A One-Sided Evening in Boston
Sunday afternoons are always a good time for post-fight reflection and while thinking back on UFC 118 I noticed a particular trend: almost all of the fights were completely one-sided. I remember the betting odds and pre-fight picks around the internet in the days leading up to the fights and there were solid favorites up and down the card, yet two of those favorites lost completely.
Let’s start with the last fight on Spike before the pay-per-view went live. Joe Lauzon was facing his former Team Penn running buddy Gabe Ruediger. There were plenty of jokes made about Ruediger in the last few weeks but there was no joking around once the fight got underway. Lauzon beat Ruediger so badly that even Joe Silva has to be sitting around today wondering, “Why the hell did I bring this guy back?”
The PPV proper got underway and the show opened with Nate Diaz making his second appearance at welterweight against Marcus Davis. This was the closest thing to a pick ‘em in the days leading up to UFC 118, but you never would’ve known that by the way the fight unfolded. Diaz was able to pick apart a much more highly-regarded striker, but in the end it was that reliable Gracie Jiu-Jitsu magic that sealed the deal and gave Davis his third tough loss in his last four fights.
Then we get to the first “big” fight of the night as Kenny Florian faced off with Gray Maynard to determine the next top contender in the lightweight division. While I did pick Gray to win I was certainly in the minority. At the very least I figured we’d see some of the same stuff from Kenny that we saw in his dominating victory over Clay Guida, but instead we saw a Florian that seemed nervous as hell against his opponent. Kenny was so scared of the takedown that he focused on defending shots that never came and allowing Gray to dictate the pace. Maynard capitalized on Florian’s tentativeness by getting the better of the striking exchanges and taking “KenFlo” down whenever he felt it was necessary to do so.
Midway through the live broadcast we saw former top contender for the middleweight title Demian Maia squaring off with another Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt in Mario Miranda. This fight was nothing more than another chance for Maia to show exactly how much better he is than everybody else once the fight hits the ground. Miranda’s knowledge kept him from having to tap out, but he had little-to-no-offense during the large portions of the fight spent in horizontal positioning.
Then we come to the two largest examples of a fight being one-sided, although in this case it’s for completely different reasons. Nobody in their right mind gave James Toney a real chance of beating Randy Couture, and thankfully things ended exactly the way they should have. I would love to see some younger boxers make a go at a real MMA career, but I guess James Toney earned his fat payday and that’s all that matters to him.
Now we come to the main event. I wrote on this very site last week about how I thought BJ Penn was going to look far better this time than he did in the first fight with Frank Edgar. I predicted a one-sided fight but made the unfortunate error of predicting it for the wrong man. I know for a fact that I’m not alone.
I’ve sung the praises of Frank Edgar pretty much ever since I started writing about MMA. The guy gives all of himself for each and every fight and now he is truly reaping the benefits. His second straight victory over Penn is a proclamation to MMA fans that he is not to be underrated anymore. Yes, he’s a small guy for 155 lbs. Stop asking when he’s going to move to featherweight and accept the fact that he now stands amongst the pound-for-pound best in the sport.
I don’t need to recap the five-round exclamation point Edgar put on Penn last night, but for me the most telling moments of that fight came in the fifth round. Penn had no urgency and never came close to winning the striking exchanges. Penn got back control yet couldn’t capitalize and then wilted when Edgar reversed the position to wind up on top. We also can’t forget those last few minutes of the fight when Penn looked like he was ready to pass out and Edgar looked exactly the same as when the fight started.
Despite Dana White and Joe Silva’s best efforts a majority of the fights were incredibly uneven. The UFC hardly ever puts on freakshow fights so it was somewhat enjoyable to indulge in that aspect of the fight game, but the rest of the card was at least designed to be compelling and competitive. Nobody was prepared for Edgar and Maynard to announce themselves as the premier lightweights in the UFC, and all the other fights on the card were simply a chance for one guy to shine brightest in a dominant victory.
Super impressed with Edgar but as an overall fight card it was not the most exciting ppv in recent memory. Lauzon kicked the crap out of the cry baby which was tops as baby jebus
As far as Frankie goes, I was in the majority, I thought BJ was comin to make him pay. It seemed that BJ really wanted to play around until the fourth and then it was too late and truth be told I dont think it would’ve mattered. Frankie has really shown his improvements and I cant wait to see him avenge the loss to gray.
Nate Diaz is gonna be a beast at WW. He picked apart one of if not the best boxer at 170 and then choked him out. and the fact that Marcus had only been stopped once before (ok twice but once was due to a cut) made that really impressive. Nate never looked tired and even after takin that one shot that put him on the floor never appeared discouraged. As he gets comfortable at 170 I look forward to big things from my fellow 209er. I hope he does the same to Kos after Kos loses to GSP.
