The UFC Fight Night 40 event last night in Ohio saw Matt Brown take out Erick Silva in the main event, and the rest of the card had several standout performances. At Middleweight, Costas Philippou got his ship righted with an outstanding first round KO of Lorenz Larkin. In the bantamweight class, Brazilian veteran Johnny Eduardo blasted Eddie Wineland into next week, while Ed Herman and Nik Lentz both grinded out wins against tough opponents.
For Philippou, it was a performance that brings back memories of his win against Tim Boetsch. Since being derailed by GSP trained hugger Francis Carmont and getting mauled by Luke Rockhold, Philippou was teetering on the brink of UFC exile, however this win showed his pitbull side, and Larkin never really got any offense off in their roughly 4 minute encounter.
Eddie Wineland has been one of the most popular bantamweights in the UFC because of his gritty, balls out style. Unfortunately for Wineland, he may have underestimated his opponent Johnny Eduardo, which was a huge mistake. Eduardo is from the old school, fighting from a very early age. He was one of Brazil’s hottest prospects in 1998 and he has a match with Japanese star Takanori Gomi in 1999 on his resume, so he has participated in the sport at a high level his entie adult life. Eduardo has fought sporadically on and off, concentrating on his muay thai instruction, but look for him to be very dangerous as a contender with a wealth of experience who will be extremely focused to make a run.
Big Australian Heavyweight Soa Palelei is now 3-0 in the UFC as he notched a first round KO over newcomer Ruan Potts. Palelei is remembered for his match with Nikita Krylov, which many have called the most boring match in UFC history, but this is now his second first round stoppage in a row so he appears to be working to erase that bad memory.
Hard nosed Middleweight Ed Herman notched a UD win over Brazilian Rafael Natal. Herman needed a win in a big way, as he had not notched a decisive win in his last four outings, going 1-2-1 (the no contest is a match he lost to Jake Shields, but was made a NC due to Shields failing a medical). For Natal, it is his second loss in a row, and his loss prior was to surging Tim Kennedy, while this loss to Kennedy puts him on the brink of looking for Bjorn Rebney’s and Ray Sefo’s phone numbers.
