UFC 118: Recap and Analysis

Joe Lauzon def. Gabe Reudiger (Arm bar, Round 1)

Round 1
Lauzon demolished Reudiger! He landed punishing blows, threw Reudiger around like a rag doll, and once he sunk the arm bar in, forced Reudiger to tap within two seconds. Incredible performance that earns Lauzon some credibility and puts Reudiger back on the UFC chopping block.

Nate Diaz def. Marcus Davis (Guillotine choke, Round 3)

Round 1
I scored the opening round of this fight 10-9 in favor of Diaz. I was very surprised that Diaz not only kept the fight standing, but managed to pepper Davis relentlessly with jabs and hooks. He put a ridiculous amount of damage on Davis' face using nice combination packages that included punches, knees, and high and low kicks. Diaz also played the role of villain by opening the fight with multiple instances of taunting/showboating that resulted in the crowd chanting "Diaz sucks! Diaz sucks!"

Round 2
Very close second round that I gave to Davis 10-9, but I think it could have gone either way. The fight remained primarily a boxing match, although the fighters went to the ground near the end of the round. Diaz' striking amuses me because his lanky body makes it appear as though his punches don't travel very fast, but Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg insist that his boxing is "smooth." I guess we'd better ask Davis.

Round 3
Diaz' reach really created a big advantage for him especially because Davis was content with keeping it a boxing match. Diaz' boxing really impressed me. Diaz managed a takedown with about 1:30 left in the round. And, as suspected, put together a guillotine choke and Davis, being the warrior the he is, refused to tap. Nighty night, fight over. The fight outcome did not surprise me (in my UFC 118 predictions/preview post, I predicted a Diaz victory). But I really thought the fight would be dominated on the ground, not on foot. Outstanding performance by Diaz.

Gray Maynard def. Kenny Florian (Unanimous decision)

Round 1
This round started off pretty slow and didn't pick up until about two minutes remained. I scored it 10-9 in favor of Florian despite the fact that Maynard managed to take down Florian near the end of the round. Florian pushed the fight more, connected with a punch and a kick or two, and negated Maynard's takedown by preventing Maynard from doing any damage on the ground.

Round 2
Maynard won this round 10-9. After he took Florian down about halfway through the round, Maynard unleashed all sorts of damage on his lightweight counterpart. Using effective ground and pound, Maynard was able to open up numerous cuts on Florian. It could have been worse, but it was definitely something Florian probably wanted to avoid coming into the fight.

Round 3
I guess I would give this round to Maynard, even though neither fighter really impressed me. The fight on the whole was pretty uneventful and that always happens whenever you have someone whose only strength is wrestling (Maynard). I, like the judges, had Maynard as the winner.

Demian Maia def. Mario Miranda (Unanimous decision)

Round 1
I don't remember ever seeing Mario Miranda fight, but the guy looks athletic and he's fighting out of Kirkland, Washington, so I have to cheer for him. I gave the first round 10-9 to Maia because Maia took Miranda down twice and was able to dominate a little on the ground in terms of positioning and even a minor submission attempt. Miranda's striking and explosive was effectively neutralized.

Round 2
Maia dominated Miranda on the ground in this round. He was able to take Miranda down early and get into the mount and do some ground and pound. Maia was close to sinking an arm bar near the end of the round, but Miranda managed to roll out of it.

Round 3
Maia took Miranda down early and grabbed his back. The fighters spent about three minutes on the ground until Miranda wiggled his way back up . They stood around for a bit, tired. And then Maia took Miranda down once more. A pretty boring, one-sided fight.

Randy Couture def. James Toney (Arm triangle choke, Round 1)

Besides the obvious story lines for this fight, I am excited to see a professional boxer switch from the traditional 10-12 ounce boxing gloves to MMA's four-ounce gloves. It will be interesting to see how much faster his hands are, the power behind them, and how Toney adjusts to receiving a blow at the expense of the lighter gloves. As I said in my predictions/preview post, I think Couture will shed Toney quickly on the ground. But I hope I can see them exchange some punches before that.

