UFC 112: Invincible

[jmt225]

Main card

• Middleweight Championship bout: Anderson Silva (c) vs. Demian Maia
• Lightweight Championship bout: B.J. Penn (c) vs. Frankie Edgar
• Welterweight bout: Matt Hughes vs. Renzo Gracie
• Lightweight bout: Terry Etim vs. Rafael dos Anjos
• Middleweight bout: Kendall Grove vs. Mark Munoz

Preliminary Card (Non-televised)

• Light Heavyweight bout: Alexander Gustafsson vs. Phil Davis
• Lightweight bout: Paul Taylor vs. John Gunderson
• Welterweight bout: Nick Osipczak vs. Rick Story
• Welterweight bout: DaMarques Johnson vs. Brad Blackburn
• Lightweight bout: England Paul Kelly vs. United States Matt Veach
• Heavyweight bout: Jon Madsen vs. Mostapha Al-turk

......................................................................................​

Man, you know... for a card featuring two title matches, with the champions being two of the absolute best fighters who've ever lived, it's still hard to get excited for this show. I mean, no disrespect intended for Maia and Edgar, but does anyone really believe either of them stand a chance? To use pro wrestling as an analogy.. it has a 'jobber' feel to it. Imagine if Wrestlemania 6 was headlined by Hulk Hogan vs. Dino Bravo and The Ultimate Warrior vs. Rick Martel. Sure, part of us will look forward to seeing Hogan and Warrior wrestle no matter what, but it just takes the fun out of it when you know their opponents stand literally zero chance of winning.

Anyway, Demian Maia, like I said, no disrespect towards him because I do like the guy, but he is without a doubt the least deserving person of a title shot since Justin Eilers (RIP) fought Anderi Arlovski at UFC 53. Sure Maia was on a role, tapping everybody out that got in the same octagon as him, but man... that Nate Marquardt knockout sent him down so many notches. And the fact that he wasn't able to finish Dan Miller in his last fight doesn't help either. Moreover, of course there's the "Thales Leites" factor in everyone's mind. Will Maia fight Anderson, or will he fall to his ass every time Anderson tries to engage?

So, honestly... I'm a HUGE fan of Anderson Silva and I always look forward to his fights, but I cannot get myself pumped for this one. Maia to me just isn't worthy, and I question whether or not the guy will actually fight Anderson. Hopefully though, he proves everyone wrong and goes and not only fights hard, but actually competes. I just highly, highly doubt it.

Now, Frankie Edgar, on the other hand, while he's also not deserving of a title shot in my mind, at least I know 100% that he will come in and fight his heart out. He's going to get his ass kicked doing so, but he will fight BJ Penn. But, unfortunately for Edgar, Penn is unbeatable at 155 pounds right now. There's no one who can't compete with Penn in and around that weight class. His boxing and Jiu-Jitsu is the best in the sport, and his wrestling looked better than ever in his fights against Kenny Florian and Diego Sanchez. The guy is un-fucking-believable, and Edgar just doesn't stand a chance.

Matt Hughes vs. Renzo Gracie is another glorified jobber match. Matt Hughes doesn't want to face the countless CONTENDERS that call him out; no, instead he lobbies for a fight against Renzo Gracie. Now, you could argue that Renzo is currently the best Gracie fighter (he's definitely the most charismatic of them all), but that's still not saying much. Just think about this... his last fight was over 3 years ago, in which he won against Frank Shamrock by a pussy disqualification. THIS is the fighter Matt Hughes lobbies to fight, and to me... it's pathetic. The UFC can say it's Legend vs. Legend and all that nonsense, but we saw what happened last time Hughes went up against a Gracie legend, and there's no reason to believe this will be any different, especially since we haven't seen Renzo fight in three fucking years like I mentioned earlier.

Terry Etim vs. Rafael dos Anjos... meh, seen both fight plenty of times, but neither ever really stood out. I'm sure it'll be a good fight, but it's not worth discussing, since the outcome of it isn't important in the Lightweight Division.

