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 65. The first fight of the night saw Ben Nguyen make his UFC debut against Alptekin Ozkilic. Like Ozkilic’ last fight against John Lineker, this one was a slugfest, and for the second-straight fight yet again Ozkilic was on the wrong end of the knockout. Nguyen showed very sharp kickboxing skills and his power for 125lbs is scary. Fun fight for as long as it lasted. Rating: 7/10 Then it was a welterweight bout between Brendan O’Reilly and Vik Grujic. This fight didn’t look good on paper, but it was more fun than expected. Both men threw bombs and both grinded along the fence, mixing in dirty boxing, but ultimately it was O’Reilly that landed the key takedowns to steal the decision. Decent scrap, better than expected. Rating: 6/10 Up next were the women as Kailin Curran took on Alex Chambers. Curran looked absolutely fantastic in the first two rounds, dominating Chambers on the feet and on the mat, but she made a mistake in the third round on the ground, Chambers took advantage, and Curran shockingly tapped to an armbar. A huge upset, and overall a fun fight. Rating: 6.5/10 A pair of middleweights squared off next as Dylan Andrews took on Brad Scott. Andrews hurt Scott badly in the first round, but Scott showed an incredible ability to recover and in the second round it was he who hurt Andrews, and then quickly took advantage of it with a submission on the mat. It was a fun scrap for sure while it lasted, and maybe the last time we’ll see Andrews in the UFC as he’s lost three in a row. Rating: 6.5/10 Then it was another women’s fight, this time featuring Bec Rawlings taking on Lisa Ellis. This fight played out like most Ellis fights in that she started off strong and then mentally quit and was submitted. It was definitely a good submission win for Rawlings, but beating Ellis really doesn’t mean much considering the way she just folds in her fights when she faces any sort of adversity. Rating: 6/10 A middleweight bout between Sam Alvey and Daniel Kelly played out pretty much like expected. Kelly walked forward like he always does, but like Alvey always does he threw extremely heavy leather at his opponent’s face and brutally knocked him out. Another fantastic KO win for Alvey, who called out Elias Theodorou after the fight. Rating: 7/10 The weakest prelim of the bunch was next as Kyle Noke took on UFC newcomer Jonavin Webb. This was a pretty competitive fight that took place both on the mat and on the feet, but although most observers thought Webb deserved the win the judges somehow found a way to give it to Noke in Australia. A mediocre fight, and an even worst decision. Rating: 5/10 The final prelim of the night saw Daniel Hooker take on Hatsu Hioki. Like most expected, Hioki was doing great in the first two rounds, but out of nowhere he got caught with a head kick with just a few seconds left in the second round and was brutally knocked out for the first time in his career. The fight wasn’t anything special, but boy that knockout was. Rating: 6.5/10 The main card kicked off with a battle of two big lightweights as James Vick took on Jake Matthews. The young Aussie Matthews was looking good early on, but Vick found a way to get the fight to the ground and wrapped his long arms around Matthews’ neck, scoring a highlight-reel submission. Another great win for Vick, who deserves a big step up at 155lbs. Rating: 7/10 Then it was a light heavyweight bout between Anthony Perosh and Sean O’Connell. This fight didn’t last longer than a minute as O’Connell found Perosh’s chin and put him away in devastating fashion. It was a quick fight, but O’Connell looked awesome. Rating: 7/10 The co-main event of the evening was even shorter, as Robert Whittaker needed just 44 seconds to pound out Brad Tavares. Whittaker’s hands looked lightning fast at 185lsb and beating Tavares will get him a spot in the top 15 of the middleweight division. The fight didn’t last long, but what a knockout this was. Incredible. Rating: 8/10 The main event featured one of the biggest beatdowns ever witnessed inside the Octagon as Stipe Miocic beat the snot out of Mark Hunt for five rounds, ultimately earning a TKO victory in the fifth. It was a great performance by Miocic but this was a hard fight to watch. Rating: 5/10 Overall, I’d give UFC Fight Night 65 a 7.5/10 rating. None of the fights in particular really stood out as “Fight of the Night” contenders, but collectively this card was a ton of fun to watch, and was definitely one of the better Fight Pass exclusive cards the UFC has aired in a while. There was a ton of knockouts, some nice submissions, and a bunch of surprises. A great card, and let’s hope the next one is just as good. It’s just unfortunate the main event lasted so long.
