UFC 129: St. Pierre vs. Shields

[Turd Ferguson]

[YOUTUBE]WbvpdWpqQw4[/YOUTUBE]

MAIN CARD

• Welterweight Championship: Georges St. Pierre vs. Jake Shields
• Featherweight Championship: Jose Aldo vs. Mark Hominick
• Light Heavyweight bout: Randy Couture vs. Lyoto Machida
• Lightweight bout: Benson Henderson vs. Mark Bocek
• Light Heavyweight bout: Jason Brilz vs. Vladimir Matyushenko

Preliminary Card (Spike TV)

• Welterweight bout: Nate Diaz vs. Rory MacDonald
• Welterweight bout: Brian Foster vs. Sean Pierson

Preliminary Card (Facebook/Untelevised)

• Featherweight bout: Yves Jabouin vs. Pablo Garza
• Welterweight bout: Claude Patrick vs. Daniel Roberts
• Lightweight bout: John Makdessi vs. Kyle Watson
• Middleweight bout: Jason MacDonald vs. Ryan Jensen
• Bantamweight bout: Ivan Menjivar vs. Charlie Valencia

Our main event pits Georges St. Pierre against Jake Shields in a matchup between two top ten pound for pound fighters. To be 100% honest, I don't see how GSP loses this fight. Shields may be world class on the ground, but so was BJ Penn and we all saw what happened when GSP and Penn squared off. GSP's wrestling and top control is out of this world. Sure, Jake Shields has some extremely good wrestling himself, but do you honestly see Shields taking GSP down? Furthermore, to go with his elite wrestling, GSP has some elite striking as well. Jake Shields has average, at best, standup skills. I can see GSP keeping this fight standing, outpointing Shields by using his speed, power, and reach advantage, never getting too close for Shields to secure a takedown.

Is Jake Shields one of the best in the world? Absolutely. However, Georges St. Pierre is THE best in the world. The only weakness in his game that people keep bringing up is his chin. The last time he was KOed was four years ago, and he took Serra way too lightly in that fight. Do you honestly see Shields knocking GSP out? GSP will likely take this via decision, and go on to fight Anderson Silva by the end of the year.

Our co-main event pits Jose Aldo defending his Featherweight Championship against Mark Hominick, who will have the Canadian crowd on his side. What makes this card so awesome is that two of the top three pound for pound fighters will be fighting on this card. Despite Hominick being VERY impressive lately, this is a fight to give Aldo the most exposure he possibly could have. There is no chance in hell Hominick is going to win this. Aldo has elite level striking and grappling. Hominick has no grappling skills to speak of, and his striking is nowhere close to the level of Jose Aldo's. Furthermore, Shawn Tompkins is his trainer and he may be the anti-Greg Jackson in terms of gameplanning. There's a reason why Vitor Belfort left his camp with two weeks to go before his title fight with Anderson Silva. He's awful, and I'm expecting an absolutely brutal KO in the first round by Aldo. Sure, Hominick looked great against George Roop. It's fucking George Roop. I think any of us could knock out George Roop.

In a fight that could main event a PPV, Randy Couture vs. Lyoto Machida gets third billing. Dana White's stated that with a loss, Machida could possibly be cut. While I don't think he'll be cut, it's worth mentioning that any UFC fighter at any given time could be sent down to Strikeforce.

We're going to see what happens with that situation. I believe Randy Couture will pull this win off and find himself next in line for a title shot with a win. The problem with the way Machida fought against Rampage is that he was too cautious. He was probably being cautious to avoid the huge strike that would knock him out by Rampage, but I can see him, again, being over-cautious with his job being potentially on the line.

Machida is a lethal counter-puncher. He tries to force his opponents to engage with him. The problem here is that Couture is way too smart for that, and will not fight the fight Machida wants to have. Machida's downfall here is going to be his footwork. Machida's stance leaves him wide open for a single leg takedown, and I expect Couture to capitalize on that. Couture will be smart, patient, pick his spots, and take a decision win over Machida.

Benson Henderson vs. Mark Bocek should be a very interesting and fun battle on the ground. Bocek has been cruising lately and has been the only fighter in awhile to really challenge Jim Miller. Henderson has the standup advantage and may want to keep the fight standing, but when the fight goes to the ground, it's really a tossup. I think this is easily the toughest fight to call on the card. If I had to call it right now, I'd say Henderson by an extremely close decision.

