Heavyweight contender Cain Velasquez passed the toughest test of his young career with ease on Saturday in the main event of UFC 110, remaing undefeated with a first-round knockout of former UFC and PRIDE champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at the Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia.
After dominating from the onset with a mixture of accurate striking, Velasquez downed Nogueira with a right as they approached the midway point of the opening frame then finished him off with a series of unanswered punches on the ground that forced the referee to intervene.
Velasquez improves to 8-0 with the victory, including six-straight UFC wins, and remains in line for an eventual title shot that could come as early as July against champion Brock Lesnar, pending the outcome of a March interim title showdown between Frank Mir and Shane Carwin. Nogueira falls to 32-6-1.
In the UFC 110 co-main event, Wanderlei Silva nearly finished Michael Bisping in his anticipated middleweight debut, but instead settled for a narrow unanimous decision over The Ultimate Fighter 3 winner.
Bisping earned the first round with a series of takedowns, but Silva turned things around in the second, first stuffing the takedowns then finally connecting with punches before nearly securing the finish with a late guillotine attempt. In the third, Silva continued to land combinations then appeared on his way to a last-second TKOafter downing Bisping in the closing seconds, but he was unable to finish with ground and pound before the final bell sounded.
Despite a back-and-forth battle and narrow second round, the judges unanimously awarded Silva the victory (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) to the visible disagreement of Bisping.
In other main card action, Australian George Sotiropoulos continued his climb up the lightweight ladder by outpointing former challenger Joe Stevenson with superior grappling to earn a unanimous decision, while TUF 8 winner Ryan Bader scored a third-round knockout of Keith Jardine and Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic slashed his was to a second-round TKO of late-replacement Anthony Perosh.
On the UFC 110 preliminary card, Krzysztof Soszyski gashed Stephan Bonnar with an accident headbutt in the third, but was awarded a TKO victory, Chris Lytle quickly submitted Brian Foster with an opening-round kneebar, CB Dollaway took a unanimous decision over Goran Reljic, and James Te Huna debuted in his home country with a third-round TKO of Igor Pokrajac.
The complete UFC 110 results were:
MAIN CARD
- Cain Velasquez def. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira via KO (punches) – Round 2, 2:20
- Wanderlei Silva def. Michael Bisping via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- George Sotiropoulos def. Joe Stevenson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Ryan Bader def. Keith Jardine via KO (punch) – Round 3, 2:10
- Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic def. Anthony Perosh via TKO (cut) – Round 2, 5:00
PRELIMINARY CARD
- Krzysztof Soszynski def. Stephan Bonnar via TKO (cut) – Round 3, 1:04
- Chris Lytle def. Brian Foster via submission (kneebar) – Round 1, 1:41
- CB Dollaway def. Goran Reljic via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- James Te Huna def. Igor Pokrajac via TKO (strikes) – Round 3, 3:26
Pictured: Cain Velasquez
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Wow is all I have to say after the Nog/Cain fight.
yeah i was amazed with the power of cain.. i knew it was good but d@mn.. what could he do to lesnar with those bricks
Wow is right. I hope the winner of Mir/Carwin(hopefully Mir since he’s my favorite fighter) smashes Brock. If they can’t, Cain will have a good chance. He might need a little more size but if he get’s up to around 250 or so I would hope he could take out Brock. Who’s next for Nog?
Maybe BigNog gets the loser of the upcoming Gonzaga-DosSantos fight?
well nog wont fight dos santos but he would fight gonzaga since nog trains with dos santos
I think cain now jumps the line for the title shot. have cain fight lesnar next and then have the winners of mir/carwin and gonzaga/JDS to fight.
Uhhh… Except for the fact that Mir/Carwin is for the interim title and they must be unified. Will Cain get next after the winner? It is a distinct possibility.
Go Cain! Brown Pride! I hope Nog can bounce back from this loss to contention though
Not sure what I find more surprising, the speed with which Cain Velasquez let BigNog know that he’s past his fighting prime, or that Joe Daddy got outgrappled by a guy whos name I can barely pronounce.
Although I should probably get on that seeing as how the future looks real bright for Sotiropoulos at 155.
Wand and Bisping was closer than I thought, and I could have really done without another Bonnar loss, although I’m wondering if that’ll get changed to a NC because of the headbutt.