I've mentioned plenty of times here before how big of a fan I am of Kendall Grove, so of course I'm looking forward to his fight against Mark Munoz. Grove has won 3 of his last 4, and all of those were against top notch opponents. It gets no easier with Mark Munoz, whose 7-1, with that one loss being in the Light Heavyweight division against Grove's TUF partner, Matt Hamill. So, it's another tough fight for Grove, but I have faith he'll show up in the best shape of his life and put on a great performance.

And as far as the prelims go, not really looking to any of them, except Rick Story vs. Nick Osipczak. I was really impressed with Story in his last two fights, and his opponent Osipczak is undefeated so far in his career, so I'm sure this is going to be a barn-burner. Personally, I would have put it on the main card over Terry Etim vs. Rafael dos Anjos.

All in all, not a very good card. I'm definitely not ordering it. Hopefully though it turns out to be great for those who do, and Edgar and Maia show that I was wrong and that they are deserving to be in there with the best in the World.

 

[Via Armbar]

Totally agree with you as usual jmt. A damn good amount of star power on this card and still it seems passable. It's hard to even post to be motivated to post anything about it. The only reason Edgar is getting his shot is because there's little to no one left to feed to Penn. For me personally, I would not want to see a rematch with Florian so there's not many options here. Edgar is a damn good well rounded fighter, but like with Diego and Florian BJ is better in ever category. I expect Penn to pick him apart on the feet and wear him down for either a tko or a rear naked before the third.

I may be one of the few people who don't like Anderson Silva. Don't get me wrong, the guy is arguably the best pound for pound fighter on Earth and I have nothing but respect for him. Something about him though rubs me the wrong way. It may be the fact that he gets glorified for the same shit that guys like Evans get criticized for. I honestly don't care about show boating, but the fact that he does it and nobody bitches like they do when somebody else does it pisses me off. Back on track here, expect Silva to demolish another good fighter in quick fashion. He'll get the tko win before the first round is over.

I'm not going to address the Hughes fight for the reason jmt listed. The guy knows he's losing relevancy rather quickly and needs to fight somebody he knows he can beat. No surprises here, Hughes takes this early in the second by submission. Usually the undercard shines but I don't give a fuck here honestly. There's a couple good fighters in there but none I'm expecting huge things from. Very lackluster card from top to bottom.

 

[Turd Ferguson]

I'm not feeling this card either guys. I mean, I'll still watch it and everything because of my subscription I have, but eh, I wouldn't pay the PPV price for this card.

I look forward to a Kendall Grove fight with the same enthusiasm that I would have for a prostate exam. He's one of my least favorite fighters, and he's a bum. Mark Munoz has potential, but my real memory of him was when Hamill kicked his head off. Not looking forward to it.

Terry Eitm vs. Rafael Dos Anjos... eh. It might be a decent fight but it will more than likely be a forgettable fight between two guys in the lightweight division not even close to sniffing contention.

Hughes/Gracie... Again, eh. Hughes will probably refuse to engage Gracie and it will be a fifteen minute humpfest. Hughes is a douchebag and a possible rapist. I have no desire to watch him fight. I pray that Gracie catches Hughes with a submission and exposes him as being over the hill... but I doubt that will be the case.

Penn/Edgar is a fight that will probably be BJ's last fight at Lightweight. I think he'll win in spectacular fashion here. I like Edgar, but he's still nothing more than a good prospect right now and it's too early for him to be getting a title shot. I realize there was nobody else available as BJ has cleared out the division, but goddamn, BJ is just on another level and Edgar's going to get beaten badly here.

Maia/Silva would be a lot more intriguing if Maia never lost to Marquardt in 20 seconds. Now he's been exposed as someone who has a glass jaw, and Silva should win handedly here. I just pray this isn't Silva/Leites II. Maia's a counter striker, as is Silva, and I think I could see this easily unfolding like that.

 

[INDYjon22]

This card looks a little boring to be honest. I probably won't watch it live.

Anderson Silva should role through Demian Maia in route to a five round decision. I don't expect to much to happen in this fight. Maia has an intriguing style which could give Silva problems but I really don't think it will. I also don't think Silva will fight for a finish. Hopefully I am wrong but I don't know.

Edgar could give Penn problems but I honestly can't think of one think that Edgar is better at than Penn. Edgar has very good boxing but Penn is better. Edgar is a solid wrestler but I believe Penn's takedown defense will be a shit load better. And Penn's BJJ will be better. I expect Penn to win with a submission of some sort around round 3.