Surprised by BJ’s performance…don’t know what’s next for him but he’s gotta regroup and switch gears a bit.
I’ll always dislike the Diaz bro’s but I’ll always respect their abilities and Nate proved himself once again…
Randy did almost exactly what we all expected… P.S. I saw Expendables this weekend & that movie is off the hook…I felt like I was 13 again.
Joe Lauzon provided Gabe a one and done run with UFC…
I don’t know the Kenny Florian that showed up to that fight…
Demian Maia did what was expected as well….
Decent card IMO.
Randy got it done quick, which was very nice. Shut that loud mouth SOB pile of @$# the !$#@ up.
Never was a BJ fan….still not. Frankie is the real deal.
J-Lau was on fire. Gabe just didn’t know what he was getting into I guess. Great corporal punishment administration there.
Glad Maynard one that fight. I have nothing against Kenny, but it’s Gray’s turn to get a title shot. He and Frankie will be an interesting, high paced fight. Can’t wait.
I love grappling, but I have to be honest…..Maia doesn’t excite me in any way. I will be fine if I don’t ever see him fight again.
one=won.
elkymbo you’re back! Thought you had been lost on a walkabout or something man. A few weeks went by there.
Good night of fights not great though the diaz davis fight definately deserved fotn ken flo and penn both looked outclassed which was surprising for sure. Being a fan for such a long time its strange watching champions and number one contenders turn into gatekeepers. Couture as impressive as ever i wonder if he is planning on staying at heavyweight now or if he will drop back down for his next fight
BJ didn’t have answer for Edgar’s speed, feints and footwork in the first fight, and he didn’t learn how to address them for the second fight. Maybe Maynard’s a better match up with Edgar because Maynard’s a better wrestler than Penn, but I wonder. Maynard isn’t any quicker than Penn, and Maynard may be as puzzled and frustrated as Penn.
I was totally surprised by Florian. Back to Delagrotte, or maybe Mark Jackson. I don’t think his brother is getting it done for him.
sides666 – Dana said after the fights that Toney is out of the UFC, Randy will get a top contender at 205 lbs, and that Randy is “in the mix” for yet another title shot (if you can believe that shit).
do disappointed by BJ and Kenny…and i hate Frankie. He’s the Floyd Mayweather of MMA, he dances in and out of the pocket and bores the hell out of me. He doesn’t even do any damage, i don’t care if he’d light me up, i’d call him a pussy to his face. Now, the 2 most boring fighters get to square off for a title fight how freaking exciting…Hoepfully Maynard smashes Frankie, and for the love of God Sotiropoulous or Dunham wins the belt. Dunham Maynard would be nice, they’re teammates but Dunham’s a man and will take it anyway.
BTW, Nate said he’s going back down to 155. Maybe we’ll see him vs BJ…
Hell yeah, I can believe Randy is in the mix. Give him Thiago Silva, Jon Jones, or Ryan Bader. A win over any of those guys puts him right in the top 10 LHW and a loss just gives a prospect a big boost by beating a legend. Hell I wanna see Randy wipe the floor with Rampage after he looses to Machida too. Randy is still one of the toughest competitors out there so why wouldn’t he get a top 205er.
Fox Sports has an article about the fight between Randy and Toney. Pretty much a BS article from someone who does not like MMA (prob one of don kings nuthuggers), He likens Randy vs Toney to an old champion being fed to the new lion. Guess he does not realize Randy is older than Toney.
http://msn.foxsports.com/boxing/story/Randy-Couture-James-Toney-UFC-118-MMA-boxing-082910
I don’t understand the “big payday” for Toney. How much could a guy who harassed and basically begged his way into a fight really get?
“Hey I’m pursuing you and you’ve never shown interest in me, but if you say yes to a fight that isn’t going to be competitive, I want the big bucks.”
I just don’t get how those negotiations would have gone.
I would like to see Couture and Bader, two good wrestlers go at it. I don’t think Couture can keep up with Jones speed. I don’t see Couture getting a title shot for the next couple years. I don’t know, DW could throw him a bone. I would like to see Diaz and Penn throw down and if Diaz wins give him a title shot. I wished I would have saved my money on UFC 118 and watched grainy video the next day. Heading to Fight Night 22 here in Austin in Mid September, hopefully better action than Staurday.
I’ve always wanted to see Diaz fight Penn just because I want to witness the severe beating that Penn would apply to Diaz’ face and body.
didn’t penn train with the diaz’s for diego? I thought I read that somewhere.
“Randy is still one of the toughest competitors out there so why wouldn’t he get a top 205er.
”
-MCM
Well, of his last 5 he has won 3, true. But, after a loss to Brock, then a loss to Nog, he beats Vera, which was a good and legitimate win…but after that he has a win over Coleman which is pointless and means nothing to me, then a win over Toney which is even more pointless.
