UFC 126 Review

Sorry guys, i know you want to read my magnificent insight as always but it's the Old Firm and i'm missing it atm to type this so i'll just post the results, and give my opinion when my Gers gub the Hoops.



Official fight card

Preliminary card

Welterweight bout: Mike Pierce vs. Kenny Robertson
Pierce defeated Robertson via TKO (punches) at 0:29 of round 2.

Light Heavyweight bout: Ricardo Romero vs. Kyle Kingsbury
Kingsbury defeated Romero via TKO (strikes) at 0:21 of round 1. This bout aired on Spike TV following the Mendes vs. Omigawa fight.

Lightweight bout: Paul Taylor vs. Gabe Ruediger
Taylor defeated Ruediger via KO (strikes) at 1:42 of round 2. This bout aired on the PPV broadcast following the Silva vs. Belfort fight.

Preliminary card (Facebook Stream)
Bantamweight bout: Norifumi Yamamoto vs. Demetrious Johnson
Johnson defeated Yamamoto via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27).

Preliminary card (Spike TV)
Featherweight bout: Chad Mendes vs. Michihiro Omigawa
Mendes defeated Omigawa via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).

Lightweight bout: Donald Cerrone vs. Paul Kelly
Cerrone defeated Kelly via submission (rear naked choke) at 3:48 of round 2. This bout aired on the PPV broadcast following the Taylor vs. Ruediger fight.

Main card
Bantamweight bout: Miguel Torres vs. Antonio Banuelos
Torres defeated Banuelos via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).

Welterweight bout: Jake Ellenberger vs. Carlos Eduardo Rocha
Ellenberger defeated Rocha via split decision (27-30, 29-28, 29-28).

Light Heavyweight bout: Jon Jones vs. Ryan Bader
Jones defeated Bader via submission (Guillotine choke) at 4:20 of round 2.

Light Heavyweight bout: Forrest Griffin vs. Rich Franklin
Griffin defeated Franklin via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).

Middleweight Championship bout: Anderson Silva (c) vs. Vitor Belfort
Silva defeated Belfort via KO (front kick and punches) at 3:25 of round 1 to retain the UFC Middleweight Championship.
Bonus Awards


Fighters were awarded $75,000 bonuses.[13]
Fight of the Night: Donald Cerrone vs. Paul Kelly
Knockout of the Night: Anderson Silva
Submission of the Night: Jon Jones



Great event and amazing KO in the Main Event.

That was a ridiculous KO by Anderson! One of the best, most unorthodox, i've seen! Anderson must have 2 of the 5 most awesome KOs, with the elbow and that kick.

He is just too good i'm afraid, although i still find it hard to like him! Unfortunately Belfort didn't stay true to his word and attack from the off. I thought that would have been his only chance, but he was far far too tentative.

Forrest was just too big for Rich.

Jones looked awesome and even against a 'stronger' opponent, he still ragdolled him a few times, and dominated. Shogun-Jones at UFC 128!! I see Jones GnP elbows in this one.....

PS. looks like Okami is getting screwed again, if GSP beats Shields

Anderson Silva's got one man to thank...

MAIN EVENT:

I am really disspointed that the main event ended this way. there are two ways that Vitor could have won the fight, he tried to strike with Anderson...i actually think this could have been a smart strategy, i disagree that he should have thrown bombs from the start, in this fight he tried to find his range and then started to attack, this is the same way he beat Franklin.
I feel like we didnt get the best out of Vitor in this fight, considering he had 18 months away from the cage, he aquitted himself well until he got caught.
It was a spectacular moment from anderson, but leaves me feeling disspointed since we didnt see how the two really measure up in striking.
The other strategy Vitor could have used is the one he implemented well in his PRIDE run, basically as a wrestler/GnP fighter, i think he is good enough to take down Anderson and defend subs with ease.

in short, what a ko!!....but doesnt really answer many questions :/


CO-MAIN EVENT:

meh, size made the difference.