Always glad to see Lytle win a fight, especially with my favorite submission, and props to whoever that was earlier today on another thread clue’ing us in about James Te Huna…
I’m gonna say it, because God knows the rest of you hearken back to the good ol days far too often…
Watch the Nogueira fight again. Then get used to seeing it happen with increasing frequency to Pride fighters. I have never dissed their contributions to the sport, I am just saying…as a whole, they are aging and showing the wear of 40ish fights.
W. Silva was saved from being added to that list with a decidedly mediocre showing that, in my mind, merely postpones the inevitable. Congratulations on your 4th win in your last 10 tries. You’re now 3-5 in the UFC all time. Too bad no one at the Frenzy can put much stock in this win, though, because as everyone here is so fond of saying…Bisping sucks, right? Or did losing to Wandy make him a more impressive fighter than any of you have been willing to admit?
Cro Cop. That was just sad. The honorable thing would have been to put your gloves in the center of the ring, say thank you, and head back to busting bad guys in Croatia. Instead, we’re going to have to watch you lose to a couple of guys who have never even heard of Pride before you’ll figure out that you just don’t have it anymore.
Shut up, Jardine. You ran your mouth about not knowing who your opponent was and you got posterized. I won’t lie. I smiled.
Good, solid card, though, and a good time.
Hey, couldn’t you have saved the cold hard truth for tomorrow, and let the Wand fans party tonite like its 2005 at the SuperArena?
;)
Nope.
its not pride fighters showing wear as if they were 40. its all the fighters who’ve been in multiple brutal wars such as liddell and wandy. Jardines another example. Just too many wars and it shows. theres a lot of successful pride fighters like anderson silva, rampage,Shogun, etc.
1) Silva is not really a “Pride fighter.” He had a grand total of 5 fights, four of which were in one calendar year. He had almost as many fights in Cage Rage (4) as he did in Pride (5). One of the fighters at the end of your post is not like the others. One of the fighters at the end of your post just doesn’t belong. Which one do you think it is?
2) Nowhere did anyone say these guys are 40. Go back and read what the post says, not what you want it to say. Dbiz said these guys are working on close to 40 FIGHTS. And yes, it does come down to wear and tear. All the guys (except A.Silva) have been involved in multiple wars. Shogun is the youngest and has the fewest fights. A.Silva probably has the least wear and tear on his body considering how quickly his fights tend to end.
3) Rampage hasn’t fought in a year, so it will be interesting to see how much he has left. He also has 37 fights under his belt, most of which came in the meat grinder that is Pride.
what i meant by saying silva was a pride fighter is that he is recognized as a pride fighter simply because it was the rival organization to ufc and the most elite organization he had fought in untill the ufc. Tyson Griffin had a bunch of gladiator challenge fights. I dont refer to him as a gladiator fighter.
Do you mean Pride fighters as a whole, or just Wanderlei, Cro Cop and Big Nog? ‘Cause what you wrote dbiz was said a year ago when Cro Cop and Wand weren’t doing so hot then and is barely MMA news these days. Yeah those three are apparently past their Pride-prime, I gotta agree with you on that one.
You seem to have forgotten Shogun, Rampage, Hendo, Lil Nog on your list of Pride fighters who we should get used to losing. Shogun arguably beat Machida and went for an immediate rematch, Rampage was LHW champ and still a top 5 LHW, Hendo is top 5 MW and top 10 LHW still, and Lil Nog is easily top 10 LHW, probably very soon to get a title shot. So before you post things like “…get used to seeing it happen with increasing frequency to Pride fighters” remember that there are more than just 3 Pride fighters who came to the UFC.
None of those I list have the “40ish” fights you speak of dbiz, but basically only two ex-Pride fighters do, Wand and BigNog, with Cro Cop very near the 40 mark. So when you say stuff like “…get used to seeing it happen with increasing frequency to Pride fighters” what you should have probably written was “…get used to seeing it happen with increasing frequency to Wand, BigNog and Cro Cop.” It seem that you’re about 50% accurate.
