The Winners & Losers of UFC 112
By Scott Heritage
UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi is now in the books, and the winners and losers of the card will be returning to their respective home countries to either lick their wounds or celebrate their victories.
Anderson Silva retained his title against Demian Maia in the main event, but put on another of his frustrating showboating sessions for most of the fight. Dana White was understandably frustrated with Silva’s performance, and made his thoughts apparent in both the post fight press conference and an expletive filled tirade on twitter later on that day.
Before the fight there was talk of Silva moving both up and down in weight, both to welterweight and up light heavyweight and even heavyweight. Having been deemed unworthy to fight Georges St Pierre for the time being by Dana White, Silva’s next move is less clear than it was prior to 112.
The most likely next fight for Silva will be a challenge from either Vitor Belfort or Chael Sonnen depending on injuries. Another foray into the 205 pound division isn’t out of the question either, but Dana White will obviously be less indulgent to Silva’s whims in the near future. If Silva feels he isn’t being challenged enough at middleweight, then a permanent move to light heavyweight seems to be the most obvious next move, especially if Shogun beats Lyoto Machida at UFC 113 and he can challenge for the title.
While Silva’s antics were the main focus of the middleweight title bout at 112, it also became evident that Maia has work to do to remain in contention. Although his Jiu Jitsu remains on another level to the majority of the division, the rest of his skills have shown to be lacking in recent bouts. Against both Nate Marquardt and Anderson Silva, Maia was more or less pulped on the feet.
Where Maia is heading for the time being is nowhere fast. Numerous contenders get stuck between the champion and the rest of the division, and Maia runs the risk of becoming a high level gate keeper in the future. For the time being there are bouts with the other contenders to keep Maia going. In the long run he will have to hope he can either become more well rounded or that Silva moves on to a different weight class permanently.
Diminutive New Jersey native Frankie Edgar overcame steep odds in defeating B.J Penn and capturing the UFC lightweight gold. He implemented the perfect game plan and at times made the larger Penn look sluggish. His only career loss to date was against Gray Maynard, who has since continued to win and elevate himself into title contention himself.
A rematch between the two seems to be the most obvious match for the UFC to make as his first defense, although reportedly a rematch with Penn is the first order of business. Perennial contender Kenny Florian will also have a vested interest in the outcome of the rematch, having been smashed by Penn already
B.J Penn lost more than just his lightweight title at UFC 112. He also lost a winning streak at 155 pounds that goes right back to 2002. Moving forward Penn will want to get back on the horse as quickly as possible, and is getting another crack at Edgar in the summer.
There was talk of Penn moving up to welterweight after his defense against Edgar, at which time he would have more or less cleared out the division. Those plans will have to be put on hold for now as Penn rejoins the chasing pack for just the second time in his career. Having beaten most of the top lightweights in the division it appears that Penn is being given an instant rematch. Having him pick off other contenders would largely be retreading old ground for the Hawaiian, who has decimated the rest of the division.
It will be interesting to see what the odds are for the rematch. There were rumors of Penn fighting some kind of infection and being on antibiotics during the first fight, although it is difficult to tell whether these kinds of excuses actually have much truth to them. Many losing fighters seem to have some reason why they shouldn’t have even taken part in the fight, yet very few ever pull out. From the greasegate incident involving Penn himself to Tito’s fractured skull it is difficult to feel much sympathy for someone who fights with a big disadvantage and then tries to justify losing because of it.
Usually the UFC doesn’t tend to give immediate rematches, which gives the division a shake up and allows different contenders to present themselves. In this case though there really aren’t any new faces coming through the ranks who would be ready for a title shot over the course of a couple of fights. The only other contenders are the twice unsuccessful Kenny Florian and Gray Maynard, who has been winning, but not in the kind of fashion that has fans clamoring to see him fight.
Former welterweight champion Matt Hughes doesn’t seem to be too concerned with another title push after his recent losses, and instead seems content to take interesting but winnable fights. The rumor mill has already started that Hughes will eventually fight Dennis Hallman for his next outing, although at his current pace that might not be until next year.
Hallman beat Hughes twice during the early part of his career, both times via submission. Whether Hallman, who has been decidedly average in most respects other than this, can repeat the feat is unlikely. While Hughes is now coming to the end of his career, Hallman also probably has a few to many miles on the clock, and should prove to be easy fodder for the former champion this time around.
As per their recent policies, the UFC signed Hughes to a fairly extensive contract that should see him fighting for the promotion until his retirement. While he isn’t that relevant to the division anymore, the worry was that he would jump ship if not kept within the fold, providing rival StrikeForce with another decent draw.
After Hallman the remaining loss on his record that he should be able to erase would be against ‘Pele’ aka Jose Landi-Jons. Again since that loss Hughes went on to championship glory and hall of fame status as the UFC welterweight champion while Pele had intermittent mixed success largely in the minor leagues. After this though the only losses not avenged on Hughes’ ledger are against GSP and Thiago Alves, both of whom should have all the tools necessary to beat him today.
At the age of 42, Renzo Gracie left it a little late to really make much of a run in the UFC, and it was rumored his signing had a lot to do with part of the UFC being sold to the rulers of Abu Dhabi not long ago. In the post fight press conference Renzo talked about dropping down to 155lbs for his next fight, although whether he will be any better suited to the faster pace of lightweight will have to remain to be seen. Takanori Gomi would make for a suitable foe in his next outing, giving him the chance to avenge Raplh Gracie’s loss all the way back at Pride Bushido 3. More likely though it would get Gomi back into winning ways and on the road to an eventual rematch with B.J Penn.