The best and worst from UFC Fight Night 176: Overeem vs. Sakai
To say the UFC’s latest behind-closed-doors show at the APEX facility in Las Vegas didn’t go down without a hitch would be an understatement.
Initially booked to have 10 fights, UFC Fight Night 176 was struck badly by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and we ended up with a show that featured just 7 fights – the shortest UFC card since the TUF 2 Finale back in November 2005.
Thankfully though, the action inside the Octagon delivered and we were treated to some tremendous performances with some great finishes.
Here are the best and worst moments from UFC Fight Night 176: Overeem vs. Sakai.
#1 Best: Veteran Overeem keeps on rolling at Heavyweight
Alistair Overeem has often spoken about his desire for “one more run” at the UFC Heavyweight title, after failing to secure the gold when he faced champion Stipe Miocic back in 2016. The idea that a man who turns 41 next year could really be in UFC title contention might feel like a pipe dream, but after he defeated Augusto Sakai last night, it’s getting closer to reality.
‘The Reem’ struggled through the first two rounds of last night’s main event. He didn’t take too much damage from Sakai, but the Brazilian appeared to have a speed advantage and was more than happy to unload with combinations as Overeem covered up. It was clear that to win this one, the Dutchman would need to switch things up.
And switch it up he did. After securing a takedown late in the third round, it quickly became clear that Sakai didn’t have the skills on the ground to deal with the savvy veteran. Naturally from there, securing the takedown became Overeem’s modus operandi, and it appeared that Sakai had little to no answer for it.
The Brazilian took an absolute beating on the ground in the fourth round and when Overeem secured another takedown early in the fifth, the fight was stopped shortly after. This was a great comeback from the veteran, and his second big win of 2020.
So how far off a UFC Heavyweight title shot is Overeem really? Well, only Francis Ngannou and Curtis Blaydes are really ahead of him in the queue now, given that in all honesty, he should’ve beaten Jairzinho Rozenstruik last year which would’ve put him on a five-fight winning streak.
Having two fighters ahead in the queue is obviously not a good thing, but given the current climate, Overeem might only be an injury – or a positive COVID-19 test – away from another shot at Miocic’s UFC Heavyweight title.
#1 Worst: The UFC’s COVID-19 woes continue
Given the UFC has put on a total of 19 events during the COVID-19 pandemic – and only had a relatively short shutdown period of 7 weeks before restarting with May’s UFC 249 – you’d be forgiven for thinking that the world’s biggest MMA promotion has been able to ride the wave of the pandemic with no issues.
However, last night’s show was a stark reminder why that simply isn’t the case.
It feels like every recent UFC show has been struck by a ton of last-minute changes, but UFC Fight Night 176 was definitely the worst hit yet. Overall the card suffered a total of 11 changes, with no fewer than three fights being scrapped literally on the day of the event.
The UFC were able to salvage Brian Kelleher’s fight by scrambling to find Ray Rodriguez as a late replacement for Kevin Natividad. However, the fights between Thiago Moises and Jalin Turner and Marcos Rogerio de Lima and Alexander Romanov were simply removed.
Given that the two Brazilian fighters were sidelined after testing positive for COVID-19, we should be reminded that the pandemic is ongoing, it’s very real and it’s not going anywhere yet. Given this trend, the UFC and its fans should be very afraid for upcoming mega-events like UFC 253 and UFC 254.