Fergus Ryan reports on the fights and fallout from the fastest ever selling UFC event on European soil.
Fergus Ryan
Bantamweight: Brad Pickett defeated Damacio Page via submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:05 of Round 2
After the first 20 seconds, this had ‘Fight of the Night’ written all over it. Pickett and Page put everything into what they threw.
Picket rocked Page a number of times with straight punches, upper cuts and ground and pound.
Both fighters acknowledged they put in an immense first round with a smile and nod at the beginning of the second.
Normal service resumed with Picket dropping Page and followed up with some vicious ground and pound. He opted for the choke instead of continuing to punch where he might have coaxed the referee to stop it. After giving up on the first choke Pickett returned to ground and pound which finally set up the fight finishing rear naked choke.
Bouncing back from a loss Pickett was delighted with the result. “Amazing! Just to get back to the win column, I’m in this sport to win, being in exciting fights and losing is not me. This is a winning business and Page brought the action, this was always going to make it an exciting fight.”
Welterweight: John Maguire defeated DaMarques Johnson via submission (armbar) at 4:40 of Round 2
With no Swedish interest the crowd seemed a little disinterested for Johnson and Maguire, which is a shame because John Maguire is a future title contender in the welterweight division.
Maguire seemed to dictate the pace and was one step ahead of Johnson all the time. Having taken down Johnson, Maguire was under threat from an omoplata. Maguire professes to have a pink belt in Gypsy Jiu Jitsu, which clearly has a strong escape for an omoplata as he rolled out into a dominant top position.
Maguire easily took the first round and followed on in the second even more relaxed and confident. Maguire channelled his inner Bruce Grobbelaar using the ‘rubber legs’ to show how little impact Johnson’s attacks were having on him. With Johnson fishing for a kimura Maguire stayed calm, waited for Johnson to over-commit and – slapped on an armbar to seal the victory.
John Maguire paid tribute to his opponent afterwards, “DeMarques is a real tough fighter in the UFC, I’m glad to get the win. The game plan wasn’t to stand and trade, it was to get in, take him down and sub him. Happy with the win and I thought the crowd was behind me as well.”
Featherweight: Dennis Siver defeated Diego Nunes via unanimous decision
The standard of striking technique went up a notch in the Nunes versus Siver with no wasted effort and nearly everything that was thrown landing.
Siver probably got the better in the first, the second was incredibly close and the third was mostly Nunes.
Nunes took it to Siver early, trying the spinning heel kick a couple of times in the first round. Siver remained focused even though Nunes was using his signature move and landed the more significant strikes.
The second round was balanced and could have gone either way.
Nunes landed the significant strikes in the third, opening a nasty cut over Siver’s left eye. In the end the judges scored the second round and ultimately the fight for Siver.
Nunes felt cheated saying “I think it is an unfair decision, take a look at Dennis’s face. The first round was definitely back and forth, but I feel like I did more damage to Dennis.”
Siver begged to differ “Of course I’m happy because I won, but I wanted to finish the fight several times before I did, but nonetheless I am happy with the result.”
Welterweight: Siyar Bahadurzada defeated Paulo Thiago via KO (punch) at 0:42 of round 1
This fight was over before it even started a flash knock-out by Bahadurzada came as Thiago was rushing in.
Thiago fell limp to the ground, face down. In the post-fight press conference Bahadurzada called the punch a cross between a hook and an uppercut and said it was something he worked on in training. Whatever he calls it – it’s lethal. He also described how he thinks he broke his hand 10 days before the bout, but refused to go to the doctor for fear of not being allowed fight.
Siyar Bahadurzada; “I almost didn’t get to enjoy my fight; I wanted it to last a little longer so that I could enjoy the UFC. I feel great; this is a perfect start for me in the UFC. Paulo Thiago, in my mind, is a top ten fighter and to knock him out so quickly was great start.”
Middleweight: Brian Stann defeated Alessio Sakara via KO (punches) at 2:26 of round 1
The way Stann finished Sakara was a demonstration in how accumulated damage can eventually take its toll.
Stann was in constant motion while Sakara opted to stalk with fists cocked.
Once Stann clipped Sakara every punch that landed afterwards was finishing the fight by degrees. The elbow and two punches that finished Sakara weren’t the hardest thrown, but they came after a volume of hard ones had landed.
Brian Stann was reflective after his victory. “This fight was different, there were a lot of things new in my camp, I had to take care of my wife and with a loss in family it was a real tough time. I thought about calling the fight. But I’m glad to overcome that adversity and come out here and perform well. I feel good and he is tough as hell, everyone new this fight was always going to end abruptly either way, the luck just fell in my favour next time it may fall in Alessio’s.”
Light Heavyweight: Alexander Gustafsson defeated Thiago Silva via unanimous decision
Thiago Silva is a head hunter. The bell sounds and he walks forward, usually if you don’t get out of his way, you lose.
Alexander Gustafsson has a great amateur boxing background and his footwork coupled with crisp, effective striking won him a unanimous three round decision. He looked ice cool all the way through and was made to work for his victory.
Ring rust may have been a factor for Silva, coming back from a year out after a positive test for a banned substance.
Gustafsson may have smacked some of the rust off Silva with the knock-down in the first. Silva wouldn’t back down, but Gustafsson was firmly in his groove now and looked Anderson Silva-esque, standing in the pocket and using head and body movement to evade Silva’s bombs. There was never a doubt about whose hand was getting raised, though incredibly one judge gave a round to Silva.
Alex Gustafsson said afterwards “It is amazing to win in front of my home country. It’s my first decision, which is new for me, but I’m still learning and progressing and this was an important experience. But this is a dream come true.”
Thiago Silva was succinct, “I didn’t have the performance I would have liked, but I gave it my best.”
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