Max Holloway emerged victorious over Charles Oliveira at UFC Fight Night 74 when Oliveira suffered a bizarre shoulder injury less than two minutes into the opening round.
Oliveira attempted a takedown of Holloway near the edge of the cage and in doing so appeared to injure his shoulder or collarbone.
Welcome back to The Crossfire.
Patrick Cote, who earned his first stoppage win since 2008, and Josh Burkina earned Fight-of-the-Night honours, while Frankie Perez and Felipe Arantes earned performances-of-the-night. Each fighter earned a $50,000 USD bonus.
MMA Crossfire Expert Cassie Wiseman checks in:
TSN 5 MAIN CARD
#8 MARYNA MOROZ VS VALERIE LETOURNEAU
WINNER: VALERIE LETOURNEAU VIA UNANIMOUS DECISION (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
WISEMAN PREDICTION: MARYNA MOROZ VIA SUBMISSION
Wiseman: What was expected was for Moroz to come out, pressure Letourneau with her striking, and get an early KO. However, she didn’t come out with pressure, gave Letourneau time to think, and she displayed her striking. Letourneau rocked Moroz early in the first round and honestly, it wasn’t the same for Moroz after that. Moroz continued to get rocked through several combinations throughout the fight. Moroz was unable to get off her back in the first round, nor in the final round. This was a definitely push for Moroz. A great display by Letourneau!
OLIVIER AUBIN-MERCIER VS TONY SIMS
WINNER: OLIVIER AUBIN-MERCIER VIA UNANINOUS DECISION (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
WISEMAN PREDICTION: OLIVIER AUBIN-MERCIER VIA SUBMISSION
Wiseman: As expected, it was the grappling and submission game of Aubin-Mercier that really just gave Sims more than he could handle. Sims showed that he knows how to defend a RNC, but just wasn’t able to keep Aubin-Mercier off of him. Aubin-Mercier didn’t get the submission, but was content to continue to go for it to get the decision win.
CHAD LAPRISE VS FRANCISCO TRINALDO
WINNER: FRANCISCO TRINALDO VIA TKO R1 2:43
WISEMAN PREDICTION: FRANCISCO TRINALDO VIA SUBMISSION
Wiseman: Trinaldo rocked Laprise early and that was basically the end. He jumped all over Laprise and started pounding him until Herb stepped in for the TKO finish.
PATRICK COTE VS JOSH BURKMAN
WINNER: PATRICK COTE VIA TKO R3 1:26
WISEMAN PREDICTION: PATRICK COTE VIA UNANIMOUS DECISION
Wiseman: I was afraid this fight could be really bad or really good, but the guys certainly didn’t disappoint tonight. They both came out to leave it all in the octagon tonight. Both guys were rocked throughout the match, but in the final round Cote was hurt, but he somehow came back and connected with a perfect combination for the TKO finish. Wow! It was a close fight, but Cote certainly took it out of the hands of the judges.
#15 NEIL MAGNY VS ERICK SILVA
WINNER: NEIL MAGNY VIA SPLIT-DECISION (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
WISEMAN PREDICTION: ERICK SILVA VIA TKO
Wiseman: The problem with this fight for Silva was that he came out trying to be something he isn’t: Reserved. It looked at though he was trying to save his gas, but what ended up happening was he allowed Magny to out work him, get over confident, then Silva was unable to catch up before the fight was over. Silva is known for his pressure and speed. None of that was shown tonight. Good performance by Magny.
MAIN EVENT
#5 MAX HOLLOWAY VS CHARLES OLIVEIRA
WINNER: MAX HOLLOWAY VIA TKO R1 1:39
WISEMAN PREDICTION: MAX HOLLOWAY VIA TKO
Wiseman: Holloway was moving so well, mixing up his levels, and moving at Cruz-like angles. The problem happened possibly when he went for a takedown. Something happened with the left shoulder of Oliveira which forced the stoppage giving Holloway the win. It was a sad way for things to end because this had the making of an incredible fight.
