If Alex Gustafsson is in a Forest, but Nobody Watches Fuel TV, is Anyone Impressed?

They're not dead or anything, this is just the image the UFC had for some reason.

Last Saturday’s UFC on Fuel TV card wasn’t seen by many (as of this writing Fuel’s available in about sixty-three households in the whole world), but as I alluded to last Friday, the overlooked card provided plenty of entertainment due to strong matchmaking.

PRELIMINARY CARD (Facebook)

  • Jason Young defeated Eric Wisely via unanimous decision (30–28, 29–28, 29–28)
  • Simeon Thoresen defeated Besam Yousef via submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:36 of round 2
  • Reza Madadi defeated Yoislandy Izquierdo via submission (guillotine choke) at 1:28 of round 2
  • Francis Carmont defeated Magnus Cedenblad via submission (rear-naked choke) at 1:42 of round 2
  • Cyrille Diabate defeated Tom DeBlass via majority decision (29–28, 29–28, 28–28)
  • James Head defeated Papy Abedi via submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:33 of round 1.

Confession: I didn’t see a single one of these. The last fight ended up making the broadcast after the main event, but I’d already left the house.

MAIN CARD

  • Brad Pickett defeated Damacio Page via submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:05 of round 2. I missed this one, too, and I’m bummed that I did. Been reading it was a great damn fight. I might have to bit-torrent that shit somehow acquire it through legal means, my friends at the UFC! WINK.
  • John Maguire defeated DaMarques Johnson via submission (armbar) at 4:40 of round 2. Poor DaMarques. He went too hard and too aggressive for a submission and got caught himself. I feel for you, bro. That shit’s infuriating.
  • Dennis Siver defeated Diego Nunes via unanimous decision (29–28, 29–28, 29–28). I take back what I said. I might be biased because I’ve been a backer since he came in to the UFC, but he looked great here. I think he’ll adjust okay despite his difficulty making weight (it was his first time fighting at 145). The only concern here is addressing the grappling deficiency he’ll run into when he gets to the upper echelon of the division, but I honestly think he’s going to adjust and be a real threat. Keep your eye on this one.
  • Siyar Bahadurzada defeated Paulo Thiago via KO (punch) at 0:42 of round 1. God damn, son. Paulo put his head wayyyyy down for an overhand right and got met with the business end of an uppercut from Bahadurzada that almost took his head off. Well played.
  • Brian Stann defeated Alessio Sakara via KO (punches) at 2:26 of round 1. I like Stann so I was happy to see him get the win here, but I was bummed to see Sakara go down again. There’s a lot of potential there. C’est la vie.
  • Alexander Gustafsson defeated Thiago Silva via unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, 29–28). Let me get this out of the way first: Gustafsson looked really good here. He battered Silva about the cage and wasn’t intimidated at all by the man who just last year was playing bongos on Brandon Vera’s back shortly after providing a sample to the Nevada State Athletic Commission that, it turns out, was “not human urine” (hence the one year suspension). Still, all this talk of Jon Jones – both the comparisons to and talk of an eventual bout – are wicked premature. Gustafsson looked good enough to easily dispatch a guy who’s just outside the top ten at Light Heavyweight. Does that mean he’s ready for Jones? Not even close. It does show, though, that the guy’s got a lot of upside and is only getting better.

Is it worth going out of your way to see a replay? Eh. Pickett/Page maybe, but I think you’re safe missing everything else.

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