UFC 125 Review

Preliminary Card

Lightweight bout: Jacob Volkmann vs. Antonio McKee
Volkmann defeated McKee via split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29).

Didn't see it, apparently a hump/snoozefest. Whos cares/is surprised?



Welterweight bout: Daniel Roberts vs. Greg Soto
Roberts defeated Soto via submission (kimura) at 3:45 of round 1.

This was a good back and forth fight for nearly four minutes until Roberts locked up a sweet kimura on Soto. Good win and fight.



Featherweight bout: Mike Brown vs. Diego Nunes
Nunes defeated Brown via split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29).

Didn't get to see it but looks like it was a close fight. MTB now 2-3 in his last five fights, don't know if he'll get cut after such a close fight but he is rather old and unless he stops his slide it could be goodnight Irene.



Preliminary Card (Televised)

Middleweight bout: Phil Baroni vs. Brad Tavares
Tavares defeated Baroni via KO (strikes) at 4:20 of round 1.

Great fight. Tavares was rocked early on by a sweet Baroni left hook but he's a Hawaiian so of course he wasn't really rocked After a few other exchanges he wobbled Baroni with a head kick, swarmed him and KO'd in a way that reminded me of Baroni's KO of Dave Menne back in the day.



Featherweight bout: Josh Grispi vs. Dustin Poirier
Poirier defeated Grispi via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).

What a surprise this was. A guy who was supposed to be fighting one of P4P best in a UFC title fight getting absolutely dominated and tooled with by a guy who in his last fight was on the WEC prelims! Massively disappointed with Grispi's performance but i guess it's just a case of him underestimating Poirier. He needs to sort his Carwin-esque cardio out too.



Lightweight bout: Marcus Davis vs. Jeremy Stephens
Stephens defeated Davis via KO (punch) at 2:33 of round 3.

This was another very exciting fight. Davis went back to his roots and soundly outstruck and outboxed Stephens for the first two rounds, even rocking him badly in the first, but in the third Stephens connected with a massive punch that absolutely flattened Davis. Stephens then launched himself on his clearly unconscious opponent (ala Hendo- Bisping) and dropped a fist right on Davis chin to seal the deal. Davis to get cut.



Main Card

Lightweight bout: Clay Guida vs. Takanori Gomi
Guida defeated Gomi via submission (guillotine choke) at 4:27 of round 2.

Strange fight this was Good gameplan by Guide, totally confused Gomi, Gomi must have forgotten he was in a fight, right up until Guida landed a sweet headkick. Takedown in round one by Guida but he couldn't do anything, then in the same more of the funky headmovements and some solid combinations although Gomi did connect with a knee, it was to his own demise as Guida caught it and dragged him down, sunk in a guillotine from the top and that was all she wrote. Good, albeit slightly odd, performance by Guida, God knows whats next for Gomi.



Welterweight bout: Nate Diaz vs. Dong Hyun Kim
Kim defeated Diaz via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).

Good performance by Kim, totally shut down and dominated Diaz in the grappling. A lot of trash talking going on but Stunguns judo was too much for Diaz' boxing and BJJ. Big win for Stungun. probably back to LW with Diaz.



Light Heavyweight bout: Brandon Vera vs. Thiago Silva
Silva defeated Vera via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27).

Quite a boring fight tbh, only one on the card so i'm not complaining. Massively disappointed with Vera but in all honesty he did look like he was going for the finish every time they were standing, he was blasting Silva with kicks but Thiago fought a smart fight and everytime Thiago took him down he could do nothing about it. Vera's nose was absolutely hideous!





Middleweight bout: Chris Leben vs. Brian Stann
Stann defeated Leben via KO (strikes) 3:37 of round 1.

Wow, what a fight and what a finish. At this point i should be saying how surprised i am that Leben got KTFO but as i said that when the same happened to the Korean Zombie i won't say it this time Great finish by Stann, he totally flattened Leben with one punch and after that Leben, try as he might, just could not recover. The fight could have been stopped alot earlier but its good to see the ref give him a chance cos if theres one person you never rule out its Chris Leben... or, as we all found out last night, Frankie Edgar!



Lightweight Championship bout: Frankie Edgar (c) vs. Gray Maynard
Edgar and Maynard fought to a split draw (48-46, 46-48, 47-47).

