UFC 125 Main Card Revisited

Clay Guida vs Takanori Gomi

Thumbs Up:  Good submission

Thumbs Down:  Not as much fireworks as I expected

Thoughts on the match-up:  When they announced this fight I was excited.  First thing that popped in my mind was that this fight was going to be a possible fight of the night.  Both fighters very exciting to watch, Clay Guida not a stranger to UFC Fight of the Night, taking part in 3 fight of the nights.  The fight against Deigo Sanchez later becomes voted as fight of the year in 2009.  Known for his unrelenting pace, changing of levels, decent striking, and takedowns he is fighter that contains lesser talent filled over the top with sovereign aggression.  This makes him a dangerous fighter who is a great gatekeeper for UFC’s lightweight division and will give anyone in the lightweight division a good fight.  With his style, when he is matched up to fight, he always brings the question can his opponent handle his pace, his aggression?

This is a question Takanori Gomi wants to answer for us in this fight.  Takanori Gomi is a fighter just as exciting to watch if not more because of the determination he has to knock his opponents out.  Known for his devastating knock outs in Pride, Gomi takes on another very tough opponent since joining the UFC.  He has been put into the cage with some very tough prospects of the lightweight division.  Matched up with an always improving always dangerous Kenny Florian and a very game Tyson Griffin, both at their top of their game can give any fighter in the lightweight division problems.  Whats most notable about these fights is that they show Gomi for truly what he is.  Gomi has 1 punch knockout power displayed in the Tyson Griffin fight, but he is known to gas and can be picked apart by clean crisp boxing shown in the Kenny Florian fight, also the Nick Diaz fight.  On many occasions he commits to his punches 300% and great risk can have great rewards.  He loves the stand up and has a ground game but rather stand to throw strikes, which make him the exciting fighter he is.  Guida doesn’t show the same crisp clean punching Florian or Diaz has making this fight all the more exciting.  Gomi is willing to trade with anyone, clay is willing to take anything (but then shoots for takedowns for defensive purposes).  I am still hoping Gomi can make the same mark he did in Pride being one the most memorable lightweights of him time.

Thoughts on the fight:  First off Im surprised Guida threw so many high kicks and actually landing one to Gomi’s jaw and body, though it didn’t faze Gomi it definitely is something Guida has worked on.  I understand why he continued to try it since the first one was probably the most significant strike of the fight.  Also Guida added a lot more head movement, even more intense than he usually has, giving Gomi a different look made Gomi a little more tentative, not letting his hands fly as often.

But not surprising was Guida’s takedowns.  If anyone was to fight Gomi and putting all ego aside, taking him down would definitely be a safer move.  He has submission wins but is really a knockout artist.  Kenny Florian was picking Gomi’s stand up apart with crisp clean boxing for 3 rounds and decided to take him down right when Gomi landed a huge right hook left hand, probably the best combination landing for Gomi throughout the whole fight.  Smart move by Kenny and Guida as well.  Gomi was trying to throw bombs in the first as always unable to find Guida much with his jab.  With his low stance he stuffs multiple takedown attempts of Guida.  He starts to land a few more in the 2^nd but nothing that hurts Guida, until Gomi lands a left knee from a takedown attempt.  But followed by that takedown Guida gets half guard and sinks an arm in Guillotine Choke from the top, surprised it got Gomi to tap so fast, must have been real tight even before Guida rolled to his back to finish the choke. 

My Card:

Round 1: Guida – landing more and most significant shot

Nate Diaz vs Dong Hyun Kim

Thumbs Up:  Nate Diaz’s stand up

Thumbs Down:  Not enough stand up making the fight not as exciting, Kim’s takedown follows up with minimal ground n pound and no submission attempts didn't help the excitement eithers, Kim’s reaction to knee was too much.

Thoughts on the fight:  Another fight I was extremely excited for.  Fight was somewhat entertaining.  Hoping Diaz would establish his jab and put on a boxing clinic he put on Marcus Davis, but all my dreams were shattered when Dong Hyun Kim gets a big takedown.  Diaz says he has better bjj and better stand up, I believe he does but it’s hard to prove when you try to strike and your opponent takes you down and on the ground hes just stronger and keeps his posture.

