UFC 133 Results

I didn’t get a chance to get my picks in for this one, but let’s recap anyway.

Rashad Evans def. Tito Ortiz (TKO 2)

This was one of those fights where one guy had nothing to gain and everything to lose. Unlike many of those past fights, though, the guy still won. Rashad dominated Ortiz for the most part – the exception being the seemingly tight guillotine choke from which Evans escaped. Ortiz was given this fight thanks to a late notice injury. Frankly, he did not deserve it otherwise. Sure, he beat Ryan Bader but that was more of a Matt Serra-like fluke. Ortiz simply is not in the same class as these top guys he’s been allowed to fight. Hell, even Bader is overrated and has flaws. I’m not sure where Ortiz goes from here, but based on his Bader win and popularity, he’s likely to be given at least one more decent fight.

Vitor Belfort def. Yoshihiro Akiyama (KO 1)

No way Akiyama deserved this fight. With the exception of his loss to Anderson Silva, Belfort has been a monster while “Sexyama” has been mediocre at best. Getting submitted by Chris Leben should not get you into Belfort’s sights. But the division is pretty thin and good fights are scarce. The right guy won and won in highlight reel fashion.

Brian Ebersole def. Dennis Hallman (TKO 1)

I would have been tempted to pick Hallman in this one, but he has disappointed me in the past. Both of these guys have insane records, but haven’t really made splashes in the UFC. That seems to be changing for Ebersole who now has had a couple of impressive wins.

Constantinos Philippou def. Jorge Rivera (split)

I would have been tempted to pick the rejuvenated Rivera, but he, too, has disappointed me in the past. I didn’t watch this fight too closely, but what I did see of it led me to believe the right decision was made. In fact, Rivera survived to a decision thanks to some generous refereeing, I believe.

Rory McDonald def. Mike Pyle (KO 1)

Wow. McDonald is looking impressive. Good for the young Canadian. Let’s hope he gets some bigger fights.

Alexander Gustafsson def. Matt Hamill (KO 2)

Despite a decent record, Hamill has been unimpressive of late. His retirement announcement on Monday seems to confirm that his heart just wasn’t in it anymore. Congrats to him for making the UFC and having a decent career, but, yes, it was probably the right time and the right decision.

Chad Mendes def. Rani Yahya (unanimous)

Didn’t watch it too closely, but this appeared to be the right decision.

Ivan Menjivar def. Nick Pace (unanimous)

Didn’t see it.

Johny Hendricks def. Mike Pierce (split)

Didn’t see it. Good for Hendricks, but the split makes me wonder how impressive he was. He’s usually pretty stellar.

Mike Brown def. Nam Phan (unanimous)

Surprised this one wasn’t on the main card, considering how weak the card was and the names involved. Looks like this one was a blowout, though. Not sure Phan is ready for former champs yet.

Rafael Natal def. Paul Bradley (unanimous)

Another decision. Looks like the undercard kinda sucked. Didn’t see this one.

Hm. Think I might have gone 8-2 in this one had I got my picks in. Darn.

UFC 126 Results

Pretty good event. Some interesting fights and quality finishes.

Ok, how'd I do?

Anderson Silva def. Vitor Belfort (KO 1)
Wow. Highlight reel finish for sure. Straight kick to the face? Nice. It's a move that is rarely used, and then normally for defensive purposes. I like it, because guys often expect the side kicks but leave themselves open to this kind of attack. Worked beautifully for Silva. Everyone expected fireworks, but not like this. Too bad Belfort didn't get to show more. He had Silva on his heels when he did attack - he just took too long to do it. Should have gone berserker on Silva sooner. (1-0)

Forrest Griffin def. Rich Franklin (unanimous)
I saw it 29-28 for Forrest as well. He used his size to bully Franklin around a little, got him down and pounded out a decision. Not exciting, but effective, and smart. Really, it's what he should have done against Silva. Franklin didn't do much except get some counter jabs in - that's not gonna win you too many MMA fights. Does this do much for Forrest? We'll see. Something tells me his loss to Silva is going to haunt him and keep him out of the title mix for a long time. (2-0)

