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UFC Fight Night: Waterson vs. Hill results and post-fight analysis
by Mookie AlexanderUFC Vegas 10’s main event was supposed to be Glover Teixeira vs. Thiago Santos, but the replacement main event between Michelle Waterson and Angela Hill more than delivered and was easily the best fight of the night. In the end, Waterson got the split decision over Hill in a matchup that really could’ve gone either way, which sucks because both of these women were just coming off close decisions that they lost. In Waterson’s case, she was on the right end of a close shave, whereas Hill has back-to-back heartbreakers.
The pace was fast, grueling, and I didn’t expect Waterson to necessarily match Hill’s aggression that way without trying to neutralize her through her wrestling. Hill’s takedown defense was on point almost the entire contest, but the reactive takedown Waterson hit off a Hill knee in the third round really changed the course of this matchup. Waterson then took the fourth round on the feet and the fifth was really a toss-up. There’s no doubt that Waterson was in an early hole and she did a great job to dig deep and climb out of it, and I also credit Hill for finding a second wind in the closing stages after it looked like she was unable to match her own furious pace.
Brutal strikes thrown by both fighters, a lot of interesting tactical adjustments, and I’m sure a lot of debating over the scorecards (especially the 49-46 Waterson card) will soon follow.
Strawweight rules, doesn’t it?
More thoughts below:
Main Card
- Ottman Azaitar only needed 93 seconds to hand Khama Worthy his first UFC loss. The Moroccan lightweight drilled Worthy with clean power punching early and never let up. Another first-round knockout for Azaitar and you can add him to the list of lightweights to watch.
- Two fights against Andrea Lee, two wins against Andrea Lee for BE’s own Roxanne Modafferi. This was a compelling, back-and-forth affair that saw Modafferi’s grappling take the opening round, Lee’s striking take the second round and leave Modafferi in minor trouble after a spinning elbow, then round three was a close one. The striking felt much closer compared to round two, but Modafferi went to her wrestling and grappling to earn some valuable control time that figured to be the deciding factor on the scorecards. It’s a very good win for Modafferi and a devastating third straight loss for Lee, who was on the cusp of title contention at flyweight not too long ago.
- ...What the hell just happened? Seriously. Mike Rodriguez TKO’d Ed Herman with perfectly legal body shots and Chris Tognoni erroneously ruled a low blow. Herman’s balls aren’t near his chest so that’s a missed call and it cost Rodriguez a knockout win. Even crazier? Rodriguez knocked Herman down at the end of round two after Herman got time recover from his TKO loss, then knocked him down again to start round three. It’s light heavyweight, so craziness had to be capped off with Herman getting a comeback kimura in a fight he literally had no business winning. I won’t knock Herman for the actual comeback but he absolutely shouldn’t have ever had his hand raised. Tognoni botched that and Mike Rodriguez’s team should appeal that immediately. Absolutely unacceptable.
- Alan Patrick’s UFC return was a rude welcome back by Bobby Green, who just owned him from virtually start to finish for a comfortable decision win. We don’t often say “comfortable decision win” and “Bobby Green” in the same sentence but the veteran lightweight has got three in a row. Anyone who watched post-fight interview also surely noted how visibly upset he was following news of the execution of Iranian wrestler Navid Afkari, such that he basically called off the interview himself.
- Kyle Nelson got his typically fast start against Billy Quarantillo and then ran out of gas by round two. Quarantillo then really beat him up, especially in the clinch, and put Nelson face-first down on the canvas just seconds into the third round with a 1-2. A nice faceplant KO for Billy Q and another win under his belt in his young but promising UFC career.
Prelims
- Sijara Eubanks and Julia Avila alternated between throwing haymakers at each other and grappling on the ground. Avila’s takedown defense was tested and Eubanks took full advantage of her weakness, dominating her through the final two rounds to get a decision win. I couldn’t believe Avila was a -300 favorite, so this is an upset for Eubanks, but it shouldn’t be considered one.
- How about that for a debut? Kevin Croom comes in on short notice against heavy favorite Roosevelt Roberts, and “The Hard Hitting Hillbilly” dropped him with a left hook in the opening seconds and tapped him with a standing guillotine in just :31. It’s the fastest debuting win in UFC lightweight history, and Croom earned it. What an upset!
- Undefeated Moldovan heavyweight prospect Alexandr Romanov lived up to his “King Kong” nickname and smashed up the jiggly Roque Martinez before choking him out with an arm-triangle in round two. Certainly a name to watch even knowing how Martinez was so obviously out of his depth from the start.
- Jalin Turner lost a fight to COVID-19 last week when Thiago Moises tested positive, then got a fight this week when Frank Camacho tested positive. “The Tarantula” took advantage and wiped out the very overmatched Brok Weaver, who was dropped twice and then tapped to a rear-naked choke after two one-sided rounds.
- Bryan Barberena ended a two-fight losing streak with a clear-cut decision win over Anthony Ivy, who went for a UFC welterweight record 24 takedowns and rarely did anything of note with the ones he completed. Barberena outstruck Ivy and hurt him multiple times throughout the contest to pick up the W.
- Sabina Mazo was behind on two scorecards entering the final round of her bout with Justine Kish, but she pulled off the comeback victory with a late head kick knockdown and subsequent rear-naked choke. The 23-year-old Colombian flyweight had success with that head kick a few times prior, and her trademark strike propelled her to victory.