Its hard to catch your opponent in a submission when he’s that much stronger than you and knows at least some bjj.  Take Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir 2 for example, Frank Mir bjj IQ is off the charts especially comparing it to Brock Lesnar’s, but as strong as Brock is, what can you do?  Or Shinya Aoki vs Gilbert Melendez, Aoki known for his A class bjj, judo, and shooto can’t tap everyone, even on the ground.  Even for top bjj guys its hard to submit a strong wrestler with good posture with bjj training.  This is the case for this fight.

Though the fight is mostly on the ground it was hard for Nate to get a submission hold to stick or even put Kim in danger of a submission.  Attempts were made and they have a few transitions but Diaz can’t seem to shoot his legs up for a triangle or get a hold of legs for a knee bar or ankle locks.  Though Kim slowly gets tired through the fight and unable to handle Diaz’s boxing, majority of the fight takes place on the ground which wasn’t enough to show the judges the difference in the stand up game.  There are people saying Diaz won, but watching MMA for so long, I know how mma judges do it.  Takedown is king.  Takedowns counts for too much, seems like if you takedown someone in a round anything the opposing fighter did before hitting the mat doesn’t count, like its forgotten.  It counts more than effective striking for a whole minute or two sometimes even more, its pretty ridiculous.  Even if the person ontop isn’t even passing, striking, or going for submission attempts judges still use that as big deciding factors in rounds and sometimes fights as a whole.  That’s the definition of lay and pray and it’s a topic mma fans bring up daily because so many fighters use it and it wins fights.  Knowing this, I knew Diaz wouldn’t win the decision.  It’s sad, in the end who would you rather be, Kim or Diaz?  In the end Diaz did more damage and for Kim congrats you won a wrestling match.

Thoughts on the knee:  The illegal knee, first there needs to be a rule change in the UFC about kneeing a down opponent.  But before getting into this, Kim’s reaction to the knee was just embarrassing.  Is that really how he was going to act if the knee was legal?  Complain and roll on the ground like it was a Wanderlei knee knocking out Rampage?  It’s hard to convince me that that knee was so devastating that Kim needed to put on a Hollywood acting clinic in the cage.  It’ll be hard to convince me that he’ll react the same, bitching and complaining, if that knee was legal.  It’s hard for me to cheer and honor a fighter who milks fouls like Koscheck or a basketball player flopping in the NBA.  There are rule changes needed in UFC to make it a better sport, but there is so much to be said it’ll be in my next blog.

My Card:

Round 1: Kim (10-9)– Takedown with some ground n pound

Round 2: Kim (10-9)– Takedown with some ground n pound

Round 3: Diaz (10-9)– Better stand up, lands more strikes, finishes the round strong

(29-28) Dong Hyun Kim

Brandon Veras vs Thiago Silva

Thumbs Up:  Good ground n pound

Thumbs Down:  Most of the fight on the ground

Thoughts on the fight:  Also another fight I wanted to see.  Both with great striking, both love to stand.  Vera with the more technical striking but Silva with power and aggression.  Some thought this was going to be a stand up war but I had no doubt in my mind this could easily go to the ground, I mean after all we are watching MMA not k-1 or boxing.

Most fights go to the ground especially when someone is losing the stand up game.  But this fight it was out of convenience which happens in a lot of fights too.  A fighter strikes or is moving forward and a clinch happens.  They either trip or body lock or both, tripping is a common take down because most fighters like to drive forward and tripping them is easier than opening up their arms to for a double.

Anyways Silva does this multiple times in this fight and remains dominate with ground and pound destroying Brandon Vera.  Didn’t turn out to be the fight most people wanted to see or expected, most fans want to see stand up, but the ground and pound Silva displayed still gave the fans a show.  The brief time they had standing up still reminds us of what Brandon Vera can do.

