Best and Worst from UFC Fight Night 142: Dos Santos vs. Tuivasa
The UFC’s latest effort Down Under went down from Adelaide, South Australia last night and while the card was largely fun – well, the main card at least, as the prelims were full of snoozers – it wasn’t the best night for local Aussie fighters.
Every fight on the six-bout main card featured an Australian fighter and only one – newcomer Jimmy Crute – came away with his hand raised. We had some interesting action, a handful of cool finishes, and a couple of veterans managing to stem the tide of retirement talks – for now at least.
Here are the best and worst moments from UFC Fight Night 142.
#1 Best: There’s life in JDS yet
After a terrible patch essentially from 2013 to 2017 that saw former UFC Heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos involved in a bunch of brutal wars and stopped by strikes on 3 occasions, 2018 appears to be the year that the Brazilian has rediscovered his mojo.
Last night was his second win this year and it was a big one too, as he stopped surging Aussie prospect Tai Tuivasa in the second round of the night’s main event.
Early on it didn’t look good for JDS – Tuivasa was seemingly able to walk through his best shots to land clubbing blows against ‘Cigano’ as he had his back to the fence, and a late leg kick seemed to badly hamper the Brazilian’s movement, too.
But in the second round, his superior technique and accuracy shone through. A trio of clean punches put Tuivasa down, and he simply couldn’t get back up from underneath JDS, who did well to force the stoppage.
I don’t think the win makes Dos Santos into a title contender again – personally I think Daniel Cormier would maul him if they were to fight – but he certainly deserves another big match.
Post-fight he called out Alistair Overeem for a rematch, which could work, but then the UFC may want to book him against Francis Ngannou again after their first booked fight fell apart in 2017. Either way, this was an excellent win for him, and it keeps him very relevant in the division.