UFC 173 – Spokane Well Represented And Victorious

Last Saturday night at UFC 173, the Bantamweight division was flipped upside-down as 135 lb kingpin Renan Barao was dominated for nearly 25 minutes before being knocked out by the challenger, TJ Dillashaw. Dillashaw’s full potential was realized Saturday night in an effort that was nothing short of spectacular. Dillashaw would use a combination of speed, movement, and power to overwhelm the clearly befuddled Barao. This fight was the cherry on top of a card that was action-packed and delivered on the promise of being a can’t-miss pay per view.

The card’s co-main event saw two American Olympians, Dan Henderson and Daniel Cormier, face off in a Light Heavyweight scrap that turned out to be a one sided shellacking by the undefeated Cormier. Entering the fight as a 9 to 1 betting favorite, Cormier left no doubt in anyone’s mind that he was exactly that. Cormier took the overmatched Henderson down at will and controlled top position with ease. After working over Henderson for nearly 13 minutes, Cormier would look to the referee with the hopes of a stoppage. When the official did not step in, Cormier finished the fight by sinking in a choke that put Henderson to sleep. With the dominating victory it seems inevitable that Cormier will have a future date with the UFC’s Light Heavyweight Champion.

The Pacific Northwest was represented well at UFC 173. Two of Spokane, Washington’s best fighters, Sam Sicilia and Michael Chiesa, secured important wins for themselves. First to enter the cage was the Featherweight Sicilia. Coming into this fight, Sicilia was sitting at 2-3 in the UFC and it seemed he was fighting for his job with the promotion. Sicilia would be facing UFC newcomer Aaron Phillips. The opening round saw Phillips use his speed and accuracy to deliver body shots that seemed to slow Sicilia. Sicilia found space to get inside and close the distance on the speedy young fighter and began to rough him up. Sicilia used his veteran savvy and strength to bully his way to a much-needed decision victory. The momentum from Sicilia’s win seemed to carry over to good friend and teammate, Michael Chiesa. With the spotlight on him in the headlining bout of the preliminary card, Chiesa looked absolutely dominant in his victory over well-rounded Brazilian Francisco Trinaldo. Chiesa showed off his Jiu Jitsu in the fight, holding top position on the very strong Trinaldo. There were a couple of moments in the fight that Chiesa was caught with some powerful strikes but his takedowns and ground-and-pound were the real story of the bout. After cruising to a decision win Chiesa is primed to crack the top 15 of the Lightweight division. Perhaps a rematch with Jorge Masvidal to avenge his lone UFC loss might be in Chiesa’s near future.

As a whole, this card delivered big. While there were some lopsided victories the card brought drama in multiple divisions. With the Bantamweight title changing hands, it’s going to give UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby a lot to think about and should make for an exciting year to come in the Bantamweight division. Daniel Cormier seemed to put the Light Heavyweight division on notice with his incredibly dominant performance over Dan Henderson; the only question now is, who does he face next, if not the champion? In addition to that, it was a great night for the talent of the Pacific Northwest as Sam Sicilia and Michael Chiesa came out with important victories. If you missed this card, what are you waiting for? Go watch it! If you didn’t … go ahead and watch it again.