 

[X]

I'm pretty excited for this card, not just for the main event, but especially for the Couture-Machida fight. I think alot of people are underrating Machida and he might just shock some people by taking out Couture. Just a feeling. I hope I'm wrong as I've always liked Randy, but we'll see. Throw in Aldo-Hominick and (obviously) the main event and this looks like a great card. Looking forward to seeing Diaz on the prelims as well, it seems like the Diaz brothers always get stuck on the Spike prelims, what's with that?

Looks like I chose a pretty good time to get back into MMA, the next few cards look pretty good, including this one.

 

[Buffalo Dave]

I'm pretty excited for this card, not just for the main event, but especially for the Couture-Machida fight. I think alot of people are underrating Machida and he might just shock some people by taking out Couture. Just a feeling. I hope I'm wrong as I've always liked Randy, but we'll see. Throw in Aldo-Hominick and (obviously) the main event and this looks like a great card. Looking forward to seeing Diaz on the prelims as well, it seems like the Diaz brothers always get stuck on the Spike prelims, what's with that?

Looks like I chose a pretty good time to get back into MMA, the next few cards look pretty good, including this one.

Really? From discussion around here and other people I've talked to, have Machida the favorite in this fight. I really don't feel it would be much of a shock if Machida beat it Couture at all. Couture is a legend no doubt, but his last few fights have been iffy. Won the Vera fight, that most likely should've went to Vera, beat old man Coleman, and took out Toney. Now he's fighting a top 5 LHW in the World. Randy is literally gonna have to wrestle him to the ground and lay n pray him for the fight to ge the win, Machida wins the stand up all day. Still gonna be a great fight to see though.

 

[Fizzy]

This is possibly the best card the UFC has ever put on. GSP/Shields should be a great fight. I would take GSP 9/10 times, but I can't count out Shields. Sometimes it may be ugly, but he wins, and he wins a lot. Jose Aldo is my favorite fighter to watch in MMA. He brings it every single fight, and is a fucking beast. I'm guessing we'll have a brutal KO on our hands come April 30th. Hominick is good no doubt, but Aldo is on another planet entirely. People talk about Hominick's boxing, but in reality his striking isn't on the level of Aldo's, and his ground game is lacking. Aldo should destroy, and aside from a lucky punch, I see him retaining with ease.

I believe 95% of fans are saying Machida will win easily. Randy is old, and his chin isn't what it used to be. That said I will never bet against Randy Couture, and no matter who he is facing I will pick him to win. I have the uttermost confidence in him that he will win this fight. Randy Couture will walk away victorious, and I cannot wait to see it.

The other two fights should be great as well. It really is a fantastic card, and the crowd will be crazy. Going to be a phenomenal night.

 

[X]

Really? From discussion around here and other people I've talked to, have Machida the favorite in this fight.

Really? I figured Couture was the favorite based on an MMA radio show I caught earlier on ESPN Radio. I've been out of the loop with MMA the last six months or so, still would check out the PPV main events every so often but I started watching some old PRIDE events I had taped off Fox Sports years back and I've gotten back into the sport, so I still have some catching up to do I guess.

Main event for this show looks good I must say. Last time I saw Shields he was still tearing it up in Strikeforce, so I'm really interested to see how he matches up with a beast like St. Pierre.

 

[Fizzy]

Yea radio shows, and reports for major sites will sometimes make it seem like the more popular fighter is the favorite. Randy is one of the most popular, and recognizable figures in MMA, so it does not surprise me that they made it seem that way. The general thought with most fans is that Machida will win pretty handily. You did pick a fantastic time to get back into MMA. If you haven't seen UFC 128 yet than I would suggest you watch that somehow. Some fantastic fights, and an awesome, and shocking main event.

 

[jmt225]

Well, we also have to keep in mind that Xfear was listening to ESPN, who knows jackshit about MMA. While I appreciate they at least try covering the sport, they really haven't the first clue as to what the fuck they're talking about.

Machida is definitely the favorite going into this fight. You go to any MMA forum and the ONLY people giving Randy Couture a chance are his die-hard fans. But, people who remain unbiased like myself (which I know is rare for me but that is the case here, lol), believe that Couture will get destroyed and it will be the final nail in his MMA coffin. Machida is just a bad match-up for him. He's too elusive and strong, and all it will take for the fight to be over is Machida to connect with Randy's chin just one time.

 

[Toxs]

Trailer looks great.

I've been going with my gut lately when it comes to the Main Event fights and it's not working. Imma go with the smart choice and pick GSP over Jake. I see it going the same way GSP beat Fitch by decision.

Aldo's being fed Hominick and I see Machida running around for 2 rounds before being reminded that the judges are stupid and taking out Coture in the third.