…also, if any one of the three rounds in the Bisping/Wandy fight was 2 to 5 seconds longer, this thread would not even exist, because we would have been treated to a Silva finish. By the way, until Bisping’s highlight reel involves opponents other than Charles McCarthy and Jason Day, I won’t admit that he’s any more than a ‘can smasher’.
Cro Cop came in looking great and I’m sure would have beat Rothwell. He devastated a his opponent just like he was supposed to do. I don’t think anyone expected Perosh to have a chin like he did.
Nog got his arse handed to him by a hungrier, younger and faster opponent. Not much I can add to that. However, the fact that that was about the last thing anyone expected, says something.
Actually, Diablo, you’re wrong. Of the fighters you mentioned, Hendo has 32 fights and is now fighting in Strikeforce, where his only realistic shot at a loss should be Fedor, a man he may or may not actually get to fight. They have no one else who should offer too much. He probably won’t get used to losses because he’s not in an organization that has a whole lot to offer him in terms of a challenge. Not to mention that the length of his modern UFC career consisted of losing for 25 minutes against Rampage, getting choked out by A.Silva, a win over Rousimar Palhares (who? exactly.), a fight against Franklin that should have gone the other way, and one right hand against Bisping, a fighter no one seems to put any stock in. In other words, lackluster to say the least.
Rampage has 37 fights (which is close enough to be called 40ish). I’m not convinced he has a whole lot left because his one dimensional Pride style is not conducive to fighting athletically younger and hungrier fighters. Not to mention that he’s had a year since he fought, has had questionable dedication over the last couple years, had a mental breakdown after losing to a well-rounded Forrest Griffin, and put off fighting Rashad as long as he could get away with.
Don’t forget that before the Machida fight, Rua had looked horrible against Griffin, looked just as bad against Coleman before finally knocking out a 44 year old washed up fighter, and knocked out Liddell. One good fight does not a UFC career make.
I know nothing about the smaller Nogueira brother, but as mentioned in the above Rua comment, one fight does not a UFC career make.
Oh, and Buzz, the fact is that the rounds weren’t longer and Mirko fought a never was. Would it be more interesting if Rothwell had fought him? Well, yeah. But he didn’t.
Actually, what I was saying is that with the exception of Rua, you’re looking at a lof of guys who are getting old for MMA and are going to start breaking down. It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when. And as we’ve seen with Chuck, once it starts, it’s over pretty quick.
Maybe it won’t happen this year, but it will.
Now let’s look at your list, devilman.
Lil Nog: Maybe, maybe not. His next couple fights will tell a lot. Undecided.
Shogun: This one I will give you, and even said so when talking to the brother last night. In his 20s so he is the outlier of the group. Point to devilman.
Rampage: Scheduled for his 4th fight in 2 years (no wins against serious contenders), no improvement of his skillset since Pride and NOT INTERESTED IN MMA AS A PRIMARY INCOME – see the A-Team debacle. Sounds like you can expect the end soon. Point to dbiz.
Hendo: Not fighting quality opponents, clearly seeking his last big payday – hence the salary squabble with Dana. That he would go fight lesser competition over pay says more than his record can. 3-2 in his most recent UFC stint. Turning 40 this year. The end is near. Point to dbiz.
I stand by what I said. The Pride guys are, with the exception of Shogun, getting old and the fights are taking their toll. There are only so many punches a man can take before they start to affect him more. A lot of the guys who were in their early 20s in Pride are coming up on the end. You gave me 3. I took 2 more, with one to you and one undecided. 5 out of 7 of the “Pride guys” are clearly on the way out.
It isn’t a knock against them. It isn’t an insult. They’ve all had pretty good careers (just not in the UFC in some cases – I’m looking at you, Wanderlei).
Regarding Buzz’s statement….
“…also, if any one of the three rounds in the Bisping/Wandy fight was 2 to 5 seconds longer, this thread would not even exist, because we would have been treated to a Silva finish. By the way, until Bisping’s highlight reel involves opponents other than Charles McCarthy and Jason Day, I won’t admit that he’s any more than a ‘can smasher’.”
That goes both ways. You just said that Wanderlei got a decision against a “can smasher.” Thank you for lending credence to my point that Wanderlei is rapidly approaching the end of his career. If he can’t finish “can smasher” Bisping, he’s nothing more than a gatekeeper in a new division.
