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By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch contributor
UFC Fight Night 58 closed out the UFC's 2014 schedule this past weekend. Let's get right to it, and then hit on some other news.
UFC Fight Night 58
GOOD/BAD: Daniel Sarafian stops Antonio Dos Santos Jr.
The fight itself was fine, I'll give it a GOOD but the BAD comes from the injury stoppage. Dos Santos dislocated his finger and the ref stopped it. It was all right. I wouldn't be surprised if the UFC goes with a rematch soon.
GOOD: Erick Silva submits Mike Rhodes
Not a whole lot to this one. Silva took Rhodes down and worked to the submission. It took just over a minute. It's a nice for Silva, even if it was expected.
GOOD: Rashid Magomedov stops Elias Silverio
This was the latest stoppage in a three round fight in UFC history, with only three seconds left when it was stopped. Magomedov dropped Silverio with a nice hook and followed up for the stoppage. Very nice win for Magomedov.
BAD: Patrick Cummins vs. Antonio Carlos Junior
This fight sucked. It was incredibly boring, as Cummins just laid on Carlos Junior the whole time. Yeah, he controlled him the entire fight, but this is one of those fake victories. For one, he didn't do any damage to the guy. Even setting that aside, though, he can't do this against the higher-level guys in the division. You can do it against a guy who can't contend, but the high-level guys are so good in all areas that they'll either stuff your takedowns or submit you. This victory might look fine on paper, but it's not really something to get too excited about. I would feel differently if Cummins showed that he's improved his other areas in any way, but he looked like he always does. It's good enough to get to the middle of the card, but you're not winning championships this way. You're not winning any fans this way, either.
GOOD: Renan Barao submits Mitch Gagnon
This was closer than you'd think, but Barao likely just wanted to get the win. He had a lot to lose in this fight, so he didn't want to take many chances. He fought very well, though. Gagnon also fought very well. This was a close fight, but it was clear that Barao was winning. He had the cardio to continue fighting at full speed while Gagnon slowed down. This created opportunities for Barao and he finally pounced in the third round. This was a nice win for Barao and he's able to get back on the winning track.
GOOD: Lyoto Machida stops C.B. Dollaway
Machida crushed Dollaway with a hard body kick about a minute in. I was surprised that Machida jumped on it like that, he usually sits back and waits and waits and waits. It was an awesome and brutal finish as he just destroyed Dollaway's insides. You could tell that Dollaway was in a tremendous amount of pain. Great win for Machida, and a fantastic way to end the evening.
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Quinton "Rampage" Jackson is apparently coming back to the UFC. He claims that Bellator didn't honor their contract with him so he terminated it. I don't know all the legalese and everything so I'm not sure if this is possible or not, but it tells you that the UFC is trying to bring in any star power they can. Rampage isn't in a spot where he's going to be challenging for a title, but he can bring in some eyes. That may be exactly what the UFC wants. We'll have to see what Bellator does about this, but Scott Coker has said that they will defend their contractual rights. I don't know how long this will take to play out, but for Rampage's sake it better not be long. I don't know what kind of fights the UFC has planned for Rampage, but I would hope they have a plan. Maybe they should do a trade with Bellator, the UFC gets Rampage and Bellator gets Nate Diaz?
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Dominick Cruz is hurt again, and out of his fight with UFC Bantamweight Champion T.J. Dillashaw. Cruz just can't catch a break. It makes me wonder how long he'll be out this time? It also makes me wonder when he reaches the point where he decides it's not worth it anymore? You hate to see a guy go through this, as he's helpless to do anything as his body betrays him. Hopefully this is the last serious setback Cruz experiences outside of the cage.
Comments and suggestions can be emailed to me at hydenfrank@gmail.com and you can follow me on Twitter at @hydenfrank>/i>
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