UFC on Fox 5: Henderson vs. Diaz Main Card Recap

Rory landing a vicious headkick on BJ.
Photo via sportsnet.

From top to bottom, this card was one of the best in UFC history. With several “Fight of the Night” contenders, three vicious knockouts and a great submission, fans are unbelievably lucky to have been able to receive this event for free. Every fight but one was on network television for millions to witness an amazing night of fights.

Mike Swick vs. Matt Brown: This was exactly how the UFC wanted to start off the best fight card in network television history. And we may just have a new contender at 170 pounds. Brown started off this fight in typical Matt Brown style with lots of aggression and even landed a takedown and cinched up a D’arce choke, but he didn’t exactly know how to finish it as he went on his back and pulled guard rather than on his side with his butt scooted out. Swick ended up getting out of it because of that but Brown went right for a really tight triangle choke. Swick defended well and slipped out. In the second round, Brown came out and landed a two punch combo that put Swick stiff and unconscious. It was a shocking and brutal finish.

Possible matchups for Brown: Wow, I am seriously impressed by Matt Brown’s performance. His submission game and standup looked better than ever and I really look forward to see how much more he can progress. A fight with Siyar Bahadurzada would be one of the best fights of the year. It would certainly produce a barnburner.

Possible matchups for Swick: This was a terrible loss for Swick. He was looking to continue his career comeback on a good note but that was a no go. Perhaps a fight with Yoshihiro Akiyama could be a good fight for both men.

BJ Penn vs. Rory MacDonald: MacDonald impressed on so many levels in this fight, the potential that he holds is truly insane. Like the skills that he could one day possess is almost incomprehensible. I felt that going into this fight Penn would have a significant standup advantage but MacDonald completely and utterly dominated the legend. From beginning to end Rory landed jabs, body punches, and head kicks and easily won the biggest fight of his career over one of the best fighters to ever live. Thanks to BJ for an amazing career and all the amazing moments in his UFC career.

Possible matchups for MacDonald: This fight puts the 23 year old in the top-5 in my opinion. After the fight, he called out the former interim welterweight champ, Carlos Condit for a rematch. Now that is a matchup that I love. MacDonald has matured as a fighter and as a person since their fight back at UFC 115.

Shogun Rua vs. Alexander Gustafsson: I was pretty confident in my prediction of Gustafsson going into this fight, but Shogun made me nervous on several occasions. He landed a lot of huge overhand rights to the temple of Gustafsson, but those made me more impressed by Alex for a great chin. We haven’t really seen his chin tested before this fight, it certainly was this fight, and it looks solid. In the second and third round, it was a different story. Gustafsson dominated the former champion en route to a unanimous decision win.

Possible matchups for Gustafsson: Before this fight, Dana announced that the winner would receive a title shot against the winner of Jon Jones vs. Chael Sonnen. Gustafsson undoubtedly deserves a title shot after this fight.

Possible matchups for Rua: Time is definitely starting to close in on Shogun, but he is definitely still one of the top guys at light heavyweight. Lyoto Machida and Dan Henderson are fighting in a number one contender bout themselves at UFC 157. Shogun should fight the loser for either a rubber match with Machida or a rematch to one of the greatest fights of all time. Either way, the fans will be happy.

Ben Henderson vs. Nate Diaz: I was extremely confident going into this fight that Diaz was going to handily defeat Henderson. Not only did the champ prove me wrong, he made me look stupid for picking Diaz. From the beginning of the fight, to the last bell, Henderson out grappled, out struck, and even dropped the durable Diaz on multiple occasions, both with leg kicks and punches. There was only one time that I remember where Diaz was in control was when he had Henderson’s leg and was working both a heel hook and a toe hold. But other than that, Henderson completely dominated the younger Diaz brother for all five rounds, even to the point that one of the judges gave it a 50-43 for the champion.

Possible matchups for Henderson: I feel that it is pretty clear that the winner of Donald Cerrone and Anthony Pettis at UFC on Fox 6 will be a number one contenders bout. Either a rematch to Anthony Pettis or a third fight with Cerrone will make an amazing fight.

Possible matchups for Diaz: Now that Diaz has finally received his title shot and lost very definitively, it’s time for him to take a step back. Even though technically Gray Maynard is 1-0 against Diaz, Diaz had a win over Maynard on the fifth season of The Ultimate Fighter by submission. I’m sure that they feel they are 1-1 against each other and I’m sure they would love a rubber match.

