Tim Hickey
-Much like everyone thought, Sonnen had absolutely nothing for Jones. He landed some punches in the clinch, was able to bounce back up when taken down, but it was really only a matter of time. By the sounds of it, Chael maybe done fighting, which is fine as he has a very plush role in the booth with the UFC and should for a long time.
– Goddamn, Jones’ toe was fucking jacked up. I guess that puts him on the shelf for a few months, as that looks like it will need surgery and a good while to heal. Hopefully it doesn’t become a hindrance in his career, as we have seen things like “turf toe” derail some careers in other sports as it takes significant time to heal.
– Bisping’s striking looked very sharp last night, but man Belcher fought just an awful fight. Hands down low, just looking to land big shots over and over again. The eye poke at the end of the fight sucks, especially in Belcher’s surgically repaired eye. On behalf of the staff of UCS I sincerely hope it is nothing serious.
– All fighters in the heavyweight division take notice. Cheick Kongo cannot stop an overhand right from landing. It is his kryptonite. He shall forever remain a gatekeeper for the remainder of his UFC run, as he has proven time and time again he cannot hang with the upper half of the division.
– Roy Nelson is a dilemma. He has shown he is good enough to blast the lower tiered fighters of the division, but everytime in his career he has taken a step up to fight the top 10 guys, he gets battered. He has gone 6-3 with 6 KOS in the UFC coming off of TUF, but all his losses are against top 10 fighters. I think a fight with Travis Browne would be a good fight for both men.
– Congrats to Phil Davis for becoming the lineal M-1 Light Heavyweight Champion. That title will get you one free meal at Krazy Vaclav’s House Of Gazpacho. His fight with Vinny was not fun to watch. At all.
– Man, Jim Miller and Pat Healy put on the fight of the night. Couple of bearded gingers doing their thing. Great win for Healy and really made him a legitimate addition to the UFC LW division. Those Strikeforce guys are making some noise right now.
– Eye pokes and crazy bone breaks were probably the winners of this whole night. We had the OSP/Gian Villante eye poke that ended the fight, the Bisping/Belcher fight was marred with an eye poke, Yancy Meidros’ broken thumb which stopped the fight, and Jones’ toe. Really odd night altogether.
– Ladies and gentlemen, remember the name of Sara McMann. I believe she has the best chance of actually giving Rousey a run for her money.
– Solid submission for Brian Caraway. That is all I care to say about that fight.
– So Cody McKenzie and Leonard Garcia fought. It was pretty awful. Garcia joins the illustrious “5 losses in a row in the UFC Club”, joining such dignitaries as Steve Cantwell and Phil Baroni (tho Phil lost 6 in a row, it was over two different tenures with the company).
Nolan Howell
- Jon Jones is the pound-for-pound best fighter in MMA today. I can confidently say that. However, last night’s performance was not the measuring stick to make that claim. While super impressive, we knew what to expect and this should only be a cherry on top of a very strong resume.
- While it seems to be the trendy thing to hate Chael Sonnen, if last night was his last fight, he should be commended on bringing something new to the table. He built himself up from the midcard all the way to the top and backed it up. Kudos to him for a great career with plenty of entertainment value.
- Michael Bisping put on an impressive performance against Alan Belcher that was marred by an eyepoke. Given one more fight, Bisping should get a crack at the belt, seeing that it could be his only opportunity at it. For Belcher, after an eye injury that serious, some evaluation needs to be done before stepping back into the cage. Regardless, Bisping was entertaining.
- Good lord, does Roy Nelson hit hard or what? The Daniel Cormier fight makes more sense than matching him up with Mark Hunt if he beats Junior dos Santos. Could be a solid title eliminator. For Cheick Kongo, this really doesn’t hurt him too badly. He’ll take two or three victories on some prelims versus low-level gatekeepers to get back, rinse, repeat. Good showing for Nelson.
- Phil Davis looked like a worldbeater against Vinny Magalhaes. Unfortunately for Davis, it is easy to look like an elite striker when you are slugging a BJJ champion. For Davis, this will get him another crack at some top-ten level competition after an impressive enough performance. For Magalhaes, he will probably maintain the same level of competition.
- Jim Miller and Pat Healy put on one of the more fun fights this year. It isn’t too often that you get a fight that is a barnburner on the ground, but this one was as both scrambled to get shots at strikes and submissions. A lot of credit for Pat Healy on outlasting and finishing one of the perennial contenders at lightweight. Healy should be given some top-flight competiton off of a win like this, while Miller will get some winnable fights to maintain position.
- Just some quick hits for the undercard; Sara McMann is going to be a force and might even take the strap from Rousey with some polish. Her top control is heavy and scary.
- Rustam Khabilov picked up a win by injury. Get him in there again soon. I need more suplays.
- Gian Villante and Ovince St. Preux was a pretty dull affair that only got exciting after some pitiful judgment by Kevin Mulhall. I’m not as outraged by the call, but it definitely wasn’t handled the best way it could be.
- Sorry to see Leonard Garcia gone. Even more sorry that Cody McKemzie is still in the UFC.
- Steven Siler and Kurt Holobaugh put on a lovely fight that embodies what I love about lower-level UFC guys. Get your hands on that fight if you can.
Nolan can be reached @nolanhowell, Tim can be reached @timhickey80.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
