UFC 198 took some of the biggest names in Brazilian mixed martial arts history to Curitiba for a memorable night of fights.

UFC 198 was being billed as one of the most epic nights of fights in UFC history, and the majority of the results did not disappoint. From the opening fight there were beautiful displays of heart, aggressive Muay Thai, and Brazilian jiu-jitsu mastery.

Francisco Trinaldo did his best to remove Yancy Medeiros’s head for three rounds, as the two engaged in a brutal slug fest over the course of 15 minutes. Demian Maia and Ronaldo Souza showed why they are labeled two of the best Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners in mixed martial arts, as they used positional control to dominate Matt Brown and Vitor Belfort, respectively. For what its worth, Maia choked Brown out, whereas Souza used a heavy top game to pound out Belfort. The most surprising finish came from the main event itself.

Fabricio Werdum faced off against Stipe Miocic for the heavyweight title to end the night. The fight was being hyped as Werdum’s potent varied offense, against Miocic’s simple, but effective, boxing and wrestling. Simple techniques ended up being the deciding factor in the fight.

For the past several years, Rafael Cordeiro, Werdum’s Muay Thai coach, has received oodles of praise for revitalizing Werdum’s career with an increased focus on striking. When Werdum began fighting he was labeled a poor man’s Antonio Minotauro Nogueira. Since starting his second UFC stint, Cordeiro’s Werdum has been confidently throwing long brutal kicks and straight punches on the outside, and utilizing a destructive clinch on the inside. What Cordeiro’s Werdum has not shown is head movement, or much defense at all for that matter.

Before Werdum submitted Cain Velasquez last June he was getting punched up, and pushed around on the feet. Ultimately, Velasquez’s own aggression allowed for Werdum to punish him with intercepting strikes and knees when the two would clinch up. Still, lack of defense at heavyweight is worrisome as the men fighting simply hit too hard for anyone to rely on their own toughness.

Below we see an appropriate sample of Werdum’s striking. Werdum throws a body kick with no set-up, and a leg kick with no set up. Due to Werdum not hiding his kicks behind punches, Miocic was able to avoid any real damage from both of the strikes. Although, because Miocic simply retreated from the kicks without attempting a counter, Werdum believed he could run into striking exchanges unpunished. Werdum uses this knowledge to begin a flurry while running forward at 4:13, and Miocic retreats at angle, again avoiding serious damage. When Werdum tries to do attack again Miocic kicks Werdum’s leg out from underneath him at 4:08.

The telling moment from the above sequence comes at 4:07 in the gif. Miocic misses a big counter right hand just as Werdum’s assault ends. Miocic only missed the counter shot due to Werdum stepping backward while regaining his footing. Werdum’s chin was up on a silver platter, and if he had been advancing, like he usually is, he would have had his clock cleaned.

About 40 seconds later Werdum initiates a charge behind straight punches again, and Miocic retreats again. While Miocic did not have his body set to counter, the way in which he is backing up and angling to his right reveals he is looking for Werdum to continue advancing so he can throw another counter right hand.

The end of the fight came at just over the halfway mark of the fight. Werdum begins yet another charge and Miocic gladly plays the matador. At 2:22 Werdum doubles up on his right hand without his left near his chin to offer protection. Miocic throws that counter right hand again and it stumbles Werdum momentarily. When Werdum regains his wits, he assumes another bull-rush, but this time Miocic lands a short right hand directly to his chin.

During all of Werdum’s charges he was throwing punches, but not returning his hands to his face, nor moving his head off the center-line. The result was a chin that was easy to hit. Couple that with the fact that in the above sequence his head is completely in front of his hips, and it was only a matter of time before Werdum got clipped and hurt. The punch that did it was not overly powerful, just a well placed short right hand that owed much of its power to Werdum’s momentum.

This analysis is not intended to simply tear Werdum’s performance down. He had some promising moments in the fight while using his kicks on the outside. Werdum landed several heavy leg kicks to Miocic’s lead leg, and stuck a few push kicks in Miocic’s belly. Still, when Werdum tried to get his aggressive Muay Thai going, the simpler, tighter boxing of Miocic took him out.

This series is dedicated to highlighting one moment that stood out from a main event of a particular fight card. One “play” that was responsible for a fighter’s win. Just like plays in traditional sports, match-winning plays in fighting can be made possible due to the mistakes of the other competitor. Werdum’s lack of defensive discipline was the mistake that led to the opportunity for Miocic’s tight, simple play to take over in the fight.

UFC 198 ended up being an entertaining card, but the most surprising finish came from the main event match-up of Werdum and Miocic. Now that Miocic is the newly crowned champion, there are plenty of exciting fights to be made. The next logical heavyweight title fight seems to be Alistair Overeem versus Miocic. Keep your eyes on Cage Pages for new fight announcements, and more main event breakdowns.

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