UFC on FX 7 Prelim Recap

This was the story of Lentz/Nunes.
Photo viaFernando Donasci/UOL

Francisco Trinaldo vs. CJ Keith: Following the first season of The Ultimate Fighter to only feature Brazilians, Trinaldo, or also known as Massaranduba, was considered one of the brightest prospects heading in. He entered as a middleweight but is a natural lightweight but shockingly didn’t give up much of a size advantage. He’s a huge lightweight, and he imposed his size and strength over Keith right from the get go. In the second round, he slammed him and locked in an arm triangle for the finish from half guard. This now makes Keith 0-2 in the UFC with two losses by finishes; I will be shocked if he fights again.

Possible matchups for Trinaldo: Though he’s only 2-1 in the UFC, he is still a very promising fighter and I would like to see him get a fight with a fighter higher up on the ladder, but not as high as Gleison Tibau. Perhaps a fight with the winner of Terry Etim and Renee Forte.

Wagner Prado vs. Ildemar Alcantara: Honestly, this fight was very difficult for me to predict. The deciding factor was the fact that Alcantara took the fight on two weeks’ notice. The short notice didn’t seem to affect him too much. Though he started a tad rocky in the first, he came out strong in the second and sunk in a very tight knee-bar. Prado screamed out in pain and the fight was over. Prado is simply not UFC caliber, so a pink slip is forth coming.

Possible matchups for Alcantara: You could tell during the fight that Alcantara had a huge size disadvantage, and that’s due to the fact that he is natural middleweight, not light heavyweight. But if he can do that good against a much larger fighter, I’m excited to see how he progresses. Buddy Roberts, who just pulled out of his fight with Michael Kuiper due to injury, will be looking for an opponent in his return and Alcantara will be waiting.

Yuri Alcantara vs. Pedro Nobre: Too bad the Oscar nominations already came out, because Nobre would be nominated for best supporting actor. I’m not surprised he did what he did though, Alcantara was about to destroy him. He rolled him over with a kimura and had his back. With three minutes left, Alcantara might have skimmed the back of his head and Nobre acted as if he was hit in the back of the head with a sledgehammer. It was a no-contest but Nobre will be released, Dana basically said it on Twitter.

Possible matchups for Alcantara: Though it wasn’t technically a win, everyone will look at that way. He has the chance to be a future title contender at 135. They should give him a guy with a name and a very well rounded game. That man is Mike Easton. These two could put on a very good fight and a win for Alcantara could launch him into the top-10 of the bantamweight division.

Edson Barboza vs. Lucas Martins: Well, this fight wasn’t particularly surprising, though I did think that Martins would do a lot better than he did. The problem with Barboza before was his lack of foot movement. He loved to be flatfooted all the time. The change of camps was obviously the best thing to happen to him.  His foot work was fantastic and he really opened up with his hands. He caught Martins early and put him away with ground and pound.

Possible matchups for Barboza: Even though he is recently coming off of his first loss and this win was over a general nobody, Edson Barboza is still a very bright prospect and a great fighter. It’s tough looking for a matchup for him though: do you want a stepping stone or a legitimate contender fight? I’m looking for a contender fight and the guy for that is Rafael dos Anjos.

Possible matchups for Martins: It’s pretty unfair being given a fight with Barboza on short notice as your UFC debut. He is a very promising fighter and deserves a fight closer to his talent level. Fabricio Camoes, who is coming off of a decision loss to Melvin Guillard, would be a good fight for both sides; they are close in talent level.

Diego Nunes vs. Nik Lentz: At first, I had Nunes winning this fight, but after some thought I changed it to Lentz due to the fact the wrestlers have been doing great lately as the underdog. Well, I was right to say the least. Lentz literally just smothered him for about 14 minutes of the fight. He easily took Nunes down every round and just out-grappled him. The most exciting part was in the last two seconds when Nunes almost finished Lentz. The win wasn't particularly flashy, but Lentz was extremely impressive.

Possible matchups for Lentz: Beating Nunes is a huge feat for people; it even got Kenny Florian title shot! It launches Lentz right into the title mix. Now, one of the most underrated fighters in the UFC is Darren Elkins. Though many would probably think that this fight would be horribly boring, almost every other fight that had two boring fighters ended up being amazing (Mike Pierce vs. Aaron Simpson and Damian Maia vs. Mark Munoz).

Possible matchups for Nunes: This was a very big loss for Nunes. It sets him pretty far back in the rankings. He is still a top-15 featherweight but he is definitely going to need to work on his takedown defense. A fight that he could take would the loser of Hatsu Hioki and Clay Guida.

