In the second fight of the UFC 144 pay per view broadcast, Hatsu Hioki showed he is an elite featherweight by winning a unanimous decision over Bart Palaszewski. The judges turned in scores of 30-27, 29-28, and 29-28 all in favor of the Japanese fighter. Hatsu Hioki showed no signs of the octagon jitters he displayed in his fight against George Roop at UFC 137.
Hatsu Hioki was able to take a dominant decision against top featherweight Bart Palaszewski. He dropped his opponent with a stiff jab early in the first and after some success striking at range he shot for a single leg and got the takedown. Once the fight was on the mat it was Hioki’s game. He passed to side control multiple times, landed strong strikes to the head and body, and chained multiple submission attempts in a row. After a tough second round dictated by Palaszewski’s leg kicks, Hioki took the fight over again in the third with an outside trip and more slick mat work from the top.
What was the high spot of the fight?
Hioki’s submission transitions in the first round were beautiful. He switched from an armbar to triangle choke to armbar in one of the slickest chaining of submissions seen in recent history.
Where do these guys go from here?
It was assumed that with a win over Bart Palaszewski that Hatsu Hioki would earn a shot at Jose Aldo’s featherweight belt. Hioki doesn’t believe he is ready for the champion and wants another fight before entering the cage with Aldo. He’ll likely face either Erik Koch or the winner of Dustin Poirier/Chan Sung Jung in a number one contender’s fight sometime this summer.
Bart Palaszewski earned his shot against Hatsu Hioki by defeating Tyson Griffin in late 2011. As an incredibly large featherweight, Bart possesses the size to give a lot of the fighters in the division a tough fight. He won’t be cut but it’s doubtful that he’ll receive another shot at the proverbial “big time”.
Watch it now, later, or never?
Later. It wasn’t a bad fight by any means but when compared to the other fights at UFC 144, it wasn’t all that great.
SBN coverage of UFC 144: Edgar vs. Henderson
More Bloody Elbow coverage of UFC 144 in the full entry.
- UFC 144 Results: Winners, Losers, And Other Thoughts – Matthew Roth
- UFC 144 Results: Frankie Edgar Doesn’t ‘Need’ To Drop To Featherweight – Brent Brookhouse
- UFC 144 Results: Rampage Jackson Goes Out Like A Lamb In Loss To Ryan Bader – Nate Wilcox
- UFC 144 Results: Ben Henderson And Anthony Pettis Ready For Rematch – Nate Wilcox
- UFC 144: Edgar Vs. Henderson Results And Post-Fight Analysis – Brent Brookhouse
- UFC 144 Results: Dana White Says Anthony Pettis Will ‘Likely’ Get Next UFC Lightweight Title Shot – Bloody Elbow
- UFC 144 Post-Fight Press Conference Video
- UFC Japan Video: Georges St. Pierre Gets Attacked By A Mob Of Kids With Samurai Foam Swords – Bloody Elbow
- Bad Boy Presents Bloody Elbow Radio – Episode 139: UFC 144 Results Review
- UFC 144 Results: Ryan Bader Dominates Rampage Jackson To Decision – Matthew Roth
- UFC 144 Results: Mark Hunt Knocks Out Cheick Kongo In The First Round – Matthew Roth
- UFC 144 Results: Jake Shields Wins Hard Fought Decision Over Yoshihiro Akiyama – Matthew Roth
- UFC 144 Results: Tim Boetsch Upsets Yushin Okami In The Third Round – Matthew Roth
- UFC 144 Post-Fight Press Conference Video
- UFC 144 Results: Hatsu Hioki Defeats Bart Palaszewski By Unanimous Decision – Matthew Roth
- UFC 144 Results: Anthony Pettis Knocks Out Joe Lauzon In The First Round – Matthew Roth
- UFC 144 Results: Takanori Gomi Stops Eiji Mitsuoka In The Second – Matthew Roth
- UFC 144 Results: Vaughan Lee Submits Kid Yamamoto With An Armbar – Matthew Roth
- UFC 144 Results: Riki Fukuda Dominates Steve Cantwell To Decision – Matthew Roth
- UFC 144 Results: Chris Cariaso Defeats Takeya Mizugaki By Unanimous Decision – Matthew Roth
- UFC 144 Results: Issei Tamura Knocks Out Tiequan Zhang – Matthew Roth