JONES/BADER:

I have never been impressed with Bader, i felt that he definitley lost against Nog, he also gassed against Nog....i think he was losing to Jardine until he caught the weak jaw of Keith.
Basically anyone suggesting Bader had much more than a puncher's chance bought the Bader hype.
(Im not just saying this because he lost, honest )

I feel like Bader is stylistically an easier fight for Jones...basically Jones can stop anyones takedowns at 205 right now, its his natural gifts....his striking is still rudimentary and very slow, if unorthadox.
Shogun is a nightmare matchup for him, if Shogun comes in healthy and in shape, i am confident that this will be a devastating derailling of the Jones hype train.


KID/Mouse

basically a drawn fight...KID was overall outstriking him (i think...its honestly hard to tell watching on F***book), but got caught by a big shot towards the end.
the takedowns were impressive to see, but dont count for anything, because KID defended alot of them and got back to his feet pretty much immediatley (negating the effect of the takedown?) without sustaining any damage or defending submissions....at all....whatsoever.

KID has been successful for the same reasons Fedor has, he is freakishly strong and quicker than his larger opponents....at a lower weight its clear he is still strong, Mouse was not close to being able to hold him down and every time kid defended a takedown he ragdolled mouse into the cage.


Omigawa/Mendes

not a mendes fan at all, and elbows that just cause cuts are fucking gay.
Honestly Omigawa defended alot of takedowns, and when he was taken down he was the only one attacking on the ground for the first 2 rounds. In the striking he got wobbled once, but was the fighter pushing forward for the last 2 rounds.....another very close fight. I would have given it to Omigawa due to him looking for KOs and subs, but thats just me.

Sidenote: do joe rogan and Goldy do any background work on their job?? joe didnt know KID went to school in USA, let alone winning 3x state championships, i thought thats well known.
He talked about the straight armbar employd by omigawa as a move that works best with the gi...however i would have thought its important to mention that in his very last fight Michi snapped a guys arm like that.
also mentioning "judo black belt" yet failing to mention he competed for japan in judo, which means you are really world class.
and Joe doesnt watch enough british MMA, guy got KTFO with front kick few months ago, although to be fair to joe, i cant remember the guys name either.



Kelly/Cerrone:

FFFFUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKK!!!

Taylor/Rudeiger:


Torres/banuelos:

pineapple vs mullet



UFC overall is bad, the fighters arent as great entertainment value as in strikeforce.

bring on the next strikeforce event...real fights, real KOs, real top grapplers, real top strikers, real top wrestlers, real good brits, real GOAT, REAL entertainmentTM, AS REAL AS IT GETS!

I wasted no time in updating my avatar, that kick was certainly something special.

anderson ko was excellent, shame belfort didnt come out swinging. jones was good as was forrest although i think forrest was bigger than franklin,.

Great event,and a stacked card that delivered.

Chesty you seem a little upset mate,is it because,yet again your JMMA stars have failed to live up to their hype and have been shown up by the better western fighters.

Johnson won a thoroughly deserved UD,in the first there wasn't that much striking from either fighter but was was thrown was pretty even really,Johnson showed better movement and got 3 takedowns,while kid tried to keep distance and most strikes he threw hit fresh air,johnson Rd.
The second rd again kid was hitting mostly fresh air,due to johnsons speed and movement,I thought johnson landed more in the second also,aswell as getting another 4 takedowns,granted he did nothing with them and Kid popped back up each time but still it was enough to put him 2 rds up.
The last rd was an easy johnson rd,4 takedowns and he rocked kid to his boots.
30-27 Johnson

the first rd of the mendes - Omigawa fight was close,Mendes was the one pushing the action and constantly going for the takedowns but omigawa shrugged them off,and when Mendes did get Omigawa on his back,Omigawa nearly managed to get Mendes in the same armbar that he broke escavedo arm with.
I gave it Mendes because he was the one attacking for most of the rd.
The second rd was an easy mendes rd,Mendes started putting his punches together and easily out boxed Omigawa.Omigawa's nose was busted up and he finished the rd with a good takedown,2-0 Mendes.
The last rd was the same as the second,mendes had stepped his game up and was totally outclassing omigawa in every department,credit to Omigawa though,he put up a good fight,but he was just out matched.
30-27 Mendes

Kelly started his fight against Cerone with,well lets say some dodgy sportsmanship(I actually missed it the first time around as I was taking a sip of my beer at the time,i saw it in the replay,I loooked up and kelly was on his back)
The first rd was pretty even through most of the rd,but Cerrone managed to get Kelly on his back at the end of the rd and landed some nasty elbows,cutting Kelly up and taking the rd.
The second rd was some lovely ground control from cerrone,cerrone managed to get full mount,as kelly tried to buck him off,cerrone moved to kellys back,and locked in the body triangle,from there he softened kelly up with a few shots before he managed to get his arm under kellys chin to sink in the choke.
Lovely finish.

