UFC 140 Recap

So, since we went to this event live, we decided to give you guys a big recap!

                                                         Day 1: Weigh-ins

Mark Munoz and Mike Goldberg

We left the house around 7am and went straight to Toronto. We were first in line for the weigh-ins at the Air Canada Centre and got first row seats. We had early access due to our fight club membership. We were treated to a really cool Q and A with Mark Munoz. He was a really cool and incredibly nice guy. Mark talked about his friendship with K-Sos and his amazing ground and pound. Talked about his interesting experience training with Anderson and a little bit about his interactions with Chael Sonnen. It was overall very interesting and Mark is an amazingly nice person.

Mitch Clarke

Then the weigh-ins started. First up was Mitch Clarke (pictured left) who came on stage dripping in sweat and huffing and puffing and looked like he was going to pass out. He obviously was cutting weight right up until he came on stage. Funny thing is that he actually weighed well under the limit. The next few fighters made weight until Dennis Hallman went up. He was well over the mark by a whole 2.5 pounds. He was booed badly for that one. After that everyone made weight and there were some good stare downs between Lil Nog and Tito, Mir and Big Nog, and Jones and Machida. All stare downs were intense and exciting.

Henderson, Mitrione, Munoz

After the weigh-ins we made our way down to Chapters bookstore and bought a copy of the UFC Encyclopedia, which is a great buy, and were first in line to meet and get autographs from Ben Henderson, Matt Mitrione and Mark Munoz. They were all very nice and fun to talk to. Munoz promised us to “destroy” Chael Sonnen. We then wished Ben Henderson good luck in Japan and he was thankful. Then we made our way back to Buffalo.

Day 2: Fight Night

Vladimir Matyushenko

We (Sam, Dave, our other brother Andrew and my nephew Stephen) left the house around 7am and made our way to Toronto. So, we headed straight to the Real Sports store right next to Air Canada Centre; which is where the fights were to take place. We were first in line to meet, take pictures with and get an autograph from Wanderlei Silva and Dan Hardy. We were super excited to meet Silva because not only is he one of our favorite fighters but he is an absolute legend in MMA. It went really well and they were both extremely kind guys. Sammy got to talk to Dan Hardy and learned some news, “There’s a good chance I may be fighting in Las Vegas in May but I’m not sure who I am fighting yet.” After that we grabbed some food and then kept track of Dana White’s twitter feed because he was updating regularly on scavenger hunt details. We almost won 2 times but were a second late. But while we were looking for a clue we bumped into Vladimir Matyushenko and I (Dave) got a picture with him.

Then we went in for the fights. It was a crazy night of exciting fights and brutal finishes. First fight of the night was Mitch Clarke vs. John Cholish. The fight went into the second round with little action in the first. However, the ending was an amazingly fast scramble that started with Cholish going for a kimura and Clarke sweeping and then Cholish swept and somehow took Clarkes back. Cholish then proceeded to TKO Clarke. Mitch Clarke did not look UFC caliber but Cholish could have some success but he will need to fight stiffer competition in order to truly tell where his skill level is.

The second fight was Rich Attonito vs. Jake Hecht. Rich was a big favorite coming into this fight because not only was he 3-1 in the UFC but Hecht took this fight on short notice. Rich dominated the first round with some decent ground control but never really tried to finish it which was a big mistake. In the second round Attonito went for a takedown up against the fence and Hecht caught him with an elbow to the temple that dropped Attonito and Hecht swarmed on him and got the finish by TKO. It was a quick and surprising ending. Rich is getting older and has to really reevaluate his long term career. But for Hecht he could do some damage against the lower tier on the welterweight division.

Third fight of the night was Mark Bocek vs. Nik Lentz. It was another boring fight for Lentz but for the first time in his UFC career he was on the losing end. Bocek smothered but never went for a finish. Lentz on his back couldn’t produce anything but guillotine attempts. It was a decent win for Bocek due to the fact Lentz was undefeated in the Octagon. Lentz will never be more than a low tier guy. His style will never garner fans and if he can’t handle Bocek he won’t be able to handle 75% of the lightweight division. Bocek is a solid gatekeeper with great grappling skills. We see him staying in that spot for awhile.

Yves Jabouin vs. Walel Watson was up next. This fight was actually very entertaining. It was a back and forth brawl. Jabouin won most of the standup but Watson won every second it was on the ground. Watson had a couple extremely tight submissions on but Jabouin, hearing his home country crowd cheering him on, was able to power through and end up on top by a split decision win. Jabouin will not accomplish a whole lost in the UFC but Watson may be able to have a future based on his finishing ability and reach.

Dennis Hallman vs. John Makdessi was a one sided affair. Makdessi was instantly takendown and controlled until Hallman sunk in the rear-naked choke to end it less than three minutes in. Hallman is a good enough veteran to run with a lot of guys in the lightweight division. Makdessi needs to work on his ground game very badly. He can still be a force but maybe a drop down to featherweight would be a good idea because he is very small for lightweight.

