UFC Fight Night 81 is in the books and it was a fantastic night of fights. The main card delivered, The Fox Sports 1 prelims delivered, and even the UFC Fight Pass prelims delivered! Was it an incredibly long night of fights? Sure. Could I have DVR’d it and skipped through the roughly four hours of commercials? Absolutely. But I am glad that I didn’t. Instead I settled in for a night of fights that featured an amazing performance by two of the best fighters on the planet, a return to action for one of the Pacific Northwest’s favorite sons, and a gritty performance by one of the toughest veteran fighters to never fight for UFC gold. Let’s talk about it, folks.
Fight of the Night: TJ Dillashaw versus Dominick Cruz
Not that there was every any doubt what fight was going to win fight of the night, Dillashaw and Cruz absolutely brought it. In a display of footwork that would leave most people exhausted just by watching, Dominick Cruz was able to escape the power and speed of TJ Dillashaw for much of the fight earning a tough split decision victory. Cruz was able to roll with many of the shots that Dillashaw was working inside with doing a masterful job of reducing the amount of damage he was taking from the champion. That being said, he did not avoid ALL the offense that Dillashaw unloaded. In fact, the Fight Analytics breakdown of the fight showed that the two fighters were landing a very similar number of punches but Cruz was landing at a better percentage.
I have watched the fight three times now and I have come to this conclusion: Dillashaw was the aggressor and landed what I would argue were the more significant strikes of the fight. His head kick in round five could have easily put Cruz down if it hadn’t been partially blocked. Cruz, on the other hand, was the clear winner in the category of defense. He defended or made Dillashaw miss on over one hundred strikes, amazing. As far as scoring the fight goes, on my initial scoring, I gave it to Cruz. On my second viewing, I thought it could have been a draw. After my third and final viewing, I believe the judges got this one wrong. For me, the aggression of Dillashaw far outweighed the takedowns of Cruz and that was the real difference for me. That being said, I am not mad at the outcome in the least. Cruz just completed what was the probably the most amazing comeback in the history of professional athletics and he earned the win. I would bet my bottom dollar that we see this fight again and hopefully soon.
Knockout of the Night: Ed Herman
Last week I wrote about this fight. I had a feeling that the matchup between Ed Herman and Tim Boetsch was one that would bring the fireworks and it really came through for me. In what would be Ed Herman’s first ever fight at light heavyweight, he proved he had the power to hang with the big boys. After a first round that saw Herman rocked by the powerful Boetsch, he recovered nicely to use his old school Team Quest “dirty boxing” to set up a series of knee strikes that eventually scored him his first knockout in five years. Boetsch looked slower than in some of his past performances and he didn’t work the angles that would have allowed him to move away from the length of Herman. At 35 years old, this could be the last chance for Herman to make a push toward a title shot and after his fight he made sure to let everyone know why he believes the time is now. Herman made a great post fight speech in which he stated, “I’ve been a clean fighter my entire career. I think that’s an advantage for me at 205.” Herman went on to say that now that the sport is getting cleaned up (in terms of PED use), he feels more comfortable competing at his natural weight class. I for one think that is a huge step in the right direction for Herman and I hope more fighters follow suit. This win puts Herman at 1-0 since returning to his home in the greater Portland area, another trend I hope to see continue.
Surprise of the Night: Eddie Alvarez Defeats Anthony Pettis
The co-main event for this card featured two fighters who were both in desperate need of a win. Anthony Pettis was coming off the loss of his UFC lightweight title to current champ, Rafael dos Anjos. Pettis was soundly defeated in their matchup and following the fight suffered an injury that kept him out of action for the better part of a year. If Pettis hoped to stay relevant in the lightweight title picture, a win against Alvarez was paramount. Alvarez, since coming to the UFC, has only faced top five competitors. After going 1-1 in UFC action, he needed to have a performance that would show the world how dominant he could be in the Octagon. In the cage against Pettis, it was clear that Alvarez had a game plan; he wanted to out wrestle Pettis and nullify the arsenal of strikes the flashy former champion is known for. Alvarez had no problem doing just that on his way to a split decision victory. It was kind of odd to me that this one was a split decision, seemed pretty obvious he had won.
Here is why the loss by Pettis sort of shocked me. First of all, he has struggled against the takedown as of late and all signs pointed to this being a major concern during his camp. He left his base camp to train with top wrestling coaches and still was unable to stop the takedown of Alvarez. Secondly, Alvarez isn’t a physically imposing guy at 155 lbs; he could easily make the cut to featherweight. Once Alvarez overpowered Pettis, it seemed clear that Pettis was going to loss out on the decision. And lastly, Eddie Alvarez is usually a brawl for it all kind of fighter. While some might be disappointed in his performance since it was the classic slugfest he is known for, I found his cerebral approach to be a sign of maturity. Following the win, Alvarez called for a title shot, maybe that’s a bit premature but another win or two and he’s right there.
This card was a real winner in terms of excitement. Eight out of thirteen fights got finished, a title changed hands, Alvarez is slowly emerging as a contender, and Ed Herman showed up looking like he’s ready to take one last crack at UFC gold. All and all, I’d say UFC Fight Night 81 was pretty awesome.
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