The Brazilian killer

Chris Weidman, UFC 187

After overthrowing Anderson Silva, relegating Lyoto Machida and now thoroughly manhandling Vitor Belfort, it’s no surprise UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman is being dubbed ‘The Brazilian Killer’.

On this kind of run, perhaps former leading contender ‘Jacare’ Souza should be happy Luke Rockhold has been given the nod to have the next crack at Weidman, rather Souza run the risk of becoming the next star of the Samba nation to have to pick himself up from the canvas after a Weidman masterclass.

In a fight of two halves – although it lasted less than three minutes – ‘The Phenom’, complete with a bizarre dead-ferret mohawk, charged Weidman and opened up a cut over his left eye to get the Brazilians inside the MGM Grand in Vegas on their feet.

But any momentum he had was utterly lost once ‘The All American’ flashed a fight-changing double-leg takedown before systematically beating Belfort into a bloody heap.

Weight to go, Eduardo

Eduardo Dantas, Bellator 137

The Bellator bantamweight belt most likely changes hands on a minute-by-minute basis on the mats at Nova Uniao right now, after Eduardo Dantas climbed back into number one contender slot just below teammate and champion Marcos Galvao.

But his chance to earn that status hung in the balance when his Bellator 137 opponent Mike Richman tipped the scales at 3.2lb over the limit. ‘Dudu’ threatened to cancel the bout, but was persuaded to fight on for the fans and ultimately had little trouble working on the outside and landing zippy takedowns and a chopping body kick.

The former champ avoided the ‘The Marine’s grenade-like fists to pick up a slick points decision in this official bantamweight eliminator match at the Pechanga Casino in California.

Tears for souvenirs

Mark Munoz, UFC Fight Night 66

“From the days when I was a kid, I remember watching cartoons and seeing superheroes... And I get to do that every time I come in to the cage.” Go on, admit it, you were tearing up too when Mark Munoz bade farewell to the Octagon in Manila.

Jon Anik’s quivering bottom lip was replicated in homes across the world, as ‘The Filipino Wrecking Machine’s departing speech pulled at heartstrings across Planet MMA. ‘Don’t go, Mark,’ we blubbed in unison.

All except Luke Barnatt that is, the unlucky Brit who found himself in the eye of a Munoz farewell storm in Pasay City. A third successive loss courtesy of a catalogue of patented Californian takedowns led to a pink slip for the Englishman, ending his own UFC tenure.

Yet the night belonged to the victor who, after laying his gloves down in the center of the Octagon, exited stage left with not a dry eye left in the house.

Aoki no jokey

Shinya Aoki, One Championship 27

Another One Championship fight card, another successful title defense for poster boy Shinya Aoki and yet more questions left unanswered regarding exactly where he ranks in the world at 155lb.

The Japanese submission star retained lightweight gold with a lopsided points victory over Koji Ando in Singapore thanks to a performance full of his customary braggadocio. The 32-year-old served up his usual dish of takedowns and smothering top control, and Ando – like all previous seven One victims of the ‘Tobikan Judan’ – was found wanting.

The champion may still be one of the world’s best lightweights, but we’ll never know for sure if he keeps feeding on second-rate competition in the Pacific Rim. Aoki appears destined to finish his career with an outstanding stream of victories, but if he wants to truly define his legacy then he has to venture west once again.

Rock ’n’ Rollers

Andrei Arlovski vs. Travis Browne, UFC 187

Brain cells were obliterated, faces were squished and a crazy ghetto pimp slap was thrown and landed, all in a Wild West shootout of a slugfest in Las Vegas.

Arlovski and Browne, two former roomies at Jackson-Wink MMA, traded a treasure trove of wild flurries and violent strikes at one another before big ‘Hapa’ finally succumbed to the onslaught in the closing seconds of the opening round.

Could ‘The Pit Bull’ cap one of the most miraculous career revivals in MMA history and complete his renaissance by winning back the UFC title a decade after he lost it?

Bombs away

Dan Henderson, UFC Fight Night 68

Any plans the team here at FO had to produce an Icon Issue commemorating the career of Dan Henderson were put on hold in style when he obliterated Tim Boetsch in New Orleans.

The former two-weight Pride champion may not be the athlete he once was, but the 44-year-old proved to the world once again that he still hits like a truck as he flattened ‘The Barbarian’ in a 28-second blaze of glory that featured a flurry of his patented H-bombs.

Fresh from snapping a two-fight losing streak, ‘Hendo’ won’t be retiring just yet – and as for this year’s FO Icon Issue, well, his tributes can be put on ice for at least another 12 months.

Do Bronx tale

Charles Oliveira, UFC Fight Night 67

The violent, feline nimbleness of Charles Oliveira coupled with Nick Lentz’s bulldozing fighting style made for the most entertaining matchup in Goiania, Brazil. The former bagged two performance bonuses worth $100,000 with his third-round guillotine choke.

It’s tough to get a shot at featherweight gold at the moment, at least without an Irish accent, but ‘Do Bronx’ proved again he has the weapons necessary to make a run for the belt. His concussive knees and elbows proved too much for Lentz, who played his part in a cracker thanks to some brave boxing and astute grappling.

Ultimately, it was the jiu-jitsu black belt who was able to finish the fight after finally locking in one of numerous submission attempts to force an almost-instantaneous tap. The division might be drowned in Irish expletives, but Oliveira is one of a glut of fighters waiting in the wings.

Two scoops of Frankie

Frankie Edgar vs. Urijah Faber, UFC Fight Night 66

The UFC Manila headliner was like vanilla ice cream, nothing at all special occurred but it was cheerfully palatable. It was kind of like Mayweather vs. Pacquiao without the millions of dollars: technically pretty interesting but featuring very little drama.

And perhaps that’s as much a reason as any why UFC head boy Edgar has been passed over in favor of a young, mouthy Irishman in pursuit of the featherweight championship. Controversy-free and a proud ambassador of the sport, Edgar is humble in both victory and defeat, but in professional sport, the nice guys often finish last.

After dominating Faber to win on points, Frankie’s post-fight interview ruffled more feathers than the fight when he accused Dana White of ‘ducking him’ by failing to attend another of his fights. But the truth is when it comes to PPV revenue streams, Edgar just isn’t ‘The Answer’.

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