UFC 104: 10 Things I Learned Last Night

1. Shogun Was Robbed

Before the scores were read, I turned to my wife and said, "49-46 Shogun," feeling that was an accurate result of the fight I just watched. When Bruce Buffer announced all three judges scoring the bout 48-47, I was even okay with that.

Then he said Lyoto Machida was the winner and I was thoroughly confused.

For years we've been told that being the aggressor, landing the harder strikes and generally inflicting more damage is what leads to victory inside the Octagon. Apparently we never saw the asteriks and the fine print that says, "except if you're fighting the champion we just spent six months building up."

2. Newsflash: We Have Judging Issues

This certainly isn't brand new information, but when the Main Event of a UFC card draws as much attention for what many, including company President Dana White, saw as the wrong decision, something seriously needs to be done.

Last night's decision trumps the Chase Beebe / Mike Easton in that it took place on the biggest stage of them all. Two judges saw it the exact same way, with Cecil Peoples and Marcos Rosales giving Machida the first three rounds.

Somehow, judge Nelson Hamilton saw the fourth round for the champ, despite the fact that it was clearly the challenger's best round.

Honestly, I could go on for hours with this one and will be talking about it at length tomorrow, so I'll leave it at this: we gotta get this nonsense figured out and stop having these brutal decisions.

3. Welcome to the Big Leagues, Cain Velasquez

I'll be honest: I didn't think Cain Velasquez was ready yet. I also don't mind telling you I was dead wrong.

The AKA and Arizona State product dominated every minute of his fight with Ben Rothwell, setting the frantic pace he always does and overwhelming the overmatched former IFL titlest. Now, the question is what's next?

Originally slated to face Shane Carwin, Velasquez seems like the logical challenger for whoever emerges from UFC 106 with the shiny, gold belt around their waist. While the UFC might choose to go with the older, more experienced "Minotauro" Nogueira, Cain will certainly get his chance in the near future.

Don't be surprised if he makes the most of it.

4. Anthony Johnson, Middleweight

Injury or not, you don't head into camp looking to drop 50 pounds. While cutting weight in general isn't all that good for you, dropping those kind of lbs is big-time dicey.

All fighters want to gain whatever advantage they can and being the bigger fighter is certainly one of them. But Johnson was six pounds over, walks around above 200 pounds and has the frame, talent and overall athleticism to seemlessly move to 185 and maintain the hype he currently holds.

That being said, "Rumble" didn't sound like he was in any hurry to jump up in class after perfectly recreating the fight scene from Josh Koscheck vs. "Zenko" Yoshida from UFC Fight for the Troops.

5. How Does Josh Neer Still Have No Takedown Defense?

Last time he set foot in the Octagon, Kurt Pellegrino used superior wrestling abilities and myriad takedowns to score a Unanimous Decision victory over the Miletich Fighting Systems product known as "The Dentist."

So when he agreed to replace Sean Sherk against Gleison Tibau, I expected he would be prepared for the myriad takedown attempts that would be coming courtesy of the American Top Team lightweight gorilla.

In a word: Nope. Time after time like Cyndi Lauper, Tibau took Neer to the mat, scoring points en route to a clean sweep on the judges' scorecards.

Apparently, Josh Neer needs to stop agreeing to fight guys who like to work on the ground because he's apparently not planning on improving his takedown defense any time soon.

6. Welcome Back, Joe Daddy

Two fights into his time at Greg Jackson's in Alburquerque and Joe Stevenson looks to be back in the form that made him The Ultimate Fighter and a perennial top contender in the lightweight division.

He outworked and outclassed Spencer Fisher, taking the fight to the floor in the second round and pinning "The King" in an Ivan Salaverry-esque crucifix before forcing Herb Dean to stop the fight.

With back-to-back solid performances, Stevenson is back into the mix at 155. While he's not quite at championship contender level, he's certainly back in the conversation and one more good win could put him back into the title picture.