Hard to give an opinion on the Kingsbury - romero fight as it was over in a matter of seconds.
kyle just went after him,landed a nasty knee to the body against the cage and then just started raining down a few bombs before mazagati stepped in to stop it.

Torres won an easy UD against Banuelos,because banuelos fought like a tit to be honest,i don't know what he was thinking or if he even had a gameplan.
It was obvious from the off that banuelos wanted no part of the ground game with Torres,but all he did all fight was buzz about on the outside where torres,with a huge reach advantage just kept picking him off with jabs and straight rights,not once did banuelos try and get on the inside or try to force torres up against the cage(sorry he did,but it was the last 20 seconds of the fight)
It was a pretty dull fight,but i don't blame torres one bit,torres fought a smart fight,banuelos gave torres an easy way to win and he stuck to it to take an easy UD.

Ellenburger v Rocha was an absolutely brilliant 1st rd,rocha showed just how highly skilled his ground game is,Ellenburger got the takedown and then realised what a mistake he had just made,Rocha completely controlled him there and was transitioning from what ever position he wanted to go to and was constantly threatening for the submission.easy 10-9 rocha rd.
then the next two rds stayed mostly on the feet,and where nothing like the first rd,Ellenburger for me slightly edged each and finished each rd with a takedown,so I gave ellenburger both rds,to take a close 29-28 decision.


Jone Jones is a beast and easily took this fight,bader wasn't a match for him anywhere and it wasn't long into the fight,before it was easily noticable that the only chance bader had in this fight was to land one lucky big bomb.
Bones won nearly every second of this fight,and finished off this dominant display with a sub anyone would of been happy with.
There is no hype about Bones anymore,he's deservingly the next challenger for shogun and I honestly think he will take the belt.

forrest v rich all came down to the fact that Rich looked like a MW fighting a LHW.
Not a classic that we hoped for but still a good fight where they both continued looking for the finishing big shot untill the end.

WOW what a finish by anderson,'smell my fucking toes motherfucker"that was a great finish.

I thought judging by Vitor interview at the end,where he basicly admitted that when they used to train together,anderson always schooled him,that Vitor wouldn't have stood much of a chance apart from a well timed big punch,even if the fight had gone into the next rds.
Anderson is a better fighter than vitor in every aspect of the game.

Anderson may act the dick alot of times,but there is no denying that he is one of,if not the greatest fighter in the world.

manschesthair_utd wrote:MAIN EVENT:

I am really disspointed that the main event ended this way. there are two ways that Vitor could have won the fight, he tried to strike with Anderson...i actually think this could have been a smart strategy, i disagree that he should have thrown bombs from the start, in this fight he tried to find his range and then started to attack, this is the same way he beat Franklin.
I feel like we didnt get the best out of Vitor in this fight, considering he had 18 months away from the cage, he aquitted himself well until he got caught.
It was a spectacular moment from anderson, but leaves me feeling disspointed since we didnt see how the two really measure up in striking.
The other strategy Vitor could have used is the one he implemented well in his PRIDE run, basically as a wrestler/GnP fighter, i think he is good enough to take down Anderson and defend subs with ease.

in short, what a ko!!....but doesnt really answer many questions :/


CO-MAIN EVENT:

meh, size made the difference.


JONES/BADER:

I have never been impressed with Bader, i felt that he definitley lost against Nog, he also gassed against Nog....i think he was losing to Jardine until he caught the weak jaw of Keith.
Basically anyone suggesting Bader had much more than a puncher's chance bought the Bader hype.
(Im not just saying this because he lost, honest )

I feel like Bader is stylistically an easier fight for Jones...basically Jones can stop anyones takedowns at 205 right now, its his natural gifts....his striking is still rudimentary and very slow, if unorthadox.
Shogun is a nightmare matchup for him, if Shogun comes in healthy and in shape, i am confident that this will be a devastating derailling of the Jones hype train.


