Wanderlei Silva had many memorable moments inside the Saitama Super Arena, but he might have saved his best for Saturday night. The former Pride superstar sent the crowd into a frenzied state with a second-round knockout win over Brian Stann, dropping the heavy-handed American with an overhand right-left hook combination late in the frame.
The two went toe-to-toe, shot-for-shot in the opening round, trading massive bombs throughout the first five minutes. Each fighter took his lumps, and both were dropped at different points in what has to be the most even action-packed round of the year thus far.
Both Silva and Stann were more patient and measured in the second, with each looking to pick their spots, but late in the frame, Silva pressed forward behind a looping right hand that wobbled “The All-American.” A swift left hook followed, Stann fell, and Silva pounced, pounding out the finish to earn the 35th win of his illustrious career.
The entertaining main event was set up by another back-and-forth affair, as Mark Hunt and Stefan Struve slugged it out in heavyweight action, where one of the most improbable runs in UFC history continued as Hunt earned his fourth consecutive victory inside the Octagon, dropping Struve with a massive left hand midway through the third round.
Struve likely won each of the first two frames by getting the better of the action on the canvas, as he advanced to mount in both the first and second, landing solid blows and threatening with submissions. Hunt endured and escaped though, and in the third, he took advantage of Struve’s willingness to trade with his hands down, rocking him with a right-left combination, and finishing the bout in walk-off fashion with a monstrous left hand.
It wasn’t all that long ago that Hunt was considered finished. The UFC offered to buy out the remainder of his contract, but the proud New Zealander declined, saying he wanted to fight. He’s now won four straight, and with his incredible punching power and ability to absorb punishment, “The Super Samoan” has established himself as a dangerous wild card in the heavyweight title chase.
On a night full of decisions, the most controversial result of the evening came when Diego Sanchez earned the nod over Takanori Gomi via split decision.
Fighting at lightweight for the first time since his championship loss to BJ Penn, Sanchez wasn’t his usual frenetic ball of energy, having failed to make weight the day before the fight, and looking considerably more doughy than in his previous stint at 155 pounds. Gomi, on the other hand, was aggressive and energized throughout, stalking Sanchez from the outset.
Watching at home, the commentary was heavily in favour of Gomi, even when the action was fairly even. These two spent the majority of the fight throwing hands, with both landing some solid shots during the 15-minute affair. My scorecard at home — and many of those on Twitter — were turned in in favour of Gomi, but the two of the three that mattered tabbed Sanchez as the winner.
For a moment early in the third round, Yushin Okami must have felt like he was experiencing a déjà vu. After controlling the opening two frames with his jab and superior size, Hector Lombard came out of the corner throwing smoke, clipping the Japanese veteran, and putting him in survival mode.
Surprisingly, Lombard was content to spend the majority of the round trying to work from inside Okami’s guard, rather than standing and searching for the finish, and it ended up costing him. Two of the three judges scored the grueling battle in favour of Okami, giving the former middleweight title challenger his third consecutive win.
Lombard, a high-profile signing just last year, is now 1-2 in his first three UFC appearances, and appears to be at a crossroads. He looks like he could easily make welterweight by shedding some of his muscle mass, but has balked at the idea in the past. With the UFC looking to trip the roster (and the payroll), the expensive underachiever might be hesitant to answer the phone when he sees the UFC’s number pop up later this week.
Rani Yahya took a page out of Demian Maia’s new playbook against Mizuto Hirota, using improved wrestling and takedowns to control the action on the ground in the first two rounds en route to a unanimous decision win. The WEC veteran who has had trouble finding consistency in the cage over the last few years was tenacious in the opening 10 minutes, frustrating Hirota, and nullifying his offense completely.
As Yahya tired in the third, Hirota went for broke, stuffing takedowns and landing with his striking for the first time in the bout, but it was too little too late. All three judges scored the fight for the Brazilian grappler, who has now won consecutive contests for the first time since stringing together three wins to begin his second run in the WEC.
In the main card opener, Dong Hyun Kim collected his second straight unanimous decision win with a dominant grappling performance against Siyar Bahadurzada. “The Stun Gun” was able to take down the Afghan welterweight with ease in each frame, moving to mount each time.
Just as he did with Paulo Thiago in his previous outing, Kim waited until the third to begin opening up. He worked on a head-and-arm choke, mixing in some creative knees to the body at the time time, before giving up on the submission search in favour of playing to the crowd with strikes from the mount. After an impressive debut last February, Bahadurzda had absolutely nothing to offer here, as Kim earned his seventh UFC victory.
Ultimate Fighter alum Brad Tavares took another step forward in his development, earning his third consecutive victory with a unanimous decision win over Riki Fukuda in the final bout of Saturday’s UFC on FUEL TV 8 preliminary card from the Saitama Super Arena. The 25-year-old Hawaiian was quicker to the trigger throughout the 15-minute affair, beating Fukuda to the punch repeatedly, and showed improved work in the clinch, nullifying Fukuda’s advantage inside, and getting back to his feet quickly when he was taken down in the first.
After alternating wins and losses over his previous 10 fights, Takeya Mizugaki was finally able to earn back-to-back wins in the UFC with a split-decision victory over Bryan Caraway that will be remembered for Mizugaki’s emotional display after the fight, and the curious advice Caraway was given in his corner following the second round.
Having just dominated the second frame, Miesha Tate, Caraway’s girlfriend, told him he had won both rounds, and suggested he coast in the third. It turned out to be very bad advice, as Mizugaki turned up his output and intensity in the final frame, and earned the nod on the scorecards. The Japanese veteran broke down into tears in the cage after the decision was announced, and was barely able to get his words out during the post-fight interview as he was overcome with emotion.
In a pair of entertaining back-and-forth affairs, Ultimate Fighter alum Alex Caceres and UFC newcomer Kazuki Tokudome took home decision wins on Saturday night.
Caceres, better known to many as “Bruce Leeroy,” collected a split decision win over Korean Top Team prospect Kyung Ho Kang. It was a surprise verdict, as many believed the UFC neophyte Kang controlled the action for two of the three rounds, but two of the three officials scoring the fight felt otherwise. With the victory, Caceres moves to 4-1 since moving to bantamweight, with his lone loss being a questionable split decision against Edwin Figueroa.
Tokudome scored a victory in his maiden appearance in the Octagon by outworking Cristiano Marcello over the course of 15 minutes. The former Pancrase fighter had some shaky moments early on, but once he found his range and his rhythm, he was able to outwork Marcello on the feet, and control the action when they went to the ground. Though he’s a highly respected Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, Marcello was content to stand, and couldn’t muster anything off his back during the contest, and drops to 1-2 in his UFC career.
Korean Top Team member Hyun Gyu Lim kicked off the event in impressive fashion, earning a second-round knockout win over Marcelo Guimaraes in his UFC debut. Throughout the first round, “The Ace” looked to land with stepping knees, burying a couple into the body of his opponent. Late in the second, Guimaraes dipped to his right, and Lim blasted him with a perfect knee, sending him crashing to the canvas as the crowd erupted.