Hyden's Take
HYDEN BLOG: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly from UFC Fight Night 73
Aug 12, 2015 - 2:55:39 PM HYDEN BLOG: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly from UFC Fight Night 73

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By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch contributor

UFC Fight Night 73 closed out a very busy month from the UFC this past weekend. Let's get right to it.

UFC Fight Night 73

GOOD: Ray Borg vs. Geane Herrera

This was a pretty fun fight. Borg was constantly moving and working, he definitely earned the dominant decision. He almost lost it, though, because of a huge cut that was opened up by Herrera. Borg fought through it and picked up the win to keep making noise in the division. He should start rising up the ranks and get a higher-ranked opponent his next time out.


GOOD: Amanda Nunes submits Sara McMann

I thought McMann would grind out the decision, but Nunes showed good takedown defense and her striking was on point as usual. Nunes dropped McMann and pounced on her to take her back. From there she locked on the choke and it was over. Very impressive win for Nunes. McMann is tough and Nunes stuffed her takedown attempts a few times, which I wasn't expecting. Good stuff.


UGLY: Jared Rosholt vs. Timothy Johnson

This fight was slow and boring as hell. Rosholt controlled the first two rounds, but didn't actually do much of anything. Then Johnson had Rosholt reeling in the third round and decided to get a takedown that made no sense. Rosholt won the decision, but we all lost for having to watch this crap.


GOOD: Derek Brunson stops Sam Alvey

This was a wild affair which saw Brunson throwing and landing some big shots. Alvey showed good toughness to last as long as he did. Alvey nearly landed some big shots of his own a few times, but Brunson was able to avoid and connect with the damaging strikes of his own to pick up the win.


GOOD/BAD/UGLY: Michael Johnson vs. Beneil Dariush

Parts of this fight were really boring, but there were also parts that were pretty good. All in all, I'd probably go solid, but unspectacular. Fights like this happen sometimes. What doesn't happen often, though far too often than it should, is the horrible judging. I thought Johnson very clearly won the first and second rounds, and Dariush won the third round, but two judges gave Dariush the win while the other favored Johnson. I just don't see how that happens. I'm guessing the judges gave Dariush the second round, but I thought Johnson clearly did the most during that round. In any case, I guess it's time for both guys to renew themselves, as Johnson needs to make it a no-brainer for the judges to give him the decision next time and Dariush needs to do more to earn any decisions he gets in the future.


GOOD: Glover Teixeira submits Ovince Saint Preux

OSP had some good offense, but Teixeira took him down several times and was simply the better fighter. Both guys gassed, and that takes the fight down a notch or two, but it was still fairly entertaining. Teixeira took the first two rounds, and was on his way to winning the third, when OSP shot in for a takedown for some reason. This lead to Teixeira reversing him and getting his back. Teixeira locked in the choke and OSP went out cold. This is probably the ceiling for OSP, who has lots of talent in the striking area, but his cardio isn't good and his grappling and fight I.Q. are lacking.

I'm sure he'll still do some good things in the division, but he's going to have to improve a lot if he wants to make a title run. As for Teixeira, this is a good win, and it should catapult him towards a title eliminator fight. There's not a lot of room at the top of the division, but Teixeira should be in a position that another win would get him a title shot. Depending on how things shake out, though, he might have to fight twice to get a title shot. In any case, all he can do is concentrate on improving his game and trying to get better and let things shake themselves out.


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