KID/Mouse

basically a drawn fight...KID was overall outstriking him (i think...its honestly hard to tell watching on F***book), but got caught by a big shot towards the end.
the takedowns were impressive to see, but dont count for anything, because KID defended alot of them and got back to his feet pretty much immediatley (negating the effect of the takedown?) without sustaining any damage or defending submissions....at all....whatsoever.

KID has been successful for the same reasons Fedor has, he is freakishly strong and quicker than his larger opponents....at a lower weight its clear he is still strong, Mouse was not close to being able to hold him down and every time kid defended a takedown he ragdolled mouse into the cage.


Omigawa/Mendes

not a mendes fan at all, and elbows that just cause cuts are fucking gay.
Honestly Omigawa defended alot of takedowns, and when he was taken down he was the only one attacking on the ground for the first 2 rounds. In the striking he got wobbled once, but was the fighter pushing forward for the last 2 rounds.....another very close fight. I would have given it to Omigawa due to him looking for KOs and subs, but thats just me.

Sidenote: do joe rogan and Goldy do any background work on their job?? joe didnt know KID went to school in USA, let alone winning 3x state championships, i thought thats well known.
He talked about the straight armbar employd by omigawa as a move that works best with the gi...however i would have thought its important to mention that in his very last fight Michi snapped a guys arm like that.
also mentioning "judo black belt" yet failing to mention he competed for japan in judo, which means you are really world class.
and Joe doesnt watch enough british MMA, guy got KTFO with front kick few months ago, although to be fair to joe, i cant remember the guys name either.



Kelly/Cerrone:

FFFFUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKK!!!

Taylor/Rudeiger:


Torres/banuelos:

pineapple vs mullet



UFC overall is bad, the fighters arent as great entertainment value as in strikeforce.

bring on the next strikeforce event...real fights, real KOs, real top grapplers, real top strikers, real top wrestlers, real good brits, real GOAT, REAL entertainmentTM, AS REAL AS IT GETS!

Sorry man, but...... "Taylor/Rudeiger:
"

is the only thing i agree with in your post

good event as recent standards go... Anderson got Belfort a treat, I thought Belfort looked ok, I thinkif they had had more comings togethers Belfort power would shone through... if im hounist im gutted. Anderson do us a favour, move up in weight and vacate the MW title, cause theres no one there that can get close to you! Theres some awesome fights left for him there!

Forrest looked two weight classes bigger than Franklin, cack fight really...

My My Bones is the man and anyone saying he int the real thing, open your bloody eyes, hes going to give shogun some problems.

I dont know if this has been mentioned before, but Dana said Okami is not getting a title shot, and Anderson will fight GSP if he beats Shields. Possibly as main event in Rio.


Anderson also spoke about facing GSP in the Press conference and to post fight interview with Ariel.


http://www.mmabay.co.uk/2011/02/06/anderson-silva-on-possibly-facing-georges-st-pierre-%e2%80%9cit-will-be-fun%e2%80%9d-video/



Looks like GSP-Anderson is finally going to happen

I thought it was a pretty good event personally. The main event ending quickly kind of sucked, but it was too be expected. That kick was sick, just at a point where it looked like Silva was monkeying around a bit too much. I honestly think he needs to go to LHW though now, after Okami finally gets his shot or he can vacate the title now and move up. I can't see anyone beating the winner of Shogun/Bones at LHW for quite some time aside from Rashad Evans, and we know he won't fight Bones. LHW needs some more genuine contenders, and who wouldn't want to see Silva vs Bones/Shogun?

I was disappointed to see Franklin lose, but he was severely undersized against Griffin. Franklin really is a natural MW, at best a small LHW while Griffin could fight at HW. First time where size has been an issue and that's to be expected since Griffin is one of the bigger LHWs. Good performance from Griffin though, I still want to see him rematch Rampage, but I think he might end up fighting Machida, if he gets past Couture. Maybe the Lil Nog/Tito winner for Franklin or Bader.

