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The UFC returned to its APEX facility for UFC Vegas 12 last night, and in the main event, Uriah Hall turned out the lights on the career of the legendary former UFC Middleweight champ Anderson Silva.
The show as a whole was one of the UFC’s better efforts in recent weeks, with eight finishes in 11 bouts, and gave us plenty of talking points.
Here are the best and worst moments from UFC Vegas 12: Hall vs. Silva.
#1 Best: Silva’s final bout gives us a classic UFC moment
Okay, so Anderson Silva’s legendary UFC career didn’t end in the way that he probably hoped it would. Despite mesmerizing Uriah Hall with his famed striking throughout the first two rounds of their main event clash, eventually, his diminishing reflexes and durability caught up with him.
Hall dropped ‘The Spider’ in the waning seconds of the third round and then sealed the deal with another big right hand early in the fourth. However, what will be remembered from this fight won’t be the knockout – it’ll be the massive show of respect after the fight was over.
A tearful Hall apologized to Silva, who he clearly idolized during the early days of his career while Silva was UFC champion. It was a truly emotional moment – rare in the modern-day UFC – and could probably be looked at as the UFC’s equivalent of the famed Shawn Michaels/Ric Flair exchange in WWE a few years back.
Silva should now head into retirement with his head held high. He didn’t win, but he didn’t look terrible either, and the end to the fight felt like a real passing of the torch. Hopefully, the next time we see him in the UFC will be to enter the promotion’s Hall of Fame.
#1 Worst: Ontiveros’ injury shows the inherent danger of MMA
Charlie Ontiveros wasn’t actually supposed to be competing last night. Kevin Holland was initially pegged to face Makhmud Muradov, but when the Uzbek fighter was forced out due to a positive COVID-19 test, the UFC brought in debutant Ontiveros to take his place. Unfortunately, things didn’t go so well for him.
Holland was clearly the more powerful fighter from a physical standpoint, and after ragdolling Ontiveros early on, he slammed him down midway through the first round. From there, things took a scary turn. The referee quickly came in to stop the fight before Holland landed any blows, and it was clear that Ontiveros was hurt by the slam.
Apparently suffering from severe pain in his neck, Ontiveros was then strapped to a spineboard and removed from the arena. As of the time of writing, we have no update on Ontiveros’ health, but obviously, the hope is that he’ll be able to make a full recovery with no lasting issues.
However, the scary scene showed the inherent danger of MMA – something that’s often forgotten under the bright lights and prestige of the UFC.
UFC President Dana White once asked the infamous question “do you wanna be a f*cking fighter” – a quote that was re-used on a trailer for the returning TUF last night – and after seeing what happened to Antiveros last night, for most people the answer should probably be no.
#2 Best: Mitchell continues to rise through the UFC’s ranks at Featherweight
Once better known for tearing his scrotum in a bizarre accident with a power drill, Bryce Mitchell should now be far better recognized for his stellar run through the UFC’s Featherweight division. ‘Thug Nasty’ – who is 14-0 in MMA and 5-0 in the UFC – picked up his latest win last night over tricky veteran Andre Fili.
The fight wasn’t an easy one for Mitchell. He did brilliantly to outwork Fili on the ground in the first and third rounds but also struggled with the striking skill of ‘Touchy’ throughout the second. However, the win almost certainly represents Mitchell’s best in the UFC thus far and should catapult him into contention at 145lbs.
Who should he face-off with next? Anyone in the top fifteen would probably work. It’s clear that he’s got a lot of work to do on his striking, but if he can close that gap, then he’s probably a danger to anyone thanks to his wrestling and ground game. Going into 2021, he’s definitely a man to watch closely.
#2 Worst: Green’s penchant for close fights costs him again
UFC President Dana White’s famous “never leave it in the hands of the judges” quote is often criticized by the MMA media, and quite rightly so. It’s never easy to get a finish in an MMA fight – particularly at the UFC level – and no fighter outright chooses to go the distance.
However, it’s almost certainly true that Bobby Green’s penchant for putting on close fights that go the distance has prevented him from ever reaching the upper echelon of the UFC. Green has entered the UFC’s Octagon on 15 occasions, and only three of those fights have not seen the final buzzer.
Last night, Green’s fight with Thiago Moises was classic fare from ‘King’. Once again, Green put on a ridiculously close fight, landing more shots in terms of volume, while Moises seemed to land his strikes with more power and also came close with a leglock in the second round.
Many people scored the fight for Green, but in the end, it was Moises who had his hand raised. Can ‘King’ have a lot to complain about here? Well, perhaps – but then he probably could’ve done more offensively to convince the judges too.
Either way, his three-fight UFC win streak is now snapped. The lesson to be learned? You can let a fight go to the judges – but you need to make things a lot more clear than Green tends to do.
#3 Best: The APEX produces a ton of finishes again
If ever we needed proof that the UFC APEX facility’s smaller Octagon produces better fights than the larger one used in places like Fight Island, it was last night’s show.
From the first prelim fight – which saw Miles Johns ruthlessly spark out Kevin Natividad – we were treated to some seriously violent moments last night that were probably among the best of 2020.
Adrian Yanez shone in his UFC debut by knocking Victor Rodriguez out with a savage head kick, while Dustin Jacoby also impressed in his return, destroying Justin Ledet with some nasty striking.
Perhaps the most impressive performance was Alexander Hernandez’s slaughter of Chris Gruetzemacher – putting him firmly back into UFC title contention at 155lbs – but even Greg Hardy, who came close to missing weight, managed to pick up a highlight-reel KO in a sloppy fight with Maurice Greene.
Overall, this was one of the better UFC shows of 2020, and with the next month’s worth of shows taking place in the UFC APEX, we should be in for more fun throughout November.