Ronny Markes vs. Andrew Craig: Though Markes has an extremely bright future, if he wants to make it far in the UFC, he needs to fight more exciting. I’m not trying to sound like a fan at the bar but I’m saying that if your fights are more exciting, the UFC will heavily help you to a title shot. In the first two rounds, Markes just absolutely dominated Craig throughout, out-grappling him with ease. The third round though, Craig almost pulled off another crazy comeback. He dropped Markes and almost finished him off with strikes. It was really close to being stopped. But Markes recovered and survived for the 29-28 unanimous decision.

Possible matchups for Markes: With this rather lackluster showing, Markes isn’t just ready for a step up in competition just yet. He is extremely talented but he has to win at least one or two more fights. Chris Camozzi and Nick Ring are fighting at UFC 158 in Montreal. The winner of that should face off with Markes, in a fight that earns the winner a step up in competition.

Possible matchups for Craig: I really like Andrew Craig; he has so much heart and so much tenacity and loves to make fights way more competitive than it should be. He almost made the comeback in the third round and showed that you can’t ever count him out, he’s just too tough. A fight with the loser of Camozzi and Nick Ring makes sense as Markes could fight winner of it.

Godofredo Pepey vs. Milton Vieira: It seems that there always have to be at least one judging robbery on every UFC card. Well this was that one robbery. Vieira pretty handily beat Pepey in the first with superior takedowns and better striking. The second, though, was a whole different fight. Pepey absolutely dominated Vieira, getting his back and almost finishing him with both strikes and submissions. The third round was similar to the first with Vieira winning pretty much everywhere the fight went. Of course the split decision goes to Pepey, in a horrible robbery by the judges once again.

Possible matchups for Pepey: Though it wasn’t particularly spectacular, a win is a win. It honestly doesn’t do anything for his rankings. He really should be 0-2 in the UFC. If he wants to show that he is still UFC caliber, he should fight Felipe Arantes, who is coming off of a draw with Vieira. The 24 year old Arantes poses a lot of threats for Pepey in every aspect of MMA, especially on the feet.

Possible matchups for Vieira: Though this was such a close and debatable fight, Vieira didn’t lose too many points to his stock. If he wants to stick with the UFC though, he needs win in his next time out. Maximo Blanco, who hasn’t fought since his split decision loss to Marcus Brimage back in April of 2012, is definitely the guy for Vieira next.

CR's 2012 MMA Awards!

 We are doing an end of the year award post for this amazing year of MMA in 2012. We cover a variety of subjects and give you our take on what was the best of the best. Let us know your choices in the comments section below!

Sam’s Awards

Fighter of the Year – Ronda Rousey: MMA had a rocky 2012, this is something that the UFC will try to change in in the year 2013. But when men’s MMA had a rocky year, women’s MMA had the best year in its history and it’s all due to one women: Ronda Rousey. Being a former Olympic bronze medalist, she smoothly made her transition into MMA with seven first round armbar finishes heading into 2012. After snapping Miesha Tate’s arm in half and doing much of the same to Sarah Kaufman in her first title defense, Rousey became a star. Her natural sex appeal, aggressive personality, and dominant fighting style put women’s MMA in the mainstream light. With what Rousey has done in only 365 days is what makes her the Fighter of the Year.

Fight of the Year – Chan Sung Jung def. Dustin Poirier via D’Arce choke at 1:07 of round 4: The equation for a fight of the year candidate consists of a back and forth brawl, people being dropped, submission attempts, and an exhilarating finish. This fight had that and a little more.  They slugged it on the feet, Jung went for multiple submissions in the second with almost getting a few, and ended up finishing Poirier with Poirier’s favorite technique. There was only one other fight that could be considered better and Dave picked it.

Round of the Year – Dustin Poirier def. Jonathan Brookins via D’Arce choke at 4:15 of round 1: Apparently Poirier loves to be in amazing fights. After he lost in his Fight of the Year bout against Jung, he was looking for a rebound fight against TUF winner, Jonathan Brookins. Brookins came out strong and aggressive, pushing Poirier against the fence and swinging for the fences. Poirier returned and eventually caught Brookins, dropping him into a sloppy takedown attempt. Poirier countered with a D’Arce choke and finished him off.

