Hyden's Take
HYDEN BLOG: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly from UFC Fight Night 47
Aug 20, 2014 - 11:40:57 AM HYDEN BLOG: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly from UFC Fight Night 47

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By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch contributor

UFC Fight Night 47 took place last weekend with some good moments, and some bad; let's get to it.


UFC Fight Night 47


GOOD: Thiago Tavares submits Robbie Peralta

Tavares looks ready to make some waves in the division. I'm not saying he's a title contender yet or anything, but he can give most guys problems on the ground. This was the first fight for Tavares at featherweight and he made a good debut.

GOOD/BAD: Shawn Jordan stops Jack May

This fight was pretty BAD, but Jordan did get the late stoppage. I don't think it means anything in the division, but it's an okay win for Jordan. Neither guy looked all that impressive, to be honest.

GOOD: Alan Jouban stops Seth Baczynski

This was a very entertaining, though sloppy, fight. Jouban also made a nice debut. Lots of heart from both guys, but Jouban was just better. I give both guys major credit for going in there and putting on a hell of a scrap. It wasn't technical, but it was sure fun to watch.

GOOD/GREAT: Tim Boetsch stops Brad Tavares

This was a really GOOD fight. Tavares controlled it from the beginning and easily took the first round, and was on his way to taking the second round as well when Boetsch had one of the best comebacks of the year and caught him. Tavares actually got up, but Boetsch caught him again and ended things. It was a great moment for Boetsch in front of the home crowd. Tavares can take solace in knowing that he had the fight controlled, and then just got caught. It just shows how fights can change in a second.

GOOD: Ross Pearson stops Gray Maynard

Things were fairly even in the first round, Maynard probably won it, but it was very close. In the second, though, Pearson took over and stopped Maynard with some hard shots. Pearson got a good win that helps his standing in the division. Maynard should probably think about retirement. I'm not the type to tell a guy to quit except in cases where he's in danger, and I think Maynard fits that description. He doesn't have a chin and that's costing him a lot of punishment.

Maynard has nothing left to prove. He's had a good career. He should just retire and be happy training or something if that's what he wants to do. Based off of what most athletes do in this case, I highly doubt he will retire. He'll probably lose a few more fights before he decides he's had enough. I just hope it's not too late for him at that point, health-wise.

BAD: Ryan Bader vs. Ovince St. Preux

This fight was so horribly dull that, at one point, one of my friends suggested we change it to the baseball game. Normally my inclination would be to thump someone upside the head for saying something so insane (sometimes called a Gibbs slap or dope slap), but they quickly added they were joking. To be honest, I was tempted to change the channel to something else, but I couldn't find a NFL preseason game on. Anyhow, this fight just sucked. Bader won the decision, but it wasn't a very impressive win.

*************

Jon Jones is injured and has to delay his fight with Daniel Cormier until January 2, 2015. This sucks on so many levels. I won't repeat my first thoughts on this as they're not fit to print, but I imagine they're the same as many others. I wanted to see this fight happen as soon as possible, because it feels like the division has been held up too long already. I feel for Alexander Gustafsson, who was originally given the title shot but had to pull out due to injury. Now the fight gets delayed, and Gustafsson isn't getting his shot, the one he had until he got hurt. He'll have to win another fight to get his rematch with Jones now, because that not-fake-at-all brawl between Jones and Cormier has taken over the narrative. I hope that there are no more delays to the fight between Jones and Cormier, so we can keep the division moving.

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