The positives and negatives from UFC Vegas 30
Another UFC Fight Night has passed us by and with it came some memorable talking points. Brendan Fitzgerald, Daniel Cormier and Paul Felder called the action from the commentary tables and Joe Martinez provided enthusiastic introductions that never fail to get us hyped for the action inside the octagon.
Once again held at the UFC Apex, fans were treated to 13 matchups, featuring exciting debutants, prospects looking to make a name for themselves and contenders looking to edge closer to a title shot. Alongside a blockbuster heavyweight main event between Ciryl Gane and Alexander Volkov, the likes of Ovince Saint Preux, Timur Valiev, Tim Means and Renato Moicano were all in action. This weekend represented a card with a great variety of top names and future stars.
With that said, here are the positives and negatives from UFC Vegas 30.
Positive - The Hawaiian Zombie
Chan Sung Jung earned the moniker 'The Korean Zombie' because of his tendency to push forward no matter how much damage he has sustained. If there has ever been a second 'Zombie' iteration, it's Yancy Medeiros.
Medeiros got the night underway against Damir Hadzovic and what a way to open the card it was. At a grueling pace, both men threw hard and left everything in the cage. Despite walking away with a loss, Medeiros certainly boosted his reputation as one of the toughest men in the UFC. Hadzovic must have been wondering what he had to do in order to put the Hawaiian down.
Having eaten everything thrown at him, Medeiros nearly pulled off one of the greatest comebacks we've seen in the UFC in the final round. Perhaps only 10-15 more seconds would have been required for 'The Kid' to force a submission or send Hadzovic to sleep.
A new 'Zombie' legend was certainly born on Saturday night.
Negative - One loss, zero dollars
Betting your entire fight purse, as well as your team's, on yourself is quite the unique way to motivate yourself. As it turns out, it's not particularly effective. Justin Jaynes is living proof. At UFC Vegas 30, not only did Jaynes leave the octagon with a fourth consecutive loss, he left it without pay. Given the unpredictability of the fight game, it never seemed like the smart and motivational move Jaynes thought it was.
"Guitar Hero" exploded onto the UFC scene last year with a first-round TKO victory over Frank Camacho. Multiple defeats since have left him on the brink of a release. Unfortunately, Saturday's loss may have sealed that. Jaynes is the kind of fighter fans inevitably want to see succeed, so to watch him fall to another defeat was a downer.
At least his pay cheque will make the loss easier to take, oh wait...
Positive - The Marcin kick
In the words of Brendan Fitzgerald, "Giga Chikadze, eat your heart out."
We saw the Giga kick in action against Cub Swanson at UFC Vegas 25, but on Saturday we witnessed the Marcin kick and it may have been just as powerful. Against the tough Ike Villanueva, Marcin Prachnio secured a brutal finish courtesy of a perfectly placed left kick to the body. The Polish light heavyweight had already damaged the lead leg of 'Hurricane' in the opening round. In the second round, he switched up his attack to secure the stoppage.
It's always a positive to see a rare but vicious stoppage like that.
Negative - A double dose of terrible judging
It's never a good sign when the only judge to score a fight correctly is Chris Lee. Perhaps the scrutiny he's faced for some poor decisions over the past few years has finally sunk in.
After the Charles Rosa vs. Justin Jaynes fight, we were left discussing a terrible scorecard from Adalaide Byrd for the second week in a row, but this time she was joined by a partner in crime by the name of Ron McCarthy.
29-28 in favor of Rosa was the correct scorecard, and that was barely up for interpretation. How Byrd decided that Rosa had won the final round, in which Jaynes rocked the eventual victor on the feet and nearly won the fight with a tight arm triangle choke, I'll never know.
Equally, how McCarthy gave Jaynes the win is truly anyone's guess. A double dose of the shocking judging didn't go unnoticed on Twitter...
MMA Fighting's Mike Heck also criticized both judges on social media.
Positive - A UFC debut to remember
Welcome to the UFC, Jeremiah Wells.
There aren't many better ways to arrive on MMA's biggest stage than to sleep a Brazilian veteran with a win over Colby Covington. It took Wells just 30 seconds of the second round to do exactly that.
When Warlley Alves committed the cardinal sin of turning his back to his opponent, Wells caught the 30-year-old with a clean right hook that sent him to the canvas. An uppercut as Alves tried to get to his feet made sure the Brazilian remained dazed on the ground, before some brutal shots left Alves unconscious.
Two things are clear: Jeremiah Wells has remarkable power and the welterweight division has a new prospect. A short notice debut performance like that is always a positive.
Positive - 14 wins, 14 stoppages
At UFC Vegas 30, Shavkat Rakhmonov did it again. If his name wasn't established in the division before Saturday's card, it certainly was after it.
Rakhmonov is about as promising as any prospect in the UFC right now. Prior to his UFC debut last year, the Kazkhstani welterweight had built a perfect 12-0 record that included 12 finishes, six of which came in the very first round. That's some way to build your name in MMA.
Across the Atlantic, 'Nomad' established his name with his performances under the promotional banner of M-1 Global. It's been clear to those of us from Europe that Rakhmonov has the potential to make waves in the UFC. A submission win over UFC veteran Alex Oliveira was the perfect way to start. At UFC Vegas 30, he continued his momentum by becoming the first man to finish Michel Prazeres in the Brazilian's 30-fight career.
Someone as exciting as Rakhmonov continuing their rise with another big win has to go into the books as a positive.
Negative - A gutting end to Fili vs. Pineda
Far too often this year we've seen fights have to be called off early and declared a no contest, often due to eye pokes. Unfortunately, another bout fell victim to it at UFC Vegas 30. After dominating his fight with Daniel Pineda and looking close to a stoppage, Andre Fili inadvertently poked Pineda in the eye and that was all she wrote.
Despite stating that he could see and was okay to continue, Pineda's left eye was visibly shut and he guessed wrong when asked how many fingers the physician was holding up. The fact that the fight wasn't called off the first time he failed the vision test is frankly worrying.
Whether the solution is new and improved gloves from the likes of Trevor Wittman and Conor McGregor, or an alternative idea, something has to be done.