 

[JWGunslinger]

Matyushenko vs Brilz-
This fight is going to a decision. Brilz gained alot of fans after his last fight against Lil Nog and I personally believe he is going to pull this one off. Vladimir is an old war horse who i've looked up to for many years and respect very much but I just see Jason being too much for him and losing a close decision. Most fans wont pay much attention to this one but it should be a pretty interesting fight. If Vlad wins it wont mean much for the rankings but Brilz gained some fans after the Nog fight and I would like to see what he could do against tougher competition. BRILZ BY DECISION

Bocek vs Henderson-
This is the match i'm going to be looking at for Fight of the Night. Bendo is one of the best fighters to come out of the WEC merger and is definitely in the top 10 lightweights in the UFC. Even though he's coming off losing his WEC title to Anthony Pettis up until that fight Ben has beat some of the best and I believe his submission defense and grappling power will cancel out Bocek's power and help him at least secure a decision. The only thing that could interfere with my prediction is the fact that Bocek seems to get better every time we see him, he's come a long way from being dominated by Mac Danzig but I think he's biting off more than he can chew with Benson Henderson. HENDERSON BY SUBMISSION

Randy Couture vs Lyoto Machida-
First I will say that I am one of the biggest fans of Captain America that you will ever meet, when I met him it was literally one of the greatest moments of my life so this is a hard match for me to call. I'm not going to question his age because every time people do he proves that it will not stop him from winning. Randy has not fought a legit fighter since Brandon Vera at UFC 105 and that fight was friggin close. Since then he has defeated an over the hill Mark Coleman and a fish out of water in James Toney. Also his lawyers and family have been putting tons of pressure on him to get out of fighting and focus more on hollywood and making movies. Meanwhile Lyoto is training and motivated like never before after two straight losses killing his perfect record and tarnishing his reputation. If Randy really does have the perfect gameplan to take out the dragon then I would be more than happy to see him pull this off, i do believe if he can use the traditional Couture dirty boxing against the cage and take him down a few times we could be looking at a Couture decision. Whoever loses this fight is most likely leaving the UFC for different reasons so both men will come out guns blazing. COUTURE BY DECISION

Jose Aldo vs Mark Hominick-
This will be Jose's first title defense since his WEC featherweight title became the UFC Featherweight title so this may be the first time alot of fans see this guy fight. I will tell you what, those fans are going to get their money's worth! Jose is without a doubt the best Featherweight in the world and one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world. He will be facing Mark Hominick.....the only reason Mark Hominick even gets a chance to step in the octagon with Aldo is the Featherweight division is dry and there is no man who is a legitimate threat to Aldo's gold. Hominick is a good fighter but is not even close to the same level as the champ and his win over George Roop was impressive but Roop cannot be called a serious win to anyone but maybe a Strikeforce fighter. ALDO BY KO

Georges St. Pierre vs Jake Sheilds
Ahhh the main event! I remember my first UFC Pay Per View back in 04. UFC 50 was a hell of a card and that was the first time I saw the future dominant champion and one of the best fighters in UFC history, Georges St. Pierre. You cannot find a more dedicated, more respectful or more impressive man than GSP, he is a great role model for kids, other fighters and is the perfect cover boy to educate the world on MMA. Since winning back his title at UFC 83 Georges has defended his title flawlessly 5 times now he is finally facing a guy who is going to give him some serious problems. Jake Sheilds is on a very impressive 15 fight win streak over some of the best men in the world and is ready to give GSP hell on the 30th. I personally did not think too much of Sheilds until he defeated Dan Henderson, that fight I realized that he was a threat to anyone at his weight. He won a decision against the king of losing bad decisions Martin Kampmann, and though he didnt look amazing in that fight I still believe he is going to be a tough test for Georges. That being said I believe if GSP attacks Jake's weak striking and avoids ending up on his back then he can take this by decision like in the Koscheck fight or even score a TKO on Sheilds. I have heard GSP promise a finish and end up with another decision like the last time so i'm not getting my hope up but i'm gonna go out on a limb for the champ. ST.PIERRE BY TKO

 

[INDYjon22]

Man I am excited for this show. The video package is absolutely sick, I love every second of that bad boy. And while I think GSP will win, part of me believe that Shields will be able to pull off the major upset, part of that is thanks to JMT and the other part is because of the weight advantage Shields will undoubtedly have over GSP. Neither guy is exactly a finisher so I do believe this will go to decision and that is something Shields is excellent at. He knows exactly how to grind a guy out in way to a decision victory. GSP is tenacious though and if he can keep the fight standing then I firmly believe he will dominate the stand up. Should be a nice chess match to watch.

