Making the Grade: Passes/Fails for UFC Fight Night: Barnett vs. Nelson
Josh Barnett was able to grind out a hard-fought victory over Roy Nelson to cap off the UFC's return to Japan on Saturday night and while the main event certainly had some high points, it was the undercard that provided the greatest highlights for this show.
Former "Ultimate Fighter" finalist Uriah Hall picked up the biggest win of the night as he stunned Gegard Mousasi with a highlight reel spinning heel kick before blasting him with a flying knee to get the finish in the co-main event.
Hall has been searching for a big win since coming to the UFC and now he's defeated a legitimate top-10 fighter -- and in spectacular fashion.
Diego Brandao also made his impact felt with a blistering 28-second knockout of Katsunori Kikuno for his second straight win in the Octagon.
But the results are already available, so what we like to do is dig a little deeper on the card and see what passed, what failed and what really, really failed on Saturday night. This is Making the Grade for UFC Fight Night: Barnett vs. Nelson.
PASSES
Believe the Hype
Uriah Hall was so good during season 17 of "The Ultimate Fighter" that there was almost no way he could possibly live up to expectations once he made it into the UFC. Losing to Kelvin Gastelum in the finals was just the first step towards mediocrity as Hall couldn't seem to muster the same kind of flash and flair that made him can't-miss TV during his time on the reality show.
One win won't change the entire course of history, but Hall did his part to prove that the hype surrounding him from "The Ultimate Fighter" wasn't out of nowhere as he absolutely flattened Gegard Mousasi with a spinning heel kick/flying knee combo on Saturday night.
In his past losses, Hall just couldn't seem to pull the trigger when the door was open for one of his highlight reel kicks, but that wasn't the case against Mousasi.
Hall timed Mousasi's takedown from the first round and as soon as the former Strikeforce champion ducked his head in Round 2, he uncorked a spinning heel kick that landed flush on the jaw. Hall then rushed forward with a flying knee that also blasted Mousasi and a few seconds later the fight was over.
There's no way to tell yet if this was a one fight anomaly or the beginning of a run towards the top 10 for Hall, but he certainly proved to a lot of critics -- myself included -- that the talented fighter we first met on the reality show is capable of pulling off clutch wins against legitimate opponents.
Drop everything you're doing and watch @UriahHallMMA land an OUTRAGEOUS video game TKO combo #FinishHim! http://t.co/5fFKTyrq2F
— FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) September 27, 2015
Killer Instinct
It's sometimes gets lost in the mix when thinking about "The Ultimate Fighter" season 14 that there was another winner other than John Dodson and runner-up T.J. Dillashaw, who went on to become UFC bantamweight champion. Diego Brandao was a force to be reckoned with while he was on the reality show, but he's had a very up and down career since transitioning to the UFC.
There have been flashes of brilliance and plenty of forgettable moments, but Brandao added another career highlight on Saturday when he tore through veteran fighter Katsunori Kikuno in just 28 seconds to win his second fight in a row.
Brandao landed a huge punch to start the fight and as soon as he realized Kikuno was hurt, he poured on the offense with a blitz of punches until the referee saw enough and called a stop to the fight.
Brandao certainly faced a storm of criticism after poor showings against Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor, but he proved with his latest win that on any given night, he's still capable of being a very dangerous featherweight fighter.
It's not quite time to anoint him as a threat to the top 10, but a healthy, happy and mentally prepared Diego Brandao is going to be a tough out for anyone in the featherweight division.
:29 seconds! One Brandao blitzkrieg was all it took to end Kikuno's night #UFCJapan http://t.co/Im1GBSTw8R
— FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) September 27, 2015
Face Meet Mat
The highlight of the prelims was definitely the matchup between Keita Nakamura and Li Jingliang that ended with one of the craziest submission finishes in recent memory.
Following a first round that saw Nakamura dominate on the ground only to get beat up on the feet in Round 2 as Jingliang came storming back, no one could have predicted what would happen in the third round.
It looked like another round for Jingliang as he came out and established his striking right away again, but in the midst of a scramble, he lost position and Nakamura quickly hopped on to take his back. A split second later, Nakamura had a rear naked choke locked up as Jingliang was back up on his feet.
Nakamura locked up the choke and before Jingliang even had a chance to tap out, he fell face first on the canvas with his opponent hanging onto him like a backpack. The fight was stopped and Nakamura got the win in one of the craziest submissions in UFC history.
WHAT A FINISH! Nakamura comes out of NOWHERE with the choke and Jingliang goes out on his shield! #FacePlant http://t.co/bNcp6sQbVk
— FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) September 27, 2015
FAILS
High Five!
Nick Hein and Yusuke Kasuya didn't exactly set the world on fire during their lightweight bout on the prelims, but they sure did respect each other an awful lot. If you weren't sure just how much they enjoyed this fight, you only had to see Hein and Kasyua high-five each other about six or seven times over the course of the fight.
One would land a punch, the other would smile and a high-five followed. Rinse, wash, repeat for three rounds.
Listen, sportsmanship is something to be valued in mixed martial arts and it's always nice to see grudges settled inside the cage and then a nice handshake or even a hug after it's over, but at least wait until the fight is finished. Nobody has liked high-fiving this much since David Puddy got promoted from mechanic to salesman on "Seinfeld."
Hein and Kasuya high-fived each other almost as much as they punched one another over three rounds. That's not exactly the fight anybody in attendance was hoping for.
Swailes Fail
Neil Swailes didn't make many fans with his job refereeing the opening fight of the evening between Shinsho Anzai and Roger Zapata.
First off were the multiple fence grabs taking place between the fighters to stop takedowns or help leverage themselves up off the mat. Swailes issued a lot of warnings, but never bothered to take a point for the multitude of infractions, so the fighters naturally just kept doing it.
Then in the third round during an exchange, Zapata dislocated his finger and immediately turned, shrieking in pain. Anzai followed up with a barrage of punches and it appeared Swailes may have been confused that there was a low blow because he stepped in to pause the fight.
When he realized Zapata was injured, Swailes knew it was already too late because technically he had stopped the fight when he separated the two fighters against the cage. The end result was Anzai getting the win by TKO and Swailes swallowing a little bit of embarrassment after that performance.
Epic Fail
Sudden Victory Round?
Because MMA bouts are usually either three or five rounds scored under the 10-point must system, draws don't happen all that often, but we saw one on Saturday night in the finals for "The Road to Japan" with Mizuto Hirota and Teruto Ishihara battling it out for 15 minutes and the end result was nobody winning.
Now the fight was razor close, there's no doubt about that, but the puzzling part was apparently there was some kind of provision that if the fight ended in a draw there would be a fourth, sudden victory round to decide the winner.
Unfortunately something was lost in translation and when the fight ended after three rounds, the judges tallied their scores and that was it.
Now the good news is both Hirota and Ishihara received the same six-figure contract from the UFC that would have gone to the victor, but it's not likely either fighter is really satisfied with that kind of win vs. an actual 'W' on their record.
In a strange way we should applaud the judge who scored one of the rounds 10-10, which is how the draw happened in the first place, because rarely do the officials in MMA give anything else besides 10-9 across the board. It seems nearly impossible to get a 10-8 round in MMA, much less someone believing things were so even that it's a 10-10.
Still, this matchup felt a little hollow with the way it ended, which was unfortunate because Hirota and Ishihara put on one of the best fights of the entire card.
