UFC 105 Thoughts

This turned out to be a better than expected card, ranking in slightly above average. This is largely due to the undercard and some career performances by the U.K.'s finest. It's great for the Manchester fans that they got to go home happy as their beloved blokes won most of their fights. It also helped the atmosphere feel more special than it may have been. Let's break it down, shall we?

Meet the New Ross, Better Than the Old Ross. Given that we were in England, I just had to break out that Who reference. Seriously, Ross Pearson looked dynamite against Aaron Riley. He exceeded my expectations and I think most everyone else's. He looked vastly improved when compared to his fight with Andre Winner. Hard to argue the stoppage, but even if Riley were able to continue, it would have taken a Herculean effort to turn the tables on Pearson. Great performance.

How did he not win his season? Matt Brown looked great against a very tough James Wilks. It was a lot more competitive than I expected as Wilks came ready to fight. I'm sure he wanted to go in there and upset Brown in front of his countryman, and he looked solid the first round in his efforts to grapple with Brown. However, Brown has a very aggressive streak that seems to take over in the last two rounds and it came down to strength and striking. How Brown didn't get farther in his TUF season is really beyond me. But he's sure making waves now. Good effort by both fighters, though.

Living up to his Name. Andre Winner looked excellent against Roli Delgado, and that was a very impressive knockout. I didn't expect much out of Rolando, as he was the red-headed stepchild of his TUF house by far. But like his TUF teammate, Winner looked to have greatly improved his game. The U.K. is 2-1 so far.

The Count Continues. A lot of people thought Michael Bisping would fall to Denis Kang's striking game. Admittedly, Kang is impressive. His highlight reel showed off some of his career-defining moments, and he clearly owned the first round. But Bisping's second round comeback was magnificent, and like Joe Rogan said, it was truly a career performance for the Count. He passed Kang's guard so easily, he may as well have been rolling his son over his shoulders while simulating a fight. It's clear the loss to Dan Henderson affected him drastically, and I think it motivated him. A first career loss can do that, and I think we have yet to see what Bisping can really accomplish.

Now that's a Debut. Alexander Gustafsson rocked Jared Hamman with that Rashad-inspired overhand right. Good debut, and a quick showcase on the main card will do him well. It's arguable how much the accidental eye poke had to do with the win. Time will tell if he really is legit.

Between a Rock and a Hard(y) Place. As I expected, this turned out to be a very good fight between these two. Many reviewers online scored the first round as a 10-10 draw, and it's kind of hard to argue that. Mike Swick, to his credit, really gutted it out and offered some great defense to Hardy's onslaught. Gotta applaud the efforts of both guys, but the duke rightfully goes to Hardy who put on a great performance. Despite not being able to finish Swick, he clearly dominated the fight as a whole and now finds himself the number one contender to GSP's crown.

A Natural Disaster? Maybe "disaster" is a strong word. But to be honest, next to the Anderson Silva/Thales Leites aberration, I think this was the most boring main event to date in 2009. Randy Couture's strategy could best be described as that cat dangling from the clothesline you see in that novelty poster: "Hang in there, baby." Some reviewers gave Vera the first round for his aggression. Hard to say. Clearly, Couture aimed to control rather than dominate, which I fear may be his career strategy in the light heavyweight division from here on in. Vera was clearly disappointed in the decision after definitively winning the second round and arguably the first. It's a tough call, but as someone noted, if you were to score the fight as a whole rather than round-by-round, he rightfully should have won. From here, it's limbo-land for both fighters... more on that in a bit.

So breaking down the main card, let's see how I did:

Main Card: 3-2 (0.600)
Career Total: 26-15 (0.634)

PTN, Minutiae...

Rule, Britannia! The U.K. had a stellar showing at this event. Discounting the Paul Taylor vs. John Hathaway fight, which featured a battle of countrymen, the Brits went 5-2 overall. This had to register well with the Manchester crowd, and probably gives Zuffa all the more reason to plan future cards there.

Stop stealing Dustin Hazelett's Gimmick. Aside from being a lackluster fighter, Roli Delgado lost more street cred when he came in sporting a massive Grizzly Adams beard. I didn't even recognize him. Scruff is out unless your name is Hazelett or Arlovski, man. Time to Nair that shit.

A Kinder, Gentler Count. The loss to Dan Henderson seemed to do more than just motivate Michael Bisping, it may have also humbled him. Hearing his post-fight thanks to his fans and noting that he's still working on improving was a very different statement than he would have uttered six months ago. Also, I have to admit it was really sweet seeing him play around with his son after the fight. When Li'l Bis applied the armbar on his dad, I turned to my cousin and said, "That'll be me and my kid some day."

A Marketable Match Made in Heaven. Seeing Dan Hardy and GSP in the cage together made me realize what an easy fight this is to sell to the fans. Here comes Hardy, the brash, cocky Brit with his shark-teeth mouthpiece, his tats and punk rock mohawk against the humble, determined Georges St-Pierre. You couldn't put together a better good guy vs. bad guy face-off if your name were Vince McMahon. Seriously, this showdown resembles Ryu vs. Birdie in the Street Fighter video game series. I personally doubt Hardy will last as long as Jon Fitch or Thiago Alves did against GSP, but that won't deter the fans from paying to watch him get his trap shut.

Senility already, Randy? I really, really question Randy Couture's state of mind if he thinks for a second his win over Brandon Vera qualifies him for a fight against Lyoto Machida. I don't think it even puts him in line to square off with top five light heavyweights. I think a fair fight would see him get the loser of this weekends Ortiz/Griffin rematch, but no way does it justify him taking on Machida, Rua, Evans or anyone between 185 and 205 with the last name "Silva." Case closed.

Yikes, we're already on tap for two more big cards? I gotta get to predicting! More to come!