UFC Fight Night 82 came and went, leaving behind a solid night of scraps. Now, following the night of action, let’s take a look at which competitors of the evening we may no longer see go to work inside the UFC’s Octagon… ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante Feijao was looking great against OSP in the beginning of the first stanza on the main card of last night’s UFC Fight Night 82, but OSP turned the tables later in the round by knocking the Brazilian down and then jumping into his guard for a little ground and pound before the bell, easily stealing the round that initially appeared to be not going in his favor. He completely took over in the second, dominating Cavalcante both on the feet and on the mat, and more of the same in the third for a unanimous decision victory on the judges’ scorecards. This defeat makes it three straight for the Brazilian and puts him at 1-3 inside the Octagon. This was the best he had looked as of late, but he still did not have what it takes to beat opposition the level of OSP. Following the three straight defeats, I think there is a good chance the UFC will be releasing him from his contract, and I would not be surprised to see him in Bellator in the coming months, with former Strikeforce president Scott Coker being the man over there now. KJ Noons Noons came up short on the judges’ scorecards last night at UFC Fight Night 82 against Josh Burkman, using a unanimous decision and falling to a two-fight skid inside the Octagon. It is arguably three, if you include the Daron Cruickshank fight, which he was losing until accidentally poking Cruickshank’s eyes, deterring him unable to continue and having the bout result in a No Contest. Now officially 2-2-1 NC in the UFC, coming off back to back losses to Burkman and Alex Oliveira, I think there is a good chance the veteran will be receiving his walking papers from the promotion. This had the feel of a “loser goes home” match-up heading in, and Noons came up short. I expect we will also be seeing him in Bellator in the near future, where former Strikeforce president Scott Coker currently runs the show. Mike Jackson Jackson made his promotional and professional mixed martial arts debut against Mickey Gall in the “CM Punk Sweepstakes” and lost via rear naked choke submission at only 0:45 into the very first round of action. Gall hurt him with a punch, dropping him, then took his back and immediately sunk in the choke for the quick tap. This fight looked like it could have been a “one and done” type of deal for Johnson, and I would not be at all shocked to see the promotion part ways with him following his outing. Artem Lobov Lobov is now on a two-fight losing streak inside the Octagon and has not looked good in either fight. He lost a unanimous decision to Ryan Hall in his promotional debut, and followed that up with another unanimous decision loss to Alex White on the Fight Pass prelims for last night’s UFC Fight Night 82. The only reason he got on TUF and the UFC to begin with is because of Conor McGregor. He is not a UFC-calibre fighter and does not belong, so if it were anybody else, he would certainly be receiving his walking papers after this loss. However, considering he is McGregor’s buddy, I think there is a good chance they will give him one more chance, even though he does not deserve it.
