Another fight weekend is in the books, if you could call it that. The only real MMA action of note was one of the lightest UFC cards of the year, a one-fight event that lost its one fight the day before. But it still featured some fun action, and there’s always stuff to write about. So as always, let’s take a look at three fighters who boosted their stock on Saturday night:
Saturday’s UFC card was one of the thinnest in recent memory, and it only got thinner when the heavyweight main event of Curtis Blaydes and Derrick Lewis was called off due to COVID concerns on Friday. But that meant more focus on one of the few genuinely interesting bouts to take place: a welterweight matchup between undefeated Miguel Baeza and Takashi Sato, a judo black belt with pop in his fists.
The 28-year-old Baeza came through Dana White’s Contender Series last year and had started to build his name as one of the UFC’s most intriguing young welterweight prospects. In his first two official UFC fights, he showed the power, knocking out Hector Aldana and then Matt Brown. But on Saturday, he reminded the world that he’s also a BJJ black belt, earning his first submission win as a pro in the second round.
It was a handy finish that came after the end of a really impressive all-around performance from Baeza. Tall, long and explosive, Baeza has all the physical attributes you could want from a fighter, and mixed up all his skills tremendously well in his decisive win over Sato, who himself has looked quite dangerous at times in his UFC career.
Baeza got in a real groove on the feet midway through the first round, blending his punches and kicks, working to the body, and stinging Sato over and over with a sharp and accurate right hand. He was the busier and more damaging striker throughout the first two rounds, but decided to switch gears by planting Sato with a double-leg takedown. Once it got to the ground, it was ballgame: he put Sato in the danger zone with some ground-and-pound, and threatened a rear naked choke before putting him away with the arm triangle.
Pretty sick stuff! A signature performance for a talented young star. But there’s plenty of talented young stars in the UFC, and Baeza hasn’t fought anyone who’s ever cracked the top 15. You need a hook. You need something that sets you apart. Well, it looks like the boss might have seen something:
Baeza was born and raised in South Florida, but hey, if the UFC thinks it can use your Puerto Rican ancestry to make you and them some money, go get yourself some cash, Miguel! Welterweight has always been a deep division, and presently holds some really great talent – it’ll be hard for Baeza to climb the ladder and keep that undefeated record. But any little thing that can help get the UFC promotional machine behind you and help you skip a few rungs will be welcome.
You might be seeing Miguel Baeza in a few more prime spots in the near future. Does he have the skills to back it up? So far, the answer has always been yes.
I’ll say this about the UFC. When the UFC has a good card, it’s some of the best stuff you’ll see in sports. But even when the UFC has a bad card, it often ends up being pretty good anyway. It always seems like the UFC shows with the fewest names end up having the sickest action, with relatively anonymous fighters delivering the violence and building their resumes from the ground up.
Trying to forecast these shows is an exercise in trying to figure out which little-known name has the juice to turn themselves into tonight’s hero. Heading in Saturday night, Chinese flyweight Su Mudaerji seemed like a decent bet – the 24-year-old got to the UFC in 2018 off a string of quick knockouts. And in the second bout of the night, Su needed just 44 seconds to earn his first such UFC highlight against Canadian Malcolm Gordon.
There are few things I love more than watching a guy get knocked out in a visually hilarious way. Su hits Gordon with that left hand and it takes Gordon’s body a few seconds to register that he’s completely screwed – he stutters and shakes like a malfunctioning robot before doing a full Flair Flop right onto the canvas.
Su knocked this dude’s brain directly into Safe Mode. With the power he has in his fists, you understand. Su has one of the most powerful and accurate left hands you’ll find anywhere in the sport, and he absolutely let it rip with abandon in the 44 seconds this fight lasted. He popped Gordon again and again, sticking it through his guard every time and sending him packing. Su has shown a weakness to grapplers in the past that could limit his ceiling, but he’s real young, and his knockout power is going to make him one to watch.
It was just a couple years ago that the UFC flyweight division looked on the verge of death – hell, even earlier this year, when Henry Cejudo retired young and the first Deiveson Figueiredo–Joseph Benavidez fight ended without a champion, it seemed like it could have been a fatal blow. Now, it has a dominant and exciting new champ and a host of young, talented and exciting rising stars, Su included. It’s a good time to be a fan of the flyweights.
Look, we’re reaching a bit here. While we had some fun finishes on Saturday’s show, it would be a reach to really project much for most of them. In the main event, Anthony Smith earned a first-round submission win over Devin Clark that his career desperately needed, but he’s likely far from being a real factor again at 205.
Gina Mazany debuted at 125 with an impressive ground-and-pound over Rachael Ostovich, but Ostovich seems more interested in being an Instagram model than a fighter these days, and she’s 4-6 in her pro career. Jonathan Pearce is one fight removed from getting owned by a washed-up Joe Lauzon. Bantamweight Anderson dos Santos sounds like they’re just picking Brazilian fighter names out of a hat nowadays, and his rear-naked choke win over Martin Day was his first UFC win in three tries.
Like I said, we’re reaching a bit. But Nate Maness moved to 2-0 in the UFC with a very entertaining submission win over Luke Sanders in the opening bout of Saturday’s card, and that’ll get you on this list. Sanders has always been kind of an enigma – he’s got power and obvious talent, but he’s been held back by what seems to be a really bad fight IQ and a knack for blowing leads. He outstruck Maness early on in the fight before walking into some wild exchanges and getting dropped, before Maness finished a rear-naked choke.
The fight was one of the most entertaining of the night, and while Sanders led the dance and caught Maness with some big shots, Maness did some good work himself off the counter. Sanders had Maness hurt at the end of the first round, but the Kentucky native stayed cool, and gave as good as he got when Sanders charged at him with his wild rushes. It was Maness’ counter right hands that did the most damage in the second round, and once he saw an opportunity to pounce on a submission, he closed the deal.
As a counter fighter, you have to have a plan when an aggressive, powerful fighter tries to bullrush you and overwhelm you. Maness had one on Saturday night, he executed it, and he earned a Performance of the Night bonus to boot. Not bad.
The Big Fight 