DbiZ you say something to the effect that certain fighters will eventually “breakdown” perhaps not this year but it will happen
Gee ya don’t say, I believe everyone will slowdown, get caught and grow older perhaps not today but maybe tomorrow… :P
I’ll do this in order,
bsbiz: What are you talking about? I stated in my post that the guys I wrote about did not have the 40 fights, but really only 2 from Pride do. Check it out, I wrote it.
The post was about guys leaving Pride and typically not doing well in the UFC. I disagreed.
Hendo was a screwjob away from getting Anderson in the cage, and is by most accounts the #2 MW in the world, just read a few top 10s, you’ll see.
Rampage became the champ, lost a close one to Griffin, came back and viciously KOd Wand. Then he did a movie. I’m not a fan of his outside the cage actions, but he’s still a top 5 in most top 10 lists.
And as far as Rua goes, the dude basically beat Machida, nearly all of the frenZy can agree on that. So what if he looked bad against Forest and Coleman. Fact of the matter is that Shogun is about to get his 2nd title shot in as many fights. Not too bad.
And LilNog, well let’s wait and see. Outside Pride (remember, this is what your bro originally wrote about), not exclusively UFC, LilNog is 6-0 with notable wins over Matyushenko and Cane. You wrote you know little of LilNog, so check him out. I remember you writing once over on the forums that people who don’t do research before posting grinds your gears, so you know, do some research.
dbiz: as stated above, LilNog is 6-0 after Pride, with a couple big wins and no sign of slowing down, so point devilman. Rampage is 6-1 since Pride with a UFC title and a defence. So I’d give myself that point aswell, but we’ll see how he does against Rashad, so at the most I’ll say undecided. Maybe I’ll concede Hendo, but he’s still considered by most, if not all, to be a top 2-3 MW in the world, so you know. And just ’cause he’s turning 40 doesn’t mean his career is over. You may have heard of this guy named Couture who is essentially a HW Hendo. The next couple years will paint his legacy. Good points though.
1) Clearly you misread my post when I said “40ish”. That means “around 40″. The 37 fights Rampage had qualify as “around 40.” Maybe the conversion to the metric system changes that number up there, but down here, that qualifies as “40ish.”
2) Hendo chose to leave the UFC. He didn’t like that Belfort rode in and took his title shot and didn’t like that Marquardt was also in the running. I’m not saying Dana was right to toss around guaranteed title shots to three different guys, but Hendo made the choice to go to Strikeforce instead of hang around to see how things shook out. I never said he wasn’t a top 5 middleweight either. Please quote where I said that. I pointed out that he lost to Rampage, got choked out by Silva, won against Rousimar Palhares, won a decision against Franklin that I felt he should have lost, and had a big right hand against Bisping. Please correct any facts I got wrong. Oh, yeah. They aren’t.
3) I never denigrated Rampage’s performances in the cage. I never even questioned his top 5 status. Go back and re-read. I said that I wasn’t sure his one dimensional style was conducive to fighting more well-rounded fighters. Like Forrest. And clearly we weren’t watching the same fight there, because I remember Rampage having one and a half good rounds and the rest was total Forrest. And I believe the scores of the fight (46–48, 46–48 and 46–49) reflect that.
4) “The dude basically beat Machida.” I do believe the scorecards (the only stats that matter, ultimately), disagree. Anything else is an opinion. I’m sorry to point out that yours, mine, and the rest of the frenZy’s opinions on what happened don’t matter to the official records, but it’s true. Do I think that was the best fight he’d had in the UFC? Absolutely. We’ll find out soon whether that was a once in a lifetime fight or whether that’s a new level of ability for him. “So what if he looked bad against Forest and Coleman.” Just ask Gray Maynard if style points don’t matter. Frankie Edgar/BJ Penn says they do.
5) A.Rogerio Nogueira: I never offered an opinion on him. I said one fight does not make a career. I left open the option that he will be great. I just didn’t jump on the bandwagon after one fight.
dbiz, telling me that Wanderlei is in the twilight of his career is not news to anybody. However, you have to admit that he did something that a few young fighters could not do, and that’s beat a backpeddling Bisping and he did it with a mediocre performance.
