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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
The UFC's return to London on Saturday was a hit, with a number of excellent fights making up for the slow points of the night. Capped off by an excellent title fight in the night's main event, the show featured a little bit of something for everyone. Here's what stuck out to me after the event:
--It's a testament to Renan Barao's skills and overall game that he looked off in that fight against Michael McDonald yet still won handily. McDonald gave him a good fight, but even a slightly sluggish and slowed down version of Barao was up at least two rounds to none into the fourth frame, and he turned things up at the perfect moment to pick up that beautiful submission win. I don't know how that version of Barao handles the speed of Dominick Cruz, but he showed that he's still capable of great things even on an off night.
--You can't say enough good things about Cub Swanson and how far he's come in the UFC. He hadn't gained any momentum during his time in the WEC, but now he's taken out four straight fighters inside the Octagon to put himself in position for a potential No. 1 contender fight. Dustin Poirier was a tough opponent, and it was a really good, close fight, but Swanson proved he can win that type of fight as well, while also showing improvement in areas which have previously been weaknesses. He's still got several fighters in front of him in the division, but he's showing real promise and gives off the belief he might be a legitimate title challenger in the 145 lb. division. A couple more performances like that one will give him that opportunity.
--It's unfortunate that Cyrille Diabate was forced to bow out after the first round of his bout with Jimi Manuwa. He wasn't winning the fight, but you never like to see an injury like that bring things to a halt. Had the injury not happened, he was doing a solid job of defending Manuwa's attacks and may have presented a threat late in the fight. Interestingly enough, Manuwa now has three straight wins at the 5:00 mark of a round due to stoppages in between rounds.
--In three separate stints with the UFC, Jorge Santiago is only 1-5, but I really hope he gets another shot after his loss to Gunnar Nelson. He had a legitimate case for two of the three rounds in the fight, and did a very good job of dealing with a tough young prospect. He's still a good competitor in the welterweight division, and deserves at least one more chance to pick up a win inside the Octagon.
--For his second straight fight, Ryan Jimmo appeared to be defying his well-deserved reputation as he nearly scored another quick knockout. However, James Te Huna deserves a ton of credit for surviving in that first round after the head kick and massive damage he did absorb. From there, he pulled off an excellent turnaround to take back the final two rounds. One comment on the judging, though, how in the hell did one judge give Te Huna a 10-8 for the second round but not give one to Jimmo for the first? It realistically could have been a draw because Jimmo arguably should have gotten the rare 10-8 with how much damage he did in the first.
As to the rest of the undercard, there were really just two major stories: the continued fall of Josh Grispi, and the incredible Tom Watson vs. Stanislav Nedkov fight.
--Grispi was such a bright prospect before injuries kept him out of action an extended time in the WEC, and he's been a JaMarcus Russell level bust since coming to the UFC. It's depressing to see, and his line to Andy Ogle at the end of the fight drove home just where he's at. Ogle told him he was a bad man, and Grispi said simply, "I was." That summed it up perfectly, and it's just sad that he's completely gone off the rails at only 24 years old. He's almost assuredly on the way out from the UFC, and I just hope he can find his way outside of the organization, or in another endeavor if he can't find his way back in MMA.
--The Watson-Nedkov fight itself was just pure entertainment. There were some bits of the fight with both extremely gassed, but they were each exchanging with reckless abandon, and Watson's chin just proved to be superior. However, as entertaining as the fight itself was, the greatest part of that fight was Watson's post fight interview. He called out any and all fighters on testosterone, whether approved or not, and any other PEDs, saying he comes to fight and he'll take on any of them. With the tide turning against TRT in the past week, it was the right time for that call out and made a fan out of lots of people in the process.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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