UFC Fight Night 22 Parting Shots

Though some of the fights may have been a bit anticlimactic or just plain strange (Marquardt vs. Palhares, anyone?), it’s hard to really complain about free MMA, especially if you were a fan of the sport when quarterly pay-per-views were the only action to look forward to. Here’s a last rundown of some various thoughts on UFC Fight Night 22.

Protect yourself at all times

I will ignore the irony of a fighter who had forced previous opponents to wait for referee intervention before releasing dangerous submission holds then deciding to ask for referee intervention in the midst of a fight at his own peril.

However, what part of the simple instruction “protect yourself at all times” is difficult for fighters to understand? It’s not just Palhares, either. Very often these days, fighters will turn away from an eye poke or turn his back on his opponent after a groin shot, simply assuming that the referee has seen the foul and will be halting the bout momentarily. Didn’t these fighters ever see Hughes-Trigg II?

There are very few instructions more plainly stated than what is probably the golden rule of all combat sports: “protect yourself at all times”. Palhares didn’t, and it probably cost him the fight. There was plenty of time for him to complain later on if he thought Marquardt’s legs were greased, including between rounds or even after the conclusion of the fight, if the proceedings didn’t last past the first round. It should be clear enough by now: there are few worse times to have a conversation with a referee than when your opponent is about to try to rip your head off.

The return of Yves Edwards

On the preliminary portion of the card, a UFC veteran quietly returned to little fanfare, though any MMA fan worth his or her salt should be instantly familiar with the fighter’s name.

Yves Edwards took a unanimous decision victory over John Gunderson on the undercard in his first UFC appearance in over four years. Once upon a time, back in 2004, Edwards won the unofficial lightweight title in a bout with Josh Thomson, where the two top UFC lightweights fought to a memorable finish. Edwards left his feet and kicked Thomson in the head as Thomson turned with a spinning back fist to break up a clinch in what was perhaps the best UFC knockout of all-time at that point. It was certainly among the most memorable, and still is today.

After that point, the lightweight division continued to stall, with no title for the fighters to compete for and only a handful of shows per year. Edwards made a couple more UFC appearances, losing to Mark Hominick by submission at UFC 58 and Joe Stevenson by doctor stoppage at UFC 61, and has been a bit of a journeyman since. It’d be great to see Yves really resurrect his career and face some of today’s best UFC lightweights. Here’s hoping he does so.

The perennial underdog wins again

As I said in my UFN 22 preview, there’s something about Jim Miller- perhaps the lack of highlight reel finishes, or even even something silly like the anonymous-sounding name and lack of a memorable “look”- that keeps allowing him to be overlooked throughout his career, despite his impressive track record in the organization. However, he did it all over again against Gleison Tibau, defeating an opponent who was supposed to be bigger, stronger, and the perfect example of a fighter tailor-made to exploit Miller’s perceived weaknesses. Will Miller be overlooked again in his next UFC appearance? Probably. Will it matter any more than it has all those other times? Probably not.

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Tags: Gleison Tibau, Jim Miller, Rousimar Palhares, UFC, UFC Fight Night 22, Yves Edwards