UFC Charlotte had a great crowd and delivered a solid enough card. There were ups and downs all around, but still, plenty to take away from the event. Potential future matches have already been discussed. Here we will discuss some key takeaways from Saturday.
UFC Charlotte: The Referee Problem
We’ll get things started with the negatives. In the prelims, especially, the referees were making some very questionable decisions. Two fights specifically were heavily impacted by referee intervention. Ji Yeon Kim and Mandy Bohm were a mess of a fight, with points being taken late and a long delay before making a final decision. Immediately after, the fight between Cody Stamann and Douglas Silva de Andrade rewarded a fighter position after landing an illegal strike. We’re not here to say who won or lost these fights, but the refereeing obviously impacted them. Judging is already a problem in MMA; hopefully, refereeing does not reach the same negative level.
Immortal
Is there a more fitting nickname in the UFC than “The Immortal” Matt Brown? Even at 42 years old, Brown continues to get highlight reel wins. This time he took out the very tough Court McGee in a battle between two legends. Brown made it clear that he is not going away and wants the UFC knockout record. One more knockout is all it will take, and there is nothing for us to believe The Immortal will not get that done.
City Kickboxing
Does City Kickboxing have its newest star? It is very early, but Carlos Ulberg has looked extremely good lately. Four straight wins have him set up for a big opportunity his next time out. His striking is high-level, and if the rest of his game can catch up, the sky is the limit. The 205 division has plenty of opportunities in the rankings, and next time out will truly show us Ulberg’s ceiling.
Ian Garry
Doubt was out there, but Ian Garry put forth his best performance to date. Daniel Rodriguez was the toughest test yet, and Garry made it look easy. He is now 12-0 and called for Neil Magny in his next matchup. That is a perfect chance for Garry to become a staple in the rankings and move closer to the top. Garry is certainly very marketable as Ireland’s next star, and his skill is certainly matching the hype. The Future is here to stay, and it will be exciting to see Garry’s path going forward.
The Heavyweight Boogeyman
Jailton Almeida got his first main event at UFC Charlotte and made a huge statement. His wrestling and ground game is on a different level and will be very dangerous in the upper-weight classes. Knockout artist Jairzinho Rozenstruik had no answers once Almeida got him down, as he was submitted in only a couple of minutes. Almeida’s wrestling will be very difficult to stop, and he seems to be the newest Boogeyman. We doubt there will be contenders lining up to fight Jailton, but he deserves big matchups and could be fast-tracked to a future title shot.
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