Bones was very impressive yesterday. I really thought Bader was going to get the better of him but he was lost. I really think Bones is going to cause Shogun problems, out of all the fighters Bones has faced in the UFC, Shogun has among the least effective take down defense. The key in that fight will be how Shogun deals with him on the ground and if he can use BJJ to escape and avoid being pulverized.

Torres looked good against an opponent who looked like he didn't know what he was doing, Kid and Omigawa flopped in there first appearances, Cerrone beat Kelly in a good fight and Taylor looks to have finally gotten rid of Rudegier for good. I was disappointed in Kid, for such a high level wrestler he had no answer for the take downs against Mighty Mouse. He got back to his feet well but apart from that did nothing of note really. Mendes is pretty boring but his style sure as hell is effective. Looks like Fitch V.20.

Looks like Payne was right all along about the Japanese fighters

TBH I felt it was a very underwhelming card maybe that was due to the hype surrounding the card and such high expectations.

Paul Taylor looked great a nice win for relentless the combination he stopped Ruediger with was picture perfect. A bad night for JMMA Kid looked a shell of his former self although I think a lot of Kid fans were hoping this would be a revival sadly It wasn't to be, Michi put up a great effort against Mendes but the speed advantage was the deciding factor although If I was sitting ringside at the Sumo Hall in Sumida I would have awarded Michi a 30-30 must decision.

Griffin vs Franklin was a huge let down maybe Rich might consider dropping back down to 185 well If Anderson moves up speaking of which It was hard to tell much about his performance aside from his fantastic stoppage of Belfort (Who yet again froze on the big stage mentally Vitor lost the fight at the weigh in's I got the impression he didn't want to be there) Got this horrible feeling Okami will get screwed over after the fight my money is on Sonnen vs Silva II in the summer and GSP If he beats Shields probably fighting Fitch if he beats BJ.

Jones looked very impressive against Bader It was sound to see Bader look so lost after Jones took him down the 1st time The Shogun fight should be very interesting have this feeling If Jones doesn't get Shogun down he is going to sleep.

Hopefully the Strikeforce card doesn't feel as underwhelming.

Dana has pretty much said that if GSP beats Shields, they're gonna make GSP-Silva at MW, and GSP will be vacating WW (i assume) since he said if he moved up he'd do it for good. Not sure this is wise for GSP though as if he moves up and loses, then where does that leave him and his 'legacy'....?

Can't see Sonnen fighting soon, he's still suspended indefinately.

So yeah, Okami, either way is getting screwed again.

efils_god wrote:Dana has pretty much said that if GSP beats Shields, they're gonna make GSP-Silva at MW, and GSP will be vacating WW (i assume) since he said if he moved up he'd do it for good. Not sure this is wise for GSP though as if he moves up and loses, then where does that leave him and his 'legacy'....?

Can't see Sonnen fighting soon, he's still suspended indefinately.

So yeah, Okami, either way is getting screwed again.

I know Dana is talking about Silva vs GSP but for some reason I have a feeling It won't happen call me a cynic but I think this is just talk I don't see GSP jumping up to 185 in the space of a few months after fighting Shields the impression I get is that GSP wants time to get up to 185 which is fair enough.

For some strange reason I got a funny feeling Shields is going to throw a huge spanner in the works If this is their plan.

First post

Ok so UFC 126 was pretty good, Bones lived up to his name in taking out Bader who is (was?) a good prospect and was by no means a can for bones.
Anderson Silva has pretty much destroyed the UFC MW division, and I really cant see a reason for GSP to move up to MW as it is dominated by a guy who can fight comfortably and possibly to belt level in LHW. Vitor didnt show up and all the pre fight hype from him was silenced with a swift boot to the chin.
Rocha loked awesome in BJJ and a bit like a good bar fighter at stand up, honourable mention to Tank Abbot for the reference.
I really like Rich Franklin, and I think Forrest is hilarious, Got Fight is a great read if anyone hasnt yet. But Forrest was way bigger than Rich and it showed in the end.
Torres fight was hideous Banuelos should be cut for not understanding that a 13" reach disadvantage means you go forward whilst swinging not backwards when the opponent is peppering you from range.

Lastly, looking forward to many more days in the office being spurned by this forum!

