UFC 114: Rampage Vs. Evans Thoughts And Commentary

So I just got home from the bar and it was a pretty good crowd in there tonight.  It was weird in that the bar was seemingly split down the middle with half rooting to Rashad and the other half for Rampage during the main event.  Overall it was a solid event for it not to have a title on the line and for some fights on paper that didn't look to impressive.  I mean we got to see huge KO's, good transitions, and a wild come out of nowhere KO win.  Let's start with the main event.

-Rampage vs. Evans: Rashad fought how he had to fight to win.  Hats off to him because even though he was coming off the long layoff, I thought Rampage would be able to touch him enough to put him away.  Crazy thing is he was probably two or so punches away from doing just that in the third round.  I could tell Rampage was having problems with distance and timing in the first round...his base/stance seemed wider than usual also...maybe he was expecting Rashad to shoot?  The tale tell fight will be how Jackson performs in his next match up.  He says he wants to get back in there as soon as possible, so we'll see how that goes.  Of course, Rashad will face Shogun Rua for the title next.  Rashad poses some interesting problems for Shogun...most notably the takedown.  It'll be interesting to see if Shogun can sweep him if taken down, or if he can get back to his feet.  I'd like to see Rampage fight Nogueria next.

Michael Bisping vs. Dan Miller:  That fight went just how I thought it would.  Bisping landing at will standing.  It'll be interesting to see if the UFC keeps Miller given that he has lost 3 in a row.  It'll also be interesting to see who Bisping faces next.  There aren't any real contenders available for him to fight right now so the UFC might hand him a gimmie win.

Mike Russow vs. Todd Duffee:  I said this in the comments section.  If Duffee learns how to punch properly, he's going to put guys away.  I was impressed with him even though he lost.  He should good cardio for a guy his size and he did put some combo's together even though it was the same one most of the time. Russow was getting dominated but all it takes is one.  That's the beauty of MMA I suppose.  It'll be good to see how Duffee reacts from this loss.

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Jason Brilz:  Almost everybody thought this was a highway robbery decision.  I thought the fight could have gone either way...it all depended on how you scored the first round.  The second and third were obvious who won.  I thought Nogueria landed the cleaner shots in the first round...holding more weight then the takedowns that Brilz got and did nothing with.  I mentioned in the open thread that I felt some people thought just because Brilz overcheived, he should have been given the decision which isn't the way it goes.  Brilz has madd respect from me though, he definitely brought it and I look forward to seeing him fight again.  Again, I'd like to see Nogueira fight Rampage next.

John Hathaway vs. Diego Sanchez:  First of all my boy D'juan Owens called this fight...so props to him and props to him for winning his fight tonight(via UD).  Anyways, Diego looked as if he was gassing about halfway through the second round.  I dunno if that big knee in the first zapped his energy or what, but he didn't fight at the pace that he used to as a welterweight.  I wonder if the change of weight divisions affected him?  Anyway, Hathaway is impressive and he showed some well rounded skills tonight.  If he a contender now?

-Dong Hyun Kim dominated Amir Sadollah further solidifying my claim that Sadollah will never be a contender.

-Luiz Cane has zero defense standing....you thought he would have learned that from his last fight.  Diabate's stand up look crisp as hell...good win for him....Cane leaves my top ten with the quickness now.  Probably slide Bader in there.

-Melvin Guillard continues to look like a superstar against no name guys.  When he finally makes the plunge into deeper waters, I wonder if Team Jackson can be the difference to get him over the hump?

-Efrain Escudero looked ok tonight, I thought he should have been able to put Lauzon away.  If he hadn't danced so much, he very well might have done so.

-You know there will be a Rampage vs. Evans 2 at some point.

Give me your thoughts on the event....

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