Hughes versus Gracie will most likely be boring as hell. Hughes will more then likely lay and pray for three rounds before winning by decision. I would be a little shocked if Gracie beat Hughes, but then again stranger things have happened.

The only fight I am remotely interested in is the Mark Munoz.Kendall Grove fight. Grove is awesome at pulling off submissions out of nowhere so I would be interested in seeing do it again. But that is about the only thing I would really want to see.

 

[jmt225]

"Boring" isn't the word I would personally use, just predictable. And something being predictable takes the fun out of events like this. There's just no way guys like Edgar and Maia stand a chance, and to make matters worse... neither have that loveable underdog quality about them. They're decent guys, but no one will root for them over BJ Penn and Anderson Silva, two guys beloved by MMA fans.

Anyway, interesting fact here regarding Anderson Silva's title defense at this show:

If/when Anderson Silva defeats Demian Maia, he will set the record for most title defenses within a single reign. Maia will/would be his 7th straight title defense. In addition, a win over Maia will also be a record-setting 11th win in a row for any UFC competitor. If Anderson Silva successfully defends the Middleweight Championship two more times, he will tie Matt Hughes and Randy Couture for the most title defenses. Three more successful title defenses will set the record for most championship defenses in UFC history.

As shitty as it is that Silva's opponent is of an undeserving nature, that still won't diminish this stat in the least bit.

With each passing fight, Anderson Silva is establishing himself as the greatest, most dominate fighter in the history of the UFC. It's really a treat to witness; I just wish the guy would get more impressive fighters to challenge him, but it's not his fault if no one is willing to step up I guess. Hopefully that'll change in the near future, especially if Shogun beats Machida, and Chael Sonnen (R) wins another fight.

 

[xAsianRejectx]

I can really see the predictability of the matches here, but the starpower alone will most likely make it a huge buyrate. I was watching UFC 112 Countdown and they do such an incredible job of hyping matches. It made it seem like Damien and Frankie had a chance. I swear, that show can make Kimbo Slice vs. A stuffed teddy bear seem interesting.

Silva vs. Maia
I'm sure Maia will go out and shoot his heart out for a submission, but I feel that would be a failing mission. Yes, Damien is one of the best jiu jitsu fighters in UFC, but some people seem to forget that Silva is no slouch on the ground. Submitting Dan Henderson is not easy. Silva can hold very much of his own there. And I think there is no question on who trumps who in the stand up game. Silva is one of UFC's best knockout artist. Maia can practice as much striking as he wants, he'll improve, but there has been virtually no one to match the level of striking that Silva conains. Silva via knockout or TKO.

Penn vs. Edgar
Again, It's all Penn here. Just like GSP, I consider BJ one of the most complete fighter in the sport. His strength and conditioning training seems to be working. I'm so glad to hear that BJ's ultimate goal is to one the most legendary entertaining fighter in the sport. Title or no title. Edgar is a little pitbull, he'll come in fighting until his arms fall off. I won't count him off of anything. But BJ is just the superior fighter. Frankie can try to utilize his wresting skills, but BJ will just shrug him off like he did with Diego. Not many people can take BJ to the mat. If Diego couldn't do it, I don't think Edgar can. BJ via submission or TKO.

Hughes vs. Gracie
Not to sure about this one. Not too exciting. Hughes will probably take this via lay and pray, but I'm hoping gracie pulls it off. I've always been a huge believer in technique and skill over strength and power. I would love to see Renzo prove this.Also, for some reason, I don't like Matt Hughes. He rubs me the wrong way I guess. Hughes said he would be looking for some ground and pound and try to actually finish the fight, but I'm not too sure about that. Here's hoping a gracie can take the big V.

 

[jmt225]

Okay, after watching the fights, I can admit that I overreacted yesterday to the news of BOTH main events.