Cro Cop fought a nobody by no fault of his own. He finished him in pretty devestating fashion just like he was supposed to. How about waiting to see the actual match with Rothwell before you pronounce his career kaput. Or, like you said, our opinions don’t mean stink, so how about you wait for Cro Cop to decide when his career is over.
It is easy for anybody to say that Big Nog is done because he got KTFO in only a few minutes. However, if anybody would have predicted that precise finish BEFORE the fight, they would have been laughed right off this website because everyone figured Nog was re-juvenated.
I may wear contacts, but my hindsight is 20/20 as well.
Ok bsbiz, slow your heart rate down and read. You really gonna pull that “up there, down here” sh!t? If being Canadian was a race and not a nationality, I’d say your being borderline racist. I don’t get why you’re panties are all in bunch though. Wow, I based my arguments on that magical 40 your bro came up with, and you get upset that I didn’t include 40-ish. If you weigh in at 174 for WW fight, is that 170-ish? Do you still get the title shot at WW? No you don’t. I deal with real numbers, not abstracts. Wait Rampage hits that 40, then we’ll talk.
And the Hendo thing. You started off saying I’m wrong, and that’s where you’re wrong. Hendo is still relevant to MMA, and is still on ALL top 5 MW lists. Just ’cause you’re not in the UFC does not make you less of a fighter. And then you say you don’t disagree with Rampage’s place on top 10 lists. How can I be wrong in saying PRIDE guys are still relevant when you yourself agree that the guys I proved my points with are all on top 10 lists?
My point has always been counter to your brothers original, which is that Pride guys should get used to losing. I said 3 of the Pride guys should get used to losing. Then you reared your head. Hendo, Rampage, LilNog and Shogun are all top 10s in their weight classes, and still relevant to the growth and maintenance of the sport. End of argument.
Guys, lets do try to keep this civil. Eldiablo I think you’re being a bit touchy over the “up there, down here” thing, people use that regularly in this country even when talking to someone from the other side of town. I don’t know if that is less common in Canada (you know, different cultures, not a “nationalist” thing), but it is very common here to say something along the lines of “I don’t know about where you come from, but where I come from this means this.”
As far as 40 v. 40ish, dbiz’s original post said “40ish” so… there that is.
So I’m thinking Velasquez for KOoTN, Wand and Bisping for FoTN, and by default Lytle for SoTN.
Sound about right?
wand vs bisping and soti and joe daddy were close for FoTN and although UFC.com was messing up during the wand fight and i missed most of the second round, i think wand and bisping won FoTN.. Soti and Joe Daddy was an awesome technical battle but i wasnt sitting down at all during the wandy bisping fight..
i was thinking soropotpopolososis and joe daddy for fotn
I liked tonights fights
CC didn’t fight his best fight and I believe he took it easy on the kid for taking the fight on short notice, til he decided to fight on then CC just went to end the fight, I know DbiZ and Gun won’t agree with me but hey that’s what I saw.
Bader will being eaten for lunch by any elite LHW honestly, he did pretty good but gasses like crazy,I wasn’t impressed too much by his entire fight but the finish was nice, Jardine well I guess we will find out in a few days what your UFC future will consist of
George did great and I was extremely happy to see him take Joe… I’m also suprised that some people around the MMA community were shocked that George was better a BJJ than Joe, I guess they just weren’t paying attention to his last few years fighting, good show by the gent from Australia, I wonder who he gets next I have a few names in mind!
Wanderlei v Bisping was a good fight and realistically Bisping is a tough test for anyone especially for their Debut @ MW… Being a huge fan of Wanderlei ofcourse I’m excited he got the win, and did a better job with head movement and sprawling, he got out of a sub attempt and took some shots, a good showing for him in his debut.. If Akiymama v Wanderlei happens wow that will be a hell of a fight and honestly could just be a war… Bisping is getting better each time out (except for UFC100) but his bad habits just take over.. His footwork is sloppy,chin occassionally not tucked,movement to his right, shots are sloppy past the first round perhaps he needs to switch camps or just work on his bad habits for 3 months straight?
