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The UFC's return to Las Vegas – albeit at the UFC APEX facility – UFC on ESPN: Woodley vs. Burns didn’t look like the strongest card on paper. Somehow though, it turned out to be one of the best shows of 2020 thus far.Of the 11 fights presented – 9 of which were televised here in the UK – only one could be considered dull. The rest gave us some fantastic action, incredible finishes and in the main event, a result that has major ramifications in terms of UFC gold.
Here are the best and worst moments from UFC on ESPN: Woodley vs. Burns.
#1 Best: Burns steps up to the next level
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After over a decade near or at the top of the Welterweight division – 7 years of which have been spent in the UFC – the book has been written on how to defeat Tyron Woodley; an opponent simply needs to force him back into the fence and avoid his big counterpunches and takedowns to land their own offense.
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Of course, that gameplan sounds easier on paper than it is in real life. That’s why only two men in the UFC before last night – Rory MacDonald and Kamaru Usman – were really able to pull it off (Jake Shields also beat Woodley, but only because of a terrible judging decision). Last night though, Gilbert Burns joined them after pulling off the best performance of his career.
Burns destroyed ‘The Chosen One’ over five rounds – battering him on the feet with a Dutch-style pressure kickboxing game and even taking the vaunted wrestler down on numerous occasions. Formerly a wild striker with a penchant for winging power shots with little technique, ‘Durinho’ looked patient, measured and arguably beat the former champion more heavily than Usman did when he dethroned him last March.
Post-fight Burns asked for a title shot against Usman – a teammate of his under coach Henri Hooft – and if both men are up for that, then the UFC should put the fight together. Judging on last night, ‘Durinho’ would have as good a chance as anyone of dethroning the champ.
#1 Worst: Has Father Time caught up with Woodley?
In my preview for this show, I predicted that Tyron Woodley would be able to defeat Gilbert Burns; I went with a TKO, but it wouldn’t have surprised me to see him win a decision either. In reality though, ‘The Chosen One’ was absolutely shellacked by the Brazilian.
Sure, Burns is clearly a fighter on an upward trajectory in his career right now, but it was still shocking to see Woodley simply overwhelmed over the course of five rounds. But should we really be surprised? After all, the former champion turned 38 years old last month.
Woodley’s advanced age has crept up somewhat, perhaps due to his schedule not exactly being too busy over the past few years. Since joining the UFC from StrikeForce in 2013, he’s fought 14 times, and while that sounds relatively normal, the fact is that he’s had long layoffs on more than one occasion. He’s actually been on the shelf for more than a year three separate times.
Coming into last night’s fight with Burns, he hadn’t fought since his March 2019 loss to Kamaru Usman – and indeed, he looked extremely rusty in the Octagon. Could ‘The Chosen One’ be finished as a top-level 170lber at this point? Based on his age and last night’s performance, it honestly wouldn’t be surprising. And given his undeniable status as one of the best Welterweights of all time, that’s disappointing.
#2 Best: Dern’s beautiful kneebar submission
I’ve always been a massive fan of seeing beautiful submission finishes in the UFC; in fact, I’d rather see a tapout than a brutal knockout. And last night, we were treated to one of the best submission finishes in some time from Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu champion Mackenzie Dern, who finished her opponent Hannah Cifers in the opening round with a kneebar.
What made this finish special? A number of things. Firstly, it was the first leg-based submission in a female fight in UFC history, which considering the first women’s fight in the Octagon was back in 2013 is quite the achievement. And secondly, the kneebar itself is a relatively low-percentage hold, particularly at the top level of MMA.
Did Cifers leave herself open for the hold? In all honesty, while her defensive grappling needs work, she didn’t. She was actually on top of the fight when Dern managed a hip throw to take her down, and right away she attempted to avoid any kind of grappling exchange; Dern simply caught her by surprise with the leglock, something no other fighter in the division would likely be capable of.
In the end, this should go down as one of the best submission wins in UFC history in my opinion, and hopefully it’ll set Dern on the right path when it comes to living up to her huge potential.
#2 Worst: The plodding semi-main event
Coming into the show, I had fears that the co-main event – a Heavyweight clash between Blagoy Ivanov and Augusto Sakai – would turn into a slow, sloppy contest that would end in a close decision. Unfortunately, those fears proved to be right as the fight was essentially the only skippable one on this card.
The fight had a slow pace throughout, with Ivanov looking for counterpunches while Sakai used leg kicks to slow him down, allowing opportunities to open up for his own punches. Sakai ended up winning a split decision, which was also contentious, given that he used a clear fence grab to avoid a takedown in the third round.
Had Ivanov landed that takedown, then the truth is that he would likely have won the round and the fight. Either way though, this was another dull, plodding fight from the Bulgarian in a series of them, unfortunately. Judging by this, I just can’t see either man impacting the Heavyweight title picture any time soon.
#3 Best: The wild fight between Carlyle and Quarantillo
I found it surprising that the UFC awarded the Fight of the Night bonus to the undercard fight between Tim Elliott and Brendan Royval; sure, the Flyweight tilt was an excellent clash, but to me, Spike Carlyle’s fight with Billy Quarantillo’s was the best on show by far.
Carlyle came out wildly and took the fight to Quarantillo, but despite coming close to a finish on a couple of occasions, Quarantillo was able to weather the storm and came back strongly. The two then put on a crazy fight, exchanging strikes, dominant positions and submission attempts for the full 15 minutes.
In the end, Quarantillo was awarded a unanimous decision, all three judges going 29-28 in his favour – and while the result takes the shine off a highly athletic prospect in Carlyle, the quality of the fight means that both men should probably find themselves in a main card position in their next Octagon appearance.