Aldo vs. Hominick should be an awesome stand up war. Both guys like to strike and Hominick will definitely be the fan favorite since he is from Canada. But, I don't think Hominick is the guy who is going to unseat Aldo. Jose is just to well rounded and to dangerous for Hominick to take out.

The Couture vs. Machida fight is really make or break for Machida. Dana has said that is Lyoto loses he will get cut and while I don't actually believe Machida will get cut if he loses it definitely adds extra pressure to him for this fight. It would be great to see Couture ride off in the sunset with a victory over Machida, but I personally don't see that happening. Machida has the kind of striking that gives Couture problems, see the second and third Liddell fights for further evidence. Machida's counter striking and elusiveness is what will get him the win, but if the fight hits the mat then Couture will win.

I love both Bendo and Mark Bocek and this should be a solid fight. Bocek is a submission guy, but Bendo is really flexible and that is his key to victory. If he can either stay out of submissions or use his flexibility to get out of it he will pick Bocek apart on the feet. I expect Bendo to KO or TKO Bocek by the second round.

I like Maty but his fight with Brilz doesn't really interest me at all. Both guys are very solid and I could see the fight going either way. Gun to my head I will say Maty takes the win by decision.

I don't really have much to say about the undercard except that I can't wait to see Nate Diaz and Jason McDonald fight. Both guys are very exciting and make their fights more exciting by just being in them. Should be very entertaining.

 

[Uncle Chester]

Jake Shields vs Georges St Pierre

Our main event is an exciting fight between two cautious, predictable and more often than not, boring fighters. The fights offers little to no entertainment but it does offer to a very very small extent, a somewhat interesting fight. That interest being of course whether GSP will TKO Shields or decision him. The problem with Shields is that GSP is better at a part of fighting that is at the centre of Shields' gameplan: wrestling. The ONLY way I see Shields pulling out a win is through either cage humping or jiu jitsu but GSP is probably too good to lose via the former. That leaves us with Shields' only weapon in the fight, and that weapon will be rendered useless by GSP's jiu jitsu. Mayhem was able to easily survive and hold his own against the ground game of Shields which is an indicator that GSP will do the same, and when considering how Mayhem destroyed Shields in the stand up; GSP will have a field day. St Pierre will win with either TKO, which I'm hoping for, or the probable ending: decision.

Jose Aldo vs Mark Hominick

This is going to be the true main event in my eyes. I have never seen Aldo fight while watching a full card but even so I have seen those incredible youtube clips which easily makes Aldo an instant favourite. Hominick is destroyer with his boxing but like many I believe he will end up with purple thighs and his head bouncing of the canvas. Will be an awesome fight.

Lyoto Machida vs Randy Couture

Machida's too quick, too agile for Randy. Couture will try and clinch while Machida punches him and quickly scurries away. Very interesting fight. I firmly believe Lyoto will win but Couture's done crazier things. War Machida!!!!!

 

[jmt225]

So it's the day of the fight, and I still have no clue how the main event of this show will progress. I see three scenarios:

1. We see a fight similar to GSP/Koscheck, with GSP throwing countless jabs and avoiding Shields' takedown throughout all five rounds.

2. Shields keeps the fight competitive until gassing sometime during the 3rd, with GSP then taking control of the fight from there and going on to win it.

3. Shields out grapples GSP and eventually wins by submission.

Odds are obviously in GSP's favor since he has more to offer than Shields, but I'm still rooting for Shields to win, and I do think it's possible. If GSP does pull off another victory though, I won't be sad. Regardless of my fandom for Shields, I still like GSP a lot and even I can admit that there's currently not a better ambassador for the sport than him. Also, if GSP wins, that makes it the more likely of a Nick Diaz/GSP showdown, which of course is something I would absolutely LOVE to see.

Jose Aldo vs. Mark Hominick is nowhere near as unpredictable as the main event, since it's evident that Aldo will simply kick Hominick's ass. There's nothing more else to say about this fight.

I've already expressed my thoughts on the Machida/Couture fight a few times on this board, and my mind has not changed... Machida will dominate the fight and knock Couture's ass out. I will be fucking SHOCKED at any other outcome.

And the only other fights on the show I give a damn about are Nate Diaz vs. Rory MacDonald (WAR Diaz, of course), and Claude Patrick vs. Daniel Roberts (Roberts is an up-and-coming Cesar Gracie fighter, so of course I'm keeping my eye on him and rooting for him to do well tonight).

