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| Jones applying the fight ending Americana on Belfort (Photo by bleacherreport.com) |
Cub Swanson vs. Charles Oliveira: This was one of the fights
that people we're looking forward to the most. Both of these guys have recently
hit their stride in their careers and were looking to make themselves top title
contenders at 145 pounds. Oliveira took Swanson down early but Cub has a highly
underrated ground game. He got up almost instantly and started to land some
solid shots on Oliveira. He eventually landed a sick liver punch that stunned
"Do Bronx". He followed it with a monstrous overhand right. It took a
second, but Oliveira eventually fell down unconscious. I wouldn't be surprised,
though, if it turned out he got a broken orbital bone and was unable to
continue.
Possible matchups for Swanson: This win easily makes Cub a
top-10 featherweight. Three (T)KO's over 3 really good fighters equals at least
top-10 status, if not top-7 or 5. A top fighter that has yet to rebound from
his most recent loss is BJJ expert and Japanese star, Hatsu Hioki. Due to the
fact that Hioki is still a top-10 featherweight, he will continue to fight
top-10 featherweights. If Cub can continue his hot streak against Hatsu Hioki,
he could even receive a title shot afterwards.
Possible matchups or Oliveira: Despite the fact that all of
his losses in the UFC have come in the first round, you have to remember,
Charles Oliveira is only 22 years old still. He still has a lot of time to grow
and to mature as q person, not just a fighter. Another fighter that is also
just 22 years old is Justin Lawrence. He is coming off a brutal TKO loss at the
hands of arguably the most promising fighter in MMA, Max Holloway. Therefore,
they are both looking for rebound fights, and this fight could very well be
awesome.
Matt Hamill vs. Roger Hollett: Sigh, I really, really don't
want to talk about this fight. Absolute garbage. Hollett had no business being
in the Octagon. His standup is rudimentary, his wrestling is weak, and he has
no submission skills. Like I said, he has no business in the Octagon. Hamill
should retire now that he has that last win and Hollet should be immediately
cut, if that isn't already clear.
Michael Bisping vs. Brian Stann: I have to admit, this fight
surprised in more ways than one. The main thing that surprised me was the fact
that Brian Stann did so well. He easily won the first round, which was
something that I really didn't expect. When Stann landed that huge right hand
at the end of the first that almost finished Bisping, I went crazy and so did
the Toronto crowd surrounding me. After that though, Bisping utilized his
highly underrated wrestling to land some huge double legs and score a tough
unanimous decision win. Brian Stann did a lot better than people were
expecting.
Possible matchups for Bisping: I felt that Bisping would
dominate this fight and earn a title shot against Anderson Silva. Bisping wasn’t
impressive enough. It's too bad though, because Bisping has been doing so well
and has been with the UFC for so long. The fight that honestly makes the most
sense at this point is Bisping fighting the winner of Chris Weidman and Tim
Boestch. That winner will get their shot at Silva.
Possible matchups for Stann: Brian Stann looked great
against Bisping. Seriously looked awesome. You could possible even make a case
for a decision win for him. He is still one of the top middleweights in the
UFC. If Bisping fights the winner of Weidman and Boestch, Stann should fight
the loser.
Demetrious Johnson vs. Joseph Benavidez: This fight could
end up going down in history as the most underrated fight of all time. I
personally thought that this fight was amazing. The technical prowess was
incredible, the mistakes were few and far apart, the action was constant, and
the speed was blinding. Joseph Benavidez was the highly favored fighter heading
into this championship bout and was even in the top-10 of most people's
Pound-for-Pound list. I thought that Benavidez would dominate everywhere that
the fight went. I thought he had superior striking, wrestling, and submissions.
The one thing that I didn't take into account was the speed advantage in which
Johnson would have. He would easily go in and out with strikes and dodge
Benavidez' attacks. I scored every round for Johnson minus the 3rd round. That
round, Benavidez almost finished Johnson with a mounted guillotine. But Johnson
used amazing defense as he did this sweep I have never seen before, maybe
cricket legs or something. Anyway, Johnson looked amazing and he deserves to be
the first ever UFC flyweight champion more than anyone.
Possible matchups for Johnson: Now that he has the belt, he
needs to defend it against the best (obviously). John Dodson and Jussier da
Silva are fighting at UFC on FX 5. That fight has to be a number one contenders
bout.
Possible matchups for Benavidez: The final decision for the
championship fight was a split decision, even though I thought Johnson
definitely won the fight. The Team Alpha Male fighter should be immediately put
in a number one contenders bout with Ian McCall. That fight would be a brawl.
Jon Jones vs. Vitor Belfort: Who would have ever thought
that the biggest underdog to fight Jones would actually be the fighter that came
the closest to beating him? The 30-45 seconds in which Vitor had that armbar,
the arena went absolutely bonkers. There were a couple Brazilian guys in front
of us and I thought they were going to go insane. The armbar was so close to
finishing the fight that his arm was actually cracking and popping, but Jones
showed something that we have yet to see from him (mainly because there was
never an opportunity) and that was the heart of a champion. Most fighters would
tap out if they felt that their arm was breaking. But once Jones shook his way
out of the armbar, he started to dominate the fight. Vitor kept on pulling
guard, much to the Brazilian fans in front of us' chagrin, and it added to our
confusion. He did it again in the 4th round and was almost immediately
submitted by an Americana that looked like his arm was about to be ripped off.
Jones truly is one of the best fighters in the world and of all time.
Possible matchups for Jones: This is the next big question.
Who is the next number one contender at light heavyweight? Dana announced that
Dan Henderson and Lyoto Machida have to fight one more time before they get a
crack at the 205 belt. But the next big light heavyweight fight that is coming
up is between Alexander Gustafsson and Shogun Rua. I feel that the winner of
that should fight Jones.
Possible matchups for Belfort: I really highly doubt that
Vitor will stay at 205. He was really starting to hit his stride down at 185.
Before he accepted his fight with Jones, he was scheduled to fight Wanderlei
Silva but had to pull out due to an injury. Although the fight doesn't make
sense, it didn’t before and I think that fight could be extremely fun.
For Prelim Recap click here
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