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The UFC’s latest effort from Asia is in the books, as UFC Fight Night 162 went down earlier today from Kallang, Singapore. For the most part it was an entertaining show, and the main card, in particular, featured five fights that largely delivered when it came to action.
Quite where one of the main event participants goes following today is anyone’s guess, and elsewhere we saw some odd refereeing as well as a handful of seriously cool finishes.
Here are the best and worst moments from UFC Fight Night 162: Maia vs. Askren.
#1 Best: Dariush looks back to his best
After submitting the tough Drew Dober in his last fight, I expected Beneil Dariush to be matched with someone in the top fifteen at 155lbs in his next outing. Instead, he was faced with another tough – but unranked – brawler in Frank Camacho in what sounded like a banana skin of a fight for him.
Camacho came in with a reputation as a hard hitter who could take insane punishment – and with Dariush’s questionable chin, it felt like a tricky fight for him.
In the end, though, it turned out to be anything but. Dariush comfortably outstruck Camacho in the early going before hitting a double leg, taking him down, taking his back and choking him out, all in just over two minutes.
It was probably Dariush’s best UFC showing since his KO of James Vick back in 2016, and for a man who was written off somewhat after a tricky 2018, it was a much-needed performance.
Will Dariush ever be a true title contender? Perhaps not; he lacks the raw athleticism possessed by the very top fighters in the Lightweight division like Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje, but with his slick ground game and solid striking base he’s arguably a tough match for anyone out there, too.
This win should at least move him back into the top fifteen – and for me a fight with Charles Oliveira, currently ranked at #13, sounds absolutely fantastic to make next.
#1 Worst: Is Askren a bust?
UFC President Dana White was never high on Ben Askren, refusing to bring him to the promotion back in 2013 when he was let go by Bellator despite being their unbeaten Welterweight champion.
So it came as somewhat of a surprise when the UFC traded former Flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson over to ONE FC in order to bring ‘Funky’ aboard last October, but for many fans – myself included – it was a welcome surprise.
Quite how Askren would do in the UFC was always a major question mark; the former Olympic wrestler was renowned as one of the best grapplers in the 170lbs division, but his striking was largely recognised as a work in progress. Well, three fights into his UFC career and it’s hard not to call the former Bellator champ a bust.
His debut fight was incredibly exciting – but was also full of controversy, as he was almost knocked out by Robbie Lawler early on before coming back to apparently choke Lawler out, although ‘Ruthless’ didn’t appear to be fully unconscious. His second outing of course saw him KO’d by Jorge Masvidal in just 5 seconds, meaning Askren had a lot riding on the result of today’s fight with Demian Maia.
Unfortunately for Askren, the fight didn’t go his way. His striking again looked crude, and although he hit some takedowns, he never fully controlled Maia, and in the third round, the Brazilian grappling expert used a leglock attempt to reverse ‘Funky’ before forcing him to tap out with a rear naked choke.
Quite where Askren goes from here is unknown; it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the UFC cut him outright given his history with White, but that’d seem harsh to me as other big-money busts like Hector Lombard were given more chances. We shall see, but for now he’s way out of title contention.
#2 Best: Pavlovich makes his mark again
Russian Heavyweight Sergei Pavlovich came into the UFC a year ago with plenty of fanfare; he’d gone 12-0 on the Russian regional scene and appeared to have everything it took to succeed in the UFC, with incredibly heavy hands coupled with a lot of speed and athleticism.
Unfortunately, he was matched far too highly for his UFC debut – against title contender Alistair Overeem – and succumbed to a first round TKO loss.
Since then though, while he might’ve been flying under the radar a little, Pavlovich has definitely regained any lustre he might’ve lost in the Overeem fight. The Russian destroyed Marcelo Golm in February and today, he took just over two minutes to turn the lights out on Maurice Greene, stopping him with a violent combination of punches.
Sure, Greene – and Golm – aren’t top calibre opponents, but you can only finish whoever’s in front of you and Pavlovich did that today in impressive fashion.
Overeem might’ve been a step too far for him as a debutant, but with three Octagon appearances now in the books it feels like it’s time for a push up the card for the Russian. At the very least, he should be on the main card for his next appearance.
#2 Worst: Strange refereeing mars a pair of main card bouts
Okay, so as a disclaimer both the fight between Stevie Ray and Michael Johnson and the clash between Ciryl Gane and Don’tale Mayes were fun to watch, and I enjoyed both contests greatly. It’s also worth pointing out that both fights ended with the correct fighter getting his hand raised; Ray edged a majority decision while Gane managed to submit Mayes via heel hook with seconds remaining in the third round.
However, for me both fights could’ve been stopped more decisively and quite why the referees chose to let them continue, I’m not sure. Gane could’ve had a first round TKO to add to his ledger; he stunned Mayes with a barrage of punches before dropping him with a flying knee, and Mayes was clearly not defending himself as the round came to an end.
Somehow though, Herb Dean let the hurt ‘Kong’ continue – and unsurprisingly he took a beating en route to his submission loss.
Ray meanwhile took Johnson down in the third round and beat the hell out of him with a series of unanswered punches from back mount, and while ‘The Menace’ was never knocked out per se, the rules of the UFC state that a fighter must intelligently defend himself – and in my opinion Johnson wasn’t doing that. Leon Roberts however disagreed and let the fight go the distance.
It’s true that nobody wants to see fights stopped too early, but equally had Gane or Ray ended up losing their fights I feel like they’d have had a fair complaint about today’s officiating. More consistency is definitely needed in my view.