The question that comes up for me is, stand up fighters don’t want it to go to the ground, but if you can’t stop the other guys takedown and u find yourself in a clinch a lot why not just take him down first?  Instead of trying to defend takedowns and end up losing the fight anyways, I mean it’s like a crisp boxer who wins with only jabs and 1-2’s but find it not working in a fight, him opening with some different combinations may not be a bad idea, I mean your loosing the fight anyways.  There are times you have to fight out of your style to win a fight, but Vera didn’t go for a takedown even once in the fight letting Silva cease the opportunity.  I understand it’s hard sometimes for fighters to execute during a fight but it’s something that can be used for fighters that want to keep it standing.  To stop him from taking you down and laying and praying, take him down first and if u can find an opportunity to stand up you can, if not, you’re probably still going to win the round since you’re on top.  It’s just sad to see stand up fighters like Brandon Vera get taken down over and over and unable to do anything off their back.  Again takedown is king, which makes me sad but its part of MMA.

Thiago Silva’s ground and pound from Vera’s back at the end of the third round resulted Vera’s broken nose… Ouch!

My Card:

Round 1: Silva (10-9) – Takedown and dominates on the ground with control and ground n pound

Round 2: Silva (10-9) – Takedowns Vera and backs it up with ground n pound

Round 3: Silva (10-9) – Takedowns Vera and punishes him with ground n pound

Brian Stann vs Chris Leben

Thumbs Up: Exciting fight, a war.

Thumbs Down:  None

Thoughts on the match-up:  When I heard this fight was going to happen, I thought to myself, Chris Leben and Brian Stann? Someone is going to be knocked out.  With the willingness of both fighters down to trade and the power both fighters possess it’s a knockout of the night if not fight of the night waiting to happen.  Both their interviews before the fight talk about standing toe to toe and that’s exactly what happens.

They came out swinging for the fences, it was bad news for someone since the beginning, but Stann comes out the victor because of his crisper striking.  Leben is wilder and has more looping shots which Stann wasn’t there to receive on his end.  He landed the more effective shots putting Leben in trouble in the first round putting him away with his relentless attack in the clinch to the body and head.  No love loss for Leben as he displays his heart and crowd pleasing aggression again.  Throwing caution to the wind to land is something the fans always love and respect.  But tonight the aggression got him trouble early in the fight, taking a big chance by pushing the action.  Sometimes this can be rewarding, but the great striking from Stann keeps Leben from cashing out.  Stann kept his composure and didnt let Leben’s aggression stop his hands from throwing.  Finishing the fight quickly not giving Leben a chance to recover, this now puts a lot of eyes on Brian Stann.

Frankie Edgar vs Gray Maynard

Thumbs Up:  Great fight, won fight of the night, shows Edgars ability to recover

Thumbs Down:  Unhappy with judges

Thoughts on the match-up:  This was a highly anticipated fight.  After their first meetings at UFC Fight Night 13 they both branch out to fight different fighters both proving to be top contenders in the lightweight division.  Frankie Edgar gets the title shot first even though he lost to Maynard.  A factor may be because Edgar has the more impressive wins after their meeting.  If losing had a positive affect on a fighter this maybe one of them.  Grey wins some close split decisions while making the fight uneventful and unmemorable for the fans.  The close fights with Nate Diaz, Roger Huerta, and the unanimous decision over the very popular Kenny Florian maybe the reason angry fans give Maynard the nickname Grey “lay and pray” Maynard.

This is why I am not surprised Frankie Edgar gets a title shot before the undefeated Grey Maynard.  Fans are attracted to his style, with a solid arsenal of punches and kicks always moving in and out, side to side, head movement, speed and his tendencies to stay busy are what the fans are looking for and is also the reason he dominates some of the best in the lightweight division.  Usually the smaller fighter he still holds notable wins over Sean Sherk, Hermes Franca, Spencer Fisher, and 2 wins over B.J. Penn it proves he deserves to be where he is today.  Though most his fights are decision victories, they are convincing wins, always making sure his opponents are a step behind with his movement, footwork and creativity of combination strikes.  This keeps the fans entertained and wanting more.  Stylistically who wouldn’t want to see Frankie Edgar matched up with anyone in his weight division?  Though critics say he doesn’t have the knockout power to finish fights you can’t knock on a fighter for fighting with speed over power, in the end, speed kills.