Round 1
Couture took down Toney within the first fifteen seconds of the fight, got to full mount, and began delivering blows. Just as I, and probably everyone else in the MMA world, expected. The crowd's chant of "UFC! UFC!" made me crack a smile. And with 1:42 left in the round, Couture sank in an arm triangle choke and Toney quickly tapped. Simply put, Toney got worked.

Not only did Couture dominate/annihilate Toney, but Toney did not even throw a single punch! To Toney's credit, he did show a little bit of toughness while eating the punches on his back.

Frankie Edgar def. B.J. Penn (Unanimous decision, defends Lightweight Championship)

B.J. Penn is not only in the top two of my list of favorite fighters, but he has the sickest entrance song! And did you notice how when B.J. walked into the Octagon he instinctively walked into the champions corner? Awesome. And during the fighter introductions, Penn looked as calm as I have ever seen him. He is usually very finicky and slaps himself a couple times in his own face. Tonight he stood still in his non-traditional black trunks. He looked pissed, determined, and ready to fight.

Round 1
Edgar opened the round with an impressive takedown. B.J. was able to get back his feet after about a minute of grappling on the ground. Edgar took Penn down again with about 1:40 left in the round. Anytime B.J. gets thrown to the ground it is honestly a huge shock. His takedown defense is among the best in MMA and, prior to his encounters with Edgar, we rarely saw Penn get taken to the ground. Because of the takedowns and because the striking was relatively even throughout the round, Edgar gets the edge to begin the fight.

Round 2
I gave this round to Edgar. Both fighters landed a couple of decent shots, but Edgar was able to add a takedown. I started to develop the same concern that I felt midway through the first fight. Specifically, when will B.J. turn it on? Waiting…waiting…

Round 3
This round made me sick. Edgar outboxed and outworked Penn. And it was obvious. To this minute I am still baffled by the following statistic:

Number of B.J. Penn takedown attempts in five rounds at UFC 112 and through another three rounds tonight at UFC 118:  ZERO.

Round 4
FINALLY! Penn took down Edgar 20 seconds into Round 4. I feel like I just saw a miracle. Unfortunately, Edgar got a huge knockdown later in the round and was able to put some ground and pound on The Prodigy. Another round in the bag for Edgar.

Round 5
With about one minute left in the round, I felt like B.J. was going to get knocked out. His hands were at his sides, he was clearly tired and his mind was out of the fight. It was sad, surprising, and pathetic all at the same time. Although Edgar was not able to finish Penn off, he easily dominated and proved that the first fight was no fluke. Either Penn's career is dramatically coming to an end before our eyes or Edgar simply has his number. I hope its the latter.

One final comment:  Penn's should reevaluate who he wants in his corner during his fights. His team did not give him one ounce of advice throughout the five rounds. They were passive in the words they used and they failed to make any adjustments to help Penn mount an attack.

UFC 118: Penn vs. Edgar 2 - Fight Previews and Predictions

Promotional image courtesy of UFC.com

In just a few hours, UFC 118 will begin live from Boston, Massachusetts. Fight fans anticipate this particular event not only because it's the UFC's first time in Boston, but also because the card features several dynamic match-ups that will certainly provide for an enjoyable couple of hours.

Main Event:  B.J. Penn vs. Frankie Edgar (c), Lightweight Championship Bout

For the first time in what seems like forever, B.J. Penn steps into the Octagon as the challenger in a Lightweight Championship fight. The Prodigy, coming off arguably the most disappointing performance of his career versus Frankie Edgar at UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi, looks to redeem himself and prove that he still has a tight stranglehold on the Lightweight division. Despite how poorly Penn fought in the loss to Edgar, I am confident that Penn can avenge the loss and regain his championship belt. But in order to that, Penn needs to learn from the first fight.

During the first contest, Penn simply did not fight his fight. Sure, one could attribute that to Edgar's energetic, tenacious, and up-tempo fighting style. Edgar, to his credit, pushed the pace of the fight and constantly tried to force Penn out of his comfort zone. But Penn is a mixed martial arts legend, and I believe that someone of his skill level can hold off Edgar's ferocity. Instead, Penn was content simply trying to out-box Edgar. And although The Prodigy did outscore Edgar in the striking category, his strikes did little damage and Edgar had clear control of the Octagon for the majority of the fight.

