The MGM Grand Garden Arena played host to the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s annual year-end fight card. While the stands will be packed with fans cheering and hollering for the evening’s UFC heavyweight championship bout with the two most dominate wrecking machines on the roster, Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos they weren’t the only ones to do some damage tonight.
While at the top of the bill they fought for championships and title implications, on the under-card the youth fought just to get noticed and make a splash in their respective divisions.
Moraga taps Cariaso, cements position as a top prospect
John Moraga has been considered one of the most interesting prospects on the UFC roster coming off a knockout of submission ace Ulysses Gomez and after tonight I suspect a few more have jumped on that bandwagon.
Cariaso wasn’t going to let him leave with his hand raised easy though, for the first two rounds we had a fast-paced and action-heavy fight with each fighter nabbing a round a piece on most score cards before Moraga forced the submission against the cage with a modified guillotine choke.
“That’s one of my stronger positions (standing guillotine choke) to put my opponents in, so I knew I could surprise him with it and lock it in” Moraga said post-fight “Any win in the UFC is good, but I like to win impressively and I feel like I kind of did that. I’m still improving though and I know I can still be a better fighter.”
Holloway edges Garcia in close decision
Leonard Garcia hasn’t won a fight since his 2010 victory over Nam Phan, and even that fight only Garcia and his mother thought he won so he needed to get his hand raised tonight, but hot prospect Max Holloway had something to say about it.
Holloway took the lead early as he was able to beat the Greg Jackson-trained product to the punch early and hit with his counters but Garcia did what well, Garcia does by charging forward with looping, windmill punches that wobbled the Hawaiian on a few occasions.
When the judges’ score cards came in, the crowd was split as to who they believed earned the decision and so were the judges but a majority gave the nod to Holloway which could force the UFC brass to give the exciting featherweight veteran his walking papers.
Backstage both men were gracious of their opponents but made it clear that they both believe they earned a victory.
Garcia, who now reps a 1-4 record in the UFC disagrees with his Hawaiian opponent, feeling he did enough to get his hand raised.
Duffee overcomes adversity, gets first round KO
Todd Duffee hasn’t been in the UFC in over two years but in his return he made a real statement with a first-round stoppage of the big Englishman Phil DeFries.
DeFries exploded early with a takedown against the fence and unloaded with his finest fury of punches but the 27-year-old AKA product forced the fight back to the feet to stun him with an uppercut before smelling blood and pouncing to put the nail in the coffin with another uppercut to make it a very successful return to the Octagon.
“It feels good to be back in the UFC” Duffee said “I knew I had to win, but I wasn’t too worried about how though. I like the actual fight aspect of this sport, so I know I can deliver when I’m in there. I missed the fight feeling that you get when you’re standing across from your opponent and it felt awesome to get back in the Octagon.”
On the other side of the equation, DeFries spoke of his downfall, and his early start.
“I thought I had him there early, but he caught me good. He followed that up with some hard shots and was able to put me away with them. I’ve got to use my footwork better in those situations. Other than that, I’ve just got to get back in the gym and keep training.”
Jury dominates Johnson, spoils his coming out party
Michael Johnson aimed to be only the 11th fighter in UFC history to notch four victories in a calendar year but Miles Jury had other plans.
If Johnson could stop the takedown and get Jury out of his comfort zone he would’ve been the odds-on favorite to get a ‘knockout of the night’ bonus but Jury relentlessly pushed forward to get that takedown, and from there it was all one-way traffic.
Jury battered Johnson with a barrage of punches and elbows on the floor for a majority of the 15-minute affair to collect the biggest victory of his career, nabbing every round.
Both fighters were available for comments post-fight, first up a happy Jury spoke of his victory.
“I’ve sacrificed and trained hard for this fight and it paid off. A lot of people didn’t give me a chance against someone like Michael, so I came out here with nothing to lose. It felt great to get the win, but to also get so much time in the Octagon, which is something that I haven’t gotten a lot of up to this point in my career. Everything about this fight is going to help me become a much better fighter overall.”
On the flip side, the recently dethroned Johnson was critical of his own performance while praising his opponent.
“No excuses. He was the better fighter tonight. He definitely surprised me with his wrestling ability and he was able to hold me down for a big part of the fight. I had three wins in a row before this and I’ve just got to get back in the gym again and go from there.”
Varner edges Guillard in a thriller
It was certainly worth the wait. Melvin Guillard and Jamie Varner, two of the most exciting lightweights on the UFC roster had a razor-thin and competitive fight that gave us a taste of just about everything.
Hard power-punches, excitingly sloppy grappling, explosive takedowns, just about everything you could ask for. In an early ballot for notching a $65,000 bonus Guillard and Varner thrilled the crowd in an instant classic.
While one judge was clearly blindfolded and drunk while watching the action, the others had a moment of clarity giving Varner two of the three rounds to get his second win in his UFC return run.
“This was a very emotional fight for both of us” Varner said “After what happened a few weeks ago at The TUF Finale event, we were both ready to compete. I knew we would eventually get in the Octagon and squash our beef and I definitely feel that we did. I’m happy about my performance, I feel that I was able to dominate the fight wherever we ended up and I’m glad I got the win.”
Perez remains unbeaten in the UFC
The UFC has high hopes for Erik Perez to be their first fully-Mexican star and with performances like this, I predict those luchadore masks will be flying off the shelves at merchandise stands everywhere.
Bloodworth landed close to no offence as Perez punished him on the feet before a knee sent him crashing to the floor. The Mexican bantamweight ground-and-pounded with him placed firmly against the fence before referee Kim Winslow was forced to step in to stop him pummelling his bloodied foe.
Wineland trumps Pickett in featured fight of the preliminaries
With Dominick Cruz’ return date not set in stone the winner of this bantamweight affair could make a case for challenging for the interim title in the near future, and Eddie Wineland did exactly that.
Brad Pickett, the British grappler struggled with the reach of Wineland the entire fight and didn’t seem to solve that riddle. The first WEC bantamweight kingpin could stick on the outside and pick him apart for the entire fight and he did exactly that.
Again, judging was a joke but the right person got their hand raised with two judges getting the right score on the board to give Wineland the victory.
Stay tuned to MMASucka.com for the results of the main card fights, including the UFC heavyweight championship bout.
