Making the Grade: Passes/Fails for UFC Fight Night: Machida vs. Romero
Saturday night in Florida marked the arrival of Yoel Romero as a legitimate threat to the UFC middleweight title as he bludgeoned former champion Lyoto Machida with a series of elbows in the third round to secure the biggest win of his MMA career.
Romero came into the fight as a slight underdog, but quickly erased those odds with a performance to be remembered against arguably one of the best two-division fighters the UFC has ever known in Machida.
Also on the card, Lorenz Larkin move to 2-0 as a welterweight with another huge TKO victory while Thiago Santos made every highlight reel for the rest of the year with his nasty head kick knockout of former hockey enforcer Steve Bosse.
But we already know all the results from Saturday night so we like to dig a little deeper and see what passed and what failed from the most recent card from Florida.
This is Making the Grade for UFC Fight Night: Machida vs. Romero.
PASSES
Yoel Romero Puts Middleweights on Notice
From the moment 2000 Olympic silver medalist Yoel Romero decided to give MMA a shot he's had a lot of eyes on him, but like hundreds of wrestlers before him, the jury was still out until he proved himself against the top fighters in the world. Romero also had a time clock ticking against him because he entered the sport so late in his life that many wondered if age would ultimately do him in before anybody in the Octagon.
Well, Romero answered all those questions last night with a dramatic third-round stoppage victory over former champion Lyoto Machida.
Romero looked calm and composed throughout the fight and maybe most impressive was his performance from the opening minute through the final strikes that ended Machida's night. Romero has fallen down early in past fights -- giving up takedowns to Derek Brunson, nearly getting knocked out by Tim Kennedy -- but Saturday marked his most complete showing while facing the first elite threat he's had in the UFC.
Romero has knockout power on the feet, possibly the best wrestling of anybody in the UFC and his confidence is growing. He's likely only one fight away from a title shot at this point and whether it's Chris Weidman or Luke Rockhold holding the title after they face off later this year, either should keep a close eye on the Cuban monster standing behind them.
Walk-Off Home Run
Thiago Santos is no stranger to first-round finishes -- he had five of them during his career prior to Saturday night. But Santos certainly made his biggest impact since joining the UFC in his fight with Steve Bosse after landing one of the nastiest head kick knockouts in recent memory.
Santos had a perfect strategy against the former hockey enforcer turned UFC fighter as he baited his opponent with a series of kicks to the legs and to the body in the opening moments of the bout. Santos went low because he knew that would force Bosse to drop his guard to defend his body and legs, which left an enticing target wide open and the Brazilian took full advantage.
Santos went high with one kick that thudded off of Bosse's head and the Canadian dropped to the ground, falling stiff immediately. To his credit, Santos took one look at Bosse laying on the mat and even he said 'enough was enough' as he just walked off in victory.
It was a perfect performance from Santos and one that earned him a $50,000 bonus to boot. With two knockout victories in a row, Santos is going to quickly become a fan favorite with his performances, especially if he can duplicate the kind of walk-off power he showcased on Saturday night.
Only One Chance to Make a Great First Impression
Saturday night's card from Florida took an immeasurable hit just over a week ago when an error in the U.S. visa system forced 12 international fighters to drop off the card because they weren't allowed to travel into the country. UFC matchmakers Joe Silva and Sean Shelby started working overtime to secure a few new fighters to help fill out the struggling card and make sure the fans in attendance and watching at home would still have a show to see.
Two new fighters who were added to the card were Tony Sims and Sirwan Kakai, who both took their respective fights on less than one week's notice while making their UFC debuts.
Kakai started the night against UFC and WEC veteran Danny Martinez and this newcomer from American Top Team certainly didn't disappoint. Kakai landed a series of brutal knees to Martinez's head while trying to knock him out with some of the crispest combinations we saw all night long. Kakai didn't get the finish because Martinez proved to have an incredibly durable chin, but the first-time UFC fighter definitely gets a lot of points for his effort.
Then there was Tony Sims, who made a promise to his brother years ago before he passed away that he would one day fight in the UFC.
Sims proved he belonged with a bone-crushing knockout over former 'Ultimate Fighter' competitor Steve Montgomery in another show-stopping performance. Sims blasted Montgomery with a punch that hit him so hard he spun around before face planting in the Octagon.
