UFC 274 had two fights on the main card featuring fighters with clashing styles. One ended up being an exciting affair that finished in the first round. The other one, however, was a five-round snooze fest that likely cost the champion another short-term shot at winning the crown back.
The whole idea of mixed martial arts was originally to determine which fighting style was the best. Betting guides show, though, it is difficult to tell when one of these fights will end with a dud. Most people believed the knockout power of Justin Gaethje and the grappling prowess of Charles Oliveira would end with the fight being finished. Gaethje would tap out to Oliveira in the first half.
The title rematch between “Thug” Rose Namajunas and Carla Esparza, however, went much differently. The more technical striker Namajunas hardly engaged with the grappler Esparza, who hardly shot for any takedowns. The result was a boring fight, with Esparza springing the mild upset.
Here’s a look at some other fights that produced surprisingly mundane results.
UFC 226: Ngannou vs. Lewis.
Derrick Lewis has won 21 of his 26 professional fights by knockout. Francis Ngannou has put away 12 of his 17 opponents with his hands. When the two met at UFC 226 in July 2018, people expected fireworks from the two heavyweights. What they got was mostly caution.
Lewis won a decision where there were only 31 combined strikes landed. Lewis, who had both of his takedown attempts stuff, would win the fight by landing 18 of his 20 significant strikes from distance. Ngannou would quickly return to form after and is the current UFC heavyweight champion. Lewis would also go on to have many more entertaining fights.
However, when these two took on each other they both decided to play it carefully. No one got put to sleep except for the fans at home watching.
UFC 272: Covington vs. Masvidal.
The most significant strike landed between Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal likely wasn’t one that was landed during their headline UFC 272 fight in March 2022. That punch would come months later when Masvidal sucker-punched Covington in the parking lot of a Miami steakhouse. When the two met in the octagon, the fight was sold as a blood bath between two friends who had fallen out with each other.
But the promotion for the fight was never going to match the result in the octagon. Covington is a high pressure fighter who is an excellent wrestler. When it comes to his style, Covington usually doesn’t finish fights because he doesn’t have the punching power of other top fighters. Covington would score six takedowns and other than a brief moment where he was clipped by Masvidal in the fourth round, it was a pretty pedestrian affair.
UFC 248: Adesanya vs. Romero.
Israel Adesanya was able to narrowly defend his middleweight crown in what was a pedestrian title fight against Yoel Romero. Romero, the Cuban wrestler who has scary power in his hands, wanted to draw Adesanya in before unleashing his power punches. However, Adesanya is a disciplined, seasoned kickboxer who wasn’t going to rush into traps. What that set the table for was a fight where not a whole lot happened.
Adesanya threw at a higher volume, attempting 43 more strikes, and ended up outlanding Romero 48-40. Romero also attempted three takedowns but couldn’t complete any of them. The judges weren’t too sure what to think of the fight either.
Adesanya won 48-47 on two scorecards and 49-46 on the other.
UFC 97: Silva vs. Leites
Describing former middleweight champion Anderson Silva isn’t easy. There’s no doubt he was great, but either out of indifference or boredom he was prone to being involved in some bizarre fights. Silva threw at nearly three times the volume of Leites, who had a difficult time hitting Silva.
Leites would only land ten significant strikes over five rounds. More embarrassingly, Silva stuffed 13 of his 14 takedowns. Silva, however, didn’t seem particularly engaged with trying to finish the fight. Silva landed 106 total strikes and didn’t attempt any takedowns of his own.
Silva would get an uninspiring decision to defend his title.