The UFC’s biggest show in history came to us on Saturday, November 15th and boy what a show we saw. Lets get into the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly from Saturday night:
- The Good
- The pacing of the show: This was one thing my friend, who wasn’t much of a UFC fan until Saturday, spoke on and it’s something the UFC has gotten better with each and every show. There was no lag times between fights that just left you wanting to channel surf but everything flowed smoothly from fight to fight. No silly or pointless crowd interviews or anything that took away from the importance of the show.
- Randy Couture: Win or lose, Randy was a class act at UFC 91. He came in and showed no signs of ring rust as he immediately closed the distance and was able to clinch up with the much bigger Brock Lesnar. While he was very much undersized he was still able to land some significant shots and Brock never really could take control of Randy, proving that he’s still one of the top wrestlers in this sport. Hopefully he can assess this loss and come back strong whether it be in the heavyweight or light heavyweight division.
- Brock Lesnar: I can’t lie; I doubted his heart and his ability to take a punch. He shattered that doubt Saturday. Taking a hefty right to the jaw, Brock stayed poised and calm from the opening to the final hammer fists that crushed Randy’s skull. Lesnar is for real and he’s a guy that only gets better each time he gets in the octagon. It’s hard to say how far he will go but from this point on he is the UFC Heavyweight Champion and earned that spot rightfully.
- Brock Lesnar’s Humbleness: I was really cringing when Joe Rogan got in the octagon and was preparing to interview Brock because I thought we would hear a bunch of arrogant jargon and catchphrases. However, I saw a matured and much more humble Brock that really was just happy to havewon and thankful to Randy and the UFC for giving him this chance. It’s okay to be a little confident and cocky, I mean it’s what has kept Tito Ortiz relevant for the last four or five years but it’s always nice to show a little humility, especially against a guy like Randy.
- Demian Maia: Is that guy good? While Nate Quarry isn’t exactly a top Middleweight anymore he’s still a very tough opponent for anyone but Maia made it look easy. If anybody can give Anderson Silva a run for his, I’m a firm believer that Maia is that guy. His transitions on the ground are something to see. Here’s hoping for future great matchups for the undefeated Brazilian.
- Dustin Hazelett: I basically predicted this fight perfectly (what up Kelvin!) but it was still amazing to see how fluid this guy is on the ground. Much like Maia, his transitions were good and he just had something to wrap Tamdan McCrory in wherever he moved to. With a little more work on his stand up this guy could be a huge threat in an already stacked welterweight division.
- Kenny Florian: I’ll be honest; I couldn’t stand this guy for a while. He seemed nerdy and he was always hollering about how he finishes people. However, I am a big time KenFlo fan now and the way he dismantled Joe Stevenson, who is no joke, just solidifies this guys spot as one of the top lightweights.
- Jorge Gurgel vs. Aaron Riley: Now that’s a scrap! Those two just went at it from start to finish. As much as people hate on Gurgel, he took some serious shots and kept swinging himself. Unfortunately, Gurgel knew better than that but he still hung in there and provided a very exciting fight on a highly exciting night of fights.
- Seeing All Nine Fights: Has that ever happened before? I know I’ve ordered or watched my fair share of UFC PPVs but never have I seen one where all the fights are shown in their entirety. Of course, it also helped that none of the main card fights (minus the main event) went out of the first round. So they had plenty of time to do what they had to do. I’m for once glad I purchased the PPV because I couldn’t have sat in a bar that long to watch the rest of the fights.
- The Bad
- Nothing: After UFC 89 and 90 it’s hard to find a single point that was bad. I mean maybe Josh Hendricks physique but I’m saving that for…
- The Ugly
- Josh Hendricks Physique: Being one of Randy Couture’s homeboys pays off sometimes but it sure didn’t pay off in the gym for Josh. My friend noted he looked like some guy that got off the street and told them to go in the cage and fight. That pretty much sums up his look and his performance against the way more skilled Gabriel Gonzaga. Hopefully he can change that in the future.
- Jeremy Stephen’s Uppercut: No, it wasn’t ugly because it was a thing of beauty but watching it made my face cringe. That had to be one of the hardest punches I’ve seen thrown in a while. Maybe it didn’t have the overall effect of an Anderson Silva strike but it sure had the ferocity and he threw everything behind it. Great win for Stephen’s by the way.
- Dustin Hazelett’s Armbar: Again like Stephen’s uppercut, it wasn’t the actual armbar that was ugly it was the way he bent Tamdan’s arm. I could’ve sworn it was broken by the way he pulled it.
- Joe Stevenson’s Loss: Man, I don’t think anyone expected the Stevenson/Florian fight to end in the first round, myself included. However, Stevenson came out guns blazing but seemed to take a shot from KenFlothat made him shoot for the legs. After that Kenny controlled the rest of the fight with some beautiful transitions that really made Joe seem kind of like a novice on the ground. He’s young though, so this’ll be a minor setback for bigger things to come.
All in all a great night of fights and highly recommended if you didn’t see it.