UFC Fight Night 84

UFC Fight Night 84: Silva vs Bisping Main Card Results

UFC Fight Night 84 brought a ton of action for London fans in attendance and Fight Pass subscribers around the world to enjoy, and as a whole, did well to demonstrate and enhance the value of the UFC’s subscription service. Most notably, though, the five-round main event war between Michael Bisping and Anderson Silva was outstanding.

Let’s take a look at the UFC 84 main-card results!

Brad Pickett vs Francisco Rivera

This battle between two of the best strikers in the bantamweight division may not have delivered the hardcore action that some fans expected, but it was an interesting and hard-fought contest, overall.

Both men landed solid shots throughout the fight, but it was probably Rivera who got the better of most of these exchanges—largely due to his power. There was once again a good amount of back-and-forth striking from each competitor, but it was generally technical and cautious in nature. Only at the tail end of the first couple rounds did the two throw caution to the wind and let their hands fly.

This hesitation was most certainly due to the fact that each man clearly has the power to put the other out. In addition to being vicious strikers, both Rivera and Pickett are intelligent fighters; with both of them throwing leather with their established power, it was a certainty that someone would go to sleep. The problem is, when competing against a similarly elite fighter in this style of contest, it’s difficult for either man to guarantee that he’ll land the fight-ending shot first.

The takedown was also a large part of the fight for each man, although there wasn’t very much ground and pound landed on either side; the purpose of these takedowns, in addition to securing rounds, was largely to disrupt the striking tempo of the opposite man.

Again, this was a close contest that was accordingly hard to score; the split-decision judges’ verdict reflects this.

Official Result: Brad Pickett def. Francisco Rivera via Split Decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29)

Tom Breese vs Keita Nakamura

As many fans expected, Nakamura largely tried to implement a clinch and ground-based game against the talented English striker, Breese, and found some success in the process. This would be the first fight of his career to go the distance, but in the end, there was little doubt that Breese did enough to win—although he certainly didn’t impress the fans as many had expected him to do.

In the first round, Nakamura did reasonably well in terms of limiting the striking offense of Breese, but in the process, failed to land very many good shots of his own. The Japanese fighter secured an early takedown, and was probably surprised when Breese attempted a leg lock—a maneuver which helped him find his way back to his feet. The skilled “K-Taro” then applied Breese to the cage, for most of the round’s remainder, but wasn’t able to land much. Moreover, Breese also turned him around on several occasions. Despite the closeness of the round, Breese probably took it due to his landing of the harder overall strikes.

In the second round, a more aggressive Breese was promptly taken down, and in the center of the cage, Nakamura proceeded to mount, before being reversed following another leg lock attempt from Breese. From this position, Nakamura was unable to return to his feet, despite trying very hard on several occasions to do so. Breese landed some solid shots, but nothing too powerful, while stuck in the half guard. After a transition, Breese found himself in the full guard of Nakamura, where he landed the best shots of the round. After this, Breese got caught up in a tight omoplata, which allowed Nakamura to instill some definite worry in his opponent, and end the round in top position. Still, Breese likely did enough to comfortably take the stanza.

In the third round, both men opened up with a relatively small amount of activity on the feet, for the first minute or so. Then, Nakamura applied the Englishman to the fence once again, although he didn’t land very many strikes from the position. Still, the position allowed him to eventually secure the takedown, and Breese looked for a leg lock immediately, as in the prior rounds. After being quickly reversed following this submission attempt, Breese found himself on his back once again, but Nakamura curiously landed very few strikes, even being warned by the ref for his inactivity. During another transition, Breese retook top position with just over one minute remaining in the fight, and attached himself to the back of the Japanese fighter in an inverted triangle position, although the choke wasn’t very close to being finished. Both men occupied this position until the end of the contest. Breese very likely did enough to win the round and the bout, on essentially every scorecard.

This wasn’t a particularly exciting fight by any means, and was certainly much closer than the odds predicted (Breese was a resounding -1500 favorite!). In the end, the talented Englishman Tom Breese got his hand raised, securing a unanimous decision in the first fight of his career to go the distance, and accordingly keeping his undefeated record intact.

Official Result: Tom Breese def. Keita Nakamura via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

Gegard Mousasi vs Thales Leites

The always-technical and calculated Mousasi did what it took to clearly win the contest, but probably didn’t excite very many fans in the process. His accurate striking, despite every fighter expecting it, is so good that it can outmatch most opponents.

It took less than ten seconds for Leites to look for the takedown, although he was initially unsuccessful in taking the fight to the ground. The talented BJJ practitioner came close a couple of times against the cage, before pulling guard and allowing Mousasi to assume top position. Mousasi, despite being on top, was having no part of the ground game of Leites, and rose to his feet and returned to striking range. “The Dreamcatcher” then began to land some nice strikes, but nothing too devastating connected. Still, Leites certainly felt out of place, and attempted a couple of additional takedowns, which Mousasi defended. Again Leites pulled guard, and Mousasi promptly returned to his feet yet once more. The first round ended with more of the same on the feet, as Mousasi landed reasonably solid shots, and clearly connected more frequently than his opponent, but didn’t come close to finishing—or trying to finish. Regardless, the round was his.

The second round saw an amped-up Mousasi land slightly harder strikes with more frequency. Nothing was quite fight-ending, but nevertheless, these punches caught the attention of Leites. A half-hearted takedown attempt of Leites was defended by Mousasi, and the Brazilian became notably more frustrated, swinging with more force. Both men continued to throw, but once again, Mousasi landed more shots and continually peppered his opponent. Leites shot for a bit of a desperation takedown, but was once again unsuccessful. At this point, the wear was apparent on the face of Leites, and similarly, his takedowns became more telegraphed and lazier in nature. Mousasi certainly won this stanza.

