UFC Vegas 89: Five Things We Learned
UFC Vegas 89 was not a great night of fights. Thankfully, a few interesting prospects looked incredible. That gives us a few important lessons to discuss.
Rose Namajunas gets a flyweight victory
In the UFC Vegas 89 main event, Rose Namajunas picked up a decision win over Amanda Ribas. The victory is her first in the flyweight division.
Considering she got her hand raised, it is hard to be overly critical of Namajunas’ performance. Although, there are reasons for concern. Namajunas simply did not look as good in the upper-weight class. Plus, she was competing against someone who had fought at strawweight and flyweight. It is not like she beat a mainstay of the division.
In the higher weight class, Namajunas did not seem as quick and her shots did not land as hard. The loss of speed was highlighted in the later rounds. That is a bad combination.
Namajunas did have success on the ground. The catch is that it was partially due to Ribas’ poor decision-making. Yes, Namajunas landed a few takedowns of her own. That said, she also got to strong positions because Ribas routinely attempts head and arm throws and heel hooks. It is much easier for Namajunas to get to the top position when Ribas attempts moves that leave her vulnerable.
Namajunas deserves a tip of the hat for getting her first win in a new weight class. At the same time, there are serious reasons for concern when attempting to project future success in the weight class.
Karl Williams shows off his wrestling
In the UFC Vegas 89 co-main event, Karl Williams put his wrestling to good use against Justin Tafa. Williams grappled his way to a decision win.
This fight was pretty straightforward. Williams had the wrestling edge while Tafa had knockout potential on the feet. In the three rounds we saw, Williams managed to land takedowns and keep Tafa grounded.
Williams is small for the heavyweight division, but his grappling can cause problems. It is not a secret that heavyweight has a lot of poor grapplers. Williams can take advantage of that with his strong takedowns. It seems like Williams has a strong understanding of how to get heavyweights off balance and land takedowns.
Payton Talbott makes massive improvements
At UFC Vegas 89, Payton Talbott picked up a massive victory as he dominantly finished Cameron Saaiman in the second round. This was a sensational victory for the 25-year-old prospect.
Talbott has continuously impressed thus far in his career. That began with his showing on Dana White’s Contender Series; however, his win over Saaiman was different from his previous performances. Talbott started much quicker, threw a ton of strikers, timed his shots perfectly, and stayed far more defensively responsible. Those are all crucial areas where he needed to make improvements.
One of the most underrated traits in a fighter is their ability to make improvements between fights. That is far more important for fighters under the age of 30. It is great to see the 25-year-old Talbott grow his game. That adds much more upside to his potential.
Youssef Zalal deserves a UFC roster spot
Youssef Zalal looked great in his return to the UFC. In his re-entry, he dominated Billy Quarantillo before submitting him in the second round.
Zalal went 3-3-1 in his first UFC run. A 0-3-1 end to that run led to him being cut. After two years of fighting on the regional scene, Zalal is far better.
This fight showed a lot of important improvements for Zalal. It was not even much to do with skill. It was more slight adjustments on the margins. First, he looked bigger. The physical progression from 25 to 27 seemed notable. In addition to that, he fought more confidently. Lastly, he had a smart game plan and took advantage of Quarantillo’s defensive flaws. Specifically, his flaws against knees. Zalal was always skilled, but he failed to separate and put a stamp on his performances. Those adjustments greatly changed that.
Zalal deserves a UFC roster spot after making great adjustments and putting them on display at UFC Vegas 89.
Andre Lima is an exciting flyweight prospect
The UFC flyweight division has received a strong influx of young talent in the past two years. At UFC Vegas 89, Andre Lima proved to be yet another dangerous young fighter for the division.
Lima showed off his skills in a win over Igor Severino. Albeit, he did win via disqualification after Severino bit his arm. Yes, you read that correctly. Severino bit Lima and was understandably disqualified. That insane ending sequence has overshadowed Lima’s performance.
Lima showed a lot of great tools in his UFC debut. It began with the basics. Lima has a nice jab and kicks the legs well. Those strikes were just the start of his game. Lima also dug to the body while staying safe from the counters that Severino threw. Plus, he checked leg kicks on multiple occasions. All of these tools are great for the current state of MMA and Lima showed proficiency with every skill.
If all of Lima’s fundamental skills were not enough, he landed a beautiful step-in elbow to badly hurt Severino.
The grappling will be a question with Lima. In his debut, he was not perfect in that realm as he was taken down several times, but he showed some positives. Lima showed that he can create scrambles to defend takedowns. That is a good skill to see even if he was not perfect against takedowns. If he was taken down, it did not seem like Lima was content to take the bottom position. Similarly, he threatened submissions to create chances to work on his feet.
Lima looked great on Dana White’s Contender Series. In his UFC debut, he continued to show some great skills. At 25 years old, there are several reasons to be optimistic about Lima’s future.
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