UFC Fight Night 75: Josh Barnett And Roy Nelson Go The Distance; Uriah Hall Steals The Show

UFC Fight Night 75 for some will be remembered as the night were Josh Barnett (33-7) earned a rare decision victory over Roy Nelson (20-12), but most will remember the performance of Uriah Hall. Hall stole the night with a spinning back kick that stunned Gegard Mousasi, putting the entire middleweight division on notice. It was a relatively quiet night for the UFC until both Hall and Diego Brando woke up the patient Japanese crowd with two thrilling performances.

Josh Barnett proves a long layoff does not mean much as he is still one of the best heavyweight fighters in the world. While Roy Nelson had not been looking great as of late, Barnett out struck the one shot finisher to earn a unanimous decision which was the first decision for Barnett since 2008. Nelson showcased a gritty chin and landed a timely takedown but it was Barnett who produced the most offense. He repeatedly mixed in a great array of combinations that usually ended with a push kick to the body of Nelson. It may not be a young man's game in the UFC heavyweight division as of now, but there are still some exciting match ups to ponder with the win by Barnett.

Uriah Hall (12-5) came in as quite the underdog against the former Strikeforce Champion Gegard Mousasi (37-6). Still, he wanted to prove to the world he could compete with some of the top fighters in the UFC and facing Mousasi was that test. Uriah was in a bit of trouble early as he found himself on the mat in the first round, fighting of a key lock submission from Mousasi. He was able to survive and early in the second round he landed a perfectly timed spinning back kick to the face of Mousasi as he was ducking. That stunned the former champion and Hall came at him with a flying knee that sent him back down to the canvas. Hall pounced on Mousasi and the referee let the fight as long as he could until Mousasi no longer defended himself. Since his time on The Ultimate Fighter, many have been waiting to see Uriah’s explosive attacks. On Saturday night he showed how dangerous he is

Kyoji Horiguchi (16-2) continues to show why he is one of the best flyweights in the world with a sound technical performance over Chico Camus (14-7). His amazing footwork continues to impress as he was able to to inch out of the way and land counters to his pressing opponent all night. He hit Camus with great level changes as well attacking the body before landing a beautiful kick to the head that found Camus often. Chico was game as usual, using his boxing to his avail and every so often landed a shot on Horiguchi. The footwork was just too much to deal with from the young fighter as he excelled in a really classy performance in front of his homeland.

Takeya Mizugaki (12-9) outstruck the taller George Roop (15-12) in a fight that stayed in the clinch more than many would have hoped. The speed advantage must have been too much for Roop as he was not content with standing with Mizugaki, but also didn’t do much in the clinch. Mizugaki repeatedly found the chin of Roop who would immediately clinch up and hit the cage. Maybe if he would have thrown some knees and elbows in the process the fight would have been much closer. Roop would find an opening every once in awhile but didn’t have the quickness to take advantage, even though he did a great job of staying active with his feet. The judges made the right call favoring the performance of Mizugaki and awarded him with the unanimous decision.

Diego Brandao (20-10) did his best “I don’t get paid by the hour impersonation” with a fast first round finish over Katsunori Kikuno (22-8). He hit the Japanese fighter with a bomb of a right hand that dropped him within seconds. Brandao pounced on Kikuno and even though he stood up he was never able to recover. He caught Kikuno up against the cage and continued to pour on shots until the referee called for the fight. This was a great win for Brando who now has two straight since his loss to Conor McGregor.

In the featherweight bout for the road to the UFC finale from Japan, 10-year fight veteran Mizuto Hirota (17-7-2) took on the young upstart in Teruto Ishihara (7-2-2). It was an exciting fight between the two finalists that saw Ishihara trying to gain an early advantage with a sneaky kick at the start. He continued to get the edge in the first, landing a left to the face of Hirota that had the older vet a little off guard. The second round was Hirota's as he found his range and was able to close in on the younger fighter to land a few key left hooks of his own. He also managed to pull off a double leg takedown that caught with Ishiara with a nice counter. The third round went back and forth between the two, which unfortunately for the judges showed no true winner. The fight was scored a split decision draw at the end which begs the question of which one of these fighters will move on or back into the UFC. Guess we will have to wait until the next Asian card to find out.

Up next for the UFC is UFC 192 Cormier - Gustafsson on October 3rd. The full results from UFC Fight Night 75 are listed below.