BJ Penn vs. Frankie Edgar... I was led to believe it was much more of a travesty than it actually was. After watching the fight, I would argue that BJ won the first 2 rounds, Frankie won round 5, and rounds 3 and 4 were a toss up. I would also say Edgar won round 5 much more clearly than BJ won rounds 1 and 2. But the fact of the matter is, a fight that close can go either way (look at Rampage vs. Forrest for another example). If I were judging, I probably would have gone ahead and gave BJ round 3 and Frankie round 4, to make it a 48-47 win for BJ Penn, but I guess you can argue favoritism there. The only thing wrong with the judging I thought was that one ****** giving Frankie every single round. But, other than that, you can't make a fair argument that BJ should have won. If you do, then you're obviously not very objective.

Anyway, regardless of all that, MAJOR props to Frankie Edgar, who gave the performance of his life. Even if he didn't win the decision, you would still have to be amazed by his performance. He did much better than anyone could have ever expected, and the fact of the matter is, he gave BJ a better fight than any Lightweight has in eight fucking years. That is quite the accomplishment, and you can't help but respect the man. Where does he go from here? Well, I'll go over that in Guy's thread, because I've been getting pretty pissed at the rumors I've been hearing since yesterday.

However, while I'd hate to take anything away from Edgar, it cannot be ignored that BJ Penn, while you could still argue he won the fight, still did not look like the BJ Penn we saw against Diego Sanchez and Kenny Florian. The BJ Penn we saw yesterday was flat, and just couldn't get into his grove. Maybe the humidity had something to do with it, who knows. But that was just not the same BJ Penn we've come to expect. And even so... he still almost won the fight. Shows just how great the dude is. But, no matter what I say, the fact remains that Frankie Edgar is the new Lightweight Champion. Never, ever thought I'd see the day.

Anderson Silva, is still one of my favorite fighters, but man was I disappointed yesterday with him. At first, I refused to give him any blame, but after actually watching the fight... I just don't know what the fuck happened.

I thoroughly enjoyed the first 2 Rounds, I must admit. Yes, Silva did taunt, but he was at least backing it up, and exchanging with Maia and kicking his ass. And the taunts were fucking hilarious, but like I said... only because he would eventually exchange. However, you could make the argument that even though Silva exchanged in the first 2 rounds, he could have also put the fight away at any given time, but never went for the kill, for whatever reason.

Now, I want to give Anderson the benefit of the doubt, and say that he simply gassed, and that's why he pulled the crap he did in rounds 3, 4, and 5. I want to believe that, because I cannot think of any other possible reasonable explanation as to why in the World he refused to exchange with Maia in the last 3 rounds. It absolutely made no sense.

Regardless, Anderson did win, and now we can start looking forward to him fighting DESERVING fighters, and fighters who will actually fucking fight him and give him a challenge. I give Maia props for finally stepping up towards the end of the fight yesterday and trying to exchange, but too little too late. Let's put fighters in there who are not scared of Silva, and then we'll get to see the Anderson Silva we all know and love, instead of the Silva we saw last night.

Renzo Gracie put on a better performance than I expected, but Matt Hughes was still able to pull off the decisive victory, as predicted. Here's hoping he takes a top challenger in his next fight. I don't know why he wouldn't... his stand-up and submission defense are both better than ever, and he still has the great wrestling in his arsenal... it's time for him to truly test himself and see where he's at.

And Kendall Grove vs. Mark Munoz was easily the Fight of the Night. Grove looked to have the fight finished a few times in the first round, only for Munoz to hang in there and come out in the 2nd banging, unfortunately putting my main man Kendall Grove away. But, regardless... with fights like this, Grove will definitely keep his spot in the UFC. The guy never has a boring fight.

All in all, this show will be remembered for one reason and one reason only: The dethroning of BJ Penn, Anderson Silva's performance will be forgotten once Silva starts beating people like he did Forrest, Hendo, Marquardt, Lutter, etc., and Matt Hughes vs. Renzo Gracie I don't think will cause any rumblings in the Welterweight Division.

 

[jmt225]

Okay, to follow up on my post, I just came across the BJ/Edgar Fight Metric results, and it's very interesting.

Now, for those who don't know about Fight Metric, here is what it's all about:

FightMetric is the first-ever comprehensive mixed martial arts evaluation system. The system derives its philosophy from the very essence of MMA. The genesis of competitive mixed martial arts was to separate the fighting styles and techniques that work and discard the ones that don't. As the sport has evolved, the modern mixed martial artist may have his particular strength in one style or another, but successful fighters must master each of the truly effective striking and grappling arts.

