UFC 125 Resolution: Surprising Results
By Luigi Lizares Yunque
When the original fight card of the New Years Ultimate Fighting Championship event was set, I was saying to myself that the UFC is really starting the year off with a bang!
Last November 20 of this year, the reigning WEC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo was presented with his new UFC Featherweight Championship Belt due to the merging of WEC into the UFC. Aldo was supposed to be the co-main event against Josh Grispi, but due to a contracted vertebra suffered during training, he was forced to withdraw from the fight.
This was the 2nd time that an injury plagued this event. Prior to the Aldo vs. Grispi co-headliner, the match was given to Former UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion Shane Carwin against UFC Heavyweight stand-out Roy “Big Country” Nelson. Carwin has been very vocal about back pains he has been suffering throughout his career. This time however, Shane Carwin’s doctors did an MRI scan on his back, and it showed that the damage he accumulated throughout the years may require surgery. Even though Carwin was hesitant in withdrawing from the fight he stated that he needed to be healthy in order to give his best performance.
I was looking forward to either of these 2 fights is because I wanted to see Jose Aldo finally fighting in UFC, and hoping he would continue what he did best while he was at the WEC, which is annihilating his opponents, and making them look like amateurs. Not to say that Josh “The Fluke” Grispi is really like his nick-name, he’s actually far from it. But Jose Aldo has been so dominant that so far no one could find a chink in his MMA armor. He has been unstoppable after his only MMA loss back in 2005 against the Luta Livre blackbelt Luciano Azevedo.
I also wanted it to be a pre-cursor to a “Super Fight” against the reigning UFC Lightweight Champion Frankie Edgar. If Jose Aldo can move up to Lightweight and still be as effective in that division, it will be another dream match for the ages. With regard to the Shane Carwin vs. Roy “Big Country” Nelson fight, I wanted to see how “Big Country” could stand up against Shane Carwin’s 4XL fists.
In my previous article I mentioned how Roy Nelson took a beating from the #1 Heavyweight Contender Junior Dos Santos but he still kept on coming. I have to give the advantage in the stand-up to Carwin because they both look evenly matched in the ground game. If anyone can knock Roy Nelson down, my best bet would be Shane Carwin.
Yes, I’m kind of disappointed that neither of these 2 fights pushed through because of the result of UFC 125 main event. Not that it was uneventful or boring, but to me the reigning UFC Lightweight Champion Frankie “The Answer” Edgar’s performance didn’t make much of an impression among fight fans. He may have retained the title but he didn’t have “The Answer”. Among all the UFC Champions, Edgar is the least known.
A lot of the casual fans still think BJ Penn is the reigning lightweight champion. This goes to show you, especially in BJ Penn’s case that charisma really can take you a long way. With regard to Frankie Edgars opponent Gray Maynard, his performance during the first round was worthy of a Champion. If there was any doubt that he deserved the title shot, it was totally erased after that 1st round. Gray Maynard was so dominant that Edgar was walking around the octagon like a zombie after Maynard knocked him down 3 times in that round. I thought this was it! There is going to be a new champion. But Frankie Edgar does what he does best; “He always proves me wrong.”
When he fought BJ Penn, I thought Edgar would just be another walk in the park. When BJ lost the 1st match I thought he was just off. When they had the rematch, I thought Penn would come out the winner, but sadly Frankie Edgar really was the better fighter. With this fight Edgar proved me wrong again. Not only did he survive the 1st round, he clearly won the 2nd round and looked like the beating he took on the 1st round did not even happen. It was a boxing match in the remaining 3 rounds.
Both tried some take downs but they almost always end up on their feet. No one was dominant enough to give the judges a conclusive decision, so this fight ended in a split draw. Both fighters were disappointed with the decision but to me, because of Maynard’s dominance in the first round I think he should have won this title fight.