Jon Jones def. Ryan Bader (sub 2)
This fight was all Jones. Once Bader was on his back, it was over. Typical werstler's weakness. Aftre the fight, it was announced that Jones would replace the injured Rashad Evans against champion Shogun Rua next month. Great PR move, but not sure it's deserved. There are only so many guys who can take a fight on short notice, but Jones has beaten no one of significance (Bader included). Bader had actually faced tougher guys and this fight was supposed to determine who was "for real" not who was going to get the next shot. I may be biased, but it seems to me that Forrest would have been the more deserving choice, if he could step up. Forrest has beaten Rua before and lost his title to Evans. Like I said, it appears the Silva fight will haunt Griffin. (3-0)

Jake Ellenberger def. Carlos Eduardo Rocha (split)
Not even sure I remember this one. I think Rocha was doing well at first, but didn't fight smart. he let Ellenberger dictate and he took the fight. (4-0)

Miguel Angel Torres def. Antonio Banuelos (unanimous)
Pretty boring fight, but what do you want when one guys has such a ridiculous reach advantage? Of course he's going to keep his distance and jab his way to victory. Banuelos just couldn't seem to let go and risk going inside, despite his corner's encouragement. Some guys just don't seem to be willing to take a punch and risk the KO. (5-0)

Donald Cerrone def. Paul Kelly (sub 2)
Not a bad fight, but once it went to the ground, it was over. Kelly is a stand-up brawler and so he stood little chance against Cerrone's BJJ. Once again, Cerrone stood for longer than he should have. (6-0)

Chad Mendes def. Michihiro Omigawa (unanimous)
Mendes dictated the fight, Mendes won. Omigawa stuck in there and had a shot, but just did not fight smart. (7-0)

Demetrious Johnson def. Norifumi Yamamoto (unanimous)
Had to lose one sometime. Don't remember much... Underdog didn't pay. (7-1)

Paul Taylor def. Gabe Ruediger (TKO 2)
Can we PLEASE send Ruediger home now? Please? He clearly does not belong in the UFC. (8-1)

Kyle Kingsbury def. Ricardo Romero (KO 1)
Wow. This was a quick, brutal fight. Kingsbury looked possessed, swarming the dangerous Romero and knocking him out before he could really get a shot off (stats say he landed one punch in those 21 seconds). Should garner Kingsbury some more attention. (8-2)

Mike Pierce def. Kenny Robertson (KO 2)
Once again, the dog didn't pay. Picked the new kid against the boring wrestling vet and of course the boring wrestler won. At least he did it by TKO. (8-3)

Well, well: 8-3. Not bad at all.

UFC 126 Picks

Ok, here we go - back to predictions.

UFC 126 has a fairly decent card, with some interesting fights in the main events.

Anderson Silva vs Vitor Belfort (middleweight)
Anderson Silva has dominated the middleweight division for some time. But let's face it: it's a pretty weak division. Has he really faced the level of competition that other title holders have? For the most part, he has faced guys who are tailor-made for this style: stand-up guys with little knock-out power or jiu-jitsu guys with little to no wrestling ability. Not hard for a guy with crazy reach and KO power to dodge. Wrestlers have given him a harder time. Travis Lutter looked decent until he gassed and fell into a triangle. Chael Sonnen was kicking Silva's ass for 4.5 rounds until he also had a brain fart and got caught with a punch from the back followed by a triangle. I sense someone like Randy Couture could beat Silva. Even GSP, if he could get inside. But this is the first time Silva will face a guy with crazy KO power. We've seen Silva get stunned by punches before and not by powerful guys. If Belfort can crack Silva just once, that might be the end of it. Question is: can he get close enough to the champ? Belfort has only been TKO'd twice - by Randy Couture, a guy who grounded and pounded him to death first. That's not Silva's style. This is a great match-up, as both guys will be looking to bang. It'll be a matter of who connects best, first. Don't be surprised if Vitor KO's the champ. Still, I don't like the way his career has been up-and-down, and I'm not quite convinced he has earned this title shot. But, like I said, it's a weak division. I'm picking Silva, but I'll be cheering for Belfort.

