Georges St. Pierre – Jake Shields SURPRISING RESULTS
By Ben Bieker
Jake Shields did something no one has been able to do in a long time, take a round from GSP. Unfortunately, he did not take enough. I can sit here and praise both performers for their talent and grit, but I won’t. Look at the difference between the co-main event and the main event. In both situations the fighter are top notch. They could easily beat anyone else in their division on any given day, but for some reason GSP gets to skate by for not finishing a fight. Some of you will want to say that neither Jose nor Mark finished the fight, but at least they tried. They both attempted to finish one another on multiple occasions, sometimes risking health and the fight to do it. Just look at the way Mark soldiered on after getting his face turned into nuclear fallout proportions. In the end, both fighters need the killer instinct because PPV sale will plummet if GSP does not start attempting to finish more. I cannot hear about the toughness of the opponent as a reason again.
Next for GSP: He needs a real fight give him Nick Diaz. Screw boxing and Strikeforce, UFC owns this place make the fight happen. If not, Diego Sanchez is willing to put his body on the line every time. He needs a shot or at least a reward.
Next for Jake Shields: He needs to fight the winner of Thiago Alves, Dolce edition. If he wants to trade, let him trade. With one of the best in the division.
Co-Main Event:
Jose “Scarface” Aldo (19-1-0 #1 Featherweight) def. Mark “The Machine” Hominick (20-9-0, #10 Featherweight)
Mark Hominick did a lot better than I thought he would. He battled back from some of the worst swelling I have ever seen. He even took the third round after losing the first few for a while. He won it on the ground no less. Mark proved that he is worthy of being in the ring with Aldo, but he will need to win a few more fights if he wants another shot.
Aldo was not 100 percent in this fight. He still had the heart of a champion going out there and winning, but he still had some ring rust. He had gotten hurt toward the beginning of the year, and this was his first fight back. The champion was successful in his defense, but I doubt he was happy with his performance. He just needs to get back in the gym and then back in the ring soon. An athlete’s biggest problem is not being active enough when coming off injuries, just ask Shogun Rua.
Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida (17-2-0, #6 Light Heavyweight) def. Randy “The Natural” Couture (19-11-0) by KO at 1:02 of the second round.
Randy was not winning the fight, but he was not doing bad up until the end. Machida frustrated him like he did to all of his opponents. Randy worked for takedowns but could not get them. Machida backed away and threw Randy off every time he attempted to take him down. Machida caught him with a Karate kidesque takedown. With Anderson winning with something out of the Steven Segal book of fighting, and with Machida now winning with something straight out of Mister Miyuagi’s repertoire I can’t wait until we see some Jet Li action in the octagon. Oh wait, Anthony Pettis already pulled that off.
Next for Lyoto Machida: Vladimir reserved his right to a fight with the former champion.
Next for Randy Couture: Retirement.
Benson “Smooth” Henderson (13-2-0, #10 Lightweight) def. Mark Bocek (9-4-0) by unanimous decision
Benson showed more than the “best” BJJ at any division is what you need to win a fight. Coming into this fight, Mark professed his abilities as the best submission artist at 155, disregarding the fact that Mac Danzig submitted him, and disrespected all of Ben’s past opponents by saying they tried to submit him wrong. That all went out the window when he could not submit Ben, and had to eat much of his stand up.
Mark did not do bad, but he also didn’t mount anything beyond a few takedown, a few submission attempts, but none of it was substantial. Ben proved he does not belong in the middle of the pack, and he should be right up there with WEC stable mate Anthony Pettis in no time. Mark needs to focus on his hands if he is going to get anywhere past a gatekeeper.
Next for Benson Henderson: Dana has said that Anthony still gets the next tile shot if he gets past Clay Guida, which he will, so maybe a matchup with Jim Miller
Next for Mark Bocek: I want to see him against George Sotiropolous so he can get challenged for the best BJJ player at 155.
Vladimir “The Janitor” Matyushenko (26-5-0) def. Jason “The Hitman” Brilz (18-4-1) at 0:20 of round 1
Vladimir said he was coming out to knockout Brilz, and that is what he did. He came out throwing come hard punches, and caught Brilz right behind the ear to drop him. He finished with some hammer fist on the ground that put out Brilz’s lights. It is hard to imagine how Vladimir is still adding to his game at the age of 40, but maybe he is the new Randy Couture since he is now retired. Vladimir may not be able to beat Jon Jones, but he is an intriguing matchup for anyone in the 205 division.
Next for Vladimir Matyushenko: Machida just made a name for himself off defeating the UFC’s oldest man in Randy Couture, but maybe Vladimir can make it his mission to win one for the old men.
Next for Jason Brilz: He did well against LIl’ Nog, but he didn’t impress in his next fight. A fight with a scrapper like Jared Hamman could give him a fight he needs to get his groove back.
The UnderCard:
(Spike TV) Rory “The Waterboy” McDonald (11-1-0) def. Nate Diaz (13-7-0)
Talk about two up and comers and answering questions about who will one day be a champion. Well, our questions have been answered. Nate was dominated in this fight, and it was all punctuated with those three beautiful slams in the third round. Nate no matter how hard he tries he still has not found the rhythm that took his brother so long to find. I think this fight shows the strength disadvantage he has at this higher weight. A drop back down may be a good thing for him.
