Hyden's Take
HYDEN BLOG: The Good, The Bad, and The ugly from UFC Fight Night 74, plus the UFC 195 lineup
Aug 26, 2015 - 12:35:21 PM HYDEN BLOG: The Good, The Bad, and The ugly from UFC Fight Night 74, plus the UFC 195 lineup

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By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch Contributor

UFC Fight Night 74 hit Fox Sports 1 last Sunday night. Let's get to the rundown!

UFC Fight Night 74

BAD/GOOD: Maryna Moroz vs. Valerie Letourneau

This just wasn't all that good a fight. BAD might be a bit harsh but it certainly wasn't all that GOOD. The only reason I'm throwing that GOOD in there is because they tried hard at times. At other times they both seemed content to do the bare minimum. Not a good way to start the main card.


UGLY: Olivier Aubin-Mercier vs. Tony Sims

This was just a bunch of lay-and-pray crap. Aubin-Mercier was perfectly happy to just blanket Sims for as long as he could. He didn't even try to go for submissions or anything, he just laid there on top. There's a hundred jokes I could make about that, but instead I'll put as much effort into that as Aubin-Mercier put into winning this fight.


GOOD: Francisco Trinaldo stops Chad Laprise

Laprise was doing pretty well, but then Trinaldo dropped him and started raining blows down on him to force the stoppage about halfway through the first round. Big win for Trinaldo and a nice palette-cleanser for everyone else.


GOOD: Patrick Cote stops Josh Burkman

The second round dragged as both guys tired, but it was a pretty good fight all in all. The third round especially was fun with both guys getting hurt and winging punches. Cote dropped Burkman and poured it on until the ref jumped in. The ref was late in stopping the fight, but I won't rant about that this time. I wish it didn't happen, but it does.


BAD/UGLY: Neil Magny vs. Erick Silva

Another garbage fight. It's impressive that Magny was able to rebound just a few weeks after being dominated by Demian Maia, but this fight still sucked. It was just so dull and boring, which was especially bad considering it was so late at night. This was like watching a sparring match or grappling practice, everything seemed to be moving at half-speed. The UGLY is for the decision. Magny won by split-decision when he clearly won all three rounds. I don't see how you would give Silva one round, let alone two. Just horrible judging.


BAD: Max Holloway stops Charles Oliveira

This one never got a chance to get going, as Oliveira was injured about a minute and a half into the first round. Watching it live, you had no idea what the heck happened, Oliveira just suddenly grabbed at his collarbone and gave himself up. Holloway got the win, but who knows what would have happened without that injury? I think Holloway still would have won, but you never know. A disappointing end to a disappointing card.

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

The assumption was that UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey was going to fight Miesha Tate, who just recently beat Jessica Eye in a fight that was talked about as a number one contender's fight. However, the UFC pulled the old swerve this week when they announced that Holly Holm would be facing Rousey at UFC 195 instead of Tate.
Big picture, I don't think it matters all that much who fights Rousey because she's going to kick their ass no matter who it is. There is intrigue in either of these fights, though. Holm is a good striker, and could possibly test Rousey in a way that she hasn't been tested before. Tate is scrappy as hell and has proven that she's not afraid of Rousey. She's gone the longest with Rousey, and has seemingly upped her game. Like I said, I don't think it matters all that much, but Tate did get the rug pulled out from under her with this announcement, especially since the UFC didn't tell her before announcing it to the world.

Back to UFC 195, the co-main event will be a rematch between UFC Women's Strawweight Champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Claudia Gadelha. This is fantastic news, as Joanna Champion needs to be seen by more people, and what better way for that to happen than to co-main with a huge draw like Rousey? That's rhetorical, of course, as a better way would be for her to main event a UFC on Fox card, but that's neither here nor there. Jedrzejczyk and Gadelha had an extremely close fight the first time and both have likely gotten better. This fight is extremely high on my anticipation meter, and I expect a great one.
A(nother) number one contender's fight is also reportedly in the works featuring Miesha Tate squaring off against Amanda Nunes. That would be awesome and would make UFC 195 even better. If this all comes to pass, that'd be quite a lineup and quite a proclamation about the state of women's MMA.

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