The best and worst from UFC 234: Adesanya vs. Silva
What could’ve been a total disaster of a show for the UFC actually turned into something, well, not too bad. UFC 234 was never going to be the most loaded card of 2019 – it was probably weaker than the two ESPN+ Fight Nights that preceded it – but in execution it turned out fine, even with the late loss of the main event.
Will anyone remember it come the end of the year? Of course not – it was the very definition of a throwaway show – but there were some fun fights on offer and it seemed like the fans in Melbourne were entertained at least.
Here are the best and worst moments from UFC 234: Adesanya vs. Silva.
#1 Best: A bunch of action fights saved the card
When you’re presented with a card as weak on paper as UFC 234 was – completely devoid of genuine ranked contenders and name value – the best the fans can really hope for is a bunch of action fights with hot finishes. The worst possible thing to happen is a card full of dull decisions, particularly when we now have 12/13 fights on each show, but that’s happened on more than one occasion recently.
Thankfully, UFC 234 was chock-full of fun fights. The first televised prelim on ESPN – the wild brawl between Kyung Ho Kang and Teruto Ishihara – was fantastic (more on that later), and things didn’t really let up from there outside of a couple of slower moments on the prelim card.
Devonte Smith and Jimmy Crute both picked up impressive TKO finishes in the first round; Montana De La Rosa essentially recreated an old Gracie-style squash over Nadia Kassem, and Lando Vannata put on his most impressive showing in years to take out Marcos Mariano.
Throw in an entertaining – if strange at times – main event between Israel Adesanya and Anderson Silva (again, more on that later), and in the end the whole show was worth watching, assuming you didn’t have to pay $60 or thereabouts to see it.