Click here for prelim recap.

UFC on Fox 5: Henderson vs. Diaz Prelim Recap

Edwards finishing off Stephens.
Photo via MMAFighting.com

From top to bottom, this card was one of the best in UFC history. With several “Fight of the Night” contenders, three vicious knockouts and a great submission, fans are unbelievably lucky to have been able to receive this event for free. Every fight but one was on network television for millions to witness an amazing night of fights.

Scott Jorgensen vs. John Albert: It’s a real shame that this fight was on Facebook rather than FX. They’re two of the scrappiest and fun to watch and aggressive bantamweights in the UFC. Albert continued to show lots of aggressiveness as he came out hard against former title contender in Scott Jorgensen. Scott negated his forward momentum with a takedown but Albert didn’t stop being aggressive here. He consistently went for triangles and armbars and even at one point swept Jorgensen onto his back and mounted him. Though it was only for a brief period of time, Albert showed great strength and technique. Scott got him back over and was put in an extremely tight triangle. It was mighty close but Jorgensen has a highly underrated ground game and made it out. Albert tried for another sweep but gave up his back in the process. Scott sunk in a rear naked choke and finished Albert with barely a second left in the first round. Albert has shown a lot of promise in all four of his fights in the UFC, but with a losing streak of 3 in-a-row and all coming in the first round by submission, I will be shocked to see Albert back in the UFC.

Possible matchups for Jorgensen: This was a huge, much needed win for Scott Jorgensen. Following two losses in which he was pretty easily dominated by both Eddie Wineland and Renan Barao, this was a make or break fight. Though this was a very impressive win, he needs one more big win before he can get a bigger name. Francisco Rivera is coming off of a brutal first round KO win over Roland Delorme, though it was turned over after he tested positive for a banned substance. This fight would undoubtedly be a Fight of the Year contender and a barnburner.

Dennis Siver vs. Nam Phan: From beginning to end, Siver utterly and completely dominated the underdog in Phan. He picked him apart in the first round with tons of jabs, hooks and spinning kicks. He even took down the black belt in Phan and just battered him with ground and pound and elbows. It was brutal and highly impressive. Siver is definitely a top featherweight after this performance and a handeful for anyone at featherweight.

Possible matchups for Siver: Siver was a top featherweight on almost everyone’s rankings before this fight and this performance cemented why. Chad Mendes was originally supposed to Hacran Dias of UFC on FX 6 but Dias pulled out. They should also pull Mendes off and have him fight Siver later next year in a potential number one contender bout.

Possible matchup for Phan: Phan was just completely outclassed in every sense of the word and every aspect of the sport. He did take this fight on very short notice but it was a big loss. Another man at 145 who just lost a very one-sided fight is Steven Siler. They both have wins over Cole Miller and excellent standup. It definitely has the makings to be Fight of the Night.

Abel Trujullo vs. Marcus LeVesseur: This fight was way different than I expected. Now, I did pick Trujillo to win, but I felt very sure that he would have been taken down at least once throughout the fight. Only once did LeVesseur takedown Trujillo but it was only for a split second. From the very beginning, LeVesseur went for takedowns that consistently were stuffed and went into the clinch. Trujillo brought these positions to his advantage by battering Marcus’ body with elbows and punches. In the second round, he spun LeVessuer around and had him on the ground in a turtled position. Trujillo landed at least 20 nasty, brutal knees to the body and the ref finally stepped in. Props to LeVesseur for taking the fight on one day notice but he could very well be 0-3 in his UFC career, which is a no go.

Possible matchups for Trujillo: Going into his fight with his original opponent Tim Means, I believed it was going to be a really easy fight for Means. Means slipped during his weight cut and couldn't fight the next day. Now I want to see this fight even more. What a fight that could be.

Daron Cruickshank vs. Henry Martinez: The best way to make a big statement in MMA is by knocking somebody out. A better way is destroying them up to the knockout. The best way is by doing that but to a guy who is well known for unbelievable durability. Cruickshank did just that against Henry Martinez on Saturday. After nearly finishing him on multiple occasions in the first round, Cruickshank went on to brutally finish him in the second round with headkick knockout. The fight was an absolute slugfest throughout that I personally thought deserved Fight of the Night honors. We also have an extremely exciting new prospect in the Detroit native with his insane accuracy and speed along with power to top it off, Cruickshank has all the makings to a star.

