Hyden's Take
HYDEN BLOG: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly from WSOF 18, Bellator 133, and UFC Fight Night 60
Feb 18, 2015 - 2:30:41 PM HYDEN BLOG: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly from WSOF 18, Bellator 133, and UFC Fight Night 60

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By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch contributor

Three major televised events took place last week in WSOF 18, Bellator 133, and UFC Fight Night 60. Let's break it down.


WSOF 18

GOOD: Hakeem Dawodu stops Tristan Johnson

This was all Dawodu, as he controlled things throughout the fight. It was a good display for Dawodu and he finally finished Johnson off in the third round.

BAD/UGLY: Andrew McInnes vs. Cody McKenzie

The fight itself was fine, but it was marred by a headbutt from McKenzie to end things at the end of the first round. McKenzie probably did it on purpose and that's why McInnes won.

GOOD: Shane Campbell stops Derek Boyle

Campbell controlled things and finally finished Boyle off in the third round. That sounds familiar.

GOOD: Marlon Moraes vs. Josh Hill

Hill took the first round as he attempted to beat Moraes, the WSOF Bantamweight Champion. The fight was pretty good, but not quite great. Hill won the first round but Moraes took the final four to win the clear decision. He was just more active when it mattered.


Bellator 133

GOOD: Chris Honeycutt stops Clayton McFarlane

Honeycutt kept pressing and moving forward until he got the stoppage in the third round.

GOOD: Julia Budd vs. Gabrielle Halloway

Budd controlled things throughout the whole fight. She just did whatever she wanted. Halloway had no answers. Budd won the clear decision.

GOOD: Pat Curran vs. Daniel Weichel

These guys went back and forth the whole fight. It was really close and Weichel ended up winning the split decision. This was such a close fight that Bellator might be tempted to rematch them down the road. This was the best fight in a night of good fights already. I wonder what would have happened if they had gone longer?

GOOD: Alexander Shlemenko stops Melvin Manhoef

This was a a very exciting fight. There was some really good striking going on here and you knew it was going to end with someone getting knocked out. Shlemenko caught Manhoef with a spinning back elbow and turned the lights out. They had spent the fight up until then throwing bombs at each other, it was only a matter of time until one landed just right. They brought the excitement, that's for sure. I'm always a sucker for these types of fights, and this made for a great main event.


UFC Fight Night 60

GOOD: Ray Borg submits Chris Kelades

Things started a little slow, but then Borg went to work and was all over Kelades. Borg kept coming and coming, but Kelades showed toughness as he was getting it handed to him. Finally, Borg finished things in the third round. Good fight a nice win for Borg.

BAD: Kevin Lee vs. Michel Prazeres

Not a whole lot to this one. Lee was solid, I guess, but Prazeres wasn't doing much of anything. It's a win, but Lee will have to improve if he wants to rise in the division.

UGLY: Daniel Kelly vs. Patrick Walsh

Kelly won the decision, but everyone was a loser for having to watch this turd of a fight. I'm sure we've all seen bar fights that were more technical than this. This is the kind of fight that makes you wish for a power outage. Both guys were fighting like they couldn't see each other anyway, so it wouldn't have made much of a difference.

BAD/GOOD: Neil Magny submits Kiichi Kunimoto

Magny should have finished Kunimoto well before he did. He should have finished him in the first round instead of the third. That's where the BAD comes from, because the first two rounds were really slow and boring. The GOOD comes from the submission. Just an ok win for Magny here.

GOOD: Max Holloway vs. Cole Miller

It's a little bit of a reach to call this GOOD, but it wasn't BAD. It was a solid fight, but nothing that would make jump up and get excited. In fact, the most exciting thing happened after the fight. Holloway won the decision and was told that he's got a fight with Cub Swanson next if he wants. That's an interesting fight.

GOOD: Benson Henderson submits Brandon Thatch

This was a pretty good fight but it was made more interesting by the fact Henderson moved up a weight class to the fight on short notice. Thatch started off well and probably won the first two rounds, but then Henderson took over in the third round and finished things in the fourth. Henderson landed a nice takedown in the fourth that ended up leading to the finish. I think both guys come out of this looking stronger. Henderson moved up a weight class on short notice and got the submission win. Thatch fought a former UFC champion on short notice and held his own for quite a while. This was a good way to end a disappointing night of fights. There were some good moments, but the bad ones were really bad.


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