The UFC Fight Night 67 event came to us from Brazil last night, and the main event saw former interim welterweight champion Carlos Condit return with a strong performance, stopping Thiago Alves after two rounds. The doctor stopped the fight between the second and third rounds as Alves’ face was a bloody, swollen mess.
For Condit, it was a strong performance after a long layoff healing a knee injury, and he should find himself back in the mix in the welterweight division. Alves showed a lot of heart, as he was forced to fight most of the second round with a badly broken nose, and Condit poured it on once he had Alves hurt. Most importantly, Condit appears to have come through unscathed and injury free, so hopefully he can get scheduled again quickly to help build him momentum.
The co-main event saw Nik Lentz and Charles “Do Bronx” Oliveira meeting for a second time, and they once again took home “Fight of the Night” bonuses. Oliveira won the opening round, with Lentz taking the second round. Oliveira seized an opportunity early in the third round, catching Lentz with his head down and applying a finishing guilltoine choke. Oliveira also won submission of the night for his finish, taking home six figures in bonuses.
Veteran KJ Noons was looking good letting his hands loose against Alex Oliveira, but Oliveira worked his way to the back and got several big takedowns on Noons, who provided little resistance when the Brazilian sunk the arm under the chin for the rear naked choke.
The Brazilian jinx appears to be back in effect, as several foreign fighters who were favored heading into their fights took losses. Ireland’s Norman Parke took his second loss in a row in the UFC, losing a split decision to Francisco Trinaldo. Parke, who at one point was 19-2 overall has gone 1-2-1 in his last four fights, and though a lot of folks saw the fight for Parke, leaving it to the judges in Brazil is something to be avoided. Likewise for Ryan Jimmo, who needed a win to avoid dropping two in a row. Jimmo and Francimar Barroso fought basically a stalemate match, but Jimmo saw the judges give the match to the hometown fighter.