So where does that put him recently? Out of three top notch competitors he beat Vera (by decision) but lost to Brock and Nog. So since November 2008 he’s basically 1-2. IMO that is not deserving of being “in the mix” for a title shot at all. I think he should face at least 2-3 more contenders before they think of letting him fight for the title at LHW.
That said, I respect your opinion and I’ll be watching it for sure, no matter who he fights.
I see your points Guthookd, but I think you’re underestimating the standing of Coleman. Although he may not be in anyone’s top 20, it was a win over him and an aging Chuck that gave Shogun his title shot. I’ll give you the Toney fight being a joke, but since it was in the HW division I wouldn’t count it anyway.
With the win over Vera and the dangerous Coleman (ask Bonnar), one more win over a top opponent would most definitely throw him the mix for a title shot. The thing is, the LHW division is so stacked that being able to put together a 3 fight win streak is still impressive. If he can get through one of the guys I named earlier and then maybe a Rich Franklin or someone of that caliber, it will be almost impossible not to give him a title shot.
Yeah, all that aside even, Dana might give him a shot just because of who he is and how many of us will order the PPV.
I agree with you Guthookd. Honestly I could see Couture getting a shot, or 1 more win and then getting a shot at the title, simply through who he is and what he’s done. If he’s close to retiring (I can’t imagine he has THAT much time left), I personally wouldn’t be angry if he asked for a title shot and Dana gave it to him just as a favor. It’s not like he’s some guy who hasn’t done anything for the UFC and MMA as a whole.
People have gotten title shots in the UFC having done less than Randy has done as of late.
People have gotten title shots in the UFC having done less than Randy has done as of late.
Randy has had 8 title shots in the UFC. He earned them with 4 wins that were non title fights. They were wins over Halme(0-1), Graham (2-1) (remember those greats?), Van Arsdale (8-5 with the loss to Randy being one of 4 in a row) and Belfort. He only defended his titles 3 times with 1 of those being after he lost outside of the UFC so you can hardly say he was still a champ. He has had 5 title shots directly after a loss in his previous fight. His record is 19-10 with wins over, Graham, Halme, Toney, Van Arsdale, Maurice Smith (13-14) and a way over the hill Coleman padding his stats. His last run of 3 wins is the first time since 1998 he has won more than 2 in a row in the UFC. He is also 3-3 out of the UFC.
He is the most overrated fighter of all time without doubt. To say others have done less! nobody in the history of sport has done less to deserve as many opportunities as Randy Couture. Don’t get me wrong, I admire him and respect what he has done but if I was to name the top 20 fighters of all time he wouldn’t be on it.
Just to put it in perspective, Okami has won 9 fights in the UFC without a title shot, Jones 5 Machida had won 6 before his and Matt Hughes has never been awarded a title shot after a loss and has defended his belt 7 times. Fedor is 32-2, Machida16-1, Hughes 45-7, GSP 20-2, Big Nog is 32-6 but Randy is 19-10.
Sorry Guthookd I’ll do my best to check in and spin shit more often
IMO i feel like Randy will continue to get fights like this, not freakshows, but fights that are interesting but not really building towards a title. Similar to what Matt Hughes is doing (although that last win might have warranted a top guy). Although, all the fights i can think of, aren’t possible…Andersen Silva – no, Vitor – probably not, Chuck – i hope not, Tito – maybe…, Ace – kind of a legends fight…fights of that mold, fights that will sell to the casual fan
Logic,
While I agree with you on some level the one thing that I think sets Randy apart from most fighters is the fact that he has had no problem fighting at HW when he is a natural LHW and being competitive. He moved to HW at a time when the HW division was the weakest and in serious need of a spark. To me there is no shame in a LHW losing to Lesnar. How many LHW’s would even be competitive vs Lesnar. In looking at his record he has a loss to belfort, 2 to chuck in the UFC LHW division, he also has wins over both. He has 4 losses at HW Nog, Lesnar, Ricco Rodriguez and Josh Barnett (on Roids). 3 losses outside the UFC 2000 and earlier were to submission which was a learning curve all wrestlers had to overcome at that time. Based on W-L record maybe not one of the greatest but if you look beyond that he is one of the greats in the sport. I would still like to see him and Fedor.
C’mon people it’s Randy Fucking Couture… I’ll watch Randy fight any legit MMA Practitioner any time
…I didn’t say I would always be willing to PAY to watch but I’ll gladly watch til he’s done. Randy is a living legend and he can hold his own in the octagon and deserves to be in there.
Yes he does deserve to be in there but 7 title shots and 5 after a loss in the UFC without winning more than 2 in a row since 2000 is absurd and should not be. He is a 5 time champ but he was made that.
In the future when people look back at his career they will be amazed … but not because he was amazing, because he was given so many unwarranted opportunites.