Forrest Griffin vs Rich Franklin (light heavyweight)
Another interesting match-up. These two have very similar styles - stand-up guys, with not the greatest KO power. Franklin has the edge in the KO potential department, while Griffin will have a size advantage which may help if he plays it smart and takes Franklin down. I like both of these guys, but I've always been a big Forrest fan. I can't bet against him, even though I sense Franklin might get the TKO. I'm picking Forrest by decision.

Ryan Bader vs Jon Jones (light heavyweight)
Yet another fascinating match-up. The flashy, powerful Jones versus the powerful wrestler Bader. Two young guns with perfect records (forget that Matt Hamill nonsense) looking to move up the ladder in the UFC's deepest division. Can Bader get inside and take Jones down? Will Jones pull off some crazy move for the highlight-reel victory? Jones dominated Hamill, so why should this fight be any different? Bader has been impressive, but he hasn't faced someone with Jones' skills. This will be a big win for one of these fighters, moving them into the upper tier and perhaps two fights away from a title shot. I really like Bader, but my money's on Jones.

Jake Ellenberger vs Carlos Eduardo Rocha (welterweight)
Ellenberger is a wrestler with a very good record, though not huge wins. Rocha is a Brazilian jiu jitsu guy with a perfect record and zero important wins. He's super dangerous on the ground it seems, but he has very little experience. So should we believe the hype or will he fold to the veteran? One would think that the wrestler would avoid the ground and rely on his KO power. I'm guessing Ellenberger's not an idiot, so I'll pick him. Ellenberger by TKO.

Miguel Angel Torres vs Antonio Banuelos (bantamweight)
A WEC import fight. Personally, I'm a bit disappointed that the UFC has folded the WEC into the main house, since it means featuring the bigger guys less and making name recognition just that much more difficult. I can't say I know too many of these light guys, and it'll take some time to make them household names - at the expense of up-and-coming big men. Torres was the man at bantamweight for a while, of course, seemingly unbeatable - until he lost. Twice. Banuelos is known for some big fights in WEC as well as an early appearance on the TapouT talent hunt show. His record would suggest he's not quite in the same class as Torres, but he does have some fight in him, form what I recall. Still, I'm picking Torres to get his career back on track now that he's in the big show.

Donald Cerrone vs Paul Kelly (lightweight)
Should be a good fight. Both of these guys are active, stand-up guys, but Cerrone likes the ground, too. Kelly keeps surprising me, but I haven't seen his recent fights to know how he has handled himself. Cerrone is a guy who tends to stand more than he should. He has very dangerous ground skills which should serve him well in this fight. I'm picking Cerrone by submission.

Chad Mendes vs Michihiro Omigawa (featherweight)
9-0 versus 12-8? Seems like an obvious pick, right? Omigawa doesn't have the best record, but that's deceptive - most of his losses came early in his career and he's on a pretty good run right now. He also has power, which is unusual at that weight. But I'm not convinced that the Pride fighters are able to adapt to the octagon. Omigawa has fought twice in the UFC before, both losses. Mendes is a wrestler and has a perfect record. That's it: I'm picking Mendes.

Norifumi Yamamoto vs Demetrious Johnson (bantamweight)
Johnson is a wrestler with submission skills. Yamamoto is a wrestler with muay thai skills. That means Yamamoto ought to be able to keep this on the feet and use his power advantage. I'm gonna go against the grain and pick Yamamoto.

Paul Taylor vs Gabe Ruediger (lightweight)
Not sure why Ruediger is getting yet another fight in the UFC. He has shown nothing. Despite the fact that he has lost 5 of 7, Taylor sticks around because he goes all out and gets Fight of the Night honours. I'm picking the bigger Taylor to knock Ruediger out. I bet the loser gets cut.

Kyle Kingsbury vs Ricardo Romero (light heavyweight)
Kingsbury was a TUF competitor and has had mixed results since, but is coming off a FotN win. Romero, though, is no joke. He essentially has a perfect record, his only loss being a DQ when he soccer kicked a downed opponent. I'm picking Romero.