Cain set that combo up from the beginning and he connected nice job by him, I really would like to see Cain v Mir but that’s just me (hence I want Carwin to beat Mir)… Big NOG a generations greatest HW not named Fedor (imho) just got a serious carrer evaluation type of a moment tonight, perhaps he should take no less that 8months off to “rest”, I don’t know, I just believe the amount of fights (wars) he has had might be taking its toll… I’m a huge supporter of Big NOG and was expecting him to do better but hey not it is time to refocus, he is a legand maybe some time off will help
O and I think that due to the headbutt I would like to see Bonnar and Kyrstoffshozzzkii fight again
Lytle with the Jitz nice knee bar man
Hey, it was American Wrestling all the way. Get it right. (That was a joke, people…)
I totally agree FR702,
CC was just giving us a show …. he knew that he’d put him away it was obvious . Especially towards tha end of the first when he connected with the combo that sent him along the fence , CC was just about to level the dude but held back . I see why he didnt and I give HUGE respect to him for NOT crushing him .
Well said. I was reading one of the remarks here that said Cro Cop looked slow. Ah, No, he didn’t! He was a brutal, stalking monster in that first round, then relaxed and held back in the second because he wasn’t in threat of being beaten or challenged. Still and all, in that second round, where Cro Cop wasn’t putting up his best game, he managed a vicious cut on Perosh that ended the fight. Nice fight for Cro Cop – this really satisfied my need to see the vintage Cro Cop in the UFC.
to be honest i didnt expect any less from cain.
if you havent seen his last fights compared to big nog.
yes big nog beat randy but randy was no way a top contender in the HW division and he is past his prime just like big nog, even though im a big randy and big nog fan.
i dont think he compares to any of the up and comers of the division. yes he is up there but with guys like cain, mir, carwin, dos sontos dont see him getting title shot soon, i really hope he proves me wrong.
i would love to see him take on gonzanga, after dos santos beats him
Randy was a top contender in the HW division. he put up the best fight that anyone has against lesnar. (besides Mir beating him of course)
No he wasn’t. And nobody has put up a good fight against Lesnar outside of Mir catching him in a knee bar. Saying Randy put up the best fight is like saying Pneumonic plague isn’t as bad as Ebola because you can take antibiotics.
Couture both cut and took down Lesnar, two things no one has done before or since, let’s give him that at least.
So a drunk driver gets in an accident and kills someone. Should he be given credit for not hitting a fire hydrant or telephone pole?
Why does it sound like bsbiz is not giving props to the most decorated MMA fighter in UFC history when it comes to his fight with Brock Lesnar?
;)
thats because he isnt giving him any props. he’s just ignoring any valid points with retarted analogies. Couture was 40 lbs lighter (probably close to 50 lbs on fight night) and your gonna sit there and say he didnt put up a good fight? come on dude. Give Randy the respect he deserves.
And those analogies are fucking terrible. haha. They make absolutely no sense. If were talking MMA, lets talk MMA
The analogies aren’t bad, and I for one don’t have a problem with drawing a parallel to something else we know about when talking MMA.
yea agreed look what lesnar did to mir in his 2nd fight, just like cain, carwin and dos santos lesnar is evolving into a great fighter from the heath fight compared to what he is becoming
and im not saying randy isnt evolving but he is no where as near as atheltic as the young up and comers who are faster and stronger thats why he had to move down to lhw.
imo. cain would beat carwin jst dont know about mir so need to see that fight to comment but hope mir pulls out the w but for some unforseen reason cant fight lesnar and cain does and then the winner eventually fights mir.
does sean sherk have a fight in the works? if not, i would like to see him and soto throw down.
He was supposed to fight Guida at the card on Versus, but pulled out due to injury.
im all for being humble and respectful inside the octagon but i kind of find it odd that cain wasnt really excited after an impressive KO of big nog. i know that hes always saying that “im not impressed with my fight” and i was somewhat disappointed that he wasnt celebrating. he had to have been happy with that and he is an impressive fighter, and i want for him to to be pumped up after a fight like that. he obviously put in alot of work into his camp, and put on a great show for all of us, and he deserves to be satisfied.
and no gnarly Wandy staredown??? : (
great night of fights and objectifying women…
Wow that was a pretty awesome card. Big props to Crop Cop for his sportsmanship in the Octagon. Not too many guys would have been that respectful to their opponent, especially in a statement fight and he was so he gets major credit for that.
