UFC 152 Prelim Recap

Vinny subbing Igor (Photo by bloodyelbow.com)

UFC 152 was one of the best events of this year. With upsets, brutal KOs, slick submissions, and bloody all out wars aplenty; UFC 152 fired on all cylinders. There are some big matchups to make after such a huge event, so let us dive in.

Charlie Brenneman vs. Kyle Noke: The opener on this card was a quick and surprising one. Noke was becoming one of the more promising fighters to come from the 11th season of the TUF. Following two more wins cemented that fact but he then ran into Andrew Craig and Ed Herman. I felt that a drop down to welterweight was a smart idea. But when the UFC announced that Brenneman would welcome him back I felt that Brenneman would easily out grapple him en route to a unanimous decision win. Noke's standup looked improved by leaps and bounds, and it showed through his 40 second TKO victory over "The Spaniard". Some would say it was a premature stoppage, but Brenneman went limp more than once. He will most likely be released following this loss, as it was his 3rd in his last 4 fights.

Possible matchups for Noke: The Australian looked amazing on Saturday. He is typically pegged as a grappler but his striking looked crisp and powerful. Claude Patrick still hasn't had his next fight announced and this fight could prove to be a good grappling match, or even an underrated standup fight.

Walel Watson vs. Mitch Gagnon: These guys are two promising fighters that came out to tonight to prove a point following their recent losses. Watson had a clear reach advantage that he was looking to utilize, but wasn't able to. Mitch countered a superman punch of Watson's and dropped him. Mitch followed it up with some nasty ground and pound from the back. Once Watson nearly made it to his feet, Gagnon literally dragged him to the ground with a choke. It wasn't necessarily technical, but it was pretty awesome. Gagnon cinched up the RNC in only 69 seconds. The Canadian really got the crowd going then. Sadly, this is the 3rd loss in a row for "The Gazelle" and his release is inevitable.

Possible matchups for Gagnon: Two of the most promising bantamweights in the UFC right now are both Gagnon and Chico Camus. Camus was an underdog in his UFC debut against Dustin Pague and he dominated that fight. A fight between the two could be a fight of the night and would show us who's ready for a step up.

Seth Baszynski vs. Simeon Thoreson: Simeon Thoreson was another rising prospect on the UFC 152 card. He was really utilizing his reach advantage over Seth and was winning the standup. But, MMA is the most unpredictable sport in the world and Seth landed an uppercut and dropped the Norway native and finished him off with a couple more punches. Thoreson was unconscious for awhile but this will be a big learning experience for him.

Possible matchups for Baszynski: Seth Baszynski was asking for a top 15 welterweight following his last win over Lance Benoist. I thought it was time for him to take a step up and Thoreson isn't really a step up from Benoist. John Maguire and John Hathaway are fighting this coming Saturday and the winner of that will most likely become a top 15. Baszynski should fight the winner of that.

Possible matchups for Thoreson: Is was too bad to see such a promising fighter be completely knocked unconscious like that, but I'm sure it will be a huge learning experience. Another welterweight who is coming off a loss is Kenny Robertson. Simeon could easily win this fight if he took it to the ground. 

Jimy Hettes vs. Marcus Brimage: This fight was the second most surprising to me. I, and many others, believed that Hettes was going to easily just wipe the floor with Brimage. Brimage easily won the fight from beginning to end, minus the second round. Marcus landed some solid shots that would put most middleweights out but Hettes showed off one of the best chins we’ve seen in some time. Brimage also showed an improved ground game as he escaped some really close submission attempts. Brimage ultimately won two of three rounds and proved he is both one of the most promising prospects in MMA and one of the most underrated fighters in the world.

Possible matchups for Brimage: As I just said, Brimage is possibly the most underrated fighter in MMA today. He was a massive underdog in his last two fights and won them both. How can we count him out anymore? Max Holloway is another fighter that really deserves a step up but with both of these guys on their way up the ranks, a fight between the two would show who's ready for that step.

Possible matchups for Hettes: Despite this loss, Hettes still has a lot of time to grow and can still become a great fighter. His main problem is his standup. It's very bad. His ground game is fantastic but his standup is atrocious. He needs a fight to rebound and Cody McKenzie is just the fighter to do that.

Sean Pierson vs. Lance Benoist: Although this fight wasn't particularly great, it was nice to see the Canadian get the win in his hometown. Pierson had a clear boxing advantage which was shown right off the bat. Benoist had a lot of trouble trying to get inside and land some shots. The only time he was really able to do that was in the third, and he actually almost won the fight. Benoist was dangerously close to making a great comeback but Pierson is a vet and a tough SOB and maintained composure until the final bell.

Possible matchups for Pierson: Originally, Pierson was slated to fight the elder Miller brother, Dan. But, fortunately (yes, fortunately) Dan Miller pulled out of the fight due to his son getting a successful kidney transplant. All the best to his family! Anyway, this fight still makes perfect sense.

Possible matchups for Benoist: This is a second decision loss for Benoist now under the UFC banner. He's starting to cut it close to being released by the promotion. It's a shame because he is a promising young fighter. Rich Attonito still has yet to have his next fight set up so once he heals from his most recent injury, these two guys should try and rebound from their most recent losses.

TJ Grant vs. Evan Dunham: I really felt that this fight was going to be a rather boring grappling affair. Whoever would have expected this fight to be one of the best slugfests so far this year. From the very beginning, Grant was the aggressor and was constantly throwing knees and crazy flurries and Dunham tried to counter them with punches but wasn't exactly having the best of luck. Dunham did get takedowns at the end of each round but I felt that Grant did enough in the standup to win at least two of the three rounds. It was quite the bloodbath.

Possible matchups for Grant: Grant has been one of the more underrated fighters under the Zuffs banner. Constantly a top 20 or 15 fighter, Grant finally showed everyone why he is a solid fighter and has really hit his stride as a lightweight. Another one of the most underrated fighters in the world is Rafael dos Anjos. These guys should fight and the winner would get a top-10 lightweight.

Possible matchups for Dunham: This was a really tough loss for Dunham. It was a close, bloody war and he was on the losing end of it. Another fighter coming off of a tough decision loss is Anthony Njokuani. They both need rebound fights and this would be a fun striker versus grappler matchup.

Igor Pokrajac vs. Vinny Magalhaes: There was a lot of hype formed around Vinny's return to the UFC. After his release, he went on to become the M-1 light heavyweight champ and had a few amazing submission wins, including the highly rare gogoplata. Pokrajac is a stiff test for anyone but Vinny made it look easy. He won the first round with his highly superior BJJ game. But in the second round, Pokrajac oddly took Vinny down and walked right into an armbar. Now, when the armbar happened live, I thought it was nice, but I didn't realize the detail in it. When it showed a better angle, I actually got chills from just how amazing that armbar was. The sweep... Oh man, it's hard to put into words the amount of intricacies was in that submission. Vinny was seriously screwed out of a "Submission of the Night" bonus.

Possible matchups for Magalhaes: With this win, Vinny is instantly one of the top-15 guys in the UFC's light heavyweight division. Not a lot of people were able to do what Vinny was able to do to Igor. Brandon Vera was just in a potential number one contenders bout with Shogun and he actually did really good. These guys should fight and the winner should get a top-10 fighter.

Possible matchups for Pokrajac: "The Duke" was on an impressive 3 fight winning streak and it was snapped by an armbar (sorry, I hate puns too). He is still a very talented fighter but he definitely went down rankings with this loss. Chad Griggs and Cyrille Diabate are fighting soon so Igor should fight the winner of this fight.

For the Main Card Recap click here