Submission of the Year – Ronda Rousey def. Miesha Tate via armbar at 4:27 of round 1: When picking a submission or knockout of the year, it will typically be a comeback win, the first of its kind, or a win with huge implications. This is the third, but we didn’t know it at the time. Rousey won the fight, but the huge explosion for women’s MMA is what causes this win to be my submission of the year. Also the arm snapping didn't hurt, well, except Miesha Tate.

KO of the Year – Edson Barboza def. Terry Etim via KO (Spinning wheel kick) at 2:02 of round 3: Did you really expect anything else? This knockout was insane. I couldn’t stop watching it for weeks. Remember the three different things a “Finish Of the Year” would need? This was the first of its kind. No one has ever knocked anyone out with a spinning wheel kick in the UFC. And Etim just happened to be frozen in time while falling unconscious.

Upset of the Year – Jamie Varner def. Edson Barboza via TKO (punches) at 3:23 of round 1: Varner’s return was a very unexpected surprise but he was supposed to be absolutely blasted by Edson Barboza, who was coming off his win over Terry Etim. Varner was about a 5-1 underdog in the betting lines heading in, but an even bigger one in people’s opinions. Varner bum rushed him and easily finished him in the first round.

Event of the Year – UFC 144: With a card filled with brutal knockouts, awesome submissions, stunning upsets, insane comebacks, and all out wars, this card was absolutely nuts. Sure there were one or two fights that weren’t that great but seriously this card was one of the best in UFC history.

Comeback of the Year – Tim Boetsch def. Yushin Okami via TKO (punches) at 0:54 of round 3: Heading into this fight, Boetsch was meant to be a rebound win for Okami, who was coming off of his failed title shot. Okami was well on his way to a possible 30-26 or 29-27 decision win but Boetsch came out into the third round a different man. He completely demolished Okami in seconds into the third round, pulling off one of the best comebacks of all time and best upsets of the year.

Prospect of the Year – Max Holloway: At only 21 years old, Max Holloway has already amassed a 2-1 record in the UFC. He possesses some of the most technical striking in the UFC’s featherweight division. His last two wins over Justin Lawrence and Pat Schilling are just the beginning of what this young prospect can do.

Most Improved Fighter – Matt Brown: Heading into 2012, Matt Brown was on the brink of being released from the UFC. He was 1-4 with all his losses being submissions in the second round. His New Year resolution was apparently to become a better fighter, and boy did he succeed at that. He ended up going 4-0 in 2012 with two big upsets and three T/KO finishes. That is the definition of improved.

Moment of the Year – Jose Aldo Celebrating with Brazilian Crowd: At UFC 142 in Brazil, the featherweight champion Jose Aldo capped off the night with a first round KO win over Chad Mendes. After his win, he ran into the wild crowd. At first, I was worried because it seemed as though he was being mauled. But then he was put upon the shoulders of a fan and was carried while swinging the Brazilian flag. It was a very emotional and amazing scene.

Story of the Year – UFC 149 Injury Bug: Not only is this the story of the year because it’s insane, but because it’s extremely comical. The amount of injuries that this card sustained is absolutely mindboggling. I will give you a quick rundown of what happened: Bisping was replaced by Lombard against Boetsch. Yoshihiro Akiyama was supposed to fight Thiago Alves but pulled out, Siyar Bahadurzada filled in. Alves pulled out and Chris Clements filled in. Bahadurzada pulled out and Matt Riddle filled in. Thiago Silva was supposed to fight Shogun but pulled out and Shogun left the card to fight Brandon Vera later on. Jose Aldo, originally headlining against Erik Koch, pulled out and Urijah Faber and Renan Barao ended up headlining after Dominick Cruz pulled out of his fight with Faber. George Roop was supposed to fight Antonio Carvalho but pulled out and Daniel Pineda filled in. Big Nog, originally fighting Cheick Kongo, was still healing from his broken arm he got from Frank Mir. And last but not least, Claude Patrick was going to fight James Head but pulled out and Brian Ebersole filled in. It not only was terrible but led to one of the worst cards in MMA history.

Dave’s Awards

Fighter of the Year – Matt Brown: Yes, Matt “The Immortal” Brown. Brown went 4-0 with 3 of those being finished by (T)KO. He destroyed one of the most highly touted prospects in MMA in Stephen Thompson. And put a screeching halt to Mike Swick’s comeback ride. Brown not only did all of this in a dominating fashion but also made each fight incredibly fun to watch. Matt Brown is why I watch MMA. He is talented and fun to watch. And in 2012 Matt Brown was the best.

