Also what a crowd the Brazilian fans were,they created a great atmosphere from the very first fight up until the Silva fight.
I would of loved to have been apart of that audience,what a boost it must have been for the Brazilian fighters to have support like that behind them.
I was a little surprised with them being a BJJ nation,at the speed they seemed to want the fights back on their feet though.
Loveland vs Jabouin,got the night off to a pretty good start.
I thought loveland would be able to take Jabouin down when needed and grind out a decision and that's basically how it started,but the longer the fight went,Jabouin started finding it easier to shrug off loveland,keep it where he needed the fight,standing and start taking over the fight,while also mixing in some flashy spinning strikes that the crowd seemed to love.
I gave loveland the first rd and Jabouin the last two,I don't know who that daft Judge was who scored all 3 rds to Loveland.
Yuri Alcantara vs. Felipe Arantes
another fun fight,Alcantara more rounded style made him the better fighter in this one and IMO he did enough in all 3 rds to win them all by showing good stand up,good take downs and solid control when he had his opponent down.
Arantes was supposed to be the better striker in this one,but he just never seemed to be able to get off first,which allowed Alcantara to dictate the fight.
Erick Silva vs. Luis Ramos
The first KO of the night and what a sweet punch and finish it was,quick,violent and in under a minute,a great debut for the lad and a great start for the Blackhouse boys.
Raphael Assuncao vs. Johnny Eduardo
Assunccao won all 3 rds on my card,by managing to stuff Eduardo's striking game,stay on the inside and get the takedowns.He nearly managed a rearnaked in the second but he ran out of time.
I thought Eduardo fought a bad fight in this one to be honest,he had a huge reach advantage and striking advantage but never really managed to settle down and use them,he landed the odd one that stumbled Assuncao but there was just not enough from him,which allowed Assuncao to win the majority of each rd.
Thought it was funny when the crowd booed him every time he spoke in English,the poor lad was switching languages during sentences in the end.
Paulo Thiago vs. David Mitchell
This fight was so easy for Thiago,I found myself getting pretty bored with it after a while.
Thiago did what he wanted when he wanted,without going all out for the finish,he easily won all stand up exchanges,took him down when he wanted,worked for a sub,couldn't get it each time,so he just stood up,rinsed and repeated for 3 rds.
I'm not trying to be down on Thiago as it was a good solid professional job he did,I just think the match making wasn't that good here,as Mitchell didn't really offer anything in the way of attacking in this fight,he just hung in and defended for 15 minutes really.
Rousimar Palhares vs. Dan Miller
Crazy fight,I don't think Palhares is quite all there to be honset,he snaps peoples limbs and says well I was waiting for the ref to step in,he then complains about Nates leg mid fight,flaps his arms around complaining so nate can smash his face,then this time,he has the fight won after landing a sweet head kick,well he would of if he had continued pounding for 5-10 more seconds and waited for the ref to actually stop the fight,but he decides to just throw a couple of shots,stop and run and climb the cage celebrating as if the ref had actually stepped in,Herb didn't even motion like he was going to step in at that point,i tell you the guys a few fries short of a happy meal.
Then fucking hell straight after they coax him down from the top of the cage and restart,Blam,Miller lands a sweet right hand that rocks and drops palhares,crazy first rd.
Palhares is a beast,deadly on the ground,tries to slam people through the matt and has a hell of alot of power in his shots,especially if he's above you.
He started having his way with miller in the second,but credit to Miller,he's a tough bastard,he's one of those fighters that i don't care how many he loses,i don't want to see him cut from the UFC,he makes people fight and his fights are usually entertaining.
In the last rd,both fighters slowed down alot and you could see this was going to be a one sided UD decision to Palhares.
Impressive stuff from the tree stump,but another fight that puts him further up the crazy scale.
Spencer Fisher vs. Thiago Tavares
good performance from Tavares,he controlled the fight,looked good on his feet and took spencer down,put him on his back and controlled him to win the first rd.
The second went exactly the same way,with Thiago taking him down and landing shots,I don't think he was really hurting fisher that much but once Spencer gave his back,he was stuck and basically defenseless,so when thiago kept raining down more shots,the ref really had no choice but to stop it.
Luiz Cane vs. Stanislav Nedkov
pissed about this one,changed my pick at the last minute to cane
Cane started this fight having his way with Nedkov,all nedkov had was a crazy overhand right that he was swinging,a blind guy could see that coming,well obviously cane needs his fucking eyes testing,because what happens,Nedkov lands that wild right which makes cane say fuck it I'm outa here,he turns his back and runs towards the cage,I thought he was going to leap over teh top and continue running but Nedkov was to quick,he swarms him with more punches before cane can get his footing in the cage and finishes the Job.
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Brendan Schaub
I think the Brazilian fans are still singing,great finish from Nog and fucking great to watch.
I thought schaub was actually looking pretty good and was on his way to winning the round,that was before Nog turned back the clock and pulled out his new little box of striking tricks and lands a super 10 punch combo before dropping Schaub cold,face first to the mat.
this definitely got me out of my seat cheering.
Ross Pearson vs. Edson Mendes Barboza Jr.
thoroughly deserved FOTN,fast exciting and tons of skills on show from both fighters.
Pearson did a great job of putting constant pressure on Barboza and took the first rd for me.
Pearson never let up,but I think the more technical accurate striking of Barboza started showing in the end and he started to land some clean shots,dropping and wobbling Pearson in the second.
In the third Pearson was still the hunter,but barboza continued to land some clean kicks and punches to win the last rd.
I had it 29-28 Barboza
Mauricio “Shogun” Rua vs. Forrest Griffin
I could see this happening,I'm starting to doubt if this is what forrest really wants to do anymore.
Shogun landed that nice right hand that staggers and drops forrest and then it was Forrest vs rashad all over again as shogun rains down about 5 or 6 hammerfists leaving the ref no choice but to step in and stop it.
Anderson Silva vs. Yushin Okami
What can you say,Anderson in that kind of form is without a doubt the deadliest and greatest MMA fighter on the planet.
He schooled Yushin,you could just see the confidence start to build in Anderson,when he gets like that,the focus gets sharp,his shots are pin point and the guy starts dropping tough fighters with punches that look nothing more than jabs.
i don't think Okami touched him apart from a short clinch
9 title defences,constantly beating the top challengers of his division,Anderson is the GOAT.