After a weekend without any major MMA events (likely due to all the brouhaha surrounding Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao), we are back to our regular scheduling, with the second UFC Fight Pass exclusive card of the year. Fight Night 65: Hunt vs Miocic will be broadcast from Adelaide, Australia and is headlined by an awesome heavyweight matchup. Despite as weak an undercard as one might expect from a Fight Pass event, the main event alone is enough to bring the net value of Fight Pass subscription into the green for the year. And with the main card start time of 11 PM (US Eastern Time) – which is not far from the usual start time of UFC events, you don’t even have to stay up till wee hours to watch the fights, as is often the case with live events broadcast from abroad. Between all of this, I am actually enticed to sign up for Fight Pass to watch this card. Or at least start with a free trial subscription…
Main Event: [#5 HW] Mark Hunt vs [#9 HW] Stipe Miocic
Worth: $20.00
Why: As mentioned above, this is an awesome fight. The late career resurrection of Mark Hunt has been very fun to watch, culminating in a shot at the interim title against Fabricio Werdum, where Hunt gave Werdum all he could handle before being knocked out by a vicious knee. He now has to take on Stipe Miocic – an opponent who is almost 10 years younger, and is one of the few bright prospects on the shallow and shop-worn heavyweight roster. The winner of this fight may be in line for the next title shot, especially if Cain Velasquez successfully defends his title against interim champion Werdum. Should Werdum retain the title, then the next shot probably belongs to Junior Dos Santos – UFC’s perennial #2, who already holds wins over Hunt, Werdum, and Miocic (first two by knockout, the latter by a somewhat controversial decision). Either way, this fight might show that Mark Hunt still has plenty of fight left in him at 41, or it could be a career-defining performance for Stipe Miocic which will solidify him as a contender. And no matter what happens, it’s virtually guaranteed to be an exciting slugfest.
Fight: [#19 MW] Brad Tavares vs [#34 MW] Robert Whittaker
Worth: $5.00
Why: After going 7-1 in his first Octagon appearances, 27-year-old Tavares was looking like a legit prospect. His buzz has cooled off a bit after losing his next two fights, but a victory over Nate Marquardt righted the ship, and he looks to continue his climb up the rankings against his next opponent Robert Whittaker. Whittaker started his UFC career as a welterweight, with some mixed results, and a move up to middleweight came as a surprise to most fans. Robert performed admirably in his middleweight debut, outworking Clint Hester on the feet and stopping him with strikes in the second round. In a very close match-up between two middle-of-the road middleweights, we will find out who is the real deal prospect and who’s doomed for the gatekeeper territory (though both guys are still young, thus the loser of this fight shouldn’t be written off completely).
Fight: [#32 LHW] Anthony Perosh vs [#40 LHW] Sean OConnell
Worth: $2.50
Why: It’s nothing short of amazing that Anthony ‘Hippo’ Perosh is still fighting, and even winning fights in the UFC at 42 years of age. Perosh did not undergo a Mark Hunt-like late career resurrection, nor did he particularly evolve as a fighter. He is still the same one-dimensional submission expert who’s good enough at this dimension to stop most opponents not ranked in the Top 20. Put him in against an elite opponent though, and he loses – usually in an ugly and brutal fashion – but keeps on coming back after every loss, seemingly no worse for the wear. Fortunately Sean O’Connell is not the type of elite opponent that Perosh struggles against, so this should be a winnable fight for the Hippo in his homeland.
Fight: [#28 MW] Sam Alvey vs [#72 MW] Daniel Kelly
Worth: $2.50
Why: After a decision loss to Tom Watson in his UFC debut, Sam Alvey came back with consecutive knockout wins over Dylan Andrews and Cezar Ferreira, which made me take notice of Sam as a potential prospect. He is now taking on undefeated Daniel Kelly, who is 2-0 in the UFC. The most interesting thing about this fight is that while Kelly has over a decade on Alvey in age, he only has 9 professional fights compared to Alvey’s 32. The discrepancy in age and experience should both be a big advantage to Alvey, allowing him to improve his UFC record to 3-1
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Fight Pass Event Worth: $30
Fight Pass Year-to-Date Cost: $49.95
Fight Pass Year-to-Date Value: $1.05