7. Really? Chael Sonnen?

Yushin Okami had all of one loss in the UFC heading into last night's action, that coming at the hands of former Middleweight champion Rich Franklin. Far more people were stumping for "Thunder" to receive the title shot he had to forgo due to injury than were picking Chael Sonnen.

Then the longtime Team Quest member came out and dominated his Japanese counterpart from the opening bell, securing his second consecutive upset and putting himself into the upper tier of talent in the UFC middleweight division.

Not that Sonnen is a slouch; after all, this is a former Olympic wrestler and the rightful last WEC middleweight champion, but he looked so bad against Demian Maia that back-to-back wins over Dan Miller and Yushin Okami weren't what you would call expected.

While Sonnen goes up the ladder, where Okami goes from here is anyone's guess. Chances are far fewer people will be calling for Main Card fights and title shots any time soon.

8. Stefan Struve Keeps Improving

Maybe Struve looked so bad against Junior dos Santos because "Cigano" is one of the top talents in the UFC heavyweight division, because for the second consecutive fight, the incredibly lanky youngster from The Netherlands looked really good.

Now, Dennis Stojnic and Chase Gormley are far from upper echelon fighters, but Struve has battled through a bad cut against Stojnic and secured back-to-back submission wins.

At just 21-years-old, "Skyscraper" has certainly shown promise heading into 2010.

9. Tough Night of Picking Fights

The aforementioned Cain Velasquez looked great and more than spoiled my Ben Rothwell upset pick, while the rest of the night was a 50/50 split, leaving me 5-6 for the evening.

Honestly, I feel a little dirty even saying I went 5-6 because really, if judges Hamilton, Peoples and Rosales would have scored the fight the rest of us watched, I would have gone 4-7 and that is not so hot at all.

10. There Is No Way Machida Won That Fight

Not to beat a dead horse, but honestly, there is no way for anyone to convince me that Lyoto Machida won that fight.

Yes, the champ landed some solid counterstrikes and did his karate thing as best as he could, but Shogun landed kick after leg-bruising kick, nulifying Machida's trademark elusiveness and connecting on the champion more than his previous UFC opponents combined.

Seriously, everyone had the fight in favor of Rua; Dana White, Fight Metric, you, me, everyone in the crowd and countless others. Everyone but the three blind mice sitting ringside.










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The UFC 100: Stuck in the 80s

We're certainly not talking about bad synth-pop, hair metal and sitcom classics like Who's the Boss and The Facts of Life.

Instead, we're moving on in the Keyboard Kimura UFC 100, our countdown of the Greatest Fighters in UFC History and we kick off this round with another Ultimate Fighter winner.

90. Kendall Grove
UFC Record: 5-2
Victories Over: Alan Belcher, Evan Tanner, Jason Day

I can already hear the Nate Diaz fans calling me every name in the book for having the pride of Stockton below the winner of The Ultimate Fighter, Season 3. Grove was actually pretty close to being bounced from the UFC after consecutive losses, but strong wins over the late Evan Tanner and Jason "Dooms" Day showed he deserved to stay in the UFC and earned him a place at #90.

89. Thales Leites
UFC Record: 5-2
Victories Over: Pete Sell, Nate Marquardt, Drew McFedries

Proving that fighting in a title fight recently doesn't automatically vault you up the rankings, Leites' only win over a top tier opponent is against Marquardt, which truthfully was more of a loss for Nate the Great than a win for Leites.

88. Brandon Vera
UFC Record: 6-3
Victories Over: Justin Eilers, Assuerio Silva, Frank Mir

We all know Vera is where he is today because of that win over Mir, a brutal beating that lasted less than 90 seconds and propelled "The Truth" into getting his ass handed to him by Tim Sylvia and Fabricio Werdum. Other than the wins mentioned above, he's beaten no one of consequence. If it wasn't for the UFC's desire to expand into the Filipino market, Vera would be gone.

