UFC Rio was a strange night of fights.
The highlight was undoubtedly Charles Oliveira proving that he’s still both a top-tier Lightweight and massive star. He ran through Mateusz Gamrot like “Gamer” were
the has-been, becoming the first man to finish Gamrot with a second-round rear naked choke finish. Rio loves “Do Bronx,” and the arena exploded each and every time Oliveira advanced position.
It was a great evening for the former Lightweight king. Looking back over the night, however, the trend that really stands out is a disregard for fighter safety, as well as general rules and regulations. Multiple times throughout the card, somebody — be it the promotion, the athletic commission, the referee, the corner team — disregards the well-being of an athlete.
Let’s start at the beginning: two of these fights should have been canceled on weigh-in day. Saimon Oliveira signed on to fight as a Bantamweight but somehow managed to tip the scale at 144 pounds, a full weight class above. When the weight miss is this drastic, how can we pretend letting the fight continue is good sport or remotely fair to the other man? Fortunately in this case, Luan Lacerda is a much better fighter than Oliveira. Not only did he manage to escape the bout with his health intact, but he finished his opponent despite the weight discrepancy.
Outcome aside, it didn’t need to happen. Oliveira paid a significant fine and wasn’t allowed to rehydrate beyond 155 pounds, which helps even the scales yet puts Oliveira’s health at greater risk. Was the opening “Prelim” of the night that important?
On the main card, Lucas Almeida vs. Michael Aswell was supposed to be a pick ‘em slugfest. Unfortunately, Almeida showed up to weigh-ins with a clearly f—ked up hand. Fans noticed, and the odds skyrocketed in Aswell’s favor. The Brazilian was allowed to compete anyway, and he was promptly flattened in less than two minutes.
What is the point of pre-fight medical examinations if we’re letting athletes move forward with broken hands? Almeida receives his paycheck but also gets his face beaten in.
Finally, Vicente Luque was failed on more than one occasion by more than one entity. In round one, a legal knuckle to the eye essentially finished Luque but was briefly deemed an illegal shot by the referee. Upon realization that it was a legal blow, the ref opted to restart the fight, effectively robbing Joel Alvarez of his 100% finishing rate.
In round two, Luque ate a ton of punishment, getting battered from top position by dozens of Alvarez elbows and relentless punches while doing little more than holding on. He defended himself during the second, but it was clear between rounds that Luque was done fighting. He told the doctors that he couldn’t see out of his affected right eye yet was allowed to fight anyway. Luque looked at his corner with the eyes of a man ready to go home, and they still pushed him into the third round. Overall, it was an abject failure of multiple parties to protect a man who’s already suffered a brain bleed as a result of fighting in the Octagon.
If neither the commission officials nor the cornermen can be trusted to protect the athletes … who’s left?
For complete UFC Rio results and play-by-play, click here.