Mike Pierce vs Kenny Robertson (welterweight)
Pierce is a wrestler who almost always goes to decision. Boring, but he's 13-3. Robertson (no Wikipedia page) has a perfect record and submission skills. Let's hope he can put them to good use and show the wrestler that fans don't like boring. I'm picking Robertson.

UFC 112 "Invincible" = Disgraceful

UFC 112 went off on Saturday in Abu Dhabi, a significant event in the history of the organization. By the end of the event, it would become a public relations nightmare. The storm may calm over the coming days and weeks, but at the time it was clear that everyone outside of Anderson Silva’s camp thought the main event was a disgrace to the sport. Dana White was fuming.

I sincerely hope the UFC finds a way to punish the middleweight champ for his antics in the octagon and the embarrassment he brought to the sport on this massive stage. If I were the UFC president, I’d consider stripping Silva of the belt and creating a Sonnen vs Silva, Belfort vs Marquardt tourney for the right to claim the title. Even if Silva won the belt back, he’d have to earn it and the 6 months removed from the title of middleweight champ would be a clear message that this sort of crap would not be tolerated.

Anderson Silva def. Demian Maia (unanimous) – In case you missed it, Silva spent five rounds dancing away from Maia, acting like an ass and landing just enough jabs to bloody his opponent and retain his belt. Silva’s taunting of Maia was almost violent as he urged the challenger to attack him. Message to Anderson Silva: counterstriking is YOUR game. Forrest Griffin and Chris Leben proved that attacking you with reckless abandon is just this side of suicidal. Why does Maia have to play your game? How about you attack him and finish him if he is so unworthy? Let’s get something straight: this was another example of terrible match-making. Sure, the UFC might have had this particular pairing thrust upon them because Sonnen, Belfort and Marquardt were all unable to fight on this date (and apparently Silva insisted on fighting in Abu Dhabi) but there was little doubt that this fight would be a repeat of the Silva-Leites fight that set the stage for Leites’ exit from the UFC. How is a jiu-jitsu practitioner with no real power in his fists supposed to handle Silva if Silva won’t go to the ground? It’s called a stalemate. Boring as hell. Maia, to his credit, did attack Silva more in the later rounds and landed a few good shots on the champ. Silva even said afterwards that he was surprised by Maia’s power. Was Silva so scared that he decided to just jump on his bike and backpedal for the last 5 minutes? Maybe. I’m glad Dana White did not try to sugar-coat the facts with some PR spinning. In fact, he showed his anger before the fight was even over, giving the belt to Silva’s manager and telling him to put the belt on “the champ”. I’m praying this is not the end of this story and that Silva will be sanctioned somehow. (1-0)

Frankie Edgar def. BJ Penn (unanimous) – This was the shocker of the night. Did anyone see this coming? Penn was apparently a 7-1 favourite. But did Edgar deserve the decision? I dunno… See, I always believed that to be the champ you had to beat the champ. If it was a close fight and it went to decision, odds were the champ would retain. I look at Arlovski-Silvia III for the best example of this. In my mind, Arlovski won that fight on points, but it was close, lacklustre and went to decision with Silvia getting the nod. Ok, fine. So what about this fight? Well, Edgar spent the five rounds dancing and circling around Penn, trying to land punches and feigning takedowns here and there (at least, I assume they were feints because if they were real efforts he failed miserably). He did land one takedown in the 5th round (I think) which I felt would give him that round, but for the rest of the fight it was Penn who was landing the more effective strikes. Edgar threw far more punches, don’t get me wrong, but Penn’s were landing at a far greater rate, it seemed. Penn did seem to fade in rounds four and five, but even then he seemed to be getting the better of the exchanges. When the scores were announced, I was disappointed that one judge had the fight 50-45, meaning he didn’t think Edgar deserved even that one takedown round. I was floored when the unanimous decision was actually going Edgar’s way, meaning that HE was being given all five rounds by that one judge. Wow. So what happens now? Will Penn want to regain his belt or will he use this as an opportunity to move back up to welterweight? (Man, I hope not – at least not if it means an undeserved second rematch with GSP!) It would seem inconsistent with Penn’s ego to vacate the lightweight division without the title in his hands, so I’m betting on a rematch in a few months, with Penn moving on if he wins that night. If that isn’t the plan, look for lightweights to be positively salivating at the prospect of facing Edgar for the belt and not Penn. First up, the man who last beat Edgar – Gray Maynard. Boy, wouldn’t Kenny Florian be pissed, too, since Edgar didn’t have to go through him to get his shot. If Penn, like other champs who have lost their belt, is forced to take a redemption fight before getting a rematch, then I’d love to see him square off against the Energizer bunny, Clay Guida. (1-1)