Bader and Jardine was a hell of a fight. Bader came out very strong in the 1st with decent boxing and strong takedowns. But seeing Jardine morph into a different fighter in the 2nd was very interesting. He was stopping the take down at will and his weird boxing kicked in. The 3rd was really good until a gassed Bader decided to knock Jardine out of the UFC….It wasnt the most technically sound match but eneternaining none the less
Joe Daddy vs Sotiropoulos in my opinion was fight of the night. I along with the whole bar in SoCal were all going for Joe Daddy, but if you weren’t impressed with Sotiropoulos’ ground game…I dont know what to say. That was a confident and well conditioned Joe Daddy that was in there and he would be a beast for anyone in that condition outside of BJ and Sotiropoulos had all the answers. Very close fight tho… Props to Sotiropoulos for effectively using the rubber guard. I love it.
Bisping vs Silva….Bisping earned my respect all though he has alot of work to do. Plant your feet when you punch man….and congrats to Silva. You will always be the man.
I strongly believe Big Nog underestimated Cain. He fought with zero head movement as if Cain didnt have any power. But wow Cain deserves all the respect in the world…I can sit here and think of number of reasons my boy Nog didnt get the job done…But Cain earned that and looked awesome in doing so. This beating he gave Big Nog should lead into a interesting battle of revenge between him and Nogs protege Dos Santos. Although I dont want them to fight yet because I would to see both fight for the title.
One last thing. Am I the only who appreciated the Hell out of the fans in Australia…They had extensive knowledge about the ground game, they were patient for the development of each fight, and were extremely respectful to the fighters. That was probably the best audience I’ve witnessed at a UFC event. It really made watching the fights that much more enjoyable.
I agree about the crowd. They booed Bisping but other than that very respectful of the fighters.
Well I think they booed the man cuz well Aussies naturally dislike the Brits, some say they have a reason for that but ehhh different story for a different time.
And even tho they booed Bisping they still cheered him after his respectful gesture during his post-fight interview.
Ok here is what I saw last night: Joe Daddy is done, the one trick guillotine is over. If he doesn’t catch you in it he looses. Bader is a beast and will get better as he gains experience. everyone here knows what I think of Jardine so Thanks for coming, see you later tomato can. Wand looked really good imo. I don’t like Bisping, but he showed a lot of class in defeat and knew where he lost the fight. Maybe my stance on him will change, maybe not. Cain is also a beast and will be a handfull for anyone. Big nog is done. He has been ktfo in 2 of his last 3 fights. Lytle’s sub was sick.
Nog made me cry in disbelief. Like others have mentioned on this comment wall, I knew he was good but damn!
The Stevenson fight was a beautiful display of techinical skill and hunger. Normally I favor stevenson, but that aussie was straight out dominating him in ground/stand up.
Cro Cop vs the aussie…. meh. Good fight, but lets face it. As much as I love to watch Mirko make minsmeat out of opponents, the fighter they match him against sucked. Atleast it was a tko by cut, we got to see some blood :D
Bader VS Jardine – an upset… I was hoping to see Jardine get in one of those random ugly power punches land. But oh well. Good job Bader.
Bader an upset over Jardine? Not in my book!
DID ANYONE NOTICE … If you have stand up xperience you will appreciate this… Nog looked completly diff last night as opposed to his fight with couture, doing elementary shit like chin up in the air no angling moving straight in and straight backwards in exchanges? What happened between last night and his fight with couture?
I was thinking the same thing. I was also curious as to know why his brother and Anderson Silva were not in his corner to help with his boxing like they usually are. His stand up was horrible to say the least.
Agreed, he looked bad right from the start. He needed to come out aggressive, instead he just stood there and took a beating.
Cain Velasquez put to silence the critics who gave him no chance and them behaved like a professional. I like that. His actions speak louder than words.
Velasquez is the truth…Brown Pride, indeed.
I feel bad for Nog though, I was pulling for him to win.
God bless the warrior named Wanderlei Silva, Just a great win for him. Who next for him–maybe Marquardt??
A really solid card up and down.
I really enjoyed the fights last night , but I cant say I did anymore than the last Strikeforce card . Actually , and this is probably gonna get some boo’s ..But… I’d like to have seen a scott smith vs silva fight .
