Hyden's Take
HYDEN BLOG: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly from Bellator 116 and UFC Fight Night 39
Apr 17, 2014 - 9:45:29 AM HYDEN BLOG: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly from Bellator 116 and UFC Fight Night 39

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By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch contributor

Bellator 116 and UFC Fight Night 39 took place last weekend. Let's take a look back:

Bellator 116

GOOD: Alexander Volkov stops Mighty Mo Siliga

Not much to this one. It was a really nice stoppage by Volkov, as he connected with a head kick to end it in the first round.

GOOD: Adam McDonough stops Nathan Coy

McDonough was all over Coy after Coy had some early offense. He staggered him in the first and finished him in the second. Coming out of a clinch McDonough just dropped Coy and crumpled him.

GOOD: Rickey Rainey stops Andy Murad

This was a prelim fight that aired again due to the finishes in the previous fights. Rainey stopped Murad with strikes a few minutes into the fight.

BAD/GOOD: Joey Beltran submits Vladimir Matyhushenko

Beltran locked in a nice choke to finish things in the third round, but up until that point the fight sucked. It was really bad and really sloppy. Not the fun sloppy, either, the bad kind where it looks like they could go into the crowd and find better fighters. That's not true, of course, but this fight just wasn't good at all. Matyhushenko said before the fight that he was retiring no matter what happened. Not sure where Beltran goes from here, but a win's a win.

GOOD: Blagoi Ivanov submits Lavar Johnson

This was a hell of a lot more technical than I was expecting. Both guys were going for submissions. Ivanov gets a keylock on Johnson and get the submission. Interesting fight. It ended relatively early, about four minutes into the first round, so that definitely helped. I think the guys would have gassed pretty hard if the fight had continued. This capped a pretty good night of fights.


UFC Fight Night 39

GOOD: Ramsey Nijem stops Beneil Dariush

Nijem swarmed Dariush and unleashed hell on him. He was all over like a whirlwind and didn't let up. It got him the stoppage late in the first round. Great performance from Nijem.

GOOD: John Howard vs. Ryan LaFlare

This was a very close back and forth fight. In the second round LaFlare landed a groin shot that almost ended the fight. Howard took all his five minutes, but was still in pain. He opted to continued, though, and you wonder what might have happened if that groin shot didn't land. LaFlare probably still wins, but you never know. LaFlare should be given a fringe top ten guy now.

GOOD/BAD: Clay Guida vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri

In the first round Guida was active and trying hard and everything, but in the second and third rounds he reverted back to his recent safe style. He would just take Kawajiri down and smother him. He didn't do much damage, but Kawajiri was so tired that he couldn't do anything of his own. It's at this point that Guida should have pressed his advantage and gotten the finish. Kawajiri had nothing for Guida. Over the course of the fifteen minutes we saw the good Guida and the excruciatingly boring Guida.

GOOD: Roy Nelson stops Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

Nelson dropped Nogueira a few times, but Big Nog wouldn't stay down. He kept coming and Nelson finished it with a brutal knockout. We all know what Nelson's ceiling is, but he should be given a chance to prove what he can do. As for Nogueira, it's time for him to retire. I don't have any interest in seeing him fight again. I have far too much respect for him and what he's done to want to see him risk his long-term health.

Nogueira has been in some absolute wars, and they've taken their toll. The punishment he's taken over the years is stuff that you can't just shrug off. I usually hate telling guys to retire, as I think it should be up to them, but in cases of long-term health risk I'll gladly speak up. Nogueira will be a fantastic coach if that's what he wants to do. I hope those around him convince him that now is the time to hang it up.

UGLY: UFC Fight Pass

A bonus UGLY here for this card being on UFC Fight Pass. I can't imagine anyone but the most hardcore of MMA fans utilizing this, and even then there's probably a lot who won't subscribe. The value proposition is such that it's nowhere close to being worth it.

I wish the UFC would release the number of people who've subscribed as I think that would make for an interesting conversation. Dana White recently said that more people subscribe to Fight Pass now then when it was a free trial. A dubious claim, to be sure, but without actual numbers there's no way to back up or dispute it. What I do know is that Fight Pass just doesn't seem to be worth it for anyone but the most ardent of MMA fans.

Comments and suggestions can be emailed to me at hydenfrank@gmail.com and you can follow me on Twitter at @hydenfrank