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

Michel Pereira took out Danny Roberts in phenomenal fashion

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.

#1 Worst: Anderson flatters to deceive again

Megan Anderson's ground game was found wanting in her loss to Felicia Spencer

When the UFC signed her in mid-2017, there was a lot of hype around Megan Anderson. The Australian kickboxer was coming in as the Invicta Featherweight champion, had knocked out four opponents in a row, and looked like a potential challenger for then-divisional queen Cris Cyborg. But her UFC debut against Holly Holm hardly went to plan.

Holm – practically a pure striker – actually used her wrestling to ground the larger, more athletic Anderson, and worked her over from top position for a decision. It was a disappointing showing, but Anderson fans – myself included – figured Holm’s striking was the key to allowing her to get such easy takedowns on the Australian.

Well, that doesn’t appear to be the case; based on her loss to Felicia Spencer last night, it looks like Anderson simply has a massive Achilles heel in the form of her ground game. She’s huge, athletic and hits hard, but if she can’t keep a fighter like Spencer – who’s skilled, but clearly isn’t as good an athlete as Anderson is – off her, then it’s hard to see her working her way into title contention even in a thin division like Women’s Featherweight.

Anderson still has the potential to be a top-level fighter; the fact that 145lbs is largely devoid of talent works in her favour too. But it’s quite clear that she needs to work a hell of a lot on her ground game to get there, and the fact that she didn’t appear to have improved since the Holm fight was disappointing.

#2 Best: Dos Anjos shows there’s life in him yet

RDA's win over Kevin Lee puts him back into title contention at 170lbs

After a poor 2018 that saw him outworked by a pair of larger wrestlers in Colby Covington and Kamaru Usman, it looked like Rafael Dos Anjos was probably beginning to come towards the end of his storied career. At 34 years old and with a decade of UFC action under his belt, a slowdown was probably understandable.

Faced with Kevin Lee last night – a fighter who shares many attributes with Usman and Covington – I felt like RDA would come up short again. That wasn’t the case at all though; Dos Anjos weathered an early storm from his opponent before simply wearing him out down the stretch, dragging ‘The Motown Phenom’ into deep water and drowning him there, eventually submitting him with an arm triangle choke in the 4th round.

Sure, you could put the victory down to the fact that Lee was a smaller fighter given he was coming up from 155lbs, and RDA may well struggle again when he’s faced with a bigger 170lber, but for now it’s clear that the idea of his demise was a bit of a premature one.

He’s still a very relevant contender at Welterweight, and as an exciting fighter, it’s good to see him there.

#2 Worst: Lee and Carlos Junior’s cardio struggles

Antonio Carlos Junior's cardio let him down against Ian Heinisch

MMA is clearly a very tough sport to master, and so anyone who makes it to the upper echelon in the UFC deserves a ton of admiration. Unfortunately though, even the best fighters have holes in their games, and a poor gas tank is perhaps the most unforgiveable one as theoretically, it should be an easy one to fix.

Last night though, both Kevin Lee and Antonio Carlos Junior fell victim to their opponents – but also to themselves in a way, as they simply didn’t have the steam to keep up their early pace and allowed their opponents to take over fights they seemed to be struggling in early on.

Lee’s issue is a curious one; he had trouble with his cardio at 155lbs but the general consensus was that it was due to a big weight cut. His move to 170lbs was supposed to fix the problem but instead he looked exhausted midway through the second round and from there, Rafael Dos Anjos took over the fight.

Whether Lee is carrying too much muscle – or whether his frame simply isn’t suited to 170lbs – is a big question but to move forward, it’s one he’ll need to answer soon.

For Carlos Junior, his fight with Ian Heinisch strongly resembled his 2016 loss to Dan Kelly; a more athletic fighter tiring out and allowing a grittier opponent with more cardio take over.

Given ‘Shoeface’ debuted in the UFC as a Heavyweight, perhaps a move to 205lbs – and less of a weight cut – would help, but as we’ve seen with Lee, a move in weight isn’t always the answer. At any rate, to progress in the UFC further, Carlos Junior must sort his gas tank issues.

#3 Best: Charles Oliveira’s striking showcase

Charles Oliveira used his striking to deal impressively with Nik Lentz

I couldn’t really understand why the UFC booked a third fight between Charles Oliveira and Nik Lentz, especially as Oliveira had essentially won the previous two, but after seeing their third fight I was glad it’d been put together. This was a fun fight to watch, and surprisingly it was mainly due to Oliveira’s hugely improved striking game.

Oliveira – a grappler who has the most submission wins in UFC history on his ledger – has never been the most natural kickboxer but last night he pieced the usually-tough Lentz up from the beginning with long strikes, including a superman elbow that had ‘The Carny’ hurt in the first round.

Lentz made it into the second round but after coming close to being submitted with a guillotine, he threw a low kick that Oliveira caught and countered with a blistering right hand – reminiscent of Anderson Silva’s 2008 knockout of James Irvin – and the fight was over shortly after.

Oliveira’s questionable chin means I wouldn’t recommend him trading off with the better strikers at 155lbs, but to see him destroy Lentz with a much-improved kickboxing arsenal was definitely fun, and adds another string to the bow of one of the most entertaining fighters on the UFC roster. I can’t wait to see Oliveira again, and really that’s what matters, right?