Should be a decent show, but much like Strikeforce's show earlier this month (Diaz vs. Daley), it's simply a night for Cesar Gracie fighters. Hopefully those guys have the same kind of success their teammates had a few weeks ago, and establish their team as the absolute best in MMA.

 

[X]

Pretty good show tonight. I missed both the Facebook and Spike prelims, but I'm downloading them right now so I'll check those out later and maybe comment on them.

Missed the finish of the Henderson-Bocek fight, but from what I saw it was a pretty successful UFC debut for Ben Henderson. I've become a fan of his from going back and watching old WEC shows recently, so I'm glad he's in the UFC now.

Had no interest in Matyushenko-Brilz fight, so I was glad to see it over within 20 seconds. Impressive performance from Matyushenko.

I was confident Machida would take care of Couture pretty easily, but I had no idea he'd knock him out in such glorious fashion. Definitely one of the sickest flying kicks I've ever seen in my life, and Randy was clearly out the moment it connected. Sad to see Randy retire if he doesn't change his mind this time, but as a Machida fan I can't say I was too upset by the fight'.

Aldo-Hominick was a great fight, highlighted (I guess?) by the most grotesque hematoma I've ever seen in an MMA fight on Hominick's head. I have no idea how they let him keep fighting, but credit to Hominick for continuing through. Aldo clearly won the first four rounds and the fight, but Hominick got a second wind in the fifth round and dominated, showing a ton of heart. The scary thing about this fight? Aldo was clearly tired midway through the second round, and he still dominated a world class fighter like Hominick even though he clearly wasn't at his best. I would like to say though that the one judge that scored the fight 50-43 had to be hallucinating or something to come to that score.

GSP vs. Shields was a bit of a disappointment. Shields game-plan, which seemingly should have been to try and take the fight to the ground, seemed nonexistant and GSP just knocked him around for most of the fight with those jabs again. Kind of a boring fight honestly, and GSP retains again. I was really hoping for a lot more from Shields tonight. Is this it for GSP in the welterweight division? Does he move up to fight Anderson Silva now?

All in all a fairly entertaining show.

 

[Mekanik Kommandoh]

In my opinion, a disappointing main event couldn't put a damper on what was an excellent event for the UFC.

The only prelim I caught was the Diaz/MacDonald fight and DAMN what a fight it was. I'm not a huge Nate Diaz fan (though I am very high on Nick...no pun intended), but I was rooting for him here. No luck, as MacDonald fucking destroyed him. Three suplexes? Shit. Great fight.

The Henderson/Bocek fight was also pretty damn entertaining. I could tell Bendo had a chip on his shoulder coming into this fight given he was on the receiving end of Pettis's kick and I'd say he bounced back successfully from it. Damn fine way to start the main card and I'm happy he won.

Didn't give a flying fuck about the Janitor/Brliz fight and too am glad it ended so early. It was a rather humorous knockout, especially when Brilz started arguing and yet was still asking "What happened?"

No disrespect to Randy Couture, but I love Lyoto Machida and was rooting hard for him going into this fight - so hard that I knew 100% that he was going to win. Well, he won, and he did it in spectacular fashion. That kick was even better than Silva's and I'd say that Machida is officially back. Easily one of the best knockouts I've ever seen and, in its own morbid way, the perfect send off for Randy.

Loved Aldo vs. Hominick. Jose Aldo is just a fucking beast. Yeah, he didn't look as dominating as usual, but the fact that he was coming back from injury and supposedly a bad weight cut and still dominated Hominick for the first four rounds is damn telling of his ability. It goes without saying, but that hematoma was just grisly. Major props to Hominick though. He's one tough bastard to not only keep going after that beating but actually give Aldo a scare in the 5th round. I too thought the 50-43 score was nuts, but apparently it was misread. It was actually 48-46 I believe, which makes a lot more sense.

Now, onto the main event. Honestly, I was pissed when watching this at the bar and pretty much all of my frustration was going towards GSP, who is probably my second favorite fighter. He had multiple opportunities to finish the fight and clearly didn't even try to. I don't care that he mostly wins by decision, but after he nailed Shields with that kick in the fourth, I was utterly shocked he just let him get back up. Now, of course, I know that he couldn't see out of his left eye for three rounds and that affected his game. And, he still dominated, which is always nice to see as a GSP fan. Still, I expected so much more out of this fight and it didn't deliver at all.

