UFC Fight Night: Maia vs Usman: The best and worst

Kamaru Usman beat Demian Maia in last night's main event
Kamaru Usman beat Demian Maia in last night's main event

Last night saw the UFC’s first ever show in Chile and despite a card that wasn’t heavy on big names, it turned out to be one of 2018’s better efforts in terms of action.

The main event was a bit of a downer to end proceedings with but before that? Pretty much everything delivered strongly. Here are the best – and worst – moments from UFC Fight Night: Maia vs Usman.


#1 Best: Dominick Reyes is for real

Dominick Reyes' violent finish of Jared Cannonier was a major highlight
Dominick Reyes' violent finish of Jared Cannonier was a major highlight

Light-Heavyweight was once the glamour division of the UFC, as names like Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture and Tito Ortiz, and later Rampage Jackson, Forrest Griffin and Lyoto Machida became some of the biggest stars in the sport.

Unfortunately, 205lbs has recently become a wasteland of sorts. Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier have shared the title due to Jones’ personal issues, but outside of their rivalry, the division still has ageing stars like Glover Teixeira, Mauricio Rua and Jimi Manuwa floating around the top.

One name who was pushed by the UFC as a possible contender last year was Jared Cannonier, but losses to Teixeira and Jan Blachowicz quickly put a stop to that hype train. Cannonier if nothing else came across as incredibly tough though, as neither of the afore-mentioned fighters came close to stopping him.

Last night though, he was stopped – and in devastating fashion, pun intended, by Dominick ‘The Devastator’ Reyes. Reyes broke onto the UFC scene last year by stopping Joachim Christensen and Jeremy Kimball in violent fashion, but Cannonier was easily his trickiest test to date and he passed with flying colours.

Reyes seems to have skills in all areas, he’s clearly an A+ athlete and he’s also a big guy for 205lbs. Essentially, when he fights, we could be looking at the future in a post-Cormier world. His violent stoppage of Cannonier might well be looked upon as a watershed moment for him. Finally, 205lbs has a new, genuine prospect to follow.

#1 Worst: Usman misses his big chance

Usman's win over Maia was largely dull
Usman's win over Maia was largely dull

As a follower of MMA for over 15 years now, I’m willing to go out on a limb and say that I believe Kamaru Usman is at worst the second-best Welterweight in the world right now behind UFC champion Tyron Woodley. But unfortunately – due to a combination of fighters wanting to avoid him and a less than crowd-pleasing style – he’s been stuck largely fighting prospects like Emil Meek and journeymen like Sergio Moraes.

Last night he was finally faced with a genuine top fighter in Demian Maia – a former title challenger and arguably the best grappler in the division. This was Usman’s big chance to send a message to the rest of the division, but despite winning, he largely missed the mark.

Usman defeated Maia in largely one-sided fashion, but aside from a 4th round knockdown he never came close to finishing the Brazilian and for the majority of the 25 minutes, it was a dull outing that saw the Nigerian stuff Maia’s takedowns and do just enough to beat him on the feet.

Was it Usman’s biggest win to date? For sure, and you’ve got to commend him for fighting a disciplined and smart fight. But if he’d become only the second man to finish Maia – and the first at 170lbs – it would’ve surely put him in line for a title shot. As it is, he may well need to fight at least a couple more times before that happens now.

#2 Best: Tatiana Suarez is awesome

Tatiana Suarez is a legitimate contender at Strawweight
Tatiana Suarez is a legitimate contender at Strawweight

When she won the TUF 23 tournament at Strawweight in early 2016, it looked like the UFC might have a genuine contender on their hands in the form of Tatiana Suarez. The former Olympic hopeful in wrestling simply whitewashed her opponents on the reality show, submitting all three en route to winning the coveted six-figure contract.

Since then, though, injuries have derailed her momentum and up until last night she’d only fought once – a unanimous decision win over Viviane Pereira in November. But last night she was matched with her toughest foe to date in top ten fighter Alexa Grasso in what looked like a close match on paper.

As it was, it wasn’t close at all. Suarez took the Mexican striker down with ease, worked her over from the top and then took her back and choked her out. The win took less than three minutes and was arguably the most impressive on the entire card.

Suarez is clearly a legitimate contender in the division – Grasso had only ever lost to contender Felice Herrig prior to this and that fight was quite close – and it’s probably time to push her into the title scene as champ Rose Namajunas is crying out for fresh challengers right now.

Based on how good she looked last night, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Suarez holding the gold at some point in the future.

#2 Worst: The UFC fails to protect a top prospect in Grasso

The UFC should be doing more to protect a marketable prospect like Alexa Grasso
The UFC should be doing more to protect a marketable prospect like Alexa Grasso

After the way Tatiana Suarez performed last night, it’d be hard to deny that she deserved a fight with a top ten contender, but the question I’m asking is why did that fighter have to be a fellow young prospect in Alexa Grasso?

Sure, Grasso was going into the fight ranked as the #9 Strawweight in the world, but realistically she’d only beaten one other ranked fighter – the inconsistent Randa Markos – to gain that spot. A marketable and exciting fighter, Grasso could’ve gotten some momentum had she been matched with a couple of lower fighters, but now she’ll be forced to rebuild after suffering a one-sided loss to Suarez.

With other, older fighters around the same area of the rankings, (Markos, Cortney Casey, Felice Herrig) it would’ve been smarter for the UFC to have Suarez test herself against one of them rather than match prospect against prospect. Suarez/Grasso sounded cool on paper, but the UFC ought to be doing more to protect top prospects like Grasso.

#3 Best: The Santiago crowd were great

The Santiago crowd were molten for the fight between Diego Rivas and Guido Cannetti
The Santiago crowd were molten for the fight between Diego Rivas and Guido Cannetti

When the UFC heads to a new market, one thing it usually guarantees is a hot crowd for the debut show. Last night was no different, as the fans who showed up at the Movistar Arena in Santiago, Chile, were absolutely buzzing throughout the show, literally from the first prelim until the main event.

Granted it was an exciting card – 6 of the 13 fights ended before the final buzzer – but even during slower fights like Michel Prazeres vs. Zak Cummings and the main event, the crowd remained largely into proceedings. And when home country hero Diego Rivas fought Guido Cannetti, they were molten – even with Rivas losing.

The UFC should take heed from this and look to book more shows in new markets – whether that’s inside the USA or outside like last night – rather than constantly heading to Las Vegas. Hotter crowds almost always make for more memorable shows.

#3 Worst: The UFC’s weird choices for bout order

Why the UFC didn't showcase Gabriel Benitez is a mystery
Why the UFC didn't showcase Gabriel Benitez is a mystery

Last December’s Fight Night 123 saw Gabriel Benitez defeat Jason Knight – a semi-pushed fighter by the UFC brass – in pretty one-sided fashion, and the fight was entertaining too. So you’d have expected ‘Moggly’ to be showcased in his next fight.

Instead, last night saw him matched with the inexperienced Humberto Bandenay, who’d had just one UFC fight prior to this, almost a year ago, and was clearly a step down the ladder from Knight. And to add insult to injury, the fight was scheduled on the Fox Sports 2 prelim card.

Sure, it was an entertaining fight, but only because Benitez simply destroyed Bandenay in just 39 seconds. The question though is why did the UFC book Benitez like this after showcasing him heavily just six months ago?

The promotion is in dire need of stars right now and while I’m not suggesting Benitez could become the next Conor McGregor, paying more attention to which fighters are being showcased in the premium slots on their cards wouldn’t do any harm. After his last performance, Benitez deserved a better opponent here – and he deserved a better slot on the card, too.

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Edited by Kishan Prasad