Ho-lee-sheet. This was a unexpectedly brilliant brilliant fight. First round Maynard massacres Edgar, one of the most one sided beat downs in a round in a title fight i've ever seen. Rocked him and dropped him about 4 times, Edgar did amazingly just to recover from the first, never mind the next three as well! Then, wow, in the second, Edgar comes out like nothings happened and just did to Maynard, what he did to Penn in their two fights. In, out, in out. Started to pick Maynard apart; Gray seemed to gas himself in the first throwing NINETY SEVEN punches to try finish Frank. The third round was closer but i still gave it to Edgar personally, although Payne gave it to Maynard. Fourth round was definitely Edgars and the fifth IMO was Edgars but the one of the judges saw it otherwise.

I personally gave the first round to Maynard, 10-8, and the rest 10-9 to Edgar giving him the 48-46 and the win but i can see a case for both a Maynard win and a draw also, so i can't complain.

I won my username bet against Chels, so any suggestions on a name for him will be appreciated. Also won my sig bet with Meanie but i'm not sure if you can even use them so if you know please enlighten me so i can get my revenge on him for all the countless Crocop digs Anfield you're off the hook mate... for now


Great event, the best in a while

I dont know how the 1st round was a 10-8, I dont see what it would take for a 10-7 on that basis. in Boxing it would have been a 10-6!!!

After the 1st Edgar could have won every round though I think the final round was a draw.

Draw works for me ok.

i am really not a frankie edgar fan....

i understand its impressive that he was able to recover from getting hurt in round one, but after 7 decisions in a row for Gray, it would have been a little embarrasing for Edgar to be knocked out by him.
Everything about Frankie Edgar's style, is something that i dislike, i have seen him fight for 75 minutes in the last year, and not once in those 75 minutes did he hurt the opponent, or have them in any kind of danger of a knock out or submission.
He isnt threatening and that makes him a bit boring to watch to be honest.
He fights, pretty much to win point, see his takedowns in the BJ and last night, he scored plenty of takedowns....all of them completley inconsequential to the fight, other than earning points.

I wasnt impressed with Maynard, he is a half decent boxer, and a high level wrestler. im not impressed with any other aspect of his game.
UFC lightweight title picture is the worst in the organisation.


Stann vs Leben...

no idea why it was the co main event, Leben keeps leaving his chin out against big hitters, eventually he was going to get knocked out, Akiyama almost had him, Stann caught him flush coming in.
good job by Stann, i cant see him going too far though after seeing him dominated badly against Davis.


Great job by Thiago Silva!!!
i was impressed, he basically battered Vera...simple as, to the point of mocking him.
He has been out for a year, he looked like a beast and totally fired up.
not sure whats next for him though...any ideas?


good job by Stun gun, went how most of his fights usually do.
he needs to improve his gas tank drastically if he is going to fight GSP, since he usually gets tired by the 3rd round. With that said, he wont be fighting GSP unless he gets a couple more impressive wins.


fuck greg jackson and fuck guida.
cut your goddam hair.
Guida was embarrassing to watch, what was he even doing???
i think its unfair that he has such long hair, i think its another of Jackson's sneaky tactics, so that Gomi doesnt know where Guida's chin is.
Gomi couldnt get a game going against the whirling dervish, and as per usual, when in a scramble Gomi gets choked
he has been scared of chokes since the aurelio fight, if you look he gives them up and taps really quickly.

I recorded the event and the prelims, but the prelims show was only 30 minutes long, cutting off the last round of the featherweights, and the whole Davis/Stephens fight, annoyingly, since i was looking forward to that one.
anyone else experience this??

anyway i was super impressed by Poirier!! (from what i saw)

as for the N.Y.B.A.
...he looked pretty good overall to be honest, just got caught.
(as for the hawaiians comment axe, where is kendal grove from again? )

every cloud has a silver lining, if Phil gets cut, maybe we will get our dream match in japan...


Since its that time of year, im glad Jacob "Christmas" Volkmann won!

Good event overall and happy with most of the results.

Dissapointed in Thiago's antics, no need for that.

Does Guida snort a line of coke before every fight? I literally felt worn out after watching that. Weird. On the plus side though, that's gonna make for some hilarious GIF's.

The first round should have been 10-7 minimum. I scored it 10-6. Most onsided round I've ever seen. Edgar should have needed every round just to get a draw! And Maynard won the last round for me, at worst there's no way Maynard lost the final round. How that moron(not Axe, although........)scored it 48-46 for Edgar I'll never know. Maynard should be world champion right now.

