Fight Night 68 Highlights/Results: Hendo Starches Boetsch, Rothwell Submits Mitrione, Everyone Finishes Everyone, Basically
https://youtu.be/dapwMhEaVJ4
You see that, right there? That’s why you never, EVER come at Dan Henderson with your hands down and your chin sticking straight up in the air. Given the H-Bomb’s now legendary status in our fine sport, you’d think that 27-fight veteran Tim Boetsch would have understood that simple fact prior to his first ever main event slot against Hendo at Fight Night 68 last weekend. And maybe he did, or maybe Boetsch was *so* confident in his chin that he figured there’d be no way an aging one-trick pony like Henderson would even be able to catch him. In either case, he was wrong and paid dearly for it.
There’s really not much to take away from the main event of Fight Night NOLA, other than that Hendo’s emphatic win will likely set him up to be slaughtered by a much younger, quicker middleweight in his next fight –which, hooray for that. But the small nugget of wisdom we were able to mine from Boetsch vs. Hendo was a lesson as old as…well, Dan Henderson: He knocked out Fedor. Fedor.
But Hendo vs. Boetsch wasn’t the only highlight worthy moment from Fight Night NOLA. With a record-tying 7 first round finishes (and 10 finishes overall) and a Sweet Chin Music knockout to name a couple memorable moments, last Saturday’s card will surely go down as one of the best — if not *the* best — of the year. So join us after the jump for a full breakdown of the event, with highlights courtesy of UFC on FOX.
https://youtu.be/6w9krWKVRJU
Speaking of amateurish performances from seasoned veterans: Matt Mitrione, everyone. Despite being a reasonable favorite heading into his co-main event slugfest with top 10 ranked heavyweight Ben Rothwell (?!!), “Meathead” held true to his nickname by displaying some of the worst fight IQ in recent memory, inexplicably shooting in for a takedown on the much larger Rothwell and getting submitted with a guillotine in seconds. That the failed takedown came after Mitrione had been outmoving and outstriking Rothwell on the feet (which many predicted would be his key to victory) makes the loss all that harder to understand. I guess Meathead gonna Meathead, y’all.
Of course, the real highlight (or lowlight, depending how you look at it) from Rothwell vs. Mitrione came in the night’s post-fight interview, where “Big Ben” provided the most cringeworthy heel promo since “Fear the consequences.” It’s honestly too embarrassing to even embed on this page, but you can check out Rothwell going full Disney villain here.
https://youtu.be/jNsCYCkYcWQ
If featherweight Dustin Poirier was a top 10 fighter, then lightweight Dustin Poirier 2.0 is a contender. “The Diamond” has looked damn near untouchable since moving back up to 155, and his performance against Yancy Medeiros last weekend was arguably his best to date. Poirier appeared to have Medeiros’ number from the opening bell, and it was a credit to the Hawaiian’s iron jaw that the fight lasted as long as it did.
With two first round KO’s in his past two fights, who would you like to see Poirier face next, Nation?
https://youtu.be/_yAnu6obczo
I’ve long thought that Alex Caceres has owned one of the most punchable faces in the UFC. I don’t know if it’s the afro or that he has the gall to compare himself in any way, shape, or form to Bruce Lee, but the man has always been a close second to Adrien Grenier on my list of punchable “celebrities.” Thankfully, Francisco Rivera seems to agree with me, and better yet, actually has the means to carry out what I can only dream of while dominating the fellow yellow belts in my dojo.
On the heels of a disappointment/bullshit loss to Urijah Faber at UFC 181, Rivera came out like a man on fire against Caceres, dropping and finishing him with heavy punches before my Hot Pocket even had time to cool off.
Other highlights from Fight Night NOLA included Joe Proctor’s last-second guillotine of Justin Edwards and Shawn Jordan’s aforementioned Sweet Chin Music-ing of Derrick Lewis, both of which can be seen below. Give ‘em a look, along with the full list of results from Fight Night 68.
https://youtu.be/gOKQObft7X8
Main card (FOX Sports 1 at 10 p.m. ET)
Dan Henderson def. Tim Boetsch via TKO (strikes) at 0:28 of R1
Ben Rothwell def. Matt Mitrione via submission (go go choke) at 1:54 of round 1
Dustin Poirier def. Yancy Medeiros via TKO (strikes) at 2:38 of round 1
Brian Ortega def. Thiago Tavares via TKO (strikes) at 4:10 of round 3
Anthony Birkchak def. Joe Soto via KO (strikes) at 1:37 of round 1
Francisco Rivera def. Alex Caceres via KO (punch) at :21 or round 1
Undercard (FOX Sports 1 at 8 p.m. ET)
Shawn Jordan def. Derrick Lewis via TKO (strikes) at :48 of round 2
Omari Akhmedov def. Brian Ebersole via TKO (injury) after round 1
Chris Wade def. Christos Giagos via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Joe Proctor def. Justin Edwards via submission (guillotine) at 4:58 of round 3
Undercard
Jake Collier def. Ricardo Abreu via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Jose Quinonez def. Leonardo Morales via submission (rear naked choke) 2:34 of round 1.