In a similar vein, the FightMetric system is designed to focus analysis only on the techniques and situations that truly matter in ending fights. By discarding cosmetically different occurrences (like measuring punches versus kicks) in favor of those factors that actually contribute to fight endings (like measuring head strikes versus body strikes), we can arrive at a clearer picture of a fighter's performance. And with that, we can open the door to a whole new method of analyzing fights and fighters; one rooted in data and demonstrated effectiveness rather than in gut feelings and bandwagon jumping.

Now, that you have a clear idea of the goal of the site is, check out the results for BJ Penn vs. Frankie Edgar:

http://www.fightmetric.com/fights/Edgar-Penn.html

Fight Metric is highly, highly regarded, but it is still not exactly full proof. Don't get me wrong, everything they say is completely accurate, but you still don't get a feel of who landed the harder shots, etc.

With that said, from a technical standpoint, BJ Penn clearly won that fight. I mean, head shots alone BJ had over 20 more. And of course those count more than anything perhaps other than takedowns (which Frankie only got 1 out of 13).

But anyway, my point isn't that BJ should have won. Maybe he should have, maybe he shouldn't have, but the fact of the matter is that this fight was very, very close, and if BJ Penn isn't granted an immediate rematch for the title (if he wants it, that is), then that will truly be a shame.

 

[Mufasa]

I didn't really like the show.

The only fight that really did anything for me was Kendall Grove vs. Mark Munoz. I loved the come from behind victory, the determination, and the sick ground and pound from Mark Munoz. He took some punishment in all of those failed takedown attempts. When he finally had him where he wanted him though he pounded the crap out of Kendall Grove.

It's nice that Hughes won his fight, and he did so convincingly but it was just three rounds of slow movement and leg kicks until Gracie was so wobbly he couldn't really fight back anymore.

Anderson Silva really should have just finished the fight in the third round after he was done taunting him.

I thought Edgar won his fight. It was close, and he was the one that set the pace of the fight and dictated what happened in it. BJ just didn't look like he even really wanted to be there. He's capable of fighting a lot better than that. He's capable of destroying a guy like Edgar.

The Davis fight was alright. I really liked the submission finish.

 

[Rizza]

Holy shit fellas, I have been locked out for a week, or I would have hit this thread up along time ago.

First thing first, what a strange main event, there is really nothing I can say that hasn't been said about this, so I will just say, A. Silva is a head case. Why the hell wouldn't you finish fight, and why would you run from a guy that on a scale on 1-10 of striking is a about 5 or 6 when you are a 12? Demain really didn't impress me, his shots where not really worth writing about. The 5th round he went for it though, a little late to win a fight, yes. A little late to display heart and the fucking will to win, hell no, as he did just that, the dude fought off of his fucking knees to Silva for Christ sake. This fight has shown me though there is no reason why Maia should really have trouble with too many other people in the division. His chin isn't glass like they thought after Nate, (Silva could have finished, by overwhelming him, but Maia didn't go out to the flying Knee), and the took a few good shots in the first part of the fight, and fought a large part of the fight with one eye. Funny note, my friends who I watched the fight with ,(who are all Brazilians), explained to me that Silva called Maia a "playboy" which in Brazil is like a pampered Mommas boy apparently, and he made remarks about Maia being a rich boy or something of that nature. Thats what he was saying in what was I believe the second, or maybe the third, I can't remember what round. Its just how scary Silva is above everybody at 185. Maia is top notch middleweight, and was just outclassed. If anybody even has a chance at him its Belfort, and thats just a punchers chance. I see Sonnen, as much as I would like him to live up to his obligation to punch Silva in the face, getting just destroyed.

As for Frankie and Penn, it was close, real close, I thought Penn took it. Looking forward to the rematch though, but I am scared for Frankie when he meets Baby Jay the next time, BJ is gonna be ready as ever I think.

The Hughes-Renzo fight was messed up, just because it pissed off every Brazilian at my house. Not even them proving me wrong when I said Dos Anjos was about to get his ass kicked through the canvas by Etim, could stop them from being as angry as they were when Renzo was stopped. Shit was thrown at my TV they were so damn pissed. I was mad too though, but unlike them I expected Renzo to lose.