This Friday marked the UFC’s second foray onto FX. I am still not 100% sure I understand the marketing strategy behind having the UFC on both FX and Fuel TV, but nevertheless as a fan of the sport I will continue to watch the events as they come on. Unfortunately, I don’t know if the same can be said for those who are not are more than casual, novice viewers. All this being said, these types of events are a good stage for newer fighters to get some exposure, and to continue to build-up visibility for mid-level fighters on the rise (not to mention the sport itself). Let’s try to stay positive, afterall.
The main event of the evening between Kampann and Alves promised to be a stand-up war between two veteran welterweight fighters. And that it was. Alves dominated most of the fight with his classically trained kickboxing, that is until Kampann came out in a do our die fashion at the end of the third to land the guillotine choke in dramatic fashion. It gave notice, in the same way Boetsch did to Okami last weekend, that when you’re down and you know it – put it out on the line and bring home the win.
The flyweight tournament continued last night, starting with a semi-final final face-off between Benavidez and Urushitani. In what was being positioned as Urushitani’s night, given his history as the former Shooto champion, Benavidez left everyone aghast with a devastating second round TKO victory. I am actually really starting to feel some excitement for the championship bout!
What would a UFC event be without some controversy? In the second flyweight semi-final last night, a hard fought split decision victory was awarded to Ian McCall. However, Dana White announced after the fight that the commission screwed up the scorecards, and it should have been a draw, meaning the fight would have gone to four rounds. As a result the fight will happen again in the coming months.
Someone who is slowly becoming a favourite of mine is Constantinos Philippou. Old school pin-point accurate boxing is helping Phillippou put together a nice little resume. He added to his hit list last night with a three round decision victory over TUF winner Court McGee.
My overall score for this card was a C+. Maybe I am being a little harsh? Fighters who are of this pedigree level should be putting it out on the line a little bit more than some of the fighters did last night. These fighters are trying to build a name for themselves, lock in a longer term contract, and build their fan base. It should be balls to the wall every fight. No question. There were still some good moments, and some were doing what they could, but moving forward let’s hope for more fireworks.
… and that is the last word.
