UFC Fight Night 67 was a card that flew under the radar, but it exceeded my expectations. Considering it was a week after the blockbuster UFC 187 card, it’s not totally surprising that a Fight Night card in Brazil wasn’t getting much love, but this event turned out to be a lot more exciting than most figured it would, and ended up being a good reason to stay in on a Saturday night. The opening Fight Pass prelim of the night started things off on the right track as Tom Breese brutally knocked out Luiz Dutra with punches. This was an awesome UFC debut from Breese and it will be interesting to see where he goes next. Of course, the women’s bout between Juliana Lima and Ericka Almeida turned out to be a stinker, but that didn’t surprise anyone considering Lima’s fighting style. The rest of the prelims, for the most part, were very good fights. Mirsad Bektic showed why he’s a top prospect with a first-round beatdown of Lucas Martins, Nicolas Dalby and Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos put on a great 15-minute battle, and Rony Jason submitted Damon Jackson with his patented triangle choke. The fight between Wilson Reis and Jussier Formiga wasn’t great, but it wasn’t terrible either. For televised prelims, these four bouts collectively were pretty great. The main card was a mixed bag, for at times it was extremely exciting, and at other times it was boring. Let’s start with the two fights that weren’t that exciting. The first saw Franciso Trinaldo edge out Norman Parke by decision. This wasn’t a great fight but Trinaldo got the nod in his hometown. The other stinker on the main card was Ryan Jimmo vs. Francimar Barroso. This was one of the worst fights of the year, one that will likely be Jimmo’s last Octagon appearance as Barroso got his hand raised. Thankfully, though, the rest of the main card was awesome. The opening bout saw Darren Till finished Wendell Oliveira with vicious ground and pound, which was a nice finish for the Brit-Brazilian making his UFC debut. The Alex Oliveira finish over KJ Noons was also enjoyable. But it was the two marquee fights that really stood out. The co-main event, a rematch between Nik Lentz and Charles Oliveira, was absolutely incredible, and the main event between Carlos Condit and Thiago Alves was beautiful violence for as long as it lasted. Those two fights really elevated the entire rating of the card in my book, and mostly made up for that awful Jimmo/Barroso fight that made everyone fall asleep. Overall I rated UFC Fight Night 67 a 7.5/10. For a TV card, this was one of the better shows the UFC has had in a while, and the main and co-main events absolutely delivered. It’s unfortunate that fights like Barroso/Jimmo and Almeida/Lima had to drag down the overall rating of the card, but still, it was a very good show, and hopefully UFC Fight Night 68 provides a similar amount of entertainment and action for UFC fans next weekend.