10-6 round gives Maynard the fight 48-45(48-46 if you give the last round a draw)
10-7 round gives Maynard the fight 48-46(48-47 if you give the last round a draw)
10-8 round gives Maynard the fight 48-47(48-48 if you give the last round a draw)

And if the first round was a 10-8 then it's just not possible to get a 10-7 or 10-6 round in MMA. Forrest Petz scored a 10-7 round on 1 judges score card over Sammy Morgan at UFC Fight Night 6. Anyone seen this fight?? I'd be amazed if the round was as one sided as this.

How anyone could score that fight to Edgar is just beyond me. Frankie might just be the luckiest man alive. He's lost 2 of his 3 fights and yet somehow he's a world champion with two defenses behind.

I personally had it a draw

I gave the 1st rd to Maynard 10-8
2nd rd Edgar 10-9
3rd rd Maynard 10-9
4th rd Edgar 10-9
5th rd Edgar 10-9

47-47

great fight though and I can't wait for the rematch

I'm going to watch the fight again later and pay closer attention to that 3rd round. If Maynard won that round then this is the biggest screwjob in MMA history. That first round is 10-7 at the very least.

Maynard will kill him in the rematch. He got too confident after the first round and allowed Edgar to outwrestle him for parts won't happen again.

I have to say I was really surprised with the way edgar completely out wrestled maynard,I don't think Maynard scored with one takedown,while edgar took Maynard down 3 or 4 times,I didn't see that coming at all.

I have to admit I don't really know how to score a rd more than 10-8 and I don't know if I agree they should,it was without a doubt a one sided rd,but for me I don't think there was really a time where i thought the ref should step in and stop the fight,so I think a 10-8 was right,it would seem harsh to me,to be awarded 3 or more rds for five minutes of good work in a 5 rd fight,it's just another thing that goes to show that the 10 point system is not ideal for MMA.

wow. that was so sad to watch, i feel so bad for phil.

payneNglory1 wrote:











I have to say I was really surprised with the way edgar completely out wrestled maynard,I don't think Maynard scored with one takedown,while edgar took Maynard down 3 or 4 times,I didn't see that coming at all.

I have to admit I don't really know how to score a rd more than 10-8 and I don't know if I agree they should,it was without a doubt a one sided rd,but for me I don't think there was really a time where i thought the ref should step in and stop the fight,so I think a 10-8 was right,it would seem harsh to me,to be awarded 3 or more rds for five minutes of good work in a 5 rd fight,it's just another thing that goes to show that the 10 point system is not ideal for MMA.

Yeah but you get 10-8 rounds given for rounds that aren't half as dominant as that! Sonnen-Silva round 1 for example. 10-8 to Sonnen. Not half as dominant as Maynard vs Edgar. 10-7 was the minimum Maynard deserved. Of course it's fair. In boxing if you knock your opponent down 3 times a lot of fights are stopped dependant on the governing body. If it's not a 3 knockdown rule then it's a 10-6 round. For three minutes of action. In K1 two knockdowns equal fight over. If you get your ass kicked in that fashion you shouldn't get any favours. I've read somewhere that one of the judges for Lesnar-Carwin gave the first round 10-7 Carwin and that wasn't close to the beating Maynard put on Edgar. Frankie Edgar has been getting favours for long enough. He was given a title shot he didn't deserve. He got beaten up and given a decision and last night he got his ass handed to him and then he ran away for 20 minutes and made no effort to finish the fight yet he escapes with his title. It's a farce and attempts to claim he is the world's number 1 LW are nothing short of laughable.

MMA judging is ruining the sport as a result of a pathetic scoring system that rewards people for not trying to finish a fight. That's two of the last three UFC main events that have been horrendously scored and 3 fights on the last 4 cards that have fallen victim to poor scoring.

It's about time Obama stopped ducking Volkmann (despite that, it's one boring interview).

Moose Stuff For Money... wrote:

It's about time Obama stopped ducking Volkmann (despite that, it's one boring interview).

jesus, why would you interview him!?

Moose Stuff For Money... wrote:

"I make those decisions".

No you don't.

Anfields5thKing wrote:

payneNglory1 wrote:











I have to say I was really surprised with the way edgar completely out wrestled maynard,I don't think Maynard scored with one takedown,while edgar took Maynard down 3 or 4 times,I didn't see that coming at all.

