UFC Fight Night 152: Dos Anjos vs. Lee - The best and worst
The UFC’s first trip to Rochester, New York was hardly 2019’s most anticipated card, as like most of the ESPN+ Fight Night shows, it was relatively low on name value. In the end though, it was largely entertaining from start to finish, with tons of cool fights and eye-opening performances on offer.
We got 4 finishes in 6 fights on the main card, and somehow the majority of the prelims ended in even more violent fashion than the fights higher on the card did.
Add in the fact that the slowest fight on offer – Desmond Green’s win over Charles Jourdain – at least had a hot crowd due to Green hailing from Rochester, and yeah, the fans can’t have many complaints about this one.
Here are the best and worst moments from UFC Fight Night 152: Dos Anjos vs. Lee.
#1 Best: The wild debut of Michel Pereira
Brazil’s Michel Pereira went viral on YouTube last year following some ultra-flashy wins in Road FC that saw him pulling out all kinds of wild moves, from rolling capoeira kicks to backflip guard passes, but realistically nobody was expecting ‘Demolidor’ to pull that kind of stuff off in his UFC debut against a tough, proven guy like Danny Roberts.
Incredibly though, the Brazilian actually managed to translate his wild and flashy game into the highest level of MMA in the world, and in the process gave us the highlight of this show, even more surprising considering his fight was a preliminary one.
Pereira actually started off relatively slowly, but then suddenly blazed into life; a showtime kick missed, but at that stage Roberts looked rattled and just about managed to dodge the legendary Harold Howard somersault kick. Seconds later, Pereira threw a flying knee that connected, and followed with a right hand that knocked ‘Hot Chocolate’ silly.
The fight was two moments of star-making – reminiscent to the wild fury that Johnny Walker has brought to the 205lbs division – and if the UFC matches Pereira right they could well have a new viral star to push. This was one of the best UFC debuts in some time.