UFC-London's 10 moments: Manuwa's callout, Pickett's newspaper, Gooden's apology

Heading into Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 107 event, Jimi Manuwa had gone the distance once in 18 career contests. With his first-round knockout of Corey Anderson, that stat now reads as once in 19 fights.

The one-punch knockout gave Manuwa his second consecutive “Performance of the Night” bonus and had him talking about a potential light heavyweight title shot.

Things didn’t go as well for hometown competitor Brad Pickett. “One Punch,” competing in the last fight of his long career, seemed well on his way to a decision win when his opponent, Marlon Vera, landed a head kick that ended the fight with a minute left in the contest.

UFC Fight Night 107 took place at The 02 in London and streamed on UFC Fight Pass. Here are 10 memorable moments from the event.

1. No. Wait, maybe?

After starching Anderson, Manuwa asked for the winner of the April 8 fight between light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier and Anthony Johnson.

When you look at the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA light-heavyweight rankings, you see Manuwa at No. 8. Directly above him are Alexander Gustafsson and Glover Teixeira, who meet in the main event of UFC Fight Night 109 in May. The next ranked fighters on the UFC roster are No. 3 Johnson, No. 2 Cormier and No. 1 Jon Jones. That means the only expedient fight for Manuwa that won’t be a step down in the rankings is either Jones or the winner or loser of the Cormier vs. Johnson fight.

When Manuwa (17-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) called for the title fight after stopping Anderson (9-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC), it felt like a long shot, and it might be, but looking at where things stand in the division, a fight against Cormier or Johnson could make some sense.

2. That makes sense, I guess

Gunnar Nelson looked like he was about to earn his first knockout victory since 2008 after staggering Alan Jouban with a right hand. But instead of ending the fight with strikes, Nelson (16-2-1 MMA, 7-2 UFC) opted for a guillotine choke. The submission hold forced Jouban (15-5 MMA, 6-3 UFC) to tap early in the second round of the welterweight bout.

When asked about why he went for the guillotine, which earned him his second consecutive “Performance of the Night” bonus, Nelson revealed something about his thinking as a fighter.

“I thought the way it went was the most clinical, really,” Nelson told MMAjunkie. “Instead of running into him and throwing a bunch of shots to get the knockout, he was out. There was no need to give him a few more punches to the face. He’s a pretty guy, as well. He’s a model. There was no need.”

3. The final walk

At UFC Fight Night 107, Pickett made his last walk to the octagon, and it was a memorable one. Pickett, much like he did when he joined the UFC in 2011, made the trek to the cage wearing his trademark braces and trilby while reading a newspaper.

Sure, the white tank top that had been part of his trademark look was absent, as were the jeans, replaced by the mandatory Reebok fight kit. But it was still nice to see Pickett sport at least a portion of the signature walkout look he’s maintained since his pro debut in 2004.

The newspaper Pickett carried was specially made for him by UFC officials. Inside were well wishes from media members, fighters and UFC personnel, including UFC President Dana White, who referred to Pickett on the front page as “A pioneer in the UK MMA scene.”

“It was very thoughtful of them, and it made me very emotional,” Pickett told MMAjunkie when asked about the very limited edition paper.

4. Last words

Unfortunately, Pickett’s career came to a close with a loss when Vera finished him with a head kick with just 70 seconds before the final horn of their catchweight bout.

After the fight, both Vera (9-3-1 MMA, 3-2 UFC) and Pickett (25-14 MMA, 5-9 UFC) were overcome with emotion, delivering heartfelt and memorable post-fight speeches that had both men fighting back tears.

Vera, who called Pickett a “legend,” said the win will allow him to provide for his family.

As for Pickett, he soaked in the standing ovation from the London crowd, before expressing his love for the fans, whom he referred to as “friends.”

For his final gesture as a UFC fighter, Pickett left his hat inside the octagon.

