So Evans halted the Tito Ortiz hype train with a very impressive performance, most of us were assuming he would provide us with a 3 round humping session, but he showed that his training with Tyrone Spong was helping, and that knee to Tito's body was pin point accuracy from Rashad. Not taking anything away from Ortiz of course, he took the fight on short notice and put up a decent effort against Rashad, even catching Evans in a guillotine that looked close to ending it. So unless Rampage has something to say about it, we'll be seeing Jones VS Evans in the new year, can't wait for that one.
Good to see Belfort get back to winning ways, no doubt that this guy has power, on another night I think he could beat Anderson. Few nasty shots to the back of Akiyama's head at the end of the fight, but luckily Akiyama was fine. I don't know why UFC didn't wait to see the outcome of this fight before deciding what to do with Munoz, I think Belfort VS Munoz makes much more sense than Munoz VS Leben in terms of the title picture, but that is just UFC matchmaking for you. I think Akiyama needs to drop down to welterweight, he's too small at middleweight, and it doesn't help that he hardly uses his Judo, atleast he looked sexy though.
Somebody who didn't look sexy was Dennis Hallman, I said before the fight started that even though I picked a Ebersole UD in the predictor, i'd happily take a Hallman submission in the first round just so this fight could end and I didn't have to look at Hallman, while it did end in the first round, I didn't expect it to end in the fashion that it did! Great stoppage victory from Ebersole, I love how UFC fed him to a fighter that they believed would beat him because of his past experiences with submission experts and I love how Ebersole just blew right through him. UFC didn't want Ebersole in the company in the first place, so seeing how he keeps beating the guys who are meant to beat him, then respect to Ebersole.
I picked Phillipou to beat Rivera, and it was a close fight, but I think the judges got it right. Joe Rogan was going crazy when Phillipou couldn't get the submission, was rather funny. I think we might see a rematch between these two, nowhere else really for any of them to go, unless we do finally see Rivera VS Sakara.
Rory MacDonald goes from strength to strength, putting away a very game fighter like Pyle shows what talent this kid has, a few years down the line he could very well be on top of the welterweight division. I expect him to face a step up in competition in his next fight, maybe someone like Kampmann would be a good step up for MacDonald.
Another great prospect is Alexander Gustafsson, he's another guy who in a few years could be on top of the light heavyweight division, well maybe if Jon Jones wasn't around! Even still, the fact that Rampage couldn't put Hamill away, and Gustafsson did with some considerable ease shows what talent this kid has. I assume they'll put him in with Matyushenko like it was originally planned, but watch this space for Gustafsson, he could very well be facing the top light heavyweights in a few fights time.
Mendes get the UD like we all expected, no doubt that he deserves the next title shot after Aldo VS Florian. I think Yahya exposed a few holes in the game of Mendes tonight, but with his wrestling base there is no doubt that he can cause any of the featherweights problems, especially Jose Aldo, who we haven't seen face any top level wrestlers. Whether or not Mendes can be the one to beat Aldo still remains to be seen.
Nothing special on the undercard, Hendricks won a close split decision victory over Pierce in what was a decent fight, Mike Brown showed that he can still hang in there with the younger guys, with an impressive decision victory over Nam Phan, Ivan Menjivar won a close decision over Nick Pace in a decent fight, and Rafael Natal beat Paul Bradley by decision as well.
All in all, it was a decent card, and most importantly, the main card featured 4 stoppages, despite many of us thinking it would be full of decisions. Glad that UFC is back, now just a week to wait until Hardy VS Lytle next weekend!
Good to see Belfort get back to winning ways, no doubt that this guy has power, on another night I think he could beat Anderson. Few nasty shots to the back of Akiyama's head at the end of the fight, but luckily Akiyama was fine. I don't know why UFC didn't wait to see the outcome of this fight before deciding what to do with Munoz, I think Belfort VS Munoz makes much more sense than Munoz VS Leben in terms of the title picture, but that is just UFC matchmaking for you. I think Akiyama needs to drop down to welterweight, he's too small at middleweight, and it doesn't help that he hardly uses his Judo, atleast he looked sexy though.
Somebody who didn't look sexy was Dennis Hallman, I said before the fight started that even though I picked a Ebersole UD in the predictor, i'd happily take a Hallman submission in the first round just so this fight could end and I didn't have to look at Hallman, while it did end in the first round, I didn't expect it to end in the fashion that it did! Great stoppage victory from Ebersole, I love how UFC fed him to a fighter that they believed would beat him because of his past experiences with submission experts and I love how Ebersole just blew right through him. UFC didn't want Ebersole in the company in the first place, so seeing how he keeps beating the guys who are meant to beat him, then respect to Ebersole.
I picked Phillipou to beat Rivera, and it was a close fight, but I think the judges got it right. Joe Rogan was going crazy when Phillipou couldn't get the submission, was rather funny. I think we might see a rematch between these two, nowhere else really for any of them to go, unless we do finally see Rivera VS Sakara.
Rory MacDonald goes from strength to strength, putting away a very game fighter like Pyle shows what talent this kid has, a few years down the line he could very well be on top of the welterweight division. I expect him to face a step up in competition in his next fight, maybe someone like Kampmann would be a good step up for MacDonald.
Another great prospect is Alexander Gustafsson, he's another guy who in a few years could be on top of the light heavyweight division, well maybe if Jon Jones wasn't around! Even still, the fact that Rampage couldn't put Hamill away, and Gustafsson did with some considerable ease shows what talent this kid has. I assume they'll put him in with Matyushenko like it was originally planned, but watch this space for Gustafsson, he could very well be facing the top light heavyweights in a few fights time.
Mendes get the UD like we all expected, no doubt that he deserves the next title shot after Aldo VS Florian. I think Yahya exposed a few holes in the game of Mendes tonight, but with his wrestling base there is no doubt that he can cause any of the featherweights problems, especially Jose Aldo, who we haven't seen face any top level wrestlers. Whether or not Mendes can be the one to beat Aldo still remains to be seen.
Nothing special on the undercard, Hendricks won a close split decision victory over Pierce in what was a decent fight, Mike Brown showed that he can still hang in there with the younger guys, with an impressive decision victory over Nam Phan, Ivan Menjivar won a close decision over Nick Pace in a decent fight, and Rafael Natal beat Paul Bradley by decision as well.
All in all, it was a decent card, and most importantly, the main card featured 4 stoppages, despite many of us thinking it would be full of decisions. Glad that UFC is back, now just a week to wait until Hardy VS Lytle next weekend!