My latest column at MMAOddsbreaker.com is my Rating the Card article, where I will take a look back at all the major MMA events and recap the event and then give my overall score of the card. For this instalment of the column, we will look back at UFC Fight Night 66. The first fight of the night saw Nolan Ticman take on Yao Zhikui in what was a dreadful affair. Ticman ran around the Octagon for 15 minutes throwing jabs and most thought he did enough to win, but the judges favored Zhikui’s aggressiveness and gave him the nod. It was a bad fight with an even worse decision, and was a poor way to kick off the card. Rating: 2/10 The next fight was much better as it featured an all-out war between Jon delos Reyes and Roldan Sangcha-an. Both men exchanged strikes on the feet and transitions on the ground for nearly two full rounds before Reyes was able to snare a slick submission with just a little bit of time left in round two. A great fight, and both men will likely be getting some bonus money for this one. Rating: 8/10 Next up was a featherweight bout between TUF China winner Guangyou Ning and Royston Wee. Neither man engaged for much of the first two rounds but with just a few sconds left in the third round Ning found Wee’s chin, hurt him, and then hurt him again to the body to finish him. Not a great fight overall but the finish was pretty awesome. Rating: 6/10 Then in was a welterweight contest between Li Jingliang and Dhiego Lima. I have no idea why Lima chose to stand and and bang with Jingliang in this fight, but that’s what he did, and he paid for it. Lima just kept getting tagged and then Jingliang hit him with a big hook that dropped him. Lima will probably head to Bellator next while the 170lb division takes notice of Jingliang. Rating: 7/10 The string of knockouts was followed by a snoozer as Kajan Johnson defeated Lipeng Zhang in a lightweight affair. Johnson fought very smart as he used his wrestling advantage to smother Zhang on the ground and win a decision, but this was a boring fight for the fans. Rating: 3/10 The finishes then returned as Jon Tuck knocked down Tae Hyun Bang and then finished him off with a rear-naked choke. Tuck looked awesome in this fight as he finally showed his true potential that many were talking about a few years ago. After this performance the hype train will be back on Tuck, and I can’t wait to see who the UFC decides to match him up with next. Rating: 8/10 After a solid set of prelims the opening main card bout was a snoozer as Levan Makashvili took home a clear-cut unanimous decision over Mark Eddiva by using his wrestling. The fight was basically just a 15 minute grind, although one has to keep in mind Makashvili took the fight on short notice and will likely look better in his next outing. Rating: 4/10 Then it was a featherweight bout between Phillipe Nover and Yui Chul Nam. Nover tried his best to make this a boring fight, but Nam took charge and was aggressive when he got his opportunities to look for the finish. It seemed like a clear-cut Nam win but for some reason two judges found a reason to award it to Nover in one of the worst decisions of the year so far. The fight was decent, but the decision left a very sour taste in my mouth. Rating: 5.5/10 That robbery was followed up with one of the better fights on the card as Hyun Gyu Lim took on Neil Magny. This was a great fight just like all of Lim’s fights usually are. The South Korean hurt Magny badly in the opening minutes of the fight, but Magny survived the barrage and then took over, outcardioing Lim and then finishing him off with punches in the second. It was Magny’s seventh-straight win, and it was the best of them all. Rating: 7.5/10 Mark Munoz’ retirement matchup then took place, and despite almost everyone counting him out, he proved everyone completely wrong, absolutely destroying Luke Barnatt for 15 minutes to win a decision. Munoz didn’t get the finish, but he picked up an amazing win in the last time we’ll ever see him compete, and I wish him good luck in his retirement. As for Barnatt, he just didn’t look good at all and will be cut after losing three in a row. Rating: 7/10 The co-main event saw Gegard Mousasi dominate Costas Philippou for three rounds as he won a clear-cut unanimous decision. This wasn’t a very exciting fight as it was just Mousasi taking Philippou down and beating him up for three rounds, but overall it was a very solid performance by “The Dreamcatcher,” who remains a top contender at 155lbs. Rating: 5/10 And finally, the main event saw Frankie Edgar and Urijah Faber go head-to-head for 25 minutes in a true superfight on paper, although it didn’t play out that way in the cage. This just wasn’t as exciting a fight as it should have been. Edgar did his thing, but Faber was extremely disappointing. He just didn’t throw enough strikes to even make it remotely close, and overall I don’t understand what Faber was doing out there. I know Edgar’s good, but it’s disappointing Faber didn’t put up a better fight. Rating: 4/10 Overall I will give UFC Fight Night 66 a 7/10. There were a lot of exciting fights on the prelims, and a number of awesome finishes scattered throughout the card, but I was very disappointed in the main event. It just didn’t live up to the expectations that the UFC put on it, and that the fans had for it, and for me it dragged down the score of the entire card, although as a whole it was still a pretty good card.
