I said it earlier this week, this card doesn’t have the star appeal with a George St-Pierre on top but it has all the elements to give us an exciting night of fights.
We saw prospects, we saw returning veterans, deadly knockouts, slick submissions, what else could you ask for?
Nick Denis vs. Joseph Sandoval
When Nick Denis steps into the cage he always has his opponents beat in the category of the better nickname on a scorecard of 154-3 but score card’s weren’t going to be a factor here tonight.
“The Ninja of Love” was making his octagon debut tonight. Denis was considered one of the hottest prospects outside of the Zuffa umbrella for a long time and didn’t disappoint.
The Canadian started exchanging with Joseph Sandoval early getting the better of him but eating a few shots himself before initiating a thai-clinch and hurting him with a barrage of elbows before the fight was called off.
Denis broke down his 22 seconds of brutality post-fight:
“Couldn’t have gone any better. I came out strong striking. The plan was then to take it to the ground, because I know he’s not as strong a grappler as he is a striker. I threw some punches and he didn’t react well, so I finished it. He was open for the right elbow; it landed and I kept them coming and put him down.”
Sandoval wasn’t prepared for him to blast him so quickly, here’s what he had to say:
“It happened so fast, I really don’t know what happened. I didn’t expect him to come out banging. Thought we would circle for a bit, but he banged it out.”
Pat Schilling vs. Daniel Pineda
When two combatants are making their debut it’s hard to assess how the action will go down, the MMASucka.com crew were split on this one with 3 taking Schilling and 2 taking Pineda but it seems Jeremy & Carlin are the brainy ones of the bunch.
Pineda had a clear experience edge on Schilling with 23-professional fights to his credit he pushed his winning streak to six-straight in his promotional debut.
Pineda forced the jiu-jitsu specialist out of his comfort zone putting him on his back and quickly taking mount. Schilling panicked when his more experience foe started raining down shots so gave his back and allowed him to get a rear-naked choke.
Schilling wasn’t going to give up without a fight attempting to stand and break the hold but had no success and was forced to quit.
Pineda was obviously thrilled with his UFC debut post-fight:
“My first fight in the UFC and I really wanted to do a good job. I expected him to wrestle but he wanted to stand with me. He rocked me then I rocked him. Then I tried to take him out of his comfort zone, by doing the opposite of what he was showing me. He wanted to stand so I took him down and finished it. I just squeezed and squeezed and choked him out.”
Schiling took a look at his loss here when he returned to the locker room:
“I stood there with him and got him with a good left hook. I landed some good shots. I probably should have stayed away from him a little. I wanted to get to him first but he got to me and took me down. I tried to escape and just couldn’t.”
Fabricio Camoes vs. Tommy Hayden
Tommy Hayden was making his octagon debut with a perfect 8-0 record but the experienced veteran Fabricio Camoes spoiled his coming out party tonight.
Hayden initiated the striking early getting the better of the Brazilian in a striking match before Camoes secured a takedown and brought it into his playground.
Camoes, a third degree black-belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu was making Hayden look like an amateur despite most of his victory coming by way of submission — Camoes searched for a submission the moment it hit the mat before eventually Hayden made the critical mistake of giving up a back and losing to a rear-naked-choke.
Camoes was thrilled with his submission win in his octagon return against this rookie:
“It feels amazing. I been waiting for this opportunity in the UFC my whole life and I’m so happy to get the victory in that way. I’m a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, but I want to show the world I’m a well-rounded fighter. We started striking, which surprised me because I know he’s good on the ground. We scrambled a bit, then I got the opportunity to get on his back.”
Hayden was self-critical yet understanding post-fight breaking down his defeat:
“I took this fight on short notice – 7 days. I busted my butt the last week with no rest. No excuses though. I wanted to keep him standing because I know he’s a black best in BJJ. I tried to use my wrestling to keep him on his feet and strike it out. He got me down on the ground and just flat got the better of me.”
Daniel Roberts vs. Charlie Brenneman
In the first three bouts of the night the judges could have taken a bathroom break or got a bite to eat because they weren’t needed but we finally have a bout that has gone to the final bell.
The reason this bout was so intriguing was Brenneman has a strong wrestling base but Roberts has a great submission game which provides an interesting clash of styles and provides entertaining ground work and that’s exactly what we got.
