This past month has been quite a good one for the Ultimate Fighting Championship and its fans. We started with a solid PPV in UFC 175, which had an amazing main event that saw Chris Weidman retain the Middleweight Championship against Lyoto Machida. We had a surprisingly good Ultimate Fighter finale, though it was a bittersweet ending when Frankie Edgar ended the career of a very listless and past his prime BJ Penn. Then we had two shows in one week: Atlantic City saw all but two fights end in finishes and ended with "Cowboy" Donald Cerrone utterly annihilating Jim Miller with body kicks and a head kick that probably made Miller think he lived in Wyoming, and Dublin had an extremely hot crowd that cheered on every Irish fighter (and there were several of them, all of whom won) and exploded when Conor McGregor backed up all of the hype by KOing Diego Brandao.
It was a good month to this point, and UFC On Fox was looking promising, possibly setting up to end one of the best months in UFC history on a high note.
Well, it wasn't perfect, but it did not disappoint.
The reason I say it was not perfect was because due to scheduling issues, the four preliminary fights had to be placed on regular, "BIG" Fox. And they were a mixed bag.
Brian Ortega vs. Mike De La Torre was good for Ortega. Got a great submission by rear naked choke/neck crank. He looks like a guy to keep an eye on down the road.
Masvidal vs. Cruickshank and Means vs. Perpetuo were OK but not really anything special.
Patrick Cummins vs. Kyle Kingsbury was utterly one-sided in Cummins favor, with one judge giving Cummins two 10-8 rounds and another one went so far as to give him all three rounds 10-8. That shocked Dana White as well, but that shows how bad Kingsbury did. He had been out for a long time and should not have come back (he, in fact, retired for good afterwards). As far as Cummins, he is rather one-dimensional, relying mostly on his wrestling, but he did try for several submission attempts so he's going to be a staple at 205 for a while. He's in his thirties so he doesn't have much time to improve but it would not impossible. At least he can work his way up the ladder at a good pace rather than get thrown at the top, hit the ladder, and fall with a splat like what happened against Daniel Cormier.
Thankfully, the main card was phenomenal.
Josh Thomson vs. Bobby Green was tremendous. Razor-thin split decision that went to Green although many thought Thomson won. I think it could really have gone either way, but Green was solid defensively. Easily the biggest win of his career, especially in light of the recent tragedies he and his family have gone through. Jorge Masvidal, if I read correctly, is next up for Green while Thomson is in a tough spot after losing back-to-back controversial decisions this year.
Dennis Bermudez vs. Clay Guida was next, and while Guida certainly looked a lot more like the old, good Clay Guida and not the godawful one that fought Gray Maynard a while back, he was just no match for a multifaceted young fighter such as "Dennis The Menace," who tapped him out in the second round with a rear naked choke. Bermudez has not lost since he lost to Diego Brandao in the Featherweight finale of Ultimate Fighter: Team Bisping VS. Team Miller. Featherweight may be dominated by Jose Aldo, but there's a lot of people trying to dethrone the king and Bermudez is close right now. As for Guida, it hurts to say it, but the days of him aiming to be contender are over.
Anthony "Rumble" Johnson vs. Antonio Rogerio "Little Nog" Nogueira was next, and dear Lord Almighty, I wish this match hadn't happened. Rumble got Little Nog backed up to the cage and TKOed in FORTY-FOUR SECONDS. It's time for the Nogueria brothers to retire. Not even a question there. Meantime, Johnson looks amazing. He was good at welterweight, but that was clearly not his weight class, yet at light heavyweight he is an absolute terror. My guess is most of the division is having nightmares right now.
Finally the main event arrived: Matt Brown vs. Robbie Lawler to see who faces Welterweight Champion Johny Hendricks. I have to say, I was looking forward to this, I thought it'd be a great fight, but never did I expect what we got.
Brown RAN, yes, RAN out to "Ladies And Gentlemen" by Saliva. I love the song and it is a great sports song, and while it has been around forever, it does not feel like it's overused. Lawler did a slow walk to his usual entrance of "Beautiful" by Eminem, which was good.
Both men just unloaded from the get-go, and for twenty-five minutes, I had no idea who was really winning. I don't know if anyone other than the judges knew, but they all gave the match to Lawler, so the rematch will indeed happen. And I now need to see whether Dana finished walking back to Vegas from Sacramento yet.
So a very good main card despite a rather blah batch of prelims, but now we have to wait until the middle of this month before the UFC returns to action. FOX doesn't get UFC again until December, but you know what? I think it will be worth the wait.
Here's hoping your drain's operable.
GDR
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