Three cards on the UFC Fight Pass there was three first round knock outs:
Jim Miller landing devastating shot after shot on Gomi;
Gegard knocking down and out Santos;
and Lauzon stopping Diego Sanchez.
I would have to say my favorite fight of the UFC Fight Pass card would have been Lauzon stopping Sanchez.
I have to admit that I was surprised by these three fights, I felt as if they had set the tone for what was to come. In a way they sort of did:
The next four fights were all decision and were drawn out. Grant it some of the event had great inner battles between fighters.
Sage Northcutt showed he needs to work on his ground game. Marin was able to move as he pleased and Northcutt could do nothing to stop his transitions. However we did see Sage has incredible heart and spirit as he was caught in several submission attempts and instead of tapping out, he fought through them and eventually picked up his win by decision.
T.J. Dillashaw showed us once again, he is ready to get back in the title hunt. He was active landing shots, moving well, and was able to show Raphael that his game was not on Dillashaw's level. Dillashaw will have a lot to prove as he continues to grow as a fighter but he did an amazing job.
Kelvin outclassed the former champ Johny Hendricks. This was a fight I thought Big Rig was going to win but, when you miss weight the mental side of your game goes as well. Johny needs to get back to the win column quickly, but this was not his best performance. Kelvin was able to move in and out with out taking too much damage and avoiding Hendricks best shots. Hendricks also was loading his hand weigh too much and was telegraphing his moves. Kelvin moves up from the 12 spot at least to the top 7 in my book with this win.
Julianna had a game plan for Cat and though she did not execute it to perfection, she did come out with the win. I felt as if Cat won two of the rounds but judges had it the other way and Julianna came out with the victory. Great take downs, leads to great openings, and Cat was having trouble returning fire.
Between the four fights on FS1, I think Julianna and Cat had to be my favorite fight of the four.
NOW ON TO THE MAIN CARD ITSELF:
I had predicted Browne would win over Velasquez, I felt as if Browne could have overwhelmed him and it was not the case at all. Velasquez show he was willing to do new things in the ring as well, with the addition of a wheel house kick, I have seen it one other time but Cain did it twice in the fight. Travis was in trouble once Velasquez showed off what strength he had in his take down game. Beating on Browne with a few seconds left in the first round and it was called.
I really thought with the previous injuries and back surgeries Cain had been through it was still going to have some issues, but that is not the case and I would expect to see Cain back at the top of the heavyweights in his next fight.
Jose Aldo and Frankie Edgar went to war for the Interim Championship and I have to say this was an amazing fight. Five rounds and only one speed, the endurance of these two athletes were amazing. Jose showed why he has great boxing and Frankie displayed lots of heart. Jose was able to stuff take down after take down attempt by Frankie and capitalized on his missed attempts. Jose called out Conor at the event and let him know he is coming back for his title. Conor currently is training for his fight with Nate Diaz, but lets get ready for this match up. I would like to see Max Holloway get shot at Jose Aldo and let the winner of the fight go after Conor McGregor.
The next two fights were snooze fest at best. I felt as if I went to sleep and watch the same fight over again. But, in the sense of a MMA stance the game plan was executed to perfection.
Daniel Cormier showed he was afraid to throw with Anderson Silva, to be honest I do not blame him. Especially in the third round, when Cormier tried to throw with Silva and when Silva connected with a kick to the abdomen Cormier tied up Silva and refused to let him go. Silva has a great ground game but Cormier has an amazing balance and was able to overwhelm Silva at this fight. DC admitted to being scared of Silva and went to what he knows best. His ground and pound on Silva was on point. Now if Silva would have taken this fight originally and not Bones Jones (we will talk about him at another time), I think Silva would have had a better chance battling DC.
Back at UFC 118 Randy Couture showed James "Lights Out" Toney basic UFC 101. What it means was Strikers can not be wrestlers, it just does not work out. Which was the same exact thing we saw last night with Brock Lesnar vs Mark Hunt. Brock was able to get in and take down Mark anytime he wanted to in the first and third rounds, however in the second round fatigue had set in with Brock and it looked as if Mark could capitalize on it, which he did not. Brock was proud to be back in the UFC but now he has to get ready for SummerSlam and his match with Randy Orton.
The best fight of the night had to go to the Amanda Nunes vs Meisha Tate. The women headlined this fight, though I did have Tate winning this fight I wanted to see Nunes with the upset. Nunes came out with a serious game plan of taking the fight to Tate. As Nunes loves to be a fast starter in the first round she was able to get over on Tate. Nunes dropped Tate and continued to punish her with shot after shot. Once Tate began to cover up Nunes jumped and finished with a rear-naked choke. Tate understood Nunes like to start all of her fights fast, but Tate could not handle the pace and ultimately paid the price.
The fight card was a great fight card some great match ups. We all are going to be thinking how the DC vs Bones fight would have gone down, had Bones Jones not got into trouble with the USADA. We will never know, and best of luck to Bones Jones as he fights the possibility of a two year ban.
Overall I thought it was a good fight card but had the potential to be an amazing fight card. All the great plans that were put into play. I also can not wait to see UFC 201, onward to July 30th.
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