Possible matchups for Cruickshank: Back in October of 2011, Cruickshank and Tristar product Mike Ricci battled it out for 5 rounds in Ringside MMA. Cruickshank would eventually win the fight and the title. Mike Ricci has been blasting through his competition on the 16^th season of TUF and will be fighting Colton Smith in the finale at welterweight rather than his natural lightweight. If Mike Ricci wins that fight and drops back down to lightweight, I would love to see a rematch between these two very promising fighters.

Possible matchups for Martinez: Martinez is unbelievably durable and this fight showed that, plus a little more. The amount of head kicks that Cruickshank landed was insane and Martinez took them all, minus one. This KO loss puts Martinez on the brink of getting released. He will most likely be put in a loser goes home bout next and the man for that is Al Iaquinta, who is coming off a first round submission loss to Michael Chiesa.

Ramsey Nijem vs. Joe Proctor: This was another really fun fight between two prospects with a solid ground game and a quickly developing standup game. Ramsey looked to finish the fight early after dropping the Boston native with a “crane kick”. He got on top and unleashed a lot of ground and pound. Proctor would get up eventually but still looked hurt. Nijem saw this and attacked, but became a tad bit overzealous and was rocked with a nice 3-4 combo from Proctor. The second round was much closer that easily could have gone either way. Nijem came out strong in the third round; he took him down, defended against submissions, and landed bombs. It was another fantastic fight that ended in a unanimous decision in for Ramsey Nijem.

Possible matchups for Nijem: Ramsey Nijem is definitely improving every fight and with this win I want to see him fight a bigger name. Sam Stout is coming off a demoralizing decision loss to John Makdessi and will be looking for a rebound fight. Nijem is looked for a step up and this fight is the one to make for both these guys.

Possible matchsups for Proctor: The Joe Lauzon student certainly showed a lot of promise throughout this fight but it’s definitely a big loss for Proctor. A fighter also coming off a decision loss to a TUF alumni is Tony Ferguson. This fight could definitely be fun standup war.

Mike Easton vs. Raphael Assuncao: This fight was genuinely disappointing. I was expecting a slugfest with great scrambles on the ground, but it was a tentative Mike Easton stalking Assincao as the Brazilian consistently leg kicked and countered his way to a unanimous decision win. It was a lot of technique between the two and it wasn't as bad as the crowd it out to be. It was a huge win for Assuncao who is now 3-0 at 135 pounds and has become a new contender at bantamweight.

Possible matchups for Assuncao: A brand new contender at bantamweight has emerged. Easton was a pretty hefty favorite heading into this fight with a big hype train and that Assuncao took this on two weeks’ notice. I want him to fight a top guy. Brian Bowles is still healing but once he comes back I want to see these two to fight.

Possible matchups for Easton: This was a huge and disappointing loss for a guy many were considering to be a title contender in 2013.Yves Jabouin is coming off of a violent loss to top contender Brad Pickett. This two could put on a barnburner.

Yves Edwards vs. Jeremy Stephens: Now this fight was shocking. Edwards’ chin has been seemingly deteriorating recently and many believed the combination of that and Stephens’ blistering power would lead to KO for Jeremy, but Yves apparently didn't receive the memo. When Stephens came in with a huge right hook, Yves countered with a right hook of his own and dropped Stephens. He followed it up with elbows to put him completely unconscious. It was an amazing finish for the veteran and a huge loss for Stephens.

Possible matchups for Edwards: I loved this fight. Edwards is the type of guy who is really hard to dislike and it was awesome seeing him get a win like this. John Makdessi, who is coming off a really impressive unanimous decision win over Sam Stout would put on a great standup war with the “Thugjitsu Master”.

Possible matchups for Stephens: This was his third loss in a row and he will be on the brink of a release. But because of his fighting style and talent, he won’t be. He desperately needs a rebound fight if he wants to stay in the UFC. Anton Kuivanen is a fighter to do that, with a 1-1 record, he could definitely be that rebound fight.

Click here for main card recap.