Thoughts on the fight (round by round analysis because of the close decision):  Frankie Edgar has the faster hands and the faster footwork and he puts it to good use.  He does get rocked hard by a Maynard left hook, landing it by feinted a jab getting Frankie to react.  This gets Frankie in trouble very early in the fight.  This is the worst Frankie has ever been hurt in his MMA career and the following onslaught from Maynard doesn’t help.  I was screaming for the refree Yves Lavigne not to stop the fight so Frankie can prove himself and lucky for Frankie he doesn’t.  Frankie stays alive with takedown attempts, clinching and scrambling.  Looking real bad, with no legs, having trouble with his equilibrium Frankie somehow makes it out of the first round taking a lot of punishment but also lands a good right hand of his own.  This round is minimum a 10-8 one judge gave it 10-7 Maynard which is hard to argue against.  But really what is the official scoring system in MMA?  Its not by knockdowns like boxing so why score it like boxing with a 10 point must score system?  So I guess the judge felt it was so one sided that he should take another point away from Frankie?  Okay, so what would 10-6 be, a knockout?  It really can’t get worst for Edgar in that round unless he gets knocked out or TKO stoppage.  So the scoring is iffy.

In the 2^nd round Edgar goes back to what he does best.  Using his speed he sets up combinations of leg kicks and hands.  I was surprised how much Frankie recovered from the first round.  Throughout the whole round Frankie is the busier fighter, connecting with a few right hands and kicks.  Frankie definitely landing the most significant punch of the round with a nice jab leading the right as Maynard tries to counter with a left hook at 2:40 of the 2^nd round.  Maynard has done nothing, and landing nothing significant in this round.  Frankie secures the round even more with a big takedown with a minute left in the round.  Maynard with his wrestling pedigree gets to his feet quickly.  Repeatedly Frankie lands the right hand over the top of Maynard’s left hand at the end of the round also stuffing Maynard’s takedown.  This is a 10-9 round for Frankie Edgar easily.  It’s hard for anyone to justify this round for Gray Maynard.  Even Randy Couture in the middle of the round tells Maynard, “You gave him that round now.  You understand me?  Now it’s a round a piece.  Alright?”

In round 3 Frankie comes out with the same type of movement and footwork landing a good jab and a leg.  Frankie lands a right hand with a 3 punch combination.  Frankie continuously lands leg kicks and body kicks.  Frankie out works and out strikes Gray for at least the first 3 minutes of the round, though the minute of the and a half is closer, they both land shots.  Nothing significant enough to take the round away from Frankie Edgar, though the most significant punch of the round may have been a short right uppercut from Maynard, Frankie does land a few right hands over the top to balance that also with nice hand left hook combination near the end of the round.  At the end of the round with 40 seconds left Maynard catches Frankie’s kick giving Maynard a takedown.  The first time I was watching the round, I was joking with some friends saying that the judges are probably going to give the round to Gray because he took Edgar down at the last 40 seconds of the fight, sarcastically.  Edgar gets up momentarily as he tries to lock in a Kimura he gets dragged down again.  The last 10 seconds Edgar gets full guard slaps on a guillotine choke to end the round.  The first time watching this fight, I gave this round to Frankie Edgar with no doubt because it seemed like he dominated the stand up with his speed and footwork and Maynard just took him down with 40 seconds left and did nothing with it, not even a strike, while Frankie had two submission attempts also trying to get up.  As I watch the fight over again it was closer than I thought, but still I would give it to Frankie.  Frankie wins the stand up convincingly for the first 3 minutes of the round landing jabs kicks and right hands, Maynard lands… nothing.  Not only does he land nothing, his work rate on his feet is close to zero to none, no significant combination hardly any jabs at all.  He is probably tired from all the punches he threw in the first round to try and finish the fight (punch count says he threw 97 punches in the first round).  The stand up gets a little closer for the next minute and a half or so, with Maynard landing a left hook, body shot, right hook, and right uppercut on Edgar.  But at same time Edgar also lands a body kick, leg kick, right hand left hook of his own.  None of these seem to damage either fighter I would say this part of the round is even maybe a slight edge to Maynard because the right uppercut or right hook seem to be the most significant strike of the round but too close to call.  The takedown for Maynard at the last 40 seconds shouldn’t be worth much, but knowing judges they always count it for a lot because… I don’t know.  Maynard’s takedown goes nowhere; he throws no strikes on the ground or goes for any submission.  The busier fighter on the ground was actually Edgar off his back, threatening with Kimura and slaps on a nice Guillotine Choke in full guard to win the round.  10-9 for Frankie Edgar, if Maynard actually tried to ground and pound or do something maybe it’s arguable it was a 10-10 round but judges rarely give that.  I mean the takedown wasn’t a big slam or anything it, he just sucked Frankie’s legs in near the fence, no damage, and then when Edgar scrambles and tries to stand he drags him back down.  The most you can give Gray was a draw that round and I say MOST, which I don’t think it was.

