UFC 116

Wow! What a night!

This was in my opinion the best UFC show ever.

After a slow start (the early prelim fights were rather ordinary), it was the finish of Harris v Branch that set the tone for the rest fo the night. After struggling for much of the fight, Harris appeared to be ready to tap to an armbar submission attempt from Branch. To try an get out of this hold, Harris used the same technique as 'Rampage' Jackson did against Ricardo Arona in Pride some years earlier & lifted his opponent off the mat (while he was still holding his arm) & slamming him onto the mat, knocking Branch out cold!

The rest of the card was action packed!

I'll give my thoughts on the other fights on the card (apologies to those of you who read this blog for the poker content):

Kendall Grove v Goran Relic:

Winner by split decision: Kendall Grove

Kendall is still improving as a fighter. He has a great ground game, but still needs to improve his standup fighting. His body shape is unique for this division (don't think there's anyone else in the 185lb division that is 6'6") & that makes his ground game so lethal, but he still doesn't know how to consistently beat opponents while standing. Relic has great kicks & it tough, but struggles in other areas. He reminds me a lot of Mirko Cro Cop, who was such a force in Pride around 5 years ago, but hasn't really evolved his skills as those around him have, which puts him at a disadvantage in his fights.

Seth Petruzelli v Ricardo Romero:

Winner by submission: Ricardo Romero

This was a crazy fight. Petruzelli was dominating about 80% of this fight & looked to have it pretty much wrapped up, with Romero struggling to stand at times. Of course as has become standard in MMA, its not over until its over & Romero pulled out a fantastic submission on the ground when Petruzelli got sloppy. Romero could barely get up at the end of the fight & his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan was largely mumbling. Very exciting fight, if not the most technical apart from the finish.

Brendan Schaub v Chris Tuchscherer

Winner by TKO: Brendan Schaub

This was a total mismatch right from the start. I watched Tuchscherer in his last UFC fight in February & although he won a decision, I (and many others in the crowd) thought he lost fairly convincingly. Although he trains with Brock Lesnar, he is only similar to him in terms of his size & it showed in the fight. Schaub knocked him down early & finished it with strikes on the ground in just over a minute.

Main card:

George Sotiropoulos v Kurt Pellegrino

Winner by unanimous decision: George Sotiropoulos

This was a great performance by 'Aussie' George. He totally dominated the fight, with the exception fo the final 10 seconds when Pellegrino knocked him down. Once again he dominated on the ground & showed that he has one of the best, if not the best, ground game in the division. George is continuing to improve & will hopefully get a title shot soon. There's also talk of the fight possibly being in Australia ... will have to see what eventuates in regards to that. Oh, and GREAT walkout music & entrance for Sotiropoulos ... wearing a black hoodie that covered most of his face he came ou tto Black Sabbath's Ironman! Seriously intimidating!

Krzysztof Soszynski v Stephan Bonnar

Winner by TKO: Stephan Bonnar

Another crazy fight that continued their war from UFC 110 in Sydney, which was stopped due to a cut on Bonnar's head. Both guys just swung for the fences from the beginning, with Bonnar eventually triumphing. UFC President Dana White was so impressed he gave the fight the 'Fight of the Night' award.

Chris Lytle v Matt Brown

Winner by submission: Chris Lytle

Another exciting fight, which was highlighted by a fantastic finish. Great transitions by Lytle to move from half-guard to mount to triangle in a matter of seconds. The final submission was an arm lock, but he did have a triangle choke as well. This should have been submission of the night, but you can understand the decision given the other results. Very impressed with Lytle, who seems to have become the stepping-stone for the top of the division - if you beat him, you're in the elite ... if not, you're back to being just another UFC fighter.

Yoshihiro Akiyama v Chris Leben

Winner by submission: Chris Leben

Wow! Another amazing fight & another come-from-behind win. Akiyama was winning this fight in the first round convincingly. He began to look tired in the second round, though Leben was also looking tired, but still seemed to be in front in round two, though it was much closer, with both fighers standing & throwing huge punches at each other. The final round saw Leben looking a bit fresher & he began to win the standup. Akiyama managed to get a position on top of Leben, but Leben somehow pulled out a choke from the bottom with 20 seconds left in the fight to take the win. Fantastic effort by both fighers & an impressive win for Chris Leben who continues to gain fans with each fight he has. Dana White gave this 'Fight of the Night' honours as well, which was well deserved.

Main event

Brock Lesnar v Shane Carwin

Winner by submission: Brock Lesnar

Wow! Another amazing fight. This was very much a fight of two rounds. Round one was dominated by Carwin. He knocked Lesnar down fairly early in the fight & spent much of the round pounding Lesnar's head from the top position. At times it looked like the fight might have been stopped, but Carwin seemed to be methodically taking shots at Lesnar rather than putting 100% effort into ever punch. At the end of the round, you could tell that this pacing by Carwin was due to his exhaustion. He was totally spent by the end of round one. Yes, it was the first time he'd had a fight go that long, but it definitely set the tone for round two. Although Lesnar took plenty of hard shots, he looked much fresher than Carwin (albeit a little battered and bruised). Round two seemed fairly straightforward by comparisson. Carwin was tired & Lesnar easily took him down. He worked for a triangle choke from the top position, though Carwin seemed to be defending it for a while, though he was doing little to get out of the position. Lesnar finally moved to a better position, which tightened the choke & forced Carwin to tap! What a totally unexpected finish! Dana White awarded this 'Submission of the Night', which was as much to do with the surprise of it as anything else (I think 95% of people thought this would finish by KO or TKO at some point). Lesnar really impressed with his ability to take hard shots & survive when in trouble & his improving submissions & great cardio were the difference in round 2. Carwin was close, but really needs to work on his cardio if he wants to challenge again for the title. His raw power puts him right at the top of the division in spite of the result, though he needs to prepare better, including working off his back, for a rematch to have the opposite result.

Overall a great night of fights. If anyone is considering watching MMA for the first time, this would be the card I would show.