– I feel pretty bad for Frankie Edgar. Sure, I scored the fight for B.J. Penn…but what I think doesn’t matter compared to what the judges think. Once the belt was around the waist of Edgar I figured we just had our story that would dominate the next week. Instead, what will almost certainly be the greatest moment in his career is getting lost in the shuffle of one of Anderson Silva’s worst.
– I’d really like to know what was up with Penn. He didn’t seem like he had the least bit of urgency in the fight. He was using nice counter punches early but he just never looked “right” in terms of his energy level. Was there jet lag involved? was there something wrong with his knee? Was the heat sapping his energy a little bit? Or did it just come down to Edgar’s strategy of working in quickly and then getting back out? I don’t want to minimize Frankie Edgar’s accomplishment, but this felt more like Penn being off and losing the fight than Edgar doing anything great.
– What can I say about Anderson Silva‘s performance that hasn’t already been said? It left me feeling angry, confused and disappointed. It’s not because I hate Anderson, it’s because he’s so damn good that seeing him decide that he should fight this way in fights where he is so clearly capable of doing more drives me crazy. On paper, Silva is the perfect fighter. But he just doesn’t deliver in fights at 185 pounds anymore. Maybe it’s that he doesn’t feel challenged or maybe this is just who he is and we all have to learn to deal with it. But it’s certainly not enjoyable to watch either way.
– Demian Maia deserves our respect. His skills weren’t up to par with Anderson’s, but his heart was admirable. He seemed more than willing to go out on his shield. Maia wasn’t looking to get to a decision over the past few rounds, he was driving forward and trying to engage. There was something inspirational in watching him, eye swolen shut and blood streaming from his nose, fire punches upward from his knees in a fight that he had so little chance of actually winning. He put himself in a position where he was willing to be put to sleep in an attempt to do what he could to make something of the opportunity he was given. As much as I hate the tendency of MMA fans to fall back on talking about “fighting spirit” and “warriors” Demian deserves to be recognized for having a fighter’s heart.
– Matt Hughes looked awful early in the fight. He was sluggish and didn’t appear to have any interest in doing much but throw arm punches. But then he started to connect with leg kicks over, and over, and over. Renzo Gracie was willing to try and land left hooks but really as soon as he wasn’t going to check the leg kicks it was only a matter of time before his leg would betray him. Seriously, are there two worse guys to watch have an ultimate kickboxing match?
– I was really confused with the hype job Goldie and Rogan were doing for Terry Etim as he came out for his fight. It was like lightweight Fedor was coming to the ring, rather than a guy who seemed to always find himself in trouble against middle of the road UFC talent. Rafael Dos Anjos just used straight up classic jiu-jitsu when he was on top in the second round. Dos Anjos worked to get the correct position before he went for a submission, and when he went for the arm there wasn’t enough time left for potential poor positioning to allow Etim to get any work done.
– Mark Munoz did a great job of surviving until the inevitable Kendall Grove implosion. Kendall has a ton of talent, he’s got great physical gifts, but he has too many defensive holes and once he let Munoz get to the second round it felt like it was just a matter of time before Munoz got a takedown and put a hurt on him. Munoz did great body work and once he started to land on Grove it looked like he just folded. Munoz is not ready to be a challenger yet, but he’s still got plenty of time to continue to develop into one.
– Phil Davis got the finish that I really wanted to see from him. I was disappointed that he wasn’t able to finish Stann in his last fight. No such issue at 112 as he locked on a beautiful anaconda choke and finished the fight like a star. He’s got a ton of upside, I just want to see how he continues to develop over the next couple fights.
[UPDATE] by Nick Thomas – $75,000 fight-night bonuses: (Click here for Post-Fight press conference)
– DaMarques Johnson: “Knockout of the Night”
– Rafael Dos Anjos: “Submission of the Night”
– Mark Munoz and Kendall Grove: “Fight of the Night”