I have to admit I don't really know how to score a rd more than 10-8 and I don't know if I agree they should,it was without a doubt a one sided rd,but for me I don't think there was really a time where i thought the ref should step in and stop the fight,so I think a 10-8 was right,it would seem harsh to me,to be awarded 3 or more rds for five minutes of good work in a 5 rd fight,it's just another thing that goes to show that the 10 point system is not ideal for MMA.

Yeah but you get 10-8 rounds given for rounds that aren't half as dominant as that! Sonnen-Silva round 1 for example. 10-8 to Sonnen. Not half as dominant as Maynard vs Edgar. 10-7 was the minimum Maynard deserved. Of course it's fair. In boxing if you knock your opponent down 3 times a lot of fights are stopped dependant on the governing body. If it's not a 3 knockdown rule then it's a 10-6 round. For three minutes of action. In K1 two knockdowns equal fight over. If you get your ass kicked in that fashion you shouldn't get any favours. I've read somewhere that one of the judges for Lesnar-Carwin gave the first round 10-7 Carwin and that wasn't close to the beating Maynard put on Edgar. Frankie Edgar has been getting favours for long enough. He was given a title shot he didn't deserve. He got beaten up and given a decision and last night he got his ass handed to him and then he ran away for 20 minutes and made no effort to finish the fight yet he escapes with his title. It's a farce and attempts to claim he is the world's number 1 LW are nothing short of laughable.

MMA judging is ruining the sport as a result of a pathetic scoring system that rewards people for not trying to finish a fight. That's two of the last three UFC main events that have been horrendously scored and 3 fights on the last 4 cards that have fallen victim to poor scoring.

You're an idiot and at times your bias is unreal. I'll get back to you tomorrow.

Haha! You'll get back to me tomorrow? Don't waste you breath. Your attempts to claim that Edgar was even close to winning are a joke. He lost the first round in the single worst 5 minute beatdown I've seen. 10-7 minimum. He lost the last round. And the third round was a draw.

48-46 Maynard to be generous to Edgar. 48-45 Maynard to be realistic.

10-8 round for sure and only because Frankie got dropped a few times, at no point was the ref close to finishing the fight. Infact im suprised all 3 judges scored it 10-8, usually theres atleast one judge who is still scared to give anything other than 10-9.


The rest of the rounds were 10-9 to Frankie other than the 3rd which Maynard stole because of that Takedown at the end. Although Frankie did have a choke at the end, so i can see why one ref gave that to Frankie.


Round 5 was close but i dont see how Maynard won that,he didnt outstrike Frankie at all, and kept getting his awful takedowns stuffed and ate knees after them.


So i had it 47-47. Its a shame Frankie got caught in the 1st, he misjudged the reach and left his head in there unprotected. He left round 1 completely battered his legs were gone and down 2 points with just 4 rounds left, and he still left with the title and could have easily won the fight.


Phenominal fight back from Frankie

Only thing phenomenal was that he survived all 5 rounds. The only reason he managed that was because he spent most of the next four rounds running away.

First round was the clearest 10-7 in MMA history and in a properly scored sport would have been 10-6. He got dropped FOUR times. Ref was very close to stopping it. "Fight back Frankie" is a bit of an indication. Even the clueless Dana admitted it could have easily been stopped.

Edit - not only did he drop him 4 times he put him down two other times where he hit Edgar and his balance was so fucked that he fell over.

Watching it back again, it's actually a clear win for Maynard. 3rd round wasn't as close as I thought. Maynard easily outstruck him and took him down.

After first round - 10-7
After second round - 19-17
After third round - 29-26
After fourth round - 38-36

Regardless of how you score the final round, at worst Maynard wins 47-46. I gave the round to Maynard because he outstruck him and was trying to finish whereas Frankie was just try to get to the bell, neither could get a takedown, so 48-45. Even at a drawn round its 48-46 Maynard. Even if you're a retard and give the first round just 10-8 it's still a Maynard win. Frankie looked like a man who knew he'd lost at the end. Edgar's corner are DELIGHTED when they hear it's a draw! Maynard's look like a group of shop clerks after someone's just jumped their counter with a sawn off and made away with the till!

