Evan’s Overreactions: UFC Mexico City Stephens v. Rodriguez

MAIN EVENT SHENANIGANS

This was a disappointing end to a pretty good card. We’ve seen knockouts happen that quick and it was still disappointing to some. But a main event ending because of an eye poke 15 seconds into the fight sucks. That being said, Jeremy Stephens shouldn’t have been trashed, literally and figuratively, for not being able to continue. Stephens is one of the toughest guys in the UFC, and he would not quit because of an eye poke. Especially after he dropped a fortune to spend 6 weeks, away from his family, training in Mexico. He was not going to drop out unless it was bad. My wife, a doctor that has worked at MMA events, said she would have called the fight once she saw he couldn’t keep his eye open for more than a split second. If he fought through it and couldn’t keep his eye open, he would have been kicked in the face and KO’d because he wouldn’t have been able to see the kick coming. And this all ignores that he didn’t quit, the doctor called off the fight. Yair Rodriguez handled the aftermath terribly. He riled up the crowd, and the crowd then pelted Stephens with garbage. It was pretty disgraceful. I hope Yair’s management team teaches him how to handle situations like this in the future. But then again, I don’t know how quick the UFC will want to go back to Mexico after this.

BEST WINNERS

IRENE ALDANA – Irene Aldana came into this fight 3-3 in the UFC, and was coming off a split decision loss to Raquel Pennington. I thought Aldana won that fight, but that’s besides the point. Aldana left that fight to the judges, and she didn’t get the decision. Aldana must have taken that to heart, she may not have gotten a finish, but she left no doubt in any of the judges scorecards that she won. She won on each score cards 30-26. Aldana was very aggressive and used her reach advantage to pick Vanessa Melo apart. Aldana landed twice as many strikes as Melo. She put on a great performance and should get a fight with better competition for her next fight.

ANGELA HILL – This was an exciting fight. The first two rounds were back and forth and these fighters were throwing and throwing often. There was only one takedown attempt. Angela Hill showed better striking and it was more powerful. She was controlling the fight. Then she landed a nasty elbow that split open Carnelossi insanely wide and the ref called the fight off.

PAUL CRAIG – The BearJew came into this fight with 11 MMA wins, 10 of them were by submission. So going into this fight, Vincius Moreira knew that BearJew was going to try to take him down and choke him. Even though he knew this, he could not prevent it from happening. Moreira pulled guard, terrible decision, BearJew reversed positioned, landed some ground and pound, then BearJew escaped and on the way up he landed a couple of knees. BearJew saw an opening and jumped on Moreira’s back and got the choke for the win. Now BearJew has 12 MMA wins, with 11 of them coming by submission.

CLAUDIO PUELLES – Puelles put on one of the most dominating performances I remember seeing. He outstruck Mariano 101 – 5. That is an insane difference. Puelles had control the entire fight, he was able to take Mariano down at will. All 3 judges had Puelles winning 30-25, to 10-8 rounds is pretty impressive. I am intrigued to see where he goes from here.

SERGIO PETTIS – Pettis was coming off back-to-back losses, one to Jussier Formiga and one to Rob Font. Those fights were at bantamweight, and you could tell Pettis wasn’t a bantamweight. Pettis has to be happy Cejudo saved the flyweights. This was one of Pettis’ best performances. He dominated this fight and controlled the location and pace of the fight.

WORST WINNER

CARLA ESPARZA – I didn’t think Esparza won this fight. This was a decision based on takedowns, but not actual MMA. Esparza didn’t do anything when she was on the ground. I thought it was tied going into the third round, and had Grasso winning the third round, wouldn’t have been upset if it was 10-8 either. Thought this was a terrible decision.

BEST LOSER

ALEXA GRASSO – Grasso looked pretty good. She could work on takedown defense, but stuffing 7/11 takedowns was pretty good. I guess escaping would be good technique to work on next. She did decent work off her back. I thought Grasso won round 3 10-8. She had a near knockdown and almost snapped Esparza’s arm. I am curious if the judges got the names mixed up, because I didn’t see how anyone could think Esparza won that fight.

MY FIGHTERS OF THE NIGHT

BRANDON MORENO AND ASKAR ASKAROV – This was an awesome fight. It was back and forth and the grappling was exciting. Moreno was making his return to the UFC and I don’t see how Dana could cut him again. Moreno is so talented and very young. Askarov was making his UFC debut as a mini Khabib clone. He looks like he has the wrestling and strength to eventually be as dominant as Khabib. He has some more work to do, but this was his UFC debut, so I expect him to climb the rankings and get better as he moves up.

PERFORMANCE OF THE NIGHT

HERB DEAN- Refs get a lot of shit when fights go wrong, but they don’t get enough credit when they do well. Herb was awesome during the main event shenanigans. He kept everyone apprised of the situation. He gave Stephens as much time as he could to recover. He refused to call off the fight until he was 100% sure Stephens couldn’t fight. I appreciated seeing Herb not jump the gun and call it off quick. 

SAVAGE OF THE NIGHT

KYLE NELSON – Kyle Nelson came out guns blazing and he got a quick finish 1.5 minutes into round 1. Marco Polo did not even get a chance to get started. Nelson immediately walked him down to the fence. Clinched up, then tripped him and landed some big shots. Polo got up but Nelson kept firing bombs and the ref stepped in while Polo was out cold on his feet.

HOLY SHIT MOMENTS OF THE NIGHT

STEVEN PETERSON’S SPINNING BACK FIST

ANGELA HILL’S FUCK YOU ELBOWS

NOT FIGHT OF THE NIGHT

YAIR RODRIGUEZ V. JEREMY STEPHENS

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT

BRANDON MORENO V. ASKAR ASKAROV