UFC 135

[rayallen0]

Well, tonight should be fun.  Did I say fun?  I meant OMG RAMPAGE IS FIGHTING JON JONES FOR THE TITLE!!!  Yeah, this fight is going to be really awesome.  I’m really anxious to see how this fight goes since I really have no clue which way to go.  A welterweight battle between Matt Hughes and Diego Sanchez was scrapped when Diego got hurt, but Josh Koscheck is a good replacement on such short notice.  This could possibly be Hughes’ last chance on such a big stage.

There are some fun heavyweight battles on the slate, with Travis Browne vs. Rob Broughton and Ben Rothwell vs. Mark Hunt.  Takanori Gomi will also be fighting Nate Diaz, who he hopes will be slightly less tough than Nick Diaz.  The preliminary card is also strong with two fun fights on Spike and Takeya Mizugaki fighting Cole Escovedo on Facebook.

UFC 135 airs live on pay-per-view at 9:00 PM EST/8:00 PM CST.  Two preliminary fights will be broadcast on SpikeTV at 8:00 PM EST/7:00 PM CST while the remaining preliminary fights will be aired on Facebook beginning at 6:00 PM EST/5:00 PM CST.  For now, I’m going to eat pizza and watch college football.

[rayallen0]

Light Heavyweight Title: (c) Jon Jones d. Quinton Jackson (Submission – Round 4, 1:14)


I should say first that I was pretty pleased with Rampage’s performance.  His defense was solid as he avoided a lot of Jones’ big strikes and defended the takedowns well.  I thought he fought a smart fight and looked to be in shape and I really think Rampage has a lot to be proud of.

That said, Jon Jones still looked incredible.  Rampage’s defense may have been good, but he couldn’t do anything on offense.  Jones kept Rampage at a distance, landed strikes, controlled the clinch, and eventually submitted Rampage in the fourth round.  I think Rampage showed that there are ways to defend against Jones, but we still haven’t seen any fighters mount significant offense against “Bones.”

Now we’ll see the very contentious title fight between Jones and Rashad Evans, while Rampage has lots of potential opponents.  Shogun Rua in Japan and Lyoto Machida seem like the most likely at this point.
Welterweight: Josh Koscheck d. Matt Hughes (KO – Round 1, 4:59)

This fight looked so promising for Hughes – until Koscheck started to hit him.  Hughes’ tentative striking seemed to be pretty effective, but then Koscheck decided to hit Hughes harder and for more prolonged periods of time.  The result was a knockout that very well could have ended Matt Hughes’ career.

We might see Koscheck go up against Diego Sanchez or the loser of GSP vs. Carlos Condit (meaning Carlos Condit), while it seems likely that we’ll never see Hughes again.  Hughes stayed competitive even until the later portions of his career, but knockout losses to B.J. Penn and Koscheck don’t bode well for the former Welterweight Champion.  A shame, since Hughes has always been a fan favorite.


Heavyweight: Travis Browne d. Rob Broughton (Unanimous Decision)

Rob Broughton did nothing except get his ass kicked last night.  Travis Browne needs a step up in competition since I think he can hang with the middle tier fighters at heavyweight, especially after his previous win over Stefan Struve.  I think a Browne vs. Roy Nelson fight could be nice, though I’m not sure what Big Country’s status is right now.

Lightweight: Nate Diaz d. Takanori Gomi (Submission – Round 1, 4:27)

Wow did Diaz look sharp.  He kept Gomi at a distance with his superior reach and chained together some great submission attempts before finishing Gomi with an armbar.  Diaz definitely belongs at 155 pounds since he won’t have to get thrown around like he did against Rory MacDonald.  Good showing for Nate.


Heavyweight: Mark Hunt d. Ben Rothwell (Unanimous Decision)

MARK HUNT!?  REALLY!?  Oh my God, that was insane.  What were the odds last night that Hunt would submit Rothwell, because that almost happened.  I think the world would have imploded if Hunt beat Rothwell with that second round armbar, so I guess I’m grateful that he didn’t finish the fight.  Then again, I had to watch an extra round of that sloppy mess so who knows.

Middleweight: Tim Boetsch d. Nick Ring (Unanimous Decision)

After a tight first round that Nick Ring seemed to control, Tim Boetsch settled in and looked really good in the second and third rounds.  Boetsch landed some big punches and took Ring down, including an absolutely gorgeous hip toss in the third round.  I really, really love Boetsch at middleweight and this performance was quite impressive.

Lightweight: Tony Ferguson d. Aaron Riley (TKO – Round 1, 5:00)

Ferguson looked pretty sharp and beat Aaron Riley up pretty badly, breaking Riley’s jaw in the process.  The fight was stopped after the first round due to the injury, but I didn’t see Riley coming back even if the fight continued.  Ferguson looked pretty sharp in this one and could make some noise at lightweight.

[Triple OG Rapsodie]

Ferguson hasn't looked bad once since I've seen him. He has a promising career. no one else in that season of TUF stood a chance.

[rayallen0]

this throw was just amazing

[Triple OG Rapsodie]

First round it looked like Nick Ring was going to get the better of him. I like Boetsch, he's fun to watch. But if a fighter manages to stay on the outside, its clear he's going to have trouble.