The opening frame was all Brenneman shooting for a takedown early after being tagged with a nice shot and working from side control for the most part throwing some fists of fury including a few shots to the back of the head that referee Herb Dean didn’t call.
The next two were more competitive but still favored the wrestling game of ‘The Spaniard’ who repeatedly revered back to his bread n’ butter doing damage with his strikes which his foe was on his back but had fight off numerous submission attempts.
Towards the end of the second frame ‘Ninja’ Roberts caught a top-side inverted triangle choke that looked in deep but didn’t have enough time on the clock — This marks his third defeat though and could give him his walking papers.
Brenneman was glad to get the win but not happy post-fight with his decision victory:
“He’s so powerful. His Jiu-Jitsu isn’t real technical but he ‘s real explosive. I figured if I kept some distance I could inflict the most damage. Everything I learned in camp was going through my mind the entire fight, including being careful with him till the end, which I didn’t do. I was whipping his butt and he almost got me at the end. I got content with my position and he capitalized.”
Roberts wasn’t satisfied with his defeat either believing that if he had more time he would have caught with Brenneman.
“My mind just wasn’t in this fight. It was on other things. I would have done a lot better if my mind was into it. I tried for the tap at the end, but knew time was running out. If I had a little more time, I think I had him.”
Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Kamal Shalorus
There were so many question marks surrounding Nurmagomedov heading into his lightweight tilt with blue-gloves veteran Kamal Shalorus but it took little time for him to impress the viewing audience.
They touch gloves and start exchanging early with a back and forth war leaving his chin out and his gloves down it seemed like only a matter of time until Shalorus hit him on the button but that wasn’t the case — He hurt him on the feet with a knee to the face and worked his wrestling game.
Shalorus stalks early on in the second frame before being taken down and beaten up once again which was the story of the rest of the fight for the most part having no answers for the unorthodox striking and wrestling game of the Russian.
Instead of waiting for the final bell to sound and taking a dominate decision Nurmagomedov punished the face and body of Shalorus before moving across to mount and taking the back of Shalorus before collecting a rear-naked-choke once his foe gave him his back.
Nurmagomedov broke down the biggest fight of his young career post-fight:
“I thought the fight would go to the judges’ decision. It was my UFC debut and I was being very cautious. But when I mounted him in the 3rd round, I felt I had him and just went for it. I was prepared for this fight. I trained for three months in Russia and a couple weeks here In the States. I was ready. This was my first fight in the U.S., my first fight in the UFC and my goal was strictly to win. I did have butterflies, though – the lights, the pretty girls. Hey, it’s UFC.”
Shalrous was a many of few words post-fight following his second straight defeat:
“He’s young, he’s fast. He likes to strike, but can also take you down. He just fought better than me tonight. We got into the 3rd round and he got me.”
Eric Schafer vs. Jorge Rivera
Rivera walked to the octagon for the final time tonight, following 11 years as a professional mixed martial artist and 15 trips to the legendary octagon the 39-year-old called it quits following his victory tonight.
Schafer wasn’t willing to give the veteran his final swan song without a fight absolutely dominating the opening round.
Schafer was able to trip him getting the fight to the floor where he wanted it working from half-guard and raining down some fists of fury that would’ve put away an average man but he showed off his infamous chin strength.
The second round a fatigued Schafer wasn’t able to continue on like he did in the first with the veteran who caught him with a clean shot when he shot to take him down again before getting rained down with tons of shots before the referee was forced to stop the action.
Rivera was happy post-fight in his last ever fight:
“As far as the fight, I just played to my strengths and never felt threatened by him. Hey, I like knocking people out but if I have to go to the ground I will, but I’m not going to mess around, especially when I know my opponent has a better ground game. I told myself coming in tonight to just relax, let it all hang out and hopefully walk away with a win. I’ve had a wonderful career and I’m very grateful to the UFC, but I don’t want to do this anymore. This job isn’t easy. I’m ready to put my time in being a husband and father.
Schafer didn’t have much to say following his defeat, here’s what he had for us:
“I won the first round and got stupid in the 2nd. He dazed me. I got caught underneath him and that was it.”
There is the full rundown of the preliminary card, keep it locked to MMASucka.com for main card results & updates.