87. Luis Cane
UFC Record: 3-1
Victories Over: Jason Lambert, Sokoudjou, Steve Cantwell

Now here is a guy who could rocket up this list in the next couple years. His three wins inside the Octagon are all solid wins - Lambert is tough as nails and holds a win over Babalu, Sokoudjou strong as the come (for the first round) and Cantwell looked great in his debut. He's currently the odd man out in the LHW picture, but that won't last for long.

86. Cheick Kongo
UFC Record: 7-3
Victories Over: Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic, Mostapha Al-Turk, Antoni Hardonk

You would think seven wins in the UFC including one over Cro Cop would get you higher up this list? You would think that... Truth is, the Cro Cop who came to the UFC wasn't the same lethal Cro Cop we all loved in Pride, and really not a single guy that Kongo has defeated made their way onto this list. Not even Cro Cop.

85. Cain Velasquez
UFC Record: 5-0
Victories Over: Jake O'Brien, Denis Stojnic, Cheick Kongo

Another member of the 80s ensemble who could certainly climb the ladder in a hurry, Velasquez needs a couple more notable wins to have me completely sold on his future. I think he's got the goods, but I also think he's a year or two away from being dominant. Don't even get me started on the UFC's decision to put him in the cage with Shane Carwin at UFC 104.... brutal!

84. Roger Huerta
UFC Record: 6-1
Victories Over: Jason Dent, Leonard Garcia, Clay Guida

I don't care about Sports Illustrated covers (unless they're mine) and I don't care about a balls-to-the-wall style that makes for exciting fights. Huerta has beaten a guy who was just on TUF 9 (Dent), a featherweight (Garcia) and Clay Guida amongst his six UFC wins. Guida is solid, but he came awful close to losing that fight don't forget. We'll see what happens when he gets in the cage with "The Bully" Gray Maynard at Fight Night 19 in September.

83. Nick Diaz
UFC Record: 6-4
Victories Over: Robbie Lawler, Drew Fickett, Gleison Tibau

Listen, Diaz is a much better fighter now than he was in the UFC and so hold onto your complaints. He was just a kid and just figuring it all out, as was Lawler when they met at UFC 47. And it's not like he lost to stiffs either - Karo Parisyan, Diego Sanchez, Joe Riggs and Sean Sherk make up his four losses. Bring him back to the UFC and watch him climb this list.

82. Hermes Franca
UFC Record: 6-4
Victories Over: Caol Uno, Jamie Varner, Spencer Fisher

Before you start booing me, his losses are to Frankie Edgar, Sean Sherk, Yves Edwards and Josh "The Punk" Thomson. The win over Uno came just after he fought BJ Penn to a draw for the Lightweight title, Jamie Varner hasn't lost since and Spencer Fisher will be making an appearance a little later. He may have crazy hair, but Franca is legit.

81. Fabricio Werdum
UFC Record: 2-2
Victories Over: Gabriel Gonzaga, Brandon Vera

The record may be 50/50 but the competition was always stiff, as Werdum's two losses are to Andrei Arlovski and Junior dos Santos. Despite recent events, Arlovski was still dangerous at UFC 70 and dos Santos landed a killer punch that put him on the fast track to stardom. And that's just his losses. Personally, I wish the UFC had kept Werdum around as he would make an excellent "prove yourself" opponent for some of the young up and comers.

Tomorrow we tackles the 70's and if you're getting to us late, you can find the rest of the list below:

The UFC 100: 100 - 91

Now tell me - this list is like crack for all you MMA addicts out there, isn't it?
It's okay... I'm hooked too.




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Carwin vs. Velasquez : A Bad Idea

As we tend to do in the fight game, speculation and rumors are running wild about who will be headlining the yet to be announced Fall fights in the UFC. While we know UFC 103 is going to take place in Dallas, we don't know who will have their names up in lights.

One co-main event fight sounds like it's going to be Mike Swick versus Matt Hughes, which I'll talk about some other time when the violent rage the thought of this fight builds in me subsides.