What in the hell was Shields thinking? That couldn't have been his game plan. Very few welterweights can give GSP a run for his money standing up and Shields sure as hell isn't one of those guys. If one thinks the fight was boring (and I'd agree with you), then Shields deserves just as much blame as GSP because he basically gave up early in the fight by refusing to even attempt to take St-Pierre down.

Great event otherwise. I'm still kind of miffed about the main event and I wonder where GSP goes from here, but I'm more than satisfied given that every other fight I saw delivered. .

 

[Window Licker 101]

Minus the main event this was possibly the greatest UFC event ever in my opinion.

GSP just proved he cannot finish fights. It is scandalous that Jake Shields can compete at this level of MMA with his striking ability but then again it is a testament to how good his ground game really is. Anyway nothing really note worthy other than GSP/Koscheck II replay minus the swollen eye and GSP was actually fucked up. No idea how pillow hands Shields could bust up GSP but hey ho.

The co-main event for the featherweight title was an epic fight. I loved this! Hominick and Aldo made up for the dampner that would occur later on in the night. I think Hominick's entrance to "I'm coming home" with the huge Canada flag with snow falling was the best UFC entrance ever. It gave me goosebumps. Aldo's striking was fierce and only an elite kickboxer like Hominick can stand infront of him and just take those onslaught of leg kicks. I had Aldo winning the first two rounds before Hominick started taking it to him in the third. Hominick stiffled Aldo's takedown (I was surprised to see Jose try to take this to the mat) and was lighting him up on the feet before getting rocked. Round 4 started and same again except Aldo gets in Hominick's guard and plasters him with elbows. Cue the ugliest hematoma in UFC history. Holy fuck it looked like Hominick had a golf ball underneath his forehead! Credit the dudes heart, he was offered to quit twice and continued to fight. Round five was possbily one of my favourite rounds in MMA history. Aldo was taken down by Hominick and Jose, who at this point was completely gassed from the weight cut, just lay back and ate Hominick's punches. The fans were going mental for every strike landed. I really thought Hominick was away to finish off Aldo. It reminded me of Chael Sonnen/Anderson Silva almost. Great scene at the end when they both do push-ups together. Incredible fight, great sportsmanship. Wouldn't mind a rematch or Aldo taking on Chad Mendes or the winner of Florian/Nunes. Wow!

Holy fucking shit. That was my reaction to when Lyoto Machida pulled off a flying crane karate kick to Randy Couture knocking Randy out cold and one of his front teeth! I thought this was a bad match-up for Captain America but he has been wanting this fight since Machida won the belt at UFC 98 so it made me think he had a card up his sleeve. I've always liked Machida and believe he is a top 3 lightheavyweight despite Rampage squeaking out decision at UFC 123. The first round was like any Machida fight. Elusive and hard for his opponents to get their hands on him. Randy said in his corner Machida was "Slippery." Round two was over rather quickly. I tweeted thirty seconds before Machida kicked Couture's head off "Lyoto is like a praying mantis." and how right I was. In the replay, Machida dropped his arms, got into position and let fly. Knockout of the year right there. Sad to see Couture leave the octagon like that however he is one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time and will be missed by all fans. Thank you Randy.

Blink and you'll miss it was the motto for Vladimir Matyushenko against Jason Brilz. I hold my hand up and admit, I thought this was going to be a three round snooze fest but wow Vlady just cracked Brilz with one punch and it was over. Brilz was arguing that he wasn't out but any intelligent person would agree he was lying limp on the canvas. Good stoppage, well done "The Janitor!" Defying father time once again.

Mark Bocek/Bendo was a fantastic fight to open up the PPV card. Back and forth action between two phenomenal athletes. Bendo is honestly made of rubber, dude is flexible as fuck! By the way did anyone else notice Bendo's new ink? I thought it was hideous. Any way back to the fight and basically Bendo out struck Bocek on the feet, cutting him with elbows to the head and punishing him with knees to the body. Bocek tried to sub Bendo several times but I think it is literally impossible to sub the dude. Just ask Donald Cerrone.

I loved the match between MacDonald and Diaz. I thought stylistically, it made perfect sense and wow Rory MacDonald delivered. Through the first two rounds he controlled Diaz and utilised the superman punch and leg kick combo to his advantage to win the rounds. Enter round three and Rory "The Human Suplex Machine" MacDonald took full control. With three german suplexs that Kurt Angle would have been proud of, MacDonald threw Diaz around the octagon with ease. That is the most incredible suplexs I've seen ever. More so than when Dan Severn threw around Anthony Macias at UFC 4 but what made MacDonald's performance more impressive was Diaz is the same weight as the guy unlike Severn who was 100lbs heavier than Macias. Anyway fantastic showing by Rory MacDonald. Definitely one for the future.

