UFC 137: Penn vs. Diaz

[INDYjon22]

Main Card

• Lightweight Bout: B.J. Penn (No. 9 WW) vs. Nick Diaz (No. 5 WW)
• Heavyweight Bout: Cheick Kongo vs. Matt Mitrione
• Featherweight Bout: Hatsu Hioki vs. George Roop
• Heavyweight Bout: Mirko Filipovic vs. Roy Nelson
• Bantamweight Bout: Jeff Curran vs. Scott Jorgensen

Preliminary Card (Spike TV)

• Lightweight Bout: Dennis Siver vs. Donald Cerrone
• Featherweight Bout: Bart Palaszewski vs. Tyson Griffin

Preliminary Card (Facebook)

• Light Heavyweight Bout: Brandon Vera vs. Eliot Marshall
• Lightweight Bout: Daniel Downes vs. Ramsey Nijem
• Middleweight Bout: Francis Carmont vs. Chris Camozzi
• Middleweight Bout: Dustin Jacoby vs. Clifford Starks

It's a damn shame that the Welterweight title fight had to be scraