UFC Fight Night 101 Results: The Real Winners and Losers from Melbourne
UFC Fight Night 101 is not going to earn many votes for Card of the Year.
Nothing against anyone personally on the card, including two very good fighters in Robert Whittaker and Derek Brunson facing off in the main event, but grouped together in this combination, there wasn't a great deal to recommend this event as it went down Saturday (U.S. time) from Melbourne, Australia. That is just the truth of it.
But even though the main-eventers found themselves only barely within the official top 10—and it gets far more anonymous from there—this is still the big league and there was business at hand. Could anyone distinguish themselves from the anonymous pack?
As always, the final stat lines only reveal so much. These are the real winners and losers from UFC Fight Night 101.
Full card results appear on the final slide.
Winner: Robert Whittaker
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Whoa.
I was, uh, not expecting that. I was not expecting a Round of the Year candidate to come out of this fight card, but here we are. Derek Brunson came out like a house on fire. He cracked Robert Whittaker many times, but the 25-year-old Whittaker stayed poised and started to fire back.
A big counter left hook, delivered on the button as Whittaker was backing up, turned the tide. Then, he landed a head kick. A barrage of punches dropped Brunson, and ground strikes finished the job with just a shade over four minutes gone in the opening stanza.
"I didn't think he was going to come out that hard. ... I knew I had to weather the storm, he's a heavy hitter," Whittaker told broadcaster Jon Anik in the cage after the fight. "I stuck to the game plan and I stuck to my setup."
Whittaker also told Anik he'd like a top-five opponent next. Now on a six-fight win streak, there's absolutely no reason not to give it to him, although the logjam at the top behind champ Michael Bisping is a bit formidable. How about Chris Weidman, coming off a loss to Yoel Romero, or another Brazilian stud in Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza?
Regardless, this was the best win of Whittaker's pro career, even if it did owe a little to his opponent. Hey, speaking of which...
Loser: Derek Brunson
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As noted, Brunson had his moments. But as the aggression evolved and/or devolved into full-on brawl status, Brunson got a little too reckless, and that cost him the fight.
He rushed in one too many times with his chin up and he paid the price. Remember his last loss, the one to Yoel Romero? The same thing happened then, with Brunson getting way too aggressive until it became something more closely resembling sloppiness or even recklessness.
Brunson is a talented wrestler with very heavy hands. He has more wins ahead of him. But he may need to be careful moving forward about working himself up into a counterproductive frenzy.
Winners: The Aussies
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Overall, a very pleasant evening for the host nation. Australian fighters wound up 5-3 at UFC Fight Night 101 in Melbourne.
It went well beyond Whittaker's monster win.
Dan Kelly got it done on the undercard at the tender age of 39. Don't look now, but after beating Chris Camozzi Saturday, he's a winner of three straight and holds a 5-1 record as a UFC middleweight.
Ben Nguyen and Alex Volkanovski (more on them later) got it done, as did Tyson Pedro in a come-from-behind first-round chokeout of Khalil Rountree.
Kyle Noke, Richard Walsh and co-main-eventer Jake Matthews did drop their bouts, as did New Zealander Dan Hooker.
But even in defeat, there was some good for the Melbourne faithful, as they had a chance to bid farewell to a seminal figure in Australian MMA when Noke tweeted his retirement following his loss to Omari Akhmedov.
"Thank you to the UFC and all the fans," Noke tweeted. "It's time to hang up the gloves. I've had a blessed life doing what I love. I wouldn't change a thing."
Farewell to Noke, who made his mark on season 11 of The Ultimate Fighter back in 2010 and blue-collared his way to a 6-6 UFC record and a total record of 22-10-1. Pretty good career for the now-36-year-old.
So by and large, there were certainly enough good and meaningful performances to give the Aussies a tip of the cap and the big W.
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Winner: Alex Volkanovski
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You could easily argue that the referee could have stopped the fight earlier, but the stoppage came, and it came after an impressive display of brutality from Alex Volkanovski.
The popular Australian made good on his long-awaited UFC debut by taking control of Yusuke Kasuya and winning the lightweight contest by ground-and-pound TKO.
Some of his ground shots were brutal and, ultimately, not intelligently defended by Kasuya. Congrats to Volkanovski for putting on an impressive performance and quite possibly taking a post-fight bonus during an evening that wasn't heavy on finishes.
Loser: Danielle Taylor
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As MMA analyst Carlin Bardsley observed on Twitter: "Australia doesn't deserve Seo Hee Ham. Two straight fights in [Australia] that she's been a victim of larceny."
That about sums it up. After losing a dicey decision to hometown girl Bec Rawlings in Brisbane this summer, she looked to outpoint a tough Danielle Taylor, but a few dramatic shots from Taylor apparently swung the bout the other way.
Taylor took a 28-29, 30-27, 30-27 decision. Which is odd, because Taylor didn't do much more than semi-frantically circle away from Ham for much of the fight, particularly the essential entirety of the first.
Ah, adventures in judging.
Winner: Ben Nguyen
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The undercard was short on names but, as it turned out, rife with action, and the best of it arguably came from South Dakota native and current Australia resident Ben Nguyen.
It was the performance of Nguyen's career. After starting his UFC career 2-0, he lost to Louis Smolka earlier this year. Against Geane Herrera Saturday, he showed no desire to fight on the ground like he did against Smolka, kept the fight standing and hammered Herrera with punch combinations to the head and body.
He also overcame a crazy flying side kick from Herrera in the first few seconds of the fight, which landed and for a second looked like it might lead to a highlight-reel finish.
“I lost my last fight so this is really good, I have made some adjustments and I’m seeing them come through to get that win," Nguyen said in a statement the UFC emailed to reporters after the fight.
This win may not vault Nguyen to the top of the flyweight division, but it's still a big step forward in a thin 125-pound contingent.
UFC Fight Night 101 Full Card Results
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Main Card
Robert Whittaker def. Derek Brunson by TKO, 4:07, Rd. 1
Andrew Holbrook def. Jake Matthews by split decision
Omari Akhmedov def. Kyle Noke by unanimous decision
Alex Volkanovski def. Yusuke Kasuya by TKO, 2:06, Rd. 2
Tyson Pedro def. Khalil Rountree by submission (rear-naked choke), 4:07, Rd. 1
Danielle Taylor def. Seo Hee Ham by split decision
Preliminary Card
Dan Kelly def. Chris Camozzi by unanimous decision
Damien Brown def. Jon Tuck by unanimous decision
Jonathan Meunier def. Richard Walsh by unanimous decision
Ben Nguyen def. Gene Herrera by unanimous decision
Jason Knight def. Dan Hooker by unanimous decision
Marlon Vera def. Ning Guangyou by unanimous decision
Jenei Lausa def. Yao Zhikui by unanimous decision
Scott Harris writes about MMA for Bleacher Report. For more stuff like this, follow Scott on Twitter.
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