“but I cant say I did anymore than the last Strikeforce card”
To be fair, you’ve always been rather “anti-UFC” from what I’ve seen. Or if not necessarily “anti-UFC”, then neutral on the UFC and overtly “pro-everybody other than the UFC”.
Nah, I’ve read Dr Doom’s stuff for awhile, and I’d catagorize it as anti-UFC.
Which isn’t necessarily an insult, just more a statement of fact from my POV…
Justin , Jchol …
I like all of it ….. UFC , DREAM , STRIKEFORCE …. slapfights , sissy fights whatever is on the tube .
I’m not anti UFC … just putting in the perspective that while it was a good night of action it wasnt too far above anything else out there available .
nog has looked slower for the last several fights and he’s not as indestructable as he used to be. And Velasquez is so fast and powerful. Awesome fight, but I’m sorry we didn’t see what would have happened on the ground.
Nog seems to like to box too much – yes, even slowed down he’s still got great angles and timing but it’s funny that he never really worked on expanding his game mixing it up more trying to chute or a some strategy for when the stand up isn’t going well – hell even keeping it on the feet but staying away to force the opponent to come to him more would have been better. I’m think he must have been surprised at the improvement in Cain’s striking. I’m going to be surprised if he doesn’t destroy Lesnar.
I think the size will really play into that fight (Lesnar vs Velasquez) I would love for Cain to win, but i see lesnar layin on him and pounding him out. I do beleive cain is the better fighter, but size does matter
size will be lesnar’s best asset against CV for sure, but mir’s game up until lesnar stifled that approach was largely about letting it go there as it was his spider web. CV’s game is more wrestling and he’s pretty damn awesome at not giving that up in the first place. plus CV now seems to have better striking, and speed. and seems to have a total focus. Lesnar’s focus is not quite that good. lesnar’s other advantage is reach. If Cain mixes up lesnar the big man could get confused and gas or get put to sleep.
Bravo Cain!!!
I was dead wrong about this fight – I felt Cain would dominate from the clinch and power through with the wrestling. I also felt that would be playing right into Minotaur’s strengths and would ultimately come down to the decision.
Having watched the Rothwell fight, I did not believe Cain had the stand-up ability to be a well-rounded threat.
I was dead wrong and couldn’t be any happier about it.
The Heavyweight division finally has a LOT of life. There was a loooong stretch there where it’s always been just one dominant guy and a division full of kind-of, sort-of good fighters (see the Andrei Arlovski – Tim Sylvia championship era).
Now, the Heavyweight Division is as exciting as any other division, even if it’s not as stacked. Mir is constantly evolving and staying at the top of the heap. Hopefully Lesnar comes back at 100%. Hopefully Carwin can (at the very least) put forth an excellent performance against Mir and ID himself as a legitimate threat.
If only Alistair would stop flirting with the UFC and just jump the fence already (cause, really, is he ever going to defend his title in Strikeforce?) there could be months upon months of outstanding match-ups to be had.
Congrats Cain!!! He’s one of the top dogs now and I sincerely believe he’ll be wearing gold very, very soon.
I’m not saying that Alistair Overeem wouldn’t be welcomed into the UFC, but you have to consider the following:
If you believe the internet MMA media conspiracy theorists, Overeem is a regular PED user, and is reluctant to fight in any country with pre-fight screenings.
If you believe the POV of his supporters, Overeem wouldn’t like life in the UFC because of the exclusivity, and wouldn’t be able to jet all over the world like some kickboxing James Bond whenever he felt like taking a fight in Helsinki or Madagascar or Siam…
;)
Haha – what I need to stop doing is reading Wikipedia so much. “Overeem was also seen at UFC 93 in Ireland talking to Dana White and indicating he is “ready” to fight in the UFC.”
jcohl – your take makes much more sense.
Cain should fight the winner of the Dos Santos/Gonzaga fight, with the
winner of that getting a title shot against the winner of Brock vs Mir/Carwin winner.
what do you all think about Bader vs Thiago? Thats a fight I want to see…
i think brock has the best chance against carwin or mir – as opposed to
dos santos, velasquez those guys have sick power and speed, and the focus of a jungle predator. plus i don’t see them getting smothered like mir 2.