Speaking of the future, Jake Ellenberger looks to be a legit threat in the Welterweight division. Taking the fight on 17 days notice to replace the injured Brian Foster (Foster recieved a crushed testicle and brain hemmorage in training, poor guy) Ellenberger tore through Canada's own, Sean Pierson. Solid KO and moves Ellenberger up the WW ladder especially after his mediocore performance at UFC 126 against Carlos Eduardo Rocha.

Nothing special about Daniel Roberts/Claude Patrick. Patrick out grappled Roberts and Roberts had serious cardio problems. The slowest "Ninja" I've ever seen.

That was sick when they shown the replay of Ivan Menjivar destroying Charlie Valencia's nose. Sharp elbow right to the bridge of the nose. Yikes. I think Valencia may be getting cut after his recent loss. Brutal TKO by Ivan Menjivar, who was GSP's first ever opponent back in 2002.

The jiu-jitsu shown by Jason MacDonald was absolutely beautiful. What a slick triangle choke. My third favourite submission of the year behind Zombie's twister and Garza's flying triangle. The way he tied up Jensen's arms and worked his way into the perfect position to hook up the triangle was great. Jensen tried a Rampage style slam which only made the choke tighter for himself. The Athlete is back, Jensen is likely to be released by the UFC after his record in the UFC stands at 2-7.

John Makdessi must be so pissed. His highlight reel spinning backfist KO of TUF Alumni Kyle Watson didn't earn him KO of the night. On any other night that would be a sure winner of KOTN but there was something special at this event. Anyways, Kyle Watson has some major holes on his standup and Makdessi exploited that with his arsenal of unique kicks. If you see his fight with Pat Audinwood back at UFC 124, you would know Makdessi loves to throw very unusual and difficult kicks to unsettle his opponents. After cruising through two rounds, Makdessi put the icing on the cake with a Shonie Carter style spinning back fist. I think (someone can correct me if I'm wrong) this is only the second spinning backfist KO in UFC history? Nevermind, unlucky Makdessi. Amazing KO and good victory for a young stud.

If Makdessi's spinning backfist was the second ever then Pablo Garza's flying trianlge has to be a first. My goodness! I didn't think it was possible. Having previously seen Seth Dikun's flying triangle on Rolando Perez at WEC 41 I never thought I could see something more crisp and beautiful than the one pulled off by Garza. What makes things even better was Jabouin was demolishing him on the feet. Two leg kicks had completely folded up Garza. Garza managed to clinch up and hook up a flying triangle. Well I never. Upon gaining the choke, Garza adjusted and about 30 seconds later the fight was over. I enjoyed this flying triangle more than Dikun's because Dikun took about three minutes to hook it up and by the time it had all happened the magic of intially hitting the flying triangle had worn off. Pablo Garza the rightful owner of the $129,000 submission of the night bonus

Overall I felt this card was impressive top to bottom. GSP finishing Shields would have made this a full 10/10 but it recieves a 9.5/10 for me. Do more stadium shows UFC, production wise, this one looked insane.

 

[X]

Just watched the Diaz-Rory fight from the prelims, holy SHIT that was a great fight and I was in disbelief at how Rory just manhandled him and gave him Kurt Angle's rolling Germans legitimately! Seriously, that's what it looked like to me with all of those crazy suplexes he was just tossing Diaz around, nuts. First thing I thought of was Angle's rolling Germans and I had to chuckle. I'm absolutely shocked to see Nate dominated like that though.

 

[Cookie]

I don't know how to really start talking about my UFC 129 experience so I'll just start typing and see where it takes me. And if you have any specific questions about the event, let me know! I won't go into analysis of the fights and just give an overview of my thoughts otherwise this will end up being way too long.

First of all, the city of Toronto had been buzzing with energy the entire week leading up to this event and it was amazing- I ran into Rashad Evans at the mall, was able to meet Kos, Fitch, Bader and Royce Gracie at Dundas Square and witnessed the complete mob scene that happened when Dana White appeared to give out free tickets. Everybody was amped for this event... it was seriously the talk of the town all week.

I was in the cheap seats at the upper level and it was actually amazing. Everyone up there was super lively and energetic, you could look over the entire stadium, and I had a view of tons of high quality screens so I didn't miss out on any details. It was SO loud. I'm watching the telecast of the event now and there's no way what you hear is an accurate representation of how deafening it got in there, especially as we got to the bigger fights and bigger names.