Constantinos Philippou vs. Jared Hamman was again another 1^st round stoppage and again a one sided affair. Philippou from the start connected with a hard punch and rocked Hamman. For the rest of the fight Hamman was running backwards trying to regain his composure. The fight only lasted 3:11 and it was brutal. Hamman will have to fight lower-tier guys from now on. Philippou has a decent future ahead of him. He has heavy hands and good grappling.

Igor Pokrajac vs. Krzysztof Soszynski was most likely going to be a short brutal knockout but it wasn’t the most likely person that won. Soszynski was also a 3-1 favorite but he only lasted 35 seconds. Igor came out furious. No one at home could see this but as Soszynski was getting padded down and walking to the cage Igor was stalking the cage and staring at him. It was like looking at an angry lion in a cage. But this fight was a classic case of a fighter coming out too hot without covering up and he got caught. K-Sos needs to regroup and work on his head movement but he is still a solid gatekeeper. Igor has had an up and down UFC career but he needs to be more consistent to move up the ranks.

So the next fight was Chan Sung Jung vs. Mark Hominick and everyone there was rooting extremely loud for the hometown Hominick. Hominick was also a 3-1 favorite. Sadly the hometown crowd would get silenced pretty quick because the Korean Zombie ended this fight by knockout tying the fastest KO in UFC history at 7 seconds. 7 seconds!!! It was a crazy night so far because the last 4 fights all ended in under 7 minutes combined. But Hominick is still a great fighter with a big future but he needs to focus next time. Jung has been working hard on perfecting his style and he has looked extremely good lately. Jung will most likely be fighting for the title very soon.

Then Brian Ebersole vs. Claude Patrick happened and settled everything down…for a little while. It was a somewhat boring fight where netiehr guy went for a finish and both played it rather safe. It went to a split decision and I thought it could have gone either way. This will keep Patrick in the lower ranks for awhile longer but he has the skills to be something more. Ebersole had a very disappointing showing here but he may be able to establish himself as a solid gatekeeper.

But then the rest of the night was insane!

Lil Nog vs. Tito Ortiz went the way I wanted it to go! I know Tito has done some good for the UFC and for gaining notoriety but I do not like him as a person at all. I can’t stand him and I love the Nogueira brothers. Lil Nog won every second of the fight. But the end started when Nog caught Tito with a crazy knee right in the same spot Rashad caught him at UFC 133. It was brutal. Nog jumped on top and starting whaling on his hurt ribs until Tito just went into the fetal position crying uncontrollably. All in the first round, it was a beautiful thing! Tito has one more fight on his contract so he should lose once more than retire. Lil Nog could be a title contender, he just needs to be more consistent.

Then it was the Co-Main Event: Francisco Miranda :) vs. Big Nog! Nog is one of my top 5 favorite fighters of all time. Not only because he is a great person but because he has put on some of the most entertaining and courageous fights in the history of combat sports. This fight was crazy from start to finish. Nog looked a million times better on the feet than he did in their last fight at UFC 92. Nog caught Mir flush and Mir stumbled to the ground Nog was raining down big punches and Mir looked to be out but then Nog went for a guillotine choke and slipped off. Mir was able to gather his wits and locked in a kimura that will live infamy. Mir snapped Nog’s humerus in half. It was loud and nasty. That fight was only 3 minutes and 38 seconds. Nog wont be back for nearly a year, which is horrible because he is not getting any younger. Mir is still hovering around title contention but there is no way he could beat either JDS or Overeem. We will see.

The Main Event of the evening!!

Lyoto Machida vs. Champion Jon Jones. We have wanted this fight for awhile and now it was happening! So, the first round was mostly a “feeling-out” round. Machida won but mainly due to his higher volume of strikes. The second round got nuts. Jones came out much more aggressive and late in the round caught Machida with a short elbow and cut him very badly. Then Jones caught Machida really hard with a left that dropped Machida. Machida tried to stand up but was caught it a super tight guillotine choke. Jones had it in tight and then referee John McCarthy stopped it and Jones let go of the choke and Machida slumped to the canvas out cold! The crowd went insane. It was a big night for Jon Jones and left no questions that he is top 5 pound for pound and leaves one wondering who can even compete with this kid?

Overall a crazy night of fights. Out of 12 fights 9 of them were stoppages with 6 being in the first round! It was an amazing card. But that wasn’t the end of our nights!

We made our way to Boston Pizza where we met Phil Davis. He was signing some autographs so we decided to take advantage of it and got some plus pictures. And then we went back to our car but on our way to the parking garage something amazing happened! We actually got to meet Dana White! He was finishing up his post-fight press conference and then he came outside and met with my group plus around 8 other people. It was fantastic he all got autographs and pictures. Our group pictures did not come out well but I got one of him signing my autograph . He was very nice and talked to us and answered our questions genuinely. Then we left.

Overall it was one of the greatest experiences of my life and im glad I spent it with my family. The UFC never disappoints!