B.J. Penn is one of my favorite fighters (him and Georges St. Pierre are 1-2, and I am not sure of the order). The loss was particularly painful because it seemed like B.J. was waiting, and waiting, and waiting for his move…but never made it. I agree with the assessment that B.J. is a superior striker, but eventually you have to ditch the game plan and try something else. I was shocked that Penn did not try to take down Edgar and utilize his superior Brazilian jiujitsu abilities. In fact, Edgar managed to take B.J. down a couple times, which was even more shocking, despite the fact that Edgar does have above-average wrestling skills. But B.J. has shown in the past that he can dominate fighters on the ground (see Joe "Daddy" Stevenson). And if B.J. wants to rewrite the script tonight, he needs to take advantage of his strong ground game.

Finally, Penn cannot leave this bout in the hands of the judges. The decision at UFC 112 was very controversial for several reasons. First, many fans felt that Edgar did not dominate enough to earn the championship. There is a common belief that in any close championship fight, the judges should evaluate on the more conservative side and favor the champion. But judges have repeatedly shown that they are not afraid to award a challenger if they feel as though the challenger outworked the champion (another example:  Forrest Griffin defeating Rampage Jackson). The decision was also controversial because of how decisively Edgar won. The verdict was unanimous despite many fans feeling that Penn at least won the first and second rounds and possibly the third. But ultimately, this only proves that Penn needs to go out tonight and fight to win by knockout, submission, or TKO. This time he is the challenger and he knows the feeling of being snake-bitten by the judges. The first time it happened you could blame the judges, but if it happens again, you can only blame B.J. Penn.

My fearless prediction:  Penn def. Edgar via rear naked choke (Round 4)

Randy Couture vs. James Toney

Perhaps even more anticipated than the main event, some fans have billed Couture vs. Toney as "MMA vs. Boxing." While I think that label is completely unfair, I do admit that I look forward to this fight. We will NEVER be able to truly compare mixed martial arts to boxing inside a ring because the definitions of the two sports are mutually exclusive. By stepping into the Octagon tonight after having trained in mixed martial arts for the past six to eight months, James Toney has transformed himself, albeit rudimentarily, into a mixed martial artist. As a result, tonight's matchup no longer pits a mixed martial artist versus a boxer, but rather a seasoned mixed martial artist versus an amateur mixed martial artist with a mastery of boxing. Perhaps I should spend an entirely separate post related to this topic.

Regardless, I expect Couture to severely overwhelm Toney tonight. This fight is akin to a basketball trick shot expert/professional H-O-R-S-E player challenging an NBA player to a game of one-on-one hoops. Nobody doubts Toney's ability to box just as nobody doubts the trick shot expert's ability to sink ridiculous shots. But boxing is only one aspect of mixed martial arts just as shooting is only one aspect of a one-on-one basketball showdown. Can Toney defend Couture's take down and submission attempts? Can Toney prevent Couture from passing from half guard to mount? Likewise, how will a trick shot expert defend an NBA star in the low post? And how will he adjust to having to shoot over the NBA star's extended arms? Despite Toney's training leading up to this fight, he is dealing with a completely different animal. To be fair, I believe that if Couture were thrown into the boxing ring with Toney, the dynamics of the matchup would be much different and probably result in a Toney victory. But for tonight, it's a mixed martial arts fight in the Octagon. And that means Couture has a huge advantage.

My fearless prediction:  Couture def. Toney via ground and pound (Round 1)

Kenny Florian vs. Gray Maynard

I like both of these fighters and I think this will be an exciting fight. Florian is a great fighter who is skilled and relentless. Maynard is a dangerous wrestler with incredible strength. I think Florian wins because of his experience. He will rely on his Octagon-savvy and heart to suck the life out of Maynard.

My fearless prediction:  Florian def. Maynard via triangle choke (Round 3)

Other fight predictions:

Demian Maia def. Mario Miranda
Nate Diaz def. Marcus Davis
Joe Lauzon def. Gabe Ruediger