This fight reminded me of Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez’ 1st bout for the WBA and IBF World Titles. At the first round of that fight Manny knocked down Marquez 3 times but survived that round and on to 12 rounds and scored a draw with the judges. Like the Edgar vs. Maynard fight both boxers were disappointed by the decision, both claiming they won the fight. So like the fighters it was a disappointment to me as well. A rematch is already in being worked out at the time of this writing. I hope the fighters won’t leave it in the judges’ hands the second time around.
The co-main event of that evening was a stand up war! The Ultimate Fighter Season 1’s most outspoken fighter Chris “The Crippler” Leben was up against the Former WEC Light Heavyweight Champion Brian Stann. Stann was the one who called out Leben for this match because he wanted to fight the person he considered the toughest guy in the UFC. Both fighters are known for their heavy hands and they really put on fireworks right after the opening bell. I thought they would be evenly matched, but when Brian Stann clipped Leben in his left jaw it was the beginning of the end. Leben never recovered and when he was dropped for the 3rd time with so many unanswered punches on the ground the referee Josh Rosenthal stepped in and ended the fight at 3:37 on the first round. A tremendous victory by Brian Stann, considering that the only other person who ever knocked Chris Leben out was the UFC’s Middleweight Champion Anderson “The Spider” Silva, which many consider the best standup fighter in MMA today.
The Brandon “The Truth” Vera vs. Thiago Silva fight was a great match but my expectations from Vera were not met. Both fighters looked great coming into this fight. Considered the comeback of 2 warriors that were both aggressive strikers this was actually the fight that I really wanted to see. Silva looked a lot better after recovering from a back injury that kept him sidelined for almost a year. His time to heal really showed a difference in this fight. Brandon Vera dominated the standup game but ones on the ground it was all Silva. This was surprising to me because Brandon Vera was successful against heavyweight legend and Hall of Famer Randy Couture on the ground. During the 3rd round Thiago Silva not only dominated but toyed with Vera during the final round. He gave “The Truth” probably the worse broken nose in the history of the UFC. The judges scored an obvious unanimous decision which gives Thiago Silva, a very impressive comeback victory after not fighting for almost a year.
Next is the fight between Nate “The Kid” Diaz against the undefeated South Korean, Kim “Stun Gun” Dong-Hyun. Kim a fighter with vicious elbows predicted a knockout victory against Diaz. Diaz on the other hand is very dangerous of his back and has very good boxing. But the fight played otherwise. Kim took control of the 1st round by taking down Diaz and giving him vicious ground and pound. The 2nd round wasn’t so different, from the standup to the ground it was all Kim Dong-Hyun. Nate had no offence from the ground. He got up in during the remaining seconds of the round but was not able to do any damage to the Korean. In the 3rd round Diaz threw a controversial knee that clearly stunned Kim. It did not do much because after the referee Yves Lavigne restarted the fight it was still controlling the fight. Nate stepped on the gas with 35 seconds left on the round. He finally got his timing right, but it was a little too late. The unanimous decision went to the Korean “Stun Gun”.
And finally the bout between Clay “The Carpenter” Guida against the former Pride FC Lightweight Champion, Takanori “The Fireball Kid” Gomi. I really wanted to see how the iron chin of Guida would hold up against “The Fireball Kid’s” punches. When round 1 started, Gomi controlled the center of the octagon by throwing jabs to Guida. Clay Guida’s head movement and wild punches bordered to the annoying on the opening round. With 38 seconds left of the round Guida was able to secure a takedown. The 2nd round started with short right from Gomi. Clay Guida shoots for a takedown but was not successful. Gomi couldn’t get his timing right because of what color commentator Joe Rogan says as Clay Guida’s crazy head movement. After sneaking in a punch, Guida was able to take Takanori down. Both fighters were fighting for position but “The Carpenter” was able to lock in a guillotine. It looked like Gomi was going to get out of the choke, but it was locked in deep. The Fireball Kid had no choice but to tap-out or risk being choked out. The first fight of 2011 went to Clay “The Carpenter” Guida.
The first event of the 2011 UFC calendar is now in the books. I’m looking forward to more exciting matches on UFC 126 this coming February 5th. Keep it in your calendar!