Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Marion Reneau vs Talita Bernardo

Here's the match video of Marion Reneau vs Talita Bernardo from yesterday's UFC show in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. This aired on The Fight Network in Canada and UFC Fight Pass everywhere else. Talita came in on short notice after Germaine De Randamie backed out. I thought the UFC might drop this to the prelims but they didn't. Apparently Marion is the first 40 year old female fighter. Anyone who reads this blog knows I am not a fan of older fighters. I have no problem with elite fighters of any age. Marion has too many flaws to be an elite fighter. One of those flaws almost cost her this fight. She was fortunate that Talita came in on short notice and she didn't have much of a gas tank. Because Talita won round one. Marion's biggest flaw is she gets off to slow starts. This seems to happen in all her fights. Talita took her down. She wasn't able to get a submission and by the end of round one, Talita was out of gas. So I scored round one 10-9 Talita but I knew she was through. We saw Talita's other problem in round two. As good as her BJJ is, Talita's standup is terrible. She can get away with that on the Brazilian regional circuit but not in the UFC. Marion isn't a great striker but she's better than Talita. Marion continued to control the fight in round three before she got a TKO stoppage with six seconds left in the fight. I'd like to see Talita after a full camp. But she needs to improve her striking and her defense or she will have problems. Marion's slow starts are a mental problem. She even acknowledged the problem in her post fight interview. It can be fixed and I'm sure her coach Doug Marshall wants to fix it. She needs to begin fights better if she wants to get anywhere. That's why her age is a problem because it's tough to teach an old dog new tricks and she's had this problem for a while. Marion wants a top ten ranked opponent. But she also said she never turns fights down. I'm sure UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby is well aware of that. Enjoy the video!