This is a lot like the situation with Brock, were the same fanboys claimed he was some sort of great lad and the number 1 HW after getting lucky against Carwin. Well a truly great HW showed him up for what an average fighter he is. Same goes here, Maynard beat Edgar, Edgar got lucky and kept his belt. But the real top LWs would destroy him. There's not question now in my mind that Gilbert Melendez, Shinya Aoki and Eddie Alvarez are the top 3 LW's in the world and would all handle Edgar(and Maynard but it would be a much harder fight) with ease. Especially Gilbert who has a vicious right hand. All Edgar does is run to his left, he'd move straight into it.

Lol sorry Anfield i was drunk when i typed that

We now quite clearly need the PRIDE judging criteria, scoring the fight as whole is so much better suited than the ten-point must system.

You shouldn't really compare scoring a MMA rd to Boxing or K1,since they are both purely striking sports,where the whole aim is to drop your opponent to earn a point,where as in MMA,fighters are more likely to go to the ground after getting hurt from a shot,because they are allowed to go there without being penalized for it,it's not an instant point lost if you get dropped in MMA,it obviously gives them a good advantage in winning the rd,but like I said,it is not an instant point lost,like in other purely striking sports.

Like if someone controlls someone on the ground for five full minutes and goes close to sinching in 4 deep submissions but doesn't manage to finish,that also wouldn't in my books become a 10-7,6 rd either,just a 10-8 for a dominant rd.

With the 10 point rd scoring,I think a dominant rd,no matter how one sided it is,be it standing or on the ground should be a 10-8 rd,you didn't finish your opponent,but you need to be awarded for an exceptanal rd,so I think being awarded two rds,in a 3 or 5 rd fight is award enough.

In a 3 round fight you might have a point. Not in a 5 rounder. If, in that second round Edgar had managed to drop Maynard he would have been given a 10-8 round. How would that be fair? Maynard gave Edgar the beaten of his life. If Edgar had dropped Maynard and then done nothing further why should he get the same score?

It's a hard one in a 10 point system no matter how you look at it,I mean it's not fair when a fighter just edges out a rd that could easily have been a draw,he still gets a 10-9 for it,and then his opponent can win the next rd alot more comfortable and still only get the same 10-9 for it,it's the same thing.

I just think with judging being the way it is,it has to just be judged on that rd and you can't compare it to other rds in that fight,winning a rd 10-9,dominating a rd 10-8.

half points would probably help this,but personally i think MMA should be a sport where you start at zero and earn points,i just don't really know how to make that practical when scoring striking with takedowns,subs etc though.

Obviously there are alot of holes in this quick method i've come up with,like how much is a strike worth and how can you combine striking scoring with grappling scoring,but i think MMA would probably be better off if they could find a good way to score it something like this,where the total points are added up at the end of each rd and at the end of the fight.

takedown 2pt
reversal 1 pt
Stuffing a takedown 1pt
keeping your opponent down from takedown for 10 + secs extra point
submission attempt 1 pt
submission escape 1pt
clean strike 1pt
clean power strike 2pts

this is not probably the answer as there are alot of other factors that would have to have a point scoring value to it,and if there are to many then it becomes to confusing and wide open to even more mistakes,but i seriously don't believe the 10 point systm is right for MMA.

Here's the salaries for UFC 125

Frankie Edgar: $102,000 ($51,000 win) def. vs. Gray Maynard: $52,000 ($26,000 win)*
Brian Stann: $42,000 ($21,000 win) def. Chris Leben: $46,000
Thiago Silva: $110,000 ($55,000 win)def. Brandon Vera: $60,000
Dong Hyun Kim: $70,000 ($35,000 win) def. Nate Diaz: $33,000
Clay Guida: $62,000 ($31,000 win) def. Takanori Gomi: $50,000

Jeremy Stephens: $36,000 ($18,000 win) def. Marcus Davis: $31,000
Dustin Poirier: $8,000 ($4,000 win) def. Josh Grispi: $15,000
Brad Tavares: $16,000 ($8,000 win) def. Phil Baroni: $25,000
Diego Nunes: $20,000 ($10,000 win) def. Mike Brown: $23,000
Daniel Roberts: $24,000 ($12,000) def. Greg Soto: $8000
Jacob Volkmann: $24,000 ($12,000 win) def. Antonio McKee: $15,000

* - Although not reflected in the NSAC paperwork, both headliners received their win bonuses despite the draw

$60,000 fight-night bonuses:
- Fight of the Night: Frankie Edgar s. Gray Maynard
- Submission of the Night: Clay Guida
- Knockout of the Night: Jeremy Stephens