5. Not bad, kid

Of the 11 fights that took place at UFC Fight Night 107, seven went the distance. The most exciting of those seven was the featherweight matchup between Arnold Allen and Makwan Amirkhani.

Allen (12-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) and Amirkhani (13-3 MMA, 3-1 UFC) delivered 15 minutes of technical action, and in the end, Allen emerged as the winner via split decision.

At just 23, Allen, who trains out of Tristar Gym, is now unbeaten in three UFC bouts and has won his past five overall. It’s still too early to get a handle on his longterm upside, but he’s on the right trajectory. If he can stay busy – he’s fought only three times since 2015 – he could be a fighter who receives a push from the UFC.

6. Get your checkbooks out

Joseph Duffy fought out his UFC contract in London, earning a unanimous-decision win over Reza Madadi in a striking-heavy lightweight contest.

The victory over Madadi (14-5 MMA, 3-3 UFC) moved Duffy’s (17-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC) UFC record to 4-1, with his sole setback a January 2016 unanimous-decision loss to Dustin Poirier. Three of Duffy’s victories have come by stoppage.

Expect Duffy’s services to be in demand. He’s a good boxing-style striker with some ground skills, he has a win over Conor McGregor, and he represents a market (Ireland) that MMA promotions are eager to break into.

In all likelihood, Duffy is about to get paid; we’re just going to have to wait and see who will be signing those larger checks.

7. Your attention, please

OK, Marc Diakiese, you were on the periphery of our vision heading into UFC Fight Night 107, but after your “Performance of the Night” bonus-winning knockout of fellow lightweight Teemu Packalen, you have our full attention.

There’s a lot to like about Diakiese. He’s young, he’s confident, he has fun in the cage, he’s got heavy hands, he has a good fight IQ, he’s aggressive, he’s now unbeaten in 12 fights, and he’s getting top-level coaching after a move to American Top Team.

In the 30 seconds he spent in the cage in London, Diakiese (12-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) touched up Packalen (8-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC) with a low kick, a head kick and a couple of body kicks before finishing things with the lone punch he threw, a big overhand right.

After the win, Diakiese told UFC Fight Pass analyst Dan Hardy, “That was too easy.” And you know what? He did make it look that way.

8. Sticking around

When the final scorecard was read, giving him a split-decision win over Scott Askham (14-4 MMA, 3-3 UFC), Brad Scott (11-4 MMA, 3-3 UFC) erupted with emotion, clenching his fists, screaming and throwing his hat to the canvas. During his interview with Hardy, we found out why when Scott, beginning to tear up, revealed he had thought about retirement before the middleweight bout.

After the fight, Scott did burst into tears when he went into more detail about his almost retirement.

“I was going to give up,” Scott said backstage. “It’s just a relief. There was a lot of pressure. I was going give it up, but I’m so glad I didn’t. I dug deep and managed to get the win.”

9. Wearing her victory

Lina Lansberg controlled most of her women’s bantamweight fight against Lucie Pudilova. However, when Pudilova turned the tables, she did so violently.

With Lansberg’s energy levels dropping late in the fight, she began to look for takedowns – and she paid for that decision.

As Lansberg (7-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) worked to securing Pudilova’s (6-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) legs, Lansberg absorbed numerous punches and elbows to the head, leaving her right eye badly swollen and bloody.

In the end the judges scored the fight for Lansberg, who quickly took to the mic to declare that Pudilova should have been declared the winner. And by the boos that greeted the decision, the crowd agreed.

10. An explanation

A couple of post-fight interviews at UFC Fight Night 107 featured what UFC Fight Pass analyst John Gooden referred to as “colorful language.” Gooden offered on-air apologies after each incident, and for his trouble, he got grief on social media because it’s 2017 and that’s what people do.

In response to those critics, Gooden posted a video to Twitter explaining to his critics, why he did what he did. In short, it’s part of his job as a member of an international broadcast team.

For more on UFC Fight Night 107, check out the UFC Events section of the site.