With many expecting the UFC 164 main card to deliver non-stop action, the preliminary card fights brought their A-game.
Six of the seven contests on the initial portion of the undercard hit the mark, with a couple of fighters putting forth performances that will earn them a place in our ‘Breakthroughs’ series Sunday. As great as the majority of the preliminary card contests were, the one "ugly duckling" of the lot was one of the ugliest contests to ever take place in the Octagon.
Gleison Tibau became the youngest fighter in UFC history to reach the 20-fight plateau with the promotion when he shared the cage with Jamie Varner in the final bout of the preliminary card. After starting out strong, the gargantuan Brazilian lightweight was able to hang in the third, earning an odd split decision win with scores of 29-28, 29-28, and 27-29 Varner.
The American Top Team product looked very good early, countering Varner’s strikes well on the feet at the outset before driving the former WEC lightweight champion into the ground with a late takedown in the first. Tibau turned it up a notch in the second, dominating the entire frame on the canvas, working from various dominant position, though never putting Varner in serious jeopardy.
In the third, the hulking Brazilian began to tire, and Varner looked to be building towards a finish, staggering Tibau with a right hand midway through the frame. But instead of backing out and reloading, Varner took the fight to the floor. While he still controlled and landed shots, Tibau was able to survive, securing the 28th win of his career, his 13th victory in the UFC.
With the flyweight division lacking established challengers at the moment, Tim Elliott made his case for contention with a dominant decision win over TUF 14 cast member Louis Gaudinot, his second consecutive victory in the UFC.
Elliott controlled the action from the outset, stalking the green-haired Gaudinot, striking in combination and dragging the fight to the floor at will, where he continued to rain down punishment. He bloodied Gaudinot’s nose in the first with a series of knees and elbows, and proceeded to punish him from pillar to post over the remaining 10 minutes.
This was a one-sided beatdown, with Elliott never letting off the gas once. Whether they were in space, along the cage or on the mat, the diminutive Missouri native was throwing strikes. It was a complete performance, and one that should put Elliott on the short list of potential title challengers in the 125-pound weight class.
Hyun Gyu Lim is a powerhouse at welterweight and someone to definitely keep an eye on moving forward. The massive South Korean fighter, who stands in at 6-foot-2 tall with a 77-inch reach and struggles to make the 170-pound limit, earned a first-round stoppage win over Pascal Krauss, showcasing his blistering power.
As soon as the bout began, the two met in the centre of the cage, digging in their toes and throwing fastballs at each other. Midway through the first, Lim connected with a right hand to the forehead that scrambled Krauss’ circuits, and "The Ace" didn’t let off the gas from there.
Krauss hung tough, even clipping Lim as he chased looking for the finish, but the German transplant who trains in Milwaukee couldn’t fend off the onslaught, as Lim eventually landed a massive knee along the cage that signaled the end of the contest.
Lim has now won back-to-back contests in the UFC’s 170-pound ranks, and seven straight overall. With his tremendous size and clear power, the 28-year-old could be a handful for a number of fighters as he makes his way up the divisional ranks in the future.
In the opening bout of the televised portion of the preliminary card, local bantamweight Chico Camus earned a hard-fought unanimous decision over Kyang Ho Kang, taking the contest with scores of 29-28, 29-28, and 30-27.
While the last of those scores was patently ridiculous – Camus spent the vast majority of the opening round on his back defending – the Duke Roufus student clawed his way back, punctuating the second and third rounds with flurries of offence, including a late upkick in the third that nearly finished Kang.
The Facebook portion of the preliminary card featured two standout performances, and arguably the worst fight in UFC history.
Swede Magnus Cedenblad opened the event with a slick mounted guillotine choke victory over Jared Hamman, needing just 57 seconds to secure the finish. As Hamman shot in for an early takedown, Cedenblad wrapped up his neck and used Hamman’s momentum to roll through into mount, forcing "The Messenger" to tap before the one minute mark of the opening stanza.
That was followed up by a dominant showing from TUF 15 finalist Al Iaquinta, who battered Ryan Couture throughout their 15-minute affair en route to a unanimous decision win. A Serra-Longo Fight Team product like middleweight champion Chris Weidman, the lightweight prospect out-classed Couture from the outset, landing powerful strikes and widening the gap between the two as the fight progressed.
And then came heavyweights Soa Palelei and Nikita Krylov, a pair of fighters at opposite ends of the experience spectrum – Palelei is 36 and has been fighting since 2002, Krylov is 21 and had his first fight last July.
Palelei looked solid through the opening half of the first round, but then his gas tank hit empty and this fight took a turn for the worse. Krylov had moments in the second, connecting with some solid knees in the clinch, but he too was exhausted, unable to muster the strength necessary to put away the granite-chinned Australian.
As the third round began, it looked like these two were fighting under water, their punches carrying very little power. Palelei rallied enough strength to connect with a solid right that stunned Krylov. When the young Ukrainian offered a weak attempt at an ankle pick, Palelei used the opening to put Krylov away, moving to mount and earning the stoppage.
It was an ugly affair, one that will go down as one of the worst fights, regardless of division, in UFC history.