Back to Rory, he should still be an undefeated fighter because the Condit loss should have never happened. For all his bravado Nate should work on his skill more than his shit talking skills. Rory showed strength, striking, wrestling, and submission ability in this fight. He trains with GSP, and it is eery how good he is becoming under the champions tutelage.
Next for Rory McDonald: The loser of the upcoming Rick Story and Thiago Alves fight would be a good matchup for the young Canadian.
Next for Nate Diaz: Back down to 155 and a rematch with Clay Guida after he losses to Anthony Pettis.
(Spike TV) Jake “The Juggernaut” Ellenberger (24-5-0) def. Sean Pierson (11-4-0) by KO at 2:42 of round 1
Jake does not have to worry about the abilities in his opponents hands like he did when he fought John Howard. Jake was clearly head hunting as soon as this fight started. He moved easily through the ring too, considering he took the fight on 16 days’ notice. You could tell that his punches were hurting Sean as soon as that cut opened on the face of the Canadian. Soon, the end came though as Jake unloaded a hellish punch that connected with Sean. The delay in his fall made his knockout not seem as immediate, and the few punches that followed seemed unneeded but Jake didn’t know.
Next for Jake Ellenberger: He wants to fight Jon Fitch, but I would settle for a match up with Josh Koscheck a he should be returning soon.
Next for Sean Pierson: His scheduled opponent was Brian Foster, but he got a big step up in competition with a short notice fill in. The original matchup would not be a bad fight as it I sure to be fast paced.
(Facebook) John “The Bull” Makdessi (9-0-0) def. Kyle Watson (13-7-1) by KO at 1:27 of round 3
Like I though Kyle could not get the fight to the ground and when that happened it spelled the end of his night. I will give him credit for staying almost until the very end, but with hands like John’s you know the fights ending could come at any time. At any time it did when John stopped the fight with a spinning back-fist al a Shonie Carter. His exciting standup should punch his ticket to a main card the next time he fights.
Next for John Makdessi: He still needs time to grow and a matchup with Paul Taylor would allow that.
Next for Kyle Watson: His tenure with the UFC might be over considering he lost his first fight not against a TUF alum.
(Facebook) Pablo “The Scarecrow” Garza (11-1-0) def. Yves “Tiger” Jabouin (15-7-0) by submission at 4:31 of round 1
The hands of Pablo are slowly becoming very dangerous. Add that to his unique submission game, and you have another quality contender in the Featherweight division. He is 2-0 in his UFC career and after two-first round stoppages over quality opponents he may soon take a step up in competition.
Next for Pablo Garza: Winner of the George Roop and Josh Grispi would get Pablo into the spotlight his skills deserve.
Next for Yves Jabouin: Like Ryan Jensen going 1-3 in your last four fights you are going to be cut.
(Facebook) Ivan “Pride of El Salvador” Menjivar (22-8-0) def. Charlie Valencia (12-7-0) by TKO at 1:30 of round 1
Forget about Kyle Watson’s dilemma of using the five finger death punch as a walk out song, this fight showed the power of the five millimeter elbow. Ivan obliterated Charlie’s nose from no more than a few inches away. Not only did it break his opponent’s nose, but it also finished the fight for him. People point to his multiple losses and recent loss to show that he is not a top fighter, but the fact is that those don’t matter on close inspection. Most of his losses come to people multiple weight divisions above him like George Saint Pierre, Uriah Faber, and Matt Serra. His most recent loss came to a top five fighter in the 135 pound division, and it was only his second fight after a 3 year layoff. He put the rest of his weight class on notice with this win, and I for one would not want to step into the octagon with him next.
Next for Ivan Menjivar: Wagnney Fabiano would be a good fight for Ivan. A fight that could show off what Ivan has on the ground against a top level BJJ black belt.
Next fro Charlie Valencia: He is a good gatekeeper in the division, and this crushing loss should not end his tenure in the company. Someone like him and Antonio Banuelos would be a good fight to see who wants to stay fighting top contenders.
(Facebook) Claude “The Prince” Patrick (14-1-0) def. Daniel “Ninja” Roberts (12-2-0) by unanimous decision
The hype around Daniel may have finally fallen, and now maybe Claude will get a little of the attention he deserves. Daniel had his chance when he took Claude to the ground, but you cannot get anything started if you cannot keep your opponent down. They hype Jake Shields 15 fight win streak, but with this win Claude is on a 13 fight win streak of his own.
Next for Claude Patrick: Like to see him against a decent wrestler. Maybe Charlie Brenneman is in his near future.
Next for Daniel Roberts: He needs to rebuild after this tough loss. Loser of Dennis Hallman and Brian Ebersole would give him a challenge.
(Facebook) Jason “The Athlete” MacDonald (25-14-0) def. Ryan Jensen (15-8-0) by submission at 1:37 of round 1
Jason looked like his old self in the fight. The man that submitted Chris Leben and Ed Herman, and who was able to go almost three rounds with Demian Maia returned to form in his home country. He said this fight was a rebirth, and not a comeback. I didn’t believe him, but he proved me wrong.
Next for Jason MacDonald: A rematch with Ed Herman or a fight with Tim Credeur depending on who wins would be a good test for any of the three veterans.
Next for Ryan Jensen: Going 1-3 in his last four fights spells an end to his UFC tenure.