Former Bellator champion (but still undefeated fighter) Will Brooks made his UFC debut on Friday…and didn’t impress too many folks. Against mediocre veteran Ross Pearson, Brooks managed to win the first two rounds with his wrestling, but got lit up at range in the third. That was still good enough for a unanimous decision win, though. Notes:
- Brooks is still really good, even if this wasn’t a great fight. Still top-five material.
- Pearson’s striking is still really fun to watch. He’s one of the few fighters that could actually do well in boxing, and that showed in this fight as he out-landed Brooks big later in the fight.
- Brooks was stripped of the lightweight title due to his leaving the promotion, not due to an actual loss. Bellator belted a new champ in Michael Chandler a couple weeks back after he DESTROYED Patrick Freire.
- The UFC is actively avoiding letting the fans know that two former Bellator champions are crushing the lightweight division in Alvarez and Brooks.
The Best of the Rest
- Gray Maynard got an ugly win in his featherweight debut. He’s still delaying the inevitable and still needs to retire immediately.
- John Moraga lost an ugly one to an unknown TUF also-ran. He’s probably bumped out of the rankings as a result.
- Andrew Sanchez and Tatiana Suarez are your new Ultimate Fighters! Suarez looks ready to make some noise. Sanchez? He’s pretty terrible.
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