I'm un interested in Silva vs GSP... Silva knocks GSP out for me and Silva would prob sub his sorry ass from his back too. I wanna see anderson fight bigger guys, Shogun, Bones, Evans... people like that. The more i see Anderson fight the more the GSP fight just doesn't appeal to me... I hounistly think he could embarass GSP.

There is no way you are 'uninterested' in seeing GSP vs Anderson Silva.

You lie.

Its the fight i would most like to see GSP in.
as for Anderson i would rather see him fight Okami first, and if he is going to move weights he should challenge Shogun/Bones winner.

GSP-Anderson needs to happen, were all tired of talking about it. And Anderson isnt getting any younger so hopefully after GSP destroys Shields in Toronto, Anderson will enter the cage and they will announce the fight.


I dont care if its for MW title, or if its a catchweight at 179-180lb, its got to happen. And we can then all move on.

id love to see jones v silva to be honest. would be intersting to see how silva would fair with the top lhw.

In isolation, Silva vs the Shogun-Jones winner is a better fight than Silva vs GSP.

The thing is though, both GSP and Anderson have cleaned out their respective divisions. There is no interesting fight involving GSP or Anderson at Welterweight or Middleweight that isn't them fighting each other.
Plus GSP vacating will put some intrigue back into the Welterweight title scenario.

The Light Heavyweight division is still going to be exciting regardless of Silva being in it or not.

Silva can always go up to Light Heavyweight after the GSP fight anyhow.

Despite his main-event loss, Vitor Belfort ($275,000) and co-main-event winner Forrest Griffin ($275,00) were the top earners at UFC 126. Both topped UFC middleweight champ and main-event winner Anderson Silva ($200,000).

MMAjunkie.com (UFC blog for UFC news, UFC rumors, fighter interviews and event previews/recaps | MMAjunkie.com) today requested and received the list of paydays from the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

The total payroll for the event, which took place at the Mandalay Events Center in Las Vegas, was $1.305 million.

The event's main card card aired on pay-per-view, two preliminary-card fights aired on Spike TV, and one prelim bout streamed for free on Facebook.

Silva received no win bonus, but most of his pay likely came in pay-per-view revenue and other, non-traditional bonuses. Belfort, meanwhile, would have earned an additional $100,000 as a win bonus if he would've earned the victory.

Four fighters reached six-figure base paydays, including Jon Jones ($140,000), who earned a title shot with a victory over Ryan Bader.

The full list of paydays included:

Champ Anderson Silva: $200,000 (includes no win bonus)
def. Vitor Belfort: $275,000

Forrest Griffin: $275,000 ($150,000 win bonus)
def. Rich Franklin: $75,000

Jon Jones: $140,000 ($70,000 win bonus)
def. Ryan Bader: $20,000

Jake Ellenberger: $32,000 ($16,000 win bonus)
def. Carlos Eduardo Rocha: $8,000

Miguel Torres: $56,000 ($28,000 win bonus)
def. Antonio Banuelos: $9,000

Donald Cerrone: $36,000 ($18,000 win bonus)
def. Paul Kelly: $19,000

Chad Mendes: $19,000 ($9,000 win bonus)
def. Michihiro Omigawa: $8,000

Demetrious Johnson: $10,000 ($5,000 win bonus)
def. Norifumi Yamamoto: $15,000

Paul Taylor: $36,000 ($18,000 win bonus)
def. Gabe Ruediger: $8,000

Kyle Kingsbury: $20,000 ($10,000 win bonus)
def. Ricardo Romero: $10,000

Mike Pierce: $28,000 ($14,000 win bonus)
def. Kenny Robertson: $6,000

Now, the usual disclaimer: The figures do not include deductions for items such as insurance, licenses and taxes. Additionally, the figures do not include money paid by sponsors, which can oftentimes be a substantial portion of a fighter's income. They also do not include any other "locker room" or special bonuses the UFC oftentimes pays. They also do not include portions of the pay-per-view revenue that some top-level fighters receive.

For example, as previously reported, UFC officials handed out additional $75,000 UFC 126 bonuses to Silva (KO of the Night), Jones (Submission of the Night), and Cerrone and Kelly (Fight of the Night).

In other words, the above figures are simply base salaries reported to the commission and do not reflect entire compensation packages for the event.

When the #1 contender is Okami, that is as gooed a sign as any the division is squeaky clean.