Leites opened the third with force, but within the first ten seconds, pulled guard. Mousasi occupied the position this time, but returned to his feet without landing many shots soon after. Once on the feet, Leites continued to get peppered with the jabs and short shots of Mousasi, before he pounced forward and landed a couple of good shots of his own. Mousasi remained calm and weathered the storm, before he connected with some more shots of his own and defending a takedown. Mousasi defended yet another takedown at the two minute mark, but this time, he rolled the Brazilian over and assumed top control, albeit landing few shots. Mousasi rode the round and the fight out.

Once again, this was a clear-cut win for Mousasi, but not one that was particularly thrilling to watch. Still, it was an excellent way for him to return to his winning ways, and served as a perfect reminder of the quality of his striking technique and overall game.

Official Result: Gegard Mousasi def. Thales Leites via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

Michael Bisping vs Anderson Silva

The first round opened with Bisping coming forward as the aggressor, picking his shots as the two moved around the cage. Notably, Silva didn’t land much of anything during the first two minutes of the contest, as he tried to settle in and adjust to the constant movement of “The Count”. Towards the end of the round, Silva began to move back less frequently, and threw more shots of his own. Bisping still continued to land the better shots, including a surprisingly awesome double kick, before he staggered the former champion during a round-end flurry. Silva tried to hug Bisping after the bell, but the Brit pushed him away without hesitation. Bisping won this round, given the late stagger.

The second opened with Silva keeping his back against the cage, as fans saw in several of his fights, including against his contest against Stephan Bonnar. Bisping, after he landed some solid shots, stood back and forced “The Spider” to move out into the center of the Octagon. Silva continued to adjust and deflect many of the punches of Bisping, but still, was on the retreat well through the first three minutes of the stanza. The former champion landed some solid shots of his own, but nothing overly notable; it appeared as though Bisping presented more trouble on the feet than Silva expected in this round especially. With less than one minute left in the second, Bisping landed an outstanding combination, the last shot of which sent Silva to the ground. Dropped but not out, Silva defended the onslaught of punches from Bisping until the round’s end. “The Count” certainly took the second.

The third round, despite the constant movement of Silva, showed immediate signs of his relative worry in regards to the Englishman’s striking. Bisping continued to push forward and move, landing solid shots in combinations and alone, which continued to frustrate Silva. The former champion threw a high kick and caught a leg of Bisping, but Michael remained composed and continued to land, although Silva walked forward more than he had in the opening of the round. Silva landed solid shots to finish the round, but around the time of the bell, also landed a tough flying knee which dropped Bisping, as he looked to Herb Dean to retrieve his mouthpiece. It was certainly a controversial shot, and Silva needed to be pulled off the cage afterwards, as he thought the fight was over. Still, it wasn’t ruled as illegal, and was by far the hardest shot of the round— a fact which allowed “The Spider” to command the third.

The fourth round saw some bad blood apparent as both men threw their strikes, and in the first minute, the defense of both athletes held up. Then, as Silva was against the cage, Bisping landed a good shot before being caught in the cup with a strike. After the break, Silva kept his back against the cage, and Bisping obliged, proceeding to land some solid shots in the process. Then, back in the center of the cage, Silva caught a finger in the eye and took a couple of minutes to recover. As the men broke, it was once again clear that Bisping was unintimidated by the shots of Silva, as he marched forward. Bisping continued to land additional damaging strikes, and each time he connected, the crowd immediately cheered in response—certainly something which Silva noticed and was affected by. The end of the round saw Silva press forward and land some good punches of his own, but still, Bisping fired back. Silva caught him clearly in the last ten seconds of what was a very close round. As both men returned to their corners, the wear on each of their faces was apparent. The cutman, for whatever reason, didn’t appear to work on Bisping’s face.

Silva landed a hard shot to open the fifth round, and Bisping continued to fire back. At this point, it was clear that the blood and the eye of Bisping served as a large distraction, as he continually wiped it. On cue, Herb Dean called a brief halt to the action so that the doctor could enter to remove some of the blood from the eye of Bisping. The crowd was absolutely electrified at this point! Silva, shortly after the break, landed a well-timed front kick that stunned and wobbled Bisping, He immediately followed “The Count” up with strikes, but Bisping recovered well and kept his composure. After this onslaught concluded, Bisping pressed forward yet again and found some success. He wasn’t able to take his opponent down, but continued to push the pace.  The last minute concluded with Bisping walking Silva down, landing single shots sparingly. The final horn rang and the crowd cheered in response. This was a close round and a close fight.

Official Result: Michael Bisping def. Anderson Silva via Unanimous Decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-47)

With this win, Michael Bisping, in an instance of true statistical irony, moved to number one on the list of all-time wins in the UFC middleweight division—sending, of course, Anderson Silva into second place. This was probably the biggest triumph of the Englishman’s career, and certainly one of the most exciting.

Overall, UFC 84 admittedly wasn’t the best card ever, but the fights were generally interesting, and the main event will go down as one of the best contests of the year. It was certainly a testament to the quality of Fight Pass, as was said, as high-quality live events like this, in coordination with live offerings from a ton of MMA promotions, the Eddie Bravo Invitational, Glory Kickboxing, and access to a massive library of fights, certainly makes the service worth $10 monthly (or less, if more months are purchased at once).

The UFC’s next offering is a high-quality pay-per-view card in UFC 196, which pits Conor McGregor against Nate Diaz, and Holly Holm against Miesha Tate, for the bantamweight title. This event will once again air on pay-per-view, and shouldn’t be missed by any MMA fan.

Enjoy the fights!

 

 

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