Another bout that is getting a lot of talk around the Internet is a heavyweight eliminator bout between Shane Carwin and Cain Velasquez. For the love of all things holy, Joe Silva - please don't make this fight!


Not that it wouldn't be awesome. Of course it would; both are impressive specimens with unblemished records and would provide a quality heavyweight tilt.

That being said, why would you even consider throwing one of your prized heavyweight prospects under the bus?

Each of these guys have been on the receiving end of the UFC hype machine (with good reason) and stand somewhere in line behind the winner of the Couture - Nogueira fight as the next challenger for the heavyweight title. In my books, Carwin is ahead of Velasquez and by a decent margin at that.

Sticking these two inside the octagon together would automatically bump the loser down the charts and ruin the momentum the UFC has spent the last year and change building with each of them.

Cain already hit a minor speed bump in his uneventful decision win over Cheick Kongo last month in Germany and having his face smashed in by the frying pans Carwin launches would send him back to the preliminary card against newcomers like it has Gabe Gonzaga.

If the opposite were to happen and Velasquez came away with the win - most likely through some serious wrestling / ground and pound combo - Carwin takes the same fall and guys like me would start talking about how he's one dimensional and needs to build on his powerful striking.

Either way, a guy that the UFC has put serious effort into promoting falls a few rungs lower on the ladder and for what? To build up another guy that everyone already expects to see fighting for the heavyweight title within the next year?

The real problem is that there are few true challengers in the UFC heavyweight division. Six guys have cleaned out the division really, leaving matches between themselves as the only meaningful options to fans.

Some combination of Lesnar, Mir, Couture, Nogueria, Carwin and Velasquez have beaten everyone else the UFC could possible throw into the mix, which is why we're set to see the debut of a bunch of new heavyweights like Todd Duffee and Chris Tuchscherer.

Outside of bringing in guys like Jeff Monson, Ben Rothwell or *shudder* Andrei Arlovski and Tim Sylvia, Carwin and Velasquez almost have to fight or else face an extended period of inactivity.

Unfortunately, it means one great prospect moves forward while the other takes a big step backwards.

Funny, I always thought the idea was to have as many ready and worthy challengers as possible, not leave yourself with only one option.


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Fight Week Previews: Velasquez vs. Kongo

It's time to find out how good Cain Velesquez truly is, as he takes a massive step up in competition with Cheick Kongo.

Originally slated to take on heavyweight Gatekeeper Heath Herring, the former Arizona State Sun Devil will now face a man many believe will be in line for a title shot should he earn the win on Saturday.

I'm two days away from making my Punch Drunk Predictions and I still have no idea who I'm taking in this one. Time to break it down.


Cain Velasquez (5-0) versus Cheick Kongo (24-4-1)
Clearly, Kongo has the edge in terms of experience and strength of competition. He has five times as many fights as the AKA product and has spent time inside the cage with the likes of Cro Cop, Christian Wellisch, Antoni Hardonk and the man he is replacing, Heath Herring.

Velasquez, on the other hand, received his toughest test in his last fight, courtesy of Denis Stojnic. Incidentally, Stojnic is also on the UFC 99 card, fighting Stefan Struve in a "Loser leaves UFC" match. I'm just sayin' is all...

I'm calling the training match up a wash, as both AKA and Wolfslair are outstanding facilities that offer strong camps, quality training partners and send prepared fighters into battle every time. Which brings us to the style question.

While Velasquez has certainly improved his stand up since coming to the UFC, he'll need to go back to his bread and butter - wrestling - bringing the much larger Frenchman to the canvas for some old fashion ground and pound.

That's a lot easier said than done, of course, because Kongo will undoubtedly be looking to keep this standing where he can use his full arsenal of striking skills to bloody Velasquez, who many are calling the future of the heavyweight division.

This is a fight that asks a classic question: do you take the established veteran or the mostly untested, but potentially dominating young star?

I need a couple more days to sort it out.


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