7 things I learned at UFC Fight Night 92
1) Cub Swanson is still on the short list at 145lbs
After coming through a really challenging period last year, Cub Swanson has once again pieced together a winning run.
His latest came on the UFC Fight Pass portion of the show when he won by unanimous decision over Japanese veteran Tatsuya Kawajiri.
Beforehand, Swanson was still ranked No.5 and while he may not have improved that position, he is certainly keeping himself in and around the top of the division – and in the talk of the featherweight elite.
2) Ishihara just wants to fight and find some b******
Teruto Ishihara earned his second UFC stoppage and remained undefeated in the promotion with his win over The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America 2 runner-up Horacio Gutierrez via technical knockout.
The official stoppage came at 2:32 of round one. With this victory, the Team Alpha Male featherweight fighter is now 2-0-1 in the UFC and 9-2-2 as a professional fighter. No doubt the Japanese man will have celebrated his win in unique style.
Speaking ahead of the fight, his translator revealed: “He wants to learn English more than anything right now. That way he can pick up girls – any kind of girls – and become more popular amongst ladies in the cove.”
3) Fighters continue strange call outs on the mic
There was definitely something in the water in Salt Lake City.
Two winners really stood out on the mic, speaking after their wins and the first was David Teymur.
The Swede’s callout of Sage Northcutt was just plain odd because it was a ridiculous fight to ask for.
It’s not the best look calling out a 19-year-old- and you would’ve thought Teymur would’ve set his sights higher.
But the craziness didn’t end there. Following his win over Dominique Steele, Utah-native Court McGee stated: “Conor McGregor has nothing on me in Salt Lake City”.
Seemingly guys will do anything to drop the McGregor name these days.
4) UFC Fight Night cards are too slowly paced
Last night was a late one, or should we say early one?
By the time the main event was closing up, the clock was nearly striking 7am here in the UK.
The card started at midnight and seven hours was just way too much.
Fox obviously get their money through the advertisements placed throughout the night but this really was overkill.
5) Bermudez is another guy to watch out for
The co-main event saw Dennis Bermudez defeat a tricky Rony Jason in convincing style.
Bermudez never looked troubled by the Brazilian as he dominated all three rounds to take home the unanimous decision.
No doubt Bermudez will be looking for a higher ranked opponent and given both their wins last night, a showdown with Cub Swanson makes a lot of sense.
6) Rodriguez is flashy and dangerous – but still raw
On a night of terrible pacing and some dire fights, it was great to see the main event delivered on all the pre-fight hype.
Both Rodriguez and Caceres put on a great demonstration of flamboyant and creative striking in what was a breathless 25 minutes in the main event slot.
Rodriguez was deservedly the man with his arms held aloft a the end, but he must realise he still needs to get a balance between throwing volume and recuperating between his flurries.
He noticeably looked weary as early as round three and that made the fight a little closer than it should’ve done.
7) Diaz vs McGregor II just a fortnight away
Did we learn this just last night?
Well no perhaps not, but the days just keep ticking down and the excitement continues to build and build.
Don’t take my words for it.
Watch this epic trailer that was shown during the UFC Fight Night 92 card last even