Fighters only get one chance to make a good first impression on UFC fans and Sims and Kakai did their part to not only secure a future with the promotion but showcase that if you stay ready, you don't have to get ready. They both took advantage of an opportunity on just six days notice.
FAILS
A Legible Scorecard Would Be Nice
Judges have a hard enough job when it comes to scoring fights and the scrutiny that inevitably follows from fans and media alike. Then again it's the judges' job to get it right because getting it wrong means a fighter ends up with a loss on their record and, in most cases, their paycheck gets cut in half.
So why make it harder on yourself by not being able to add to 30?
During last night's card when the fight ended between Leandro Silva and Lewis Gonzalez the scores were tallied and the decision was read, but a collective 'what?' rose from the audience after one card was returned 29-27. The score went in favor of Silva, who won the fight by decision, but the math just seemed odd for a fight where there were no fouls that would deduct a point much less a round that could be scored 10-8 because one fighter was in complete control and nearly finished the other.
As it turns out, the problem was the scorecard itself was completely illegible.
Ultimately, the right guy still got the win but attention should be paid because reading a scorecard incorrectly or not being able to add the totals being scored for the right fighter could cost someone a win or a loss.
The reason why this is so important is because back in 2011 a fight between current UFC middleweight Chris Camozzi and his opponent Joey Villasenor had to be overturned when an erroneous scorecard error declared the fight a draw. Once the New Mexico Athletic Commission took a look at the cards, they realized that a scoring error was made and Camozzi was declared the winner.
It all got sorted out in the end, but wouldn't it just be easier to get it right the first time? Or maybe even institute digital scoring with something like an iPad to take writing errors out of it all together? Either way it's proven writing down numbers and adding them up to no more than 30 can be a tricky proposition.
Back to the Drawing Board for TUF 19
It's a subject that I've touched on before, actually just last month, but 'The Ultimate Fighter' 19 winners are just having no luck in the Octagon and the bad string of fights continued on Saturday with Eddie Gordon dropping his third fight in a row with a submission defeat to Antonio Carlos Junior.
It's been a very rough run for the fighters who made the finals from that season of the show. Discounting the finale itself, where obviously each of the winners got a UFC victory tacked onto their records, Gordon, Corey Anderson, Dhiego Lima and Matt Van Buren now have a combined record of 2-7 inside the Octagon.
The two victories came from Lima and Anderson, who beat opponents who now have a combined record of 0-4 in the UFC.
Making it to the finals of the reality show doesn't come with any guarantees and the top four fighters from season 19 are finding that out the hard way lately.
EPIC FAIL
Choose Your Words Wisely
There's no way to avoid the debate that's still going on over what Yoel Romero did or didn't say in the Octagon on Saturday night following his win against Lyoto Machida.
Maybe he was making a political statement, maybe he was making a religious statement, maybe he was just talking about the American dream. Whatever the case may be, Romero definitely took away from his win by turning the focus onto what he said instead of what he did in the Octagon.
Post fight interviews are a great forum to push a personal agenda, but typically it's one that has something to do with a fighter's career. I've often criticized fighters for not taking the opportunity with 30 or so seconds of uninterrupted airtime to call for a particular fight or opponent when given the chance. Saying things like 'I'll fight whoever the UFC puts in front of me' is just boring and no one will remember that for more than about three minutes once the show goes to commercial.
Listen, Romero has every right to believe what he wants to believe, whatever that might be, whether you agree with him or not. It's not a bad thing for fighters to have an opinion whether it's religious, political, socio-economical, or any other issue that's leading the headlines these days.
But the tough part about Romero's speech, no matter what he actually said or intended to say, is that he had the rare moment to capitalize on the biggest win of his career and become a polarizing force in the middleweight division as the next biggest threat at 185 pounds and he blew it.
Instead of championing Romero as a fighter who might just topple Chris Weidman, the entire MMA world has turned into sound analysis experts who are all trying to decipher what he said like his post fight speech is actually a wiretap in a mafia trial. Right or wrong, Romero marginalized his own victory in a matter of about seven seconds and now he has to live with the consequences of it.