UFC Fight Night 25: 10 Things We Learned

KOCH’S UGLY WIN A BLESSING IN DISGUISE

There was nothing pretty about Erik Koch’s victory over Jonathan Brookins. After three straight first round finishes and a pair of explosive Knockout of the Night wins, “New Breed” barely pulled out a decision by landing the more effective strikes in a fight that didn’t feature much striking.

While he was hoping a win would propel him into title contention, this performance certainly won’t do that, and it should be viewed as a good thing.

Saturday night’s fight identified a few areas where Koch still needs to improve. Though his takedown defense looked good, it can still be better, as can his ability to circle off the cage. Drilling in the gym and putting those things into practice in the cage are the only way to improve them, and he won’t get that opportunity at the top end of the division.

There are already a couple contenders in waiting, so Koch should take the chance to pump the brakes, continue to get better, and know that his time will come. He’s a legitimate talent; there is no need to rush it.

BELCHER PICKS UP WHERE HE LEFT OFF

I honestly didn’t think Alan Belcher was going to come back and just step back into the cage like nothing had happened; that’s why I picked Jason MacDonald in The Face-Off for this event.

I was very, very wrong.

Belcher looked like he didn’t miss a beat, despite being 16 months and one scary eye surgery removed from his last fight. He capitalized on MacDonald’s decision to pull guard, dropping bombs on the vulnerable veteran, causing him to submit late in the first round.

He was a rising star tabbed as “one to watch” prior to his eye issues, and should return to that ranking now after this dominant performance. The winner of the Demian Maia–Jorge Santiago fight seems about right to me.

Evan Dunham

DUNHAM RETURNS TO CONTENDER STATUS

Some people are going to want to argue otherwise, but Evan Dunham’s dominant performance against Shamar Bailey returns him to contender status in my books. You can’t fault the guy for not getting the finish; he threw everything but the kitchen sink at Bailey, and still he came forward.

What Saturday’s performance showed me is that people were way too quick to chuck Dunham under the bus after his loss to Melvin Guillard. Lest we forget, “The Young Assassin” is now considered one of the top 5 lightweight contenders in the UFC, and was a horrible style match-up for Dunham.

Dunham has good, clean striking and an excellent ground game, plus he’s big for the lightweight division. This time last year, he was everyone’s favorite prospect at ’55. Losing to Guillard shouldn’t have cost him that status, and Saturday night’s win should return him there if he did.

SEVERAL IMPRESSIVE SHOWINGS ON THE PRELIMINARY CARD

Vagner Rocha still has absolutely no interest in the striking game, but his jiu-jitsu is excellent, and it showed against Cody McKenzie. TJ Waldburger deserved every cent of his Submission of the Night bonus; his transitions and chaining of holds against Mike Stumpf was outstanding.

Seth Baczynski is a monster welterweight and now 3-0 since moving to the 170 pound ranks, and Robert Peralta showed enough on short notice to make me want to see him again. Lance Benoist also impressed, showing fluidity in the stand-up game and a solid ground game in collecting a win over Matthew Riddle.

This is precisely why the UFC hits a home run by streaming these fights on Facebook. Without the stream, we’re not seeing any of these performances and there is no way to build interest in watching these guys compete again other than word of mouth from those in attendance.

Now I’ve got a handful of addition names added to my “I’d Like to See More” list, and I’m betting I’m not alone.

A COUPLE QUICK THOUGHTS ON JUDGING

The Koch-Brookins fight was a tough bout to score, and you really could have gone either way. Koch was clearly the more effective striker, but Brookins did a very good job of controlling the action against the cage. I was happy to see the judges reward the striking, but wouldn’t have faulted a single one of them for going the other way either.

I had Matt Riddle winning his scrap with Benoist 29-28, and disagree with the numerous assessments that Benoist “clearly” won Round 2 that cropped up in my Twitter feed Saturday. Laying in someone’s guard with a mangled nose isn’t offense, and the blow that created said mangled nose was the definitive point of the frame.

Benoist didn’t try to advance, didn’t do any real damage, and mostly just worked the standard body-body-head routine while bleeding all over Riddle in the final half of the second round. Being the guy on top isn’t enough to get you the round, at least not in my books.

Same goes for Justin Edwards’ “do nothing” takedowns of Jorge Lopez in the first. If nothing else happened in the round, sure, those quick takedowns count for something, but when Lopez pops back to his feet and Edwards doesn’t land anything?

Just some things to think about.