Headbutts and leprechaun call-outs: Five ways of looking at UFC Fight Night 39

By now the venue in Abu Dhabi has been taken down, those fans with real jobs and Fight Pass subscriptions have had a chance to go back and watch the action, and we’ve all had a moment or two to get our thoughts together on the subject of UFC Fight Night 39.

Might as well dive right in with five key takeaways from a rare Friday afternoon UFC event.

1. Nogueira is done, but Nelson is still Nelson … in every last way

I’ve already covered why I’d be very happy to never see Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira slap on a pair of gloves again, but what about the man who might very well have knocked him into retirement? It was vintage Roy Nelson in Abu Dhabi. He showed up looking like an extra in a biker gang movie, all burly beard and pasty belly, and then got right to work with that right hand decapitator of his. Some fighters approach striking exchanges like a sword fight. Nelson approaches them like a man swinging a battle axe and just daring you to step in the path of destruction.

Nogueira hardly had the foot speed or the natural disposition to get out of the way in his prime, and both have only gotten worse since then. After Nelson floored him the first time, you could almost feel the doomsday clock ticking down. It was exactly the sort of performance Nelson needed after wheezing his way to a loss against Stipe Miocic. And how did he follow it up? By calling for a fight with UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez, of course. Because that’s how it goes with Nelson, who always seems to be winking his way through jokes that you’re not entirely sure he’s in on. Probably that’ll be his legacy. The hard-hitting heavyweight who looked like a roadie for Foghat and never took himself – or anything – too seriously. There’s a place for that in the UFC, even if the UFC seems to think that place is Fight Pass.

2. Bedford doesn’t quite understand the rule about headbutts

[autotag]Johnny Bedford seemed absolutely shocked that his bout with Rani Yahya was ruled a no-contest. Never mind the fact that, as the result was announced, his forehead was still dripping blood from the clash of heads that floored Yahya early in the first round. Bedford seemed to think that it was only the punches he landed after that point that should count. Sorry, but that’s not how it works. This particular clash of heads seemed entirely accidental, but it still wasn’t a legal strike that put Yahya down. That’s a no-contest all the way, which means the best thing to do is show a little class and offer to do it again, brother. Instead, Bedford opted to be the poorest of sports in the immediate aftermath. Not a great way to kick off the event in Abu Dhabi, and an even worse way to endear himself to fans.

3. The best performance of Nijem’s career, and right on time

Ramsey Nijem couldn’t have picked a better time and place to finally start looking like a lightweight worth paying attention to. As a Palestinian-American, he said at the post-fight press conference, this fight with Beneil Dariush in Abu Dhabi was a pretty big deal. “I really approached this fight like it was my title fight,” Nijem said. It showed in his performance, too. He got right after Dariush early on, using the left hook to wobble and then drop him. Once Dariush was hurt, Nijem was on him like a pitbull on a steak. All in all, a great outing for the former TUF competitor. Now we have to wait and see whether he can follow up on it in his next fight, where he’ll probably face a tougher opponent is a less emotionally charged atmosphere.

4. Guida doesn’t call people out, but if he did …

Clay Guida and Tatsuya Kawajiri put on a fun three-round show in their featherweight bout, and as soon as it was over Guida took to the mic to offer some thoughts on his immediate future. Oddly, he started off by assuring us that he’s not one to call people out. Then he called out both Conor McGregor and Josh Thomson, ostensibly offering up his services in two different weight classes. As a career move, it’s pretty smart. Guida probably won’t get a fight with McGregor, who seems to have become the featherweight Michael Bisping with just about every fighter within 10 pounds of him calling for a crack at him. So what does he do? He picks a safety school, just in case. He might as well, since Guida’s chances of fighting for a UFC belt seem caught somewhere between slim and none. He might as well try to entertain, which in this business often means offering to make various “leprechauns” cry.

5. A strange press conference pivot from a UFC exec

It sounded like an innocent, straight-forward question to me. At the post-fight press conference UFC Executive Vice President and Managing Director of Europe, Middle East and Africa (try fitting that on your business card) Garry Cook was asked whether we’d see more pay-per-view events or Fight Night events, such as the one that had just concluded, in the UFC’s future. His reply? First he insisted that “great events are great events,” then eventually worked his way to calling the question itself “disrespectful” to the fighters, since it assumes that one type of event is superior to another.

Come on, Mr. Cook. Some events are superior to others, and you know it. The UFC knows it, too. If it didn’t, why would it charge $55 for some and give others away for free? Why would some get full-on media blitzes leading up to a Saturday night show in the so-called “fight capital of the world,” while others stream over the Internet from a desert playground on Friday morning? Why are some fight cards stocked with experienced, well-known fighters, while others feature bouts between newcomers who the UFC doesn’t even have photos of to throw on its website?

There are a million little ways that the UFC tells us how seriously to take any given event. There are big shows and mediocre shows and shows that the president of the company doesn’t even bother to go to. We all see it, so why deny it? All UFC events are not created equal. Pointing that out isn’t disrespectful – it’s honest.

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 39, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.

(Pictured: Roy Nelson)