Fight of the Year – Joe Lauzon def. Jamie Varner via triangle choke at 2:44 of Round 3: This fight was freaking insane! Everyone watching this around me lost their minds on at least 5 different times. It was a back-and-forth affair that ended with a fantastic scramble that summed up the fight as a whole and got Lauzon back in the win column.

Round of the Year – Ivan Menjivar def. John Albert via RNC at 3:45 of Round 1: This round was my favorite because I was certain it was over 2 times and each time the other guy pulled it out somehow. Albert came at Menjivar like a wild animal. Albert was destroying him but Menjivar, the wily vet, kept his cool and somehow came back and won in one of the most fun fights you’ll ever see.

Submission of the Year – Wolfgang Janssen def. Aaron Armstrong via Flying Reverse Triangle at 1:57 of Round 2: This fight didn’t mean much and it was in a small promotion but it is one of the most amazing technical grappling maneuvers I have ever seen. He didn’t get lucky in a scramble and run with it. Janssen was looking for it and got it. Please go watch it on YouTube NOW!

KO of the Year – Johny Hendricks def. Martin Kampmann via KO at :46 of Round 1: Both of these guys had a ton of steam coming into this fight and it lived up to the hype. Most people thought Hendricks would outwrestle Kampmann but he instantly put a big left hand on Kampmann and Kampmann went flying back like a punch from Superman in a comic book. 46 seconds in and we found the scariest man at 170. Watch out GSP!

Upset of the Year – Tim Boetsch def. Yushin Okami via TKO at :54 of Round 3: This fight was supposed to be a one sided beating, and for 2 rounds, it was. Most people thought Okami would just throw Boetsch around and blanket him, and for 2 rounds, he did. But then Boetsch decided to take Okami’s head off and he did. Incredible.

Event – UFC 152: Jones vs. Belfort: I’m a little biased because I was there close to the action but the action was nonstop during this one. The night started out with 3 straight 1^st round finishes. Then there was Grant vs. Dunham which could have been Fight of the Year. Then Vinny Magalhaes’ submission over Igor Pokrajac was a thing of beauty. A few fun fights later and you get two amazing title fights! The first ever Flyweight Title fight which was a back-and-forth technical battle and then Jon Jones defended his light heavyweight title against legend Vitor Belfort. That fight alone was amazing. All in all it was the best time I had watching MMA this year.

Comeback of the Year- Martin Kampmann def. Jake Ellenberger via TKO at 1:40 of Round 2: I thought Jake was going to destroy Martin. And he was well on his way to doing so until Martin somehow landed a knee out of nowhere that sent Jake to the ground in a heap. I was speechless at the time. I truly felt that Ellenberger would easily win that fight, but you can't ever count out Kampmann.

Prospect of the Year – Erik Perez: Perez is only 23 years old, is 2-0 in the UFC and both of those wins came against quality opponents. Not only that, but both of those wins ended in the first round. On top of all of this, he trains at Jackson’s camp. This kid has a huge chance to do something amazing at 135 pounds.

Most Improved Fighter – Cub Swanson: Cub has always been good but if you were to tell me a year ago he would go 3-0 against great competition and all of those wins coming by way of KO, I would think you’re nuts. He got manhandled by Chad Mendes, barely won against Mackens Semerzier and then got destroyed by Ricardo Lamas. But Cub went on a rampage in 2012 and most recently destroyed fellow rising star, Charles Oliveira in just under 3 minutes. The sky is the limit for Cub.

Moment of the Year – Vitor Belfort’s armbar attempt on Jon Jones at UFC 152: This fight was a joke to begin with. You had the scariest man alive, Jon Jones, taking on aging and undersized Belfort squaring off on short notice. It was ridiculous and you could tell from the ring of the bell that Jones was going to destroy Belfort. Jones took Belfort down immediately and started to land vicious elbows. But then out of nowhere, Belfort locks on an armbar that made Jones wince in pain and the Air Canada Centre arena erupted in a noise like no other. I’m a huge Jones fan and even I wanted to see Belfort pull it off. It was incredible and even though Jones defended it off, it was an amazing moment in MMA history.

Story of the Year – Women’s MMA makes it to the UFC: This was a huge moment for MMA history as women will now be able to fight under the UFC banner. It was a long time coming and I am so glad it has happened. I just hope that they sign a ton of fighters and handle the women’s divisions better than they have handled the 145, 135 and 125 divisions for men. Dana needs to keep them off of Facebook and feature them often. I can’t wait  for this chapter in UFC’s history to begin.