UFC Brasilia, Kevin Lee and Cancelled UFC London Event

UFC Brasilia happened at the weekend without a crowd. I only saw the main event but I didn't really miss the crowd when I was watching it. It helped me concentrate more on what was going on in the fight. I wasn't too sure who was getting the better of the grappling until The Weasle broke it down but I had a feeling that Kevin Lee was escaping submission attempts so I would have given round 1 to him on the strength of Danni Neilan had similar defensive grappling, thwarting submission attempts, when she won in Dublin last month. I felt Kevin had the better of the earlier striking exchanges but Alex Oliveira got stronger and more dominant in the striking as the fight went on if memory serves me correctly. Kevin Lee tapped and when Oliveira was pulling away it was as if Kevin thought the referee hasn't intervened yet so decided to continue in case the ref hadn't seen the tap. That was my interpretation of the finish. Also, Gilbert Burns inflicted only the second knockout in Damien Maia's UFC career. Maia is a very likeable guy so it's a pity he lost. I don't know enough about Burns to be honest, apart from that he mostly fought at 155 until now, but congratulations to him on such a notable victory. Another noticeable result was that Johnny Walker lost by decision. That's a decent scalp on Nikita Krylov's resumé.
I wonder has the Johnny Walker Hype train been completely derailed now? I think he just needs to settle at a decent gym with a coach who'll help him get back to form. He has a lot of potential and he's still young so I think he'll be challenging for titles in the future.
Now I want to talk a bit about Kevin Lee. It's difficult to be a fan of his. I was just starting to think he was a future world champion but he lost to Al Iaquinta. Then he moved up to 170 and faced Rafael Dos Anjos and basically gassed out and Dos Anjos proved too much for him. Back down to 155, a new gym, a new coach in Firas Zahabi I think (correct me if I'm wrong on that) and a highlight reel knockout against the previously undefeated Gregor Gillespie. Then he misses weight (not for the first time) and Charles Oliveira is one step ahead in the grappling and submits him just as I thought he was on the way back to the big time. He seems to have a lack of focus. Oliveira is an excellent fighter but even still if Lee hadn't missed weight and managed to stick to the gameplan, even if it went the distance and he lost on points, I would have thought it isn't a major setback. But the fact that he missed weight and admitted to deviating from the gameplan shows a lack of focus to me. It gets frustrating trying to be a fan of his because I like him and want him to do well.
In other news, UFC London was cancelled. They tried to put on Woodley v Edwards behind closed doors in the USA but travel restrictions meant it's cancelled. Colby Covington and Gilbert Burns both offered to take the fight. I heard Woodley turned down Burns because he wants Covington. I think Covington would be my pick to win that fight normally even though I don't like him. But Woodley has a full training camp, albeit for a different fighter, and Covington coming in at short notice would make Woodley favourite in this instance.
One of the UFC London fights has been transferred to a Cage Warriors Main event so the fighters can get paid. I don't remember the names off the top of my head. I suggested in a tweet moving some of the cancelled fights to UFC Dublin in August if only the main event has been lined up so far. I don't think anyone knows for how long covid 19 will affect fight cards though. So nothing can be taken for granted in these difficult times.