It may not have gotten the publicity as a UFC 193 or UFC 194 but UFC 192 made sure that every fight fan who tuned in to see a light heavyweight title decider didn’t go to sleep un-entertained.
While the reshuffled main card had some outstanding back-and-forth action, it was undoubtedly the undercard that added most to the UFC’s already stellar highlight reel.
With five finishes out of seven fights ahead of the UFC 192 main card opener, the early birds at the Toyota Centre were rightly rewarded for their eagerness to get to the arena.
There were fun, exciting brawls throughout but the prelims very much had the sense of young fighters wanting to make a name for themselves which is what impressed us most on Saturday night…
Knockout of the Night – Adriano Martins
There are right hooks and then there are punches that remove all use of an opponent’s legs.
Martins’ disguised chin-finder sent Islam Makhachev crashing to the canvas with a gorgeous shot across the jaw after less than two minutes of action.
Martins proved that he’s got the power to challenge absolutely anybody at 155 lbs and has impressively gotten himself back on track since his only UFC loss, at the hands (or should we say shin) of current lightweight challenger Donald Cerrone.
Note to lightweights… keep that chin tucked against this vicious Brazilian.
Submission of the Night – Rose Namajunas
That’s two consecutive standing rear naked choke finishes in as many UFC events.
Angela Hill followed Li Jingliang‘s example of crumpling to the mat after being unable to sufficiently defend a submission on the feet.
Rose Namajunas showed that she’s much more than her black belts in Taekwondo and Karate would suggest as she pounced on Hill’s back midway through their strawweight clash.
Thug patiently improved her position before sinking in a choke so deep that Hill was left tapping at air as she dropped to her knees before the referee saved the day.
That’s win number one in the UFC for Rose Namajunas and what a hell of a victory it was.
Performance of the Night – Albert Tumenov
You can easily switch out Martins’ KO above for Tumenov’s and vice versa in the Knockout of the Night and Performance of the Night categories but we decided to award Einstein performance of the night just because we saw an extra minute of him in action.
Alan Jouban can be a tricky opponent to figure out on the feet but it didn’t take Tumenov very long to do just that and he dominated from demented start to quick finish.
The Russian threw a pinpoint roundhouse kick which connected to the neck of Jouban, leaving Brahma on wobbly legs.
As Jouban backed off, Tumenov came forward with a barrage of short punches that eventually led to the knockout and moved Tumenov to 4-1 in the UFC.
One to Watch – Sage Northcutt
Did you really expect it to be anybody else?
Super Sage Northcutt dominated the headlines in the days leading up to fight night, probably even more so than the event’s headliners Daniel Cormier and Alexander Gustafsson.
The clean cut Karate kid, initially dismissed by Dana White, certainly proved that he was worthy of every single bit of hype with his 57 second TKO victory over Francisco Trevino on Saturday.
The 19-year-old continued his undefeated streak by finishing his sixth straight fight when he started lighting Trevino up on the feet before exhibiting maturity beyond his years by switching levels and continuing the onslaught on the mat.
All it took was an elbow or two, followed by some ripping punches, for Herb Dean to step in and make sure that the UFC’s next big thing got his promotional debut off to a cracking start.
Not too shabby a celebration either.
