Saturday’s UFC Fight Pass card from Hamburg, Germany was lacking in fireworks for much of the night, so Josh Barnett seized the opportunity and took home two bonuses for his third round submission win over Andrei Arlovski.
It was announced at yesterday’s post-fight press conference that Barnett and Arlovski received Fight of the Night honors and Barnett picked up an additional bonus for Performance of the Night. Ryan Bader was awarded the second performance of the night bonus for his knockout of Ilir Latifi by way of a vicious knee to the jaw.
Arlovski and Bader will receive $50,000 bonuses while Barnett doubles up with $100K. Check out video of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nackLupwHd8:
Hiscoe’s Analysis: Yesterday’s show was not UFC’s best outing. There were a lot of decisions, and none of them particularly exciting either. There were fleeting moments of intrigue such as Taylor Lapilus lighting up Leandro Issa after spending three minutes defending a takedown, but it was a largely uneventful show. It wasn’t for lack of star power, though, as the top three fights had solid marquee value for a Fight Pass show. Sometimes the fights just don’t go the way you hope they would, and this was one of those shows. That said, Barnett showed that he still has a strong ground game and can compete at least with fighters who have been around nearly as long as him. He’s struggled in recent years against younger fighters so I don’t know if a title fight is in Barnett’s future. He seemed realistic about that both before and after the fight.
Also on Barnett, I don’t think anyone in MMA is better at putting his opponent over after a fight than Barnett is. He always goes out of his way so call attention to how well his opponent fought after he wins and he was also quick to defend Arlovski at the post-fight press conference after being questioned about all of his recent losses. Barnett knows that if you build your opponent up, it only makes you look better. This is a lesson younger fighters, including those who already have good interview skills, should take into account.
SUNDAY NOTEBOOK ITEMS
-Quick Results from UFC Hamburg:
-Rustam Khabilov def. Leandro Silva by decision
-Jack Hermansson def. Scott Askam by decision
-Jarjis Danho and Christian Colombo fought to a draw.
-Taylor Lapilus def. Leandro Issa by decision
-Ashlee Evans-Smith def. Veronica Macedo by TKO
-Peter Sobota def. Nicolas Dalby by decision
-Jessin Ayari def. Jimmy Wallhead by decision
-Nick Hein def. Tae Hyun Bang by decision
-Ryan Bader def. Ilir Latifi by KO
-Alexander Gustafsson def. Jan Blachowicz by decision
-Josh Barnett def. Andrei Arlovski by decision
-UFC Hamburg drew 11,763 fans for a total gate of $913,428 USD.
-Renzo Gracie predicted on Sirius XM Rush that C.M. Punk will win his fight with Mickey Gall by second round guillotine.
-Following her TKO win yesterday, Ashlee Evans-Smith is campaigning for a rematch with Raquel Pennington. Pennington defeated Evans-Smith by submission at UFC 181.
-Alexander Gustafsson was very dismissive of the idea of a rematch with Jon Jones at yesterday’s press-conference. “I don’t really care that much,” he told media when asked if he’d be interested in fighting Jones for a potential future title shot.
–Jack Hermansson expressed interest in a fight with Thales Leites following his decision win over Scott Askham yesterday.
-Pedro Munhoz vs. Justin Scoggins is set for UFC Fight Night in Brazil on Nov. 19, UFC has confirmed to MMA Junkie. A city and venue has not been confirmed for the event that will serve as part of a double-header with a show in Belfast, Northern Ireland the same day.
(MMATorch’s Daily News Digest features the top story of the day with added analysis, plus smaller tidbits in the News Notes section. Mike Hiscoe has a background in film criticism and previously wrote for the DVD Town and Movie Metropolis websites. His passion for Mixed Martial Arts goes back to 2005, but it was in the promotion for UFC 60: Hughes vs. Gracie that he really got hooked.”This is my house, I build it,” is still among the all-time great UFC promos. You can follow Mike on social media under the tag @mikehiscoe. He now provides his experienced writing and perspective on live MMA events for MMATorch.)
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