career of ‘The Texecutioner’, but for Price, it was yet more evidence why he might well be the most exciting fighter in MMA right now. ‘The Hybrid’ has had 10 UFC bouts since 2016, has won 7 of them, and he’s never been the distance – in fact, he’s never even reached the third round!
The UFC should take last night’s incredible KO as a bit of a message from Price – simply put, he should never be put on the preliminary card again. He’s too exciting for that.
#1 Worst: The referee job in the Mike Davis vs. Thomas Gifford fight
Thomas Gifford had a slice of bad luck coming into this show; his opponent Brok Weaver was forced out of their fight with an injury, and by the time Mike Davis was pegged as a replacement, the fight was bumped down onto the preliminary card. Unfortunately for Gifford, things went from bad to worse for him last night.
Gifford looked painfully outgunned in the first round of the fight, with Davis seemingly landing with almost every strike he threw. Sure, Gifford hung tough and was able to absorb a lot of the punishment dished out by ‘Beast Boy’, but it was clear once the one-sided round ended that there was just no way he was going to win the fight.
Disturbingly though, despite Davis continuing to beat on Gifford in the second and third rounds, it didn’t seem like anyone was interested in the health of ‘The Young Lion’, as his corner simply sent him back out while referee Andrew Glenn seemed happy to watch him take punishment – which finally ended with him being knocked unconscious, falling face-down to the mat.
Quite why the fight was allowed to go on for as long as it was remains a question mark. This was a criminal beatdown that wasn’t at all fun to watch – and evidently, the Florida State Athletic Commission agreed, removing Glenn from his refereeing duties for the later Price vs. Vick fight. Judging by this showing, if they hadn’t made that change, Price may well still be punching an unconscious Vick in the head now.
#2 Best: Joanna Jedrzejczyk returns to championship form
Coming into last night’s main event against Michelle Waterson, there can be no doubt that Joanna Jedrzejczyk was under pressure. The former Strawweight champion had gone 1-3 in her last 4 bouts, and to be honest, hadn’t looked in truly convincing form since her last successful title defence against Jessica Andrade way back in May 2017.
Last night changed all that, though, and it looked like ‘Joanna Champion’ was back to her best. She basically shellacked Waterson for five straight rounds, controlling every aspect of the fight, from the pace to the distance in which it was fought at. Her combinations looked on point, she shrugged off Waterson’s clinch and takedown attempts, and in the end, she landed over 200 strikes, an insane clip by anyone’s standards.
Waterson hung tough and in all honesty, did well not to be finished given the punishment she sustained over 25 minutes. But her bloodstained white fight top told the story; this was a one-sided beating.
Will it be enough to net Joanna a chance to reclaim her title? I think it will; Tatiana Suarez might be hovering on the horizon, but right now a Weili Zhang/Jedrzejczyk fight makes more sense to me. And going by this, there’s every chance the Polish star reclaims the gold, too.
#2 Worst: Jiu-Jitsu aces struggle to step up
Last night’s card featured two of the more credentialed grapplers on the UFC roster in action, as Kron Gracie and Mackenzie Dern stepped back into the Octagon. Unfortunately for big fans of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, both fighters were beaten – Dern in comprehensive fashion – and the truth is that they’ll need a lot more seasoning if they want to make it to the top of the UFC ladder.
Gracie didn’t fight badly by any means; faced with a far more experienced opponent in Cub Swanson, the son of the legendary Rickson Gracie was unable to get the fight to the ground for the majority of the three rounds, and while he hung in during the striking battle, even catching Swanson with some clean punches, it was clear who the more polished striker was.
Swanson’s footwork, angles and his work to the body, in particular, won him this fight, and it wasn’t as close as it looked on first glance either in my opinion, even though the action was fantastic. Gracie isn’t a stiff striker like his relatives Rolles and Roger were, but to really get to the top at 145lbs, both his takedowns and kickboxing will need a lot of work.
As for Dern? She simply couldn’t get her game going, as opponent Amanda Ribas stuffed her takedowns and easily outstruck her on the feet. It’d be easy to say that she came back from becoming a mother too quickly, but then her striking and takedowns didn’t look great in her previous UFC outings either. A world-class grappler, she still has potential, but needs a lot of work.
Basically, while both fights were solid – Gracie/Swanson provided some tremendous action – they also showed that specialists just won’t thrive in the modern-day UFC without rounding out their skills fully.
#3 Best: Those fun prelim finishes
Outside of Gracie vs. Swanson, the best fight on the main card last night was the wild brawl between Luis Pena and Matt Frevola, but in all honesty, some of the most memorable moments came in the preliminary bouts. Ryan Spann, Deiveson Figueiredo, Marlon Vera and Miguel Baeza picked up impressive finishes, and while only Vera won a $50k bonus, all four men saw their reputations soar last night.
Figueiredo might be the biggest winner; his guillotine choke submission of Tim Elliott was hugely impressive considering he’d become mostly known for his heavy hands, and with just one UFC loss to his name – a tight decision against veteran Jussier Formiga – there’s every chance we could see him in an Interim title fight against Joseph Benavidez, should current Flyweight kingpin Henry Cejudo choose to defend his Bantamweight title instead.
In terms of performance though, you simply can’t argue with ‘Chito’ Vera. Faced with a game opponent in Andre Ewell, the Ecuadorian fighter came out with incredible levels of aggression, taking the fight to his foe and coming close to submitting him with a crazy arm triangle that began from a standing position in the first round.
In the end, it was clinch strikes which did for Ewell and gave Vera his 5th win in a row, with all those wins coming by finish. It’s inconceivable to think he won’t get a big step up next time out; at 26 years old he’s probably in his prime right now, and this should be his chance to move up into the top ten at 135lbs. This was a tremendous night for him.
