Saturday’s main event between Erin Blanchfield and Maycee Barber was called off before the athletes made the walk to the Octagon, as Barber was deemed medically unable to compete.
The broadcast had finished setting the table for the highly anticipated and heated flyweight matchup, only to come out of the pre-fight video package with Brendan Fitzgerald explaining that Barber was not ready to make the walk. Moments later, the bout was officially cancelled.
While there have been instances where bouts were called off at the final second, most notably when Jamall Emmers was unable to join Chas Skelly in the Octagon, but never a main event.
Information about what caused Barber to not be cleared was unavailable in the immediate wake of the cancellation, with the broadcast team making sure to clarify that she wasn’t medically cleared and had been sidelined for the last year as a result of various medical issues that have not yet been diagnosed.
After the bout was cancelled, Megan Olivi spoke with Blanchfield, who said she was not interested in facing Barber in the future. She had expressed concerns about “The Future” making it to the fight, then continued on with the fight after she missed weight on Friday morning, and now this happens, leaving her without the opportunity to put together that kind of performance that further solidifies her place in the championship chase.
It will be interesting to hear more details on the medical issue that sidelined Barber, and eventually see how the UFC opts to proceed with Blanchfield.
What a strange way to end the night.
An informative lightweight battle
Mateusz Gamrot successfully defended his place in the top 10 with a unanimous decision win over Ľudovit Klein, but the Slovakian showed he’s very much capable of hanging with some of the top names in the division.
Gamrot leaned on his grappling in the first and second rounds, putting Klein on the canvas and controlling him there for extended stretches. He’s always chipping away, always a step ahead, and the fact that he leans on technique over muscle and power makes him difficult to contend with on the canvas. Things were a little more open in the third, with Klein having positive moments in the first half of the frame before Gamrot timed a level change and finished things out landing from top position.
This was one of those instances where the difference in experience and standing was apparent, but also an indication that Klein isn’t far off when it comes to breaking into the rankings.
Gamrot just has such a refined, polished grappling game that is significantly better than anything Klein had faced to this point. He’s one of the more underrated lightweights in the promotion — remember, he beat Arman Tsarukyan in a terrific fight a couple years ago — and continues to push to get the biggest fights he can at every turn.
But this wasn’t all bad for Klein, as he had some positive moments at different points and did well to keep things from going all the way bad when he was stuck grappling with Gamrot. It feels like one of those instances where he wasn’t quite ready for this big of a step up in competition, but could potentially hang with those in the lower third of the top 15.
Big wins for Vieira, Jacoby
Ketlen Vieira and Dustin Jacoby earned key wins on the main card, albeit in very different fights and very different manners.
Vieira scored a unanimous decision win over Macy Chiasson in a clash of two top-five bantamweights, out-striking her in the first before leaning on her top control in the second and third. Chiasson cut her with an elbow from off her back in the third, but Vieira already had things wrapped up on the scorecards, getting herself moving in the right direction again in the process.
This was a critical win for the perennial contender, not just because the title is on the line next week at UFC 316, but also because Vieira had weight management issues during the week, necessitating the bout being shifted up to the featherweight division. While her performance isn’t going to earn her a championship opportunity next time out, it should keep her in the thick of the chase going forward.
One fight later, Jacoby needed less than two minutes to dispatch Bruno Lopes for his second-straight stoppage win over a Brazilian hopeful.
The 37-year-old veteran wobbled Lopes with a stiff jab almost immediately, and went hunting for the finish straight away. It took him a couple seconds to break from the clinch and get loose with his hands again after crashing forward, but once he did, he sat Lopes down along the fence.
A fixture in the division for the last several years, Jacoby spoke of wanting a chance to get back into the rankings in the future — after getting in some golf — and after stopping Lopes and Vitor Petrino in consecutive outings, he could very well get his wish. He’s the quintessential seasoned vet that every division needs, and over his last two outings, Jacoby has shown that he’s nobody’s stepping stone.
Ramiz Brahimaj is someone to keep close tabs on in the welterweight division after earning a second straight first-round finish.
After knocking out Mickey Gall last November in his New York homecoming, the 32-year-old put Billy Ray Goff to sleep with a nasty high-elbow guillotine on Saturday. Now training with coach Mike Valle and fighters like Belal Muhammad and Ignacio Bahamondes in the Chicago area, the humble Albanian has a 100 per cent finishing rate and seems to have put his inconsistent ways behind him.
It’ll be interesting to see how he’s matched up next time out and if he can successfully navigate a step up in competition. He’s looked outstanding in his last two outings, and if he can maintain this form, Brahimaj could make a push towards the rankings.
Zachary Reese came out on the happy side of a hard-fought battle with fellow Dana White’s Contender Series grad Dusko Todorovic in the main card opener.
The duelling middleweights, whom many expected would settle things one way or another in the first five minutes, went the full 15 instead, with Reese landing the better shots and superior volume throughout. Reese profiles as an all-action fighter, but opponents are starting to work hard to get inside and wrestle, neutralizing his striking, so it will be interesting to see what kind of adjustments and adaptations he can implement to counter that going forward.
Allan Nascimento won an entertaining all-Brazilian grappling match with Jafel Filho to wrap up the prelims, rallying to earn a clean sweep of the scorecards.
Filho dominated the first round, putting Nascimento on the deck numerous times, working to dominant positions and chasing submissions, including a mounted one-arm guillotine late in the frame that momentarily looked close to being finished. But in the second and third, Nascimento took advantage of Filho getting too high when looking to take the back, dumping him over the top and settling into top position, grinding out the rest of both rounds from there.
The 33-year-old Chute Boxe Diego Lima product has been on the doorstep of the top 15 throughout his UFC run, and profiles as the kind of dangerous veteran threat that each weight class needs. It’ll be interesting to see if he sticks around after having missed weight on Friday, but for now, he can enjoy the sweet taste of success.
Welcome back, Jordan Leavitt.
“The Monkey King” ended an 18-month absence with a rapid submission win over Kurt Holobaugh, taking the recent TUF winner down in the first 25 seconds of the bout before latching onto an anaconda choke and putting him to sleep. Leavitt has always been a work-in-progress on the feet, but he’s a menace on the canvas, and that was on full display in this one, as Holobaugh is a strong grappler himself, and he got completely wiped out.
Bolaji Oki scored a solid win over Michael Aswell on Saturday’s prelims, leaning on his power and presence to distance himself from the short-notice replacement as the fight progressed, earning 29-28 scores across the board. Oki is a physical specimen and has shown flashes of promise in his two UFC victories, but the real takeaway from this one was the gameness shown by Aswell, a natural featherweight who took the fight on Tuesday.
We’ve seen situations like this several times in the past, where someone gives a solid showing in defeat up a division before moving back down and having success, and Aswell looks like he could be one of those guys. He won the first round on all three scorecards, and hung tough as Oki settled in and started distancing himself, but a full camp and a return to the 145-pound weight class should produce an even better showing next time out.
It was a fun scrap between Alice Ardelean and Rayanne dos Santos to open the show, with Ardelean coming out ahead on the scorecards. The 33-year-old was sharp from the outset and landed the heavier blows throughout, smiling the whole way through.
During the bout, Laura Sanko noted that dos Santos has previously competed at atomweight (105 pounds), pondering how good she would look if the UFC brought the division into the fold in the future. While there have been no announced plans to add the weight class to the promotion, don’t be surprised if the idea continues to gain traction, especially as potential representatives like dos Santos show toughness and grit while competing in the strawweight ranks.
#UFC #Takeaways #Fight #Night #ends #abruptly #late #cancellation