In round 4 Gray comes out more aggressive ends up getting taken down by Edgar and Edgar slaps on a standing Guillotine attempt and throws a nice combination as Gray defends against the fence momentarily.  Frankie gets another takedown.  They scramble to their feet and again Maynard is a step behind with his stand up, unable to find Frankie as Edgar moves side to side, in and out landing leg kicks and right hands.  Maynard gets a nice combination in after Edgar stuffs his takedown but no damage to either fighter.  The right hand still is the most frequent strike that lands throughout the round also Frankie lands a knee from a failed takedown attempt from Maynard.  Frankie lands with 3 nice left hooks after driving Maynard into the cage as Maynard tries to stand.  The round ends on their feet as Edgar lands a few jabs and Maynard’s strikes are far from hitting Frankie.  Frankie Edgar dominates this round with his footwork, hand speed and takedowns.  Maynard is unable to find home with any of his striking and is nowhere near taking Edgar down this round.  Easy round for Frankie Edgar 10-9.

In the 5^th round the striking game is even in the round both peppering each other with jabs but near a minute and a half into the round he opens up with some nice combinations that land, but Maynard comes back quickly with a right hook left hook that lands flesh on Frankie.  Frankie takes it well but probably his combinations he landed earlier were forgotten by the judges because of those two punches.  But Frankie still sticks to him game plan and keeps throwing nice combinations stuffing Gray’s takedowns countering with a knee that lands softly.    Gray returns the favor after Edgar stuffs his takedown landing a knee of his own.  But Edgar again comes out with nice combinations landing on Maynard and stuffs his takedown landing a knee to the body as well.  At this point its close, but the last minute and a half Frankie stays quick and creative, coming in with combinations Maynard cant see and Edgar scores multiple times.  People say it’s a close round but the question is, that right hook left hook combination from Maynard counted more than multiple combinations landed by Edgar?  The hooks might have been more powerful but it’s not like Edgar was hurt.  Edgar throws more punches lands more and none of the fighters are really hurt at the end of the round.  I don’t see how I can give this round to Maynard.  10-9 for Edgar easily, Edgar stay more busy, lands more, out strikes Maynard for the whole round.

My Card:

Round 1: Maynard (10-8) Dominated the round, hurt Edgar multiple times badly.

Round 2: Edgar (10-9) Lands the cleaner/most significant punches, High work rate vs. Maynard which had close to none, lands more than opponent

Round 3: Edgar (10-9) Controls the stand up for more than half the round, took no damage the brief moment he was on the ground, submission attempts off his back

Round 4: Edgar (10-9) Footwork and hand speed helps Frankie control the stand up once again, takes no damage from Maynard, higher work rate than opponent, lands more

Round 5: Edgar (10-9) Frankie’s combinations land multiple times and isn’t there for Maynard to return fire, outworks Maynard again on the feet, lands more strikes

(48-46) Frankie Edgar

I was complaining about the decision after the fight because I had Edgar winning all four rounds after the devastating first round.  Re-watching the fight I scored the bout the same but I understand why one of the judges scored it (47-47) as a draw, though the rules in scoring are not clear in MMA.  The (47-47) judge gave the last 3 rounds to Edgar and the 5th round to Maynard and of course the 10-8 in the first round.  This made it a draw, I do not blame him.  But the (48-46) judge gave Maynard the third round which was clearly not the case and also the 5th round.  The third round was the most controversial round of the fight.  The last judge it had it right at (48-46) Edgar giving the last 4 rounds the to him.  At the end of the day the fans get to see a great rematch.