Matt Hughes def. Renzo Gracie (TKO 3) – When the fight card was announced, I feared it might turn into a complete dud of an evening with three boring fights to end it off. Aside from the shock of Edgar’s win and the insanity of Silva’s behaviour, I was right. All three main event fights were uneventful, boring fights. The fact that this one actually ended before it went to the scorecards is testament to the fact that Renzo had no business inside the octagon. Before this fight, Gracie hadn’t fought in 3 years. By his own admission, he hadn’t trained in two and a half years leading up to the six months of training for this fight. That’s ridiculous. Why did the UFC even make this fight? The guy makes his UFC debut at 43? WTF? Matt Hughes fights once a year and this is the match-up you give him? What a waste of time. That said, it’s not like Hughes dominated Gracie. He landed very few clean shots, basically wearing his opponent down with kicks. But Gracie still looked terrible. He clearly did not have the gas for this fight and went down at every occasion simply from fatigue. One knockdown was clearly a phantom punch. Eventually, Herb Dean stepped in not because Hughes was threatening to hurt his defenseless opponent but because Gracie simply could not continue. Pathetic. And he has a six fight contract? Let’s hope the UFC cuts him. (2-1)

Rafael Dos Anjos def Terry Etim (sub 2) – Sure, the main events were garbage, but the prelims/undercard fights weren’t bad. Etim had Dos Anjos in serious trouble in the first round with a deep guillotine choke but Dos Anjos turned the tables in the second, securing an arm bar submission for the win. Good fight. (2-2)

Mark Munoz def. Kendall Grove (TKO 2) – This was another one where one guy dominated in the first but got put away in the next round. Munoz took a big uppercut in the first and was on queer street for the rest of the round. His wrestling saved him as he was able to tie up Grove against the cage and ride out the storm. He didn’t look much better in the second, but still managed to land a few shots that shook Grove and then he dropped some bombs from the top to draw the ref’s mercy. Grove’s soft chin was exposed again. (3-2)

Phil Davis def. Alexander Gustafsson (sub 1) – I’m not sure why I picked Gustafsson in this one. Davis was insanely impressive in his beatdown of Brian Stann though he did have holes in his game. Still, they weren’t holes Gustafsson was going to be able to take advantage of on his feet and once this went to the ground it was pretty much over. Davis secured an anaconda choke that had Gustafsson tapping with just 5 seconds left in the round. Ouch. (3-3)

Rick Story def. Nick Osipczak (split decision) – Apparently Story eked this one out after a tough battle with the always game Osipczak. Wish I had seen it. (4-3)

DeMarques Johnson def. Brad Blackburn (TKO 3) – Didn’t see it, but Johnson earned KO of the Night. (5-3)

Paul Kelly def. Matt Veach (sub 2) – Oh well, my underdog pick didn’t pan out. Kelly was very successful in his lightweight debut, finishing Veach with a guillotine. Veach’s face was a mess afterwards. I’m looking forward to seeing Kelly’s future lightweight matches. (5-4)

Jon Madsen def. Mostapha Al Turk (unanimous) – Ok, that’s three losses in three appearances for Al Turk. Surely this is the end of his UFC career. I thought he’d redeem himself, but I was wrong. Time to go. (5-5)

Paul Taylor vs John Gunderson – This fight didn’t happen for medical reasons. I was a bit confused as to the weight class for this fight and apparently Taylor was, too.

So a .500 record for the night. A couple of dogs didn’t pan out and you can’t blame me for not picking Edgar. Still, I thought I’d do better. Next time.

UFC 103 Results

Ok, how'd I do?

