Initial Thoughts On UFC 94

Well it's another PPV in the books.  I was eagerly anticipating this event, and I must say the first couple of fights kind of had me like ehhh.  However, the Jon Jones/Stephan Bonnar fight got things rocking, and it was on after that.  I thought that fight showed us a great up and coming prospect in Jon Jones.  The guy shows tremendous potential at the young age of 21.  Make sure you keep an eye on him.    The next fight answered even more questions in exposing Thiago Silva.  I've been saying it for a while now, and Machida pretty much confirmed it.  He hadn't beaten anyone of note, and Machida pretty much dominated him for the entire round.  Then the main event was more one sided that I thought it would be.  I thought GSP would be able to dictate where the fight took place, but he just destroyed BJ Penn.  On to my thoughts on the fights after the jump.

Nate Diaz vs. Clay Guida-Can you say hugfest?  I know why the judges gave the decision to Guida, but come on man.  He did absolutely NOTHING with the positions he had.  At least Diaz was pushing the pace and landed WAAAAY more strikes.  I can't stomach too much more Clay Guida.  The guy is the epitome of a human blanket.  He's waaaaay worse than Josh Koscheck used to be.  However, some of the blame has to be placed on Nate Diaz as well.  Why he shot in for a takedown on Guida when he has a damn 8 inch reach advantage is beyond me.  He also had way better stand up.  I don't know he kept going for that kimura either.  At least he was trying to be on the offense though I suppose.  I know it's techinally a loss on his record, but I wouldn't really consider that a loss if I was Nate Diaz.   

Karo Parisyan vs. Dong Hyun Kim-Personally, I thought Kim won a very close decision.  He controlled Parisyan the majority of the fight, and had Karo in some tough positions.  Karo didn't look the best in this fight, but he was fighting a tough opponent and some cage rust.  I don't know what's next for Karo, but he needs to get his stuff together if he plans on being a contender again.  I wonder what was up with the no post fight interview?  Somebody fill me in on that one.

Stephan Bonnar vs. Jon Jones-This was a good fight.  I was very impressed with Jon Jones.  I knew and wrote that he had the wrestling advantage, but he owned Bonnar with those throws.  He also landed an array of unorthodox strikes(although I thought that elbow kinda hit the back of Bonnar's head a little bit).  At only 21 yrs of age, the guy has the potential to be really really good. 

Thiago Silva vs. Lyoto Machida-I told you guys that Machida was that dude.  I also told you that Thiago Silva was overrated.  Machida continues to make opponents look foolish.  I thought Thiago Silva would gas, but I didn't expect him to gas so early.  I thought Machida would finish him in the third.  I loved the post fight interview.  I love the fan response to him earning a title shot even more.  That was beautiful, but one must remind themselves that they had just witness him finish a fight.  I for one still think he needs one more win, simply because Silva was overrated IMO.  Also, he hasn't beaten ONE top 5 guy in the UFC LHW division.  As far as Machida, I think he needs to fight Forrest Griffin next.  Great fight though.

GSP vs. BJ Penn-The atmosphere prior to this fight was insane.  GSP passing BJ's guard twice in the second round was crazy.  I thought the crowd was great at this point.  They were chanting BJ BJ...then switched to GSP later.  I called the fight to a tee pretty much.  I did think it would be a bit more competitive.  However, the size and strength of GSP was just too much.  GSP destroyed BJ Penn.  Now maybe we can see the fights we are supposed to see.  GSP/Alves and BJ Penn/Florian

Overall, I was pleased with the event even though it started out kind of slow.  I thought the crowd was pretty good, especially during last couple of fights.  I was disappointed that they only showed 5 fights.  However, with so many fights going to the judges I can kind of understand why.  I thought the UFC was smart in bringing Thiago Alves to the cage during GSP's post-fight interview.  With so many people supposedly buying this PPV, it has already set the promotional wheels in motion for that fight.  I'm really looking forward to that BJ Penn/Kenny Florian match up now.  I said that Florian/Penn would be more competitive than most people thought.  I guess we'll get to see if I'm right there.

I'd like to thank everyone that joined us in the open discussion, and I look forward to doing it again next weekend for UFN 17.  What are your thoughts on the event?