And um, holy shit... what an amazing night of fights it was. I've never witnessed so many exciting finishes back to back and to see it all go down live? Absolutely incredible. I'll just go over the main card but yes, Garza's flying triangle submission and Makdessi's spinning back fist were fucking CRAZY and everyone went nuts. It was basically a 55,000+ collective mark out.

Henderson vs Bocek - Sweet reception for the hometown boy Bocek. Great fight as well. Lots of action for three rounds, lots of energy from both guys, and there wasn't really a dull moment.

Matyushenko vs Brilz - Pretty sure I could hear the sound of people running back to their seats from concession once this one ended early. Nobody cared about this fight and considered it the beer and/or pee break fight but it was a sweet KO. I'm glad I stayed in my seat. I'm also glad I didn't blink.

Couture vs Machida - I was really excited for this one because I really like Lyoto (and Randy) and really wanted an exciting finish and did it ever deliver. I don't think I'll forget that kick for a long time. Especially seeing the replay on the huge screens and really seeing it connect... damn. Everybody went insane and continued to go insane for some time afterward. It's never nice to see someone's career end but it was obviously to a very worthy opponent and it was a fucking sick KO. It was incredible to be a part of the 55,000 person standing ovation for Randy - great moment and a massive send out and thank you to an amazing fighter.

Aldo vs Hominick - Man, this was a great fight. I thought Aldo was going to totally dominate but it was more of a fight than that. Everyone was screaming and going crazy in the 5th round during Hominick's flurry. And that forehead, that scary, scary forehead. Pretty sure you could see that lump from where I was sitting.

St. Pierre vs Shields - I don't want to say too much about this because I'm pretty annoyed at all the "St. Pierre is boring" shit that's circulating the internet right now. I agree it was the least exciting fight of the evening but it was glorious to see GSP win in Toronto. Lots of Canadian pride and lots of celebrations were going down after his win. To all those thinking he disappointed his fans - he's on the front cover of all the newspapers and most of the response has been really positive. He's still the champ, afterall.

So to sum it all up, I'm so glad I attended and I would (and will) do it again. It was the most incredible sporting experience I've ever had the pleasure of being a part of live. Well worth the money and the crowd dodging that took place afterwards as I attempted to get to public transit. Can't wait for the next one.

 

[Fizzy]

Bitter sweet night for me. Bitter fucking sweet I tell you. Overall it was a great night of fights. I was throughly entertained throughout every fight including GSP's. We had a bunch of memorable finishes and the end of my favorite fighters career...

Bendo/Bocek was a very solid opening fight. Bocek is no joke especially on the ground and Bendo really impressed me pretty much dominating him. He wasn't afraid to be on the ground with Bocek and showed that he can actually hang with him. Bendo's flexibility is insane. It's almost like he cannot be subbed. He is like fucking rubber. Next for him i'd like to see a Pettis rematch if Guida beats him. The first fight was fantastic and the second fight would be fireworks. As for Bocek, he will be back even though I see him as a gatekeeper at best.

Vladdy/Brillz wasn't very interesting. Nobody really wanted to see this fight and while I like Vladdy, it really shouldn't have been a main card fight. Luckily, he KOed Brillz fairly easily and quickly.

Fuck this next fight. I don't even want to talk about it. All I am going to say is thank you Randy. Thank you for being an inspiration and making me a fan of this great sport. At least you get to retire with your dignity intact.

Aldo/Hominick was a fucking war. I really believe Aldo had a bad weight cut after being out of action for so long. Anybody who has watched this guy knows he wasn't himself. If the Aldo that destroyed Faber had shown up I believe he would have made quick work of Hominick. Anyways, I give all the credit in the world to Mark. He went in there with absolutely nobody giving him a shot and took Aldo to the limit. He looked like an alien doing it, but he fucking did it. He received one of the nastiest bumps I have seen in my life and still wanted to continue. The heart of a true fighter right there. He certainly earned my respect last night.

The main event was interesting. Shields came in with the absolute worst gameplan possible. He barely tried to get a takedown and seemed content with standing with GSP. GSP got his eye fucked up in the process as well which hopefully isn't a bad injury. If GSP just had the killer instinct he had during the second Hughes fight he would be unstoppable. It pains me to see somebody so talented not go for the kill. He still impressed me though as always. I hope Nick Diaz or Anderson Silva is next for him. No other fight makes any sort of sense.

The undercard was amazing. We got a spinning backfist KO, a dude who slammed Nate Diaz three times, and a fucking flying triangle. They were amazing! Guess they all wanted those 129k bonuses.