Edson Barboza and Anthony Njokuani made amends for the slow pace of the fights on Facebook with a barnburner of an opener on the Spike TV telecast. After three rounds of a back-and-forth affair, the judges awarded Barboza a unanimous 29-28 decision.
What was the high point of the fight?
Barboza bookended this fight with two shots that put Njokuani on queer street. Njokuani displayed some sort of iron chin after recovering from a dynamite of a right hand that Barboza landed in the first.
Where do these guys go from here?
The expectations surrounding Barboza are probably tempered a bit here. Though he won the fight, he never outclassed Njokuani for an extended period of time. Someone like Curt Warburton, a lower-tier 155er coming off a win, should be in line.
With three losses in his last four Zuffa fights, I put Anthony Njokuani on my chopping block after UFC 128. However, he picked up three knockout of the night bonuses in the WEC, and last night’s bout with Barboza garnered him a $70,000 fight of the night bonus. I suspect the UFC will keep him around as a guy they can put on Facebook and Spike lead-in shows.
Watch it now, later, or never?
Check it out now. This was a fun kickboxing fight with MMA gloves.