Vitor Belfort def. Rich Franklin (KO 1) - Although I had been pulling for Franklin and pegged him to win a decision, I could sense he was gonna get run over very early in the fight. There was this sense that this main event wasn't going to live up to the hype. Sometimes you can almost feel it - that the fight is going to end quickly and in a disappointing fashion. I don't say disappointing here because Franklin lost, but because of the way the fight ended. I mean, there really wasn't any action, and then, like GSP v Serra I, the fighter gets hit with a weird, top-of-the-head kind of glancing blow that stuns him enough that he's on the road to sleepyland. Did the fight make Belfort seem more dangerous? Not really, because he didn't really dominate or get to show his stuff. It was...unsatisfying. (0-1)

Junior Dos Santos def. Mirko Cro Cop (sub 3) - I'm officially done with Cro Cop. And he's done with MMA, as far as I can tell. He may still show up and get paid, but he shows very little heart or effort. And where are his legendary skills? I mean, he spends half his time backing up and pushing his opponent away. He rarely unloads and when he does he tends to miss. He seems to be intimidated by bigger more aggressive opponents. I get the sense he should try dropping to light heavytweight. Dos Santos looked ok, but I'm not buying into his hype yet. (1-1)

Paul Daley def. Martin Kampmann (KO 1) - This was a pretty massive upset. Kampmann was supposed to fight Mike Swick for the #1 contender's spot, but instead he gets new kid Daley and promptly sees his title hopes derailed. He won't get GSP anytime soon after that performance. Swick may actually have backed into the slot. Look for Daley to get a push and face another big name soon. (1-2)

Josh Koscheck def. Frank Trigg (KO 1) - And the UFC signed Trigg to a multiple fight contract? I bet they're second-guessing that decision now. Trigg got smoked and it'll take a big performance in his next fight to earn any credibility back, as far as I'm concerned. He wasn't exactly well-rounded back in the day, and now, at his age, he's practically a relic. I would love to see Koscheck and Matt Hughes go at it, if only to see one of them lose. :P It would be a great fight, though. (2-2)

Tyson Griffin def. Hermes Franca (TKO 2) - Please get Hermes Franca out of the UFC. That performance was pathetic. Was he high? With that purple hair, you never know. He basically didn't show up. I assume he was looking to counter in the first because he hardly threw a punch. The second started off better, but he still looked out of it, leaving himself completely exposed for the jab that led to the end. Terrible. (3-2)

UNDERCARD

Efrain Escudero def. Cole Miller (KO 1) - I was surprised by this result, and I think Miller was, too. Miller is a better fighter than that and he just got caught. I got the sense he knew right away he had blown a fight he expected to win. (3-3)

Tomasz Drwal def. Drew McFedries (sub 2) - McFedries may have dynamite in his hands, but he had oil in his lungs. No stamina whatsoever. As expected, once Drwal survived the first 2 minutes, he was in the clear. The rest was academic. (4-3)

Jim Miller def. Steve Lopez (TKO 2) - Didn't exactly end as expected. Lopez's shoulder looked pretty nasty afterwards. Shame to lose by injury like that. (5-3)

Nik Lentz def. Rafaello Oliveira (unanimous) - Lentz pulled it off though it was in doubt for a while. (6-3)

Rick Story def. Brian Foster (sub 1) - Weird finish with Story winning by arm triangle from within the guard. Missed most of this fight though apparently it was a doozy. (7-3)

Eliot Marshall def. Jason Brilz (split) - One of two fights not shown, I think. Sounds like it might have been a dull one with Marshall squeaking uot the decision. (8-3)

Vladimir Matyushenko def. Igor Pokrajac (unanimous) - The other one we didn't see. (9-3)

Rafael Dos Anjos def. Rob Emerson (unanimous) - Emerson is a nice guy but I don't think he belongs in the UFC. Dos Anjos looked decent and has likely earned a reprieve. (10-3)

Whoa: 10-3! That's pretty impressive. :) Maybe I can get that analyst's job after all!

Entertaining event. It didn't look like much on paper, but it delivered some good fights with a variety of interesting finishes.