(Photo via Getty.)
Fight Night 62 was one of those cards that, while appearing just abysmal on paper, actually turned out to be a rather entertaining affair. I mean, sure, the main card broadcast dragged along at it’s typical sloth-like pace — something that the UFC desperately needs to change but sadly never will — and the main event wasn’t exactly the kind of barnburner we’ve come to expect from a Demian Maia fight (sarcasm), but Fight Night 62 more than made up for its lack of name power with exciting finishes. It was also a card that signaled the (competitive) end of at least two MMA careers and the possible resurgence of another, so join us after the jump for a full breakdown of what went down in Rio over the weekend.
Let’s start things off a little off the beaten path, by awarding our official GIF-Worthy Finish of the Night (GWFotN) to Fredy Serrano, who kicked off Fight Night 62 in style by absolutely starching Bentley Syler with an uppercut in the second round.
Really, the entire undercard was a veritable potpourri of violence and terrible reffing decisions, as we’ve come to expect more and more with each UFC card. Take for instance, the second fight of the night, in which Christos Giagos submitted Jorge de Oliveira with a rear-naked choke in the first round. Yet despite the fact that Oliveira CLEARLY tapped, I don’t know, 6 times? And despite the fact that referee Eduardo Hely was in no way obstructed from seeing this tap, he allowed Giagos to continue choking Oliveira for a few more completely unnecessary seconds. You can check out a gif of that absolute bullshit here.
Speaking of absolute bullshit and/or Eduardo Hely, I’m sure that you’ve already heard by now of the Drew Dober-Leandro Silva fight, which resulted in what might just be the worst stoppage in UFC history. I…I can’t even begin to explain what the Hell was going through Hely’s mind on this one, so let’s just watch the gif and angrily spit out leftover Chinese food on our computer monitors.
I swear to God, it’s like MMA refs are doing their damndest in recent weeks to make MMA judges look like the more competent of the two. For what it’s worth, Dober was given his win bonus that night, and Eduardo Hely will likely face no action of consequence for his horrendous night at bat.
Let’s move onto the main card, wherein Godofredo Pepey continued his improbable (and incredibly flashy) run of finishes with a slick flying triangle over the heavily-favored Andrey Fili. The Team Alpha Male stud was impressive early, peppering Pepey with quick shots and generally out moving him, but as soon as he entered the clinch game with the TUF Brazil runner-up, disaster struck. Pepey used the cage to leap into a flying triangle, which he then worked for next minute or so until Fili finally gave in. It marked the third straight highlight reel finish (and performance bonus) for Pepey, who is quickly rocketing up the featherweight rankings.
I suppose I could talk to you about Gilbert Burns’ hail mary armbar over late replacement opponent Alex Oliveira, or Leonardo Santos’ second round sub of Tony Martin, but really, I want to talk about two fighters who looked in need of a Joe Rogan Career Assessment: Josh Koscheck and Shayna Baszler.
The former faced a quick turnaround against Erick Silva on Saturday following his second round submission loss to Jake Ellenberger at UFC 184. For those hoping a fight against a young gun would light a fire under the longtime UFC veteran’s keester, you were right. For about 30 seconds. Though he came out aggressive early, Koscheck — as he did against Ellenberger — went into retreat mode once he felt the power of his opponent. After eating a couple shots along the fence, you could practically see the confidence start to drain from the veteran as Silva took him down and locked in a fight-ending guillotine choke. Koscheck has now lost his past 5 fights in a row, and retirement seems imminent.
Baszler, on the other hand, has looked less and less effective with each passing fight. She has secured exactly 1 victory since 2010, and had less to offer Amanda Nunes than she did Bethe Correia or Julianna Pena in her only other UFC appearances (one of which was on TUF 18, but you get what I’m saying) before succumbing to a leg kick TKO in the first round. A pioneer of WMMA she may be, but Baszler’s time as a top-level fighter has clearly passed her by, and we just hope that either she or the UFC are able to recognize this.
Which brings us to the main event of the evening. In what was similarly being billed as a passing of the guard fight from Demian Maia to Ryan LaFlare, the former utterly dominated the latter with takedowns and top control for four straight rounds. Most noticeable during the fight was the 37 year old Maia’s much-improved wrestling and sweep skills, which left LaFlare looking like an overmatched grappling partner desperate searching for a lifeline. It was a fight that was supposed to announce LaFlare’s arrival into the welterweight top 10, yet ended up being one that Demian Maia proved that he’s still got something left in the gas tank (metaphorically speaking of course, as Maia was absolutely torched by the fifth round). How much exactly remains to be seen.
Full results for Fight Night 62 are below.
Main Card (on FOX Sports 1)
Demian Maia def. Ryan LaFlare by unanimous decision
Erick Silva def. Josh Koscheck by submission (guillotine choke) at 4:21, R1
Leonardo Santos def. Tony Martin by submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:29, R2
Amanda Nunes def. Shayna Baszler by TKO (leg kicks) at 1:56, R1
Gilbert Burns def. Alex Oliveira by submission (arm bar) at 4:14, R3
Godofredo Pepey  def. Andre Fili by submission (triangle choke) at 3:14, R1
Preliminary Card
Francisco Trinaldo def. Akbarh Arreola by unanimous decision
Kevin Souza def. Katsunori Kikuno by KO at 1:31, R1
Leandro “Buscape†Silva def. Drew Dober by submission (guillotine choke) at 2:45, R2
Leonardo Mafra Teixeira def. Cain Carrizosa by unanimous decision
Christos Giagos def. Jorge de Oliveira by submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:12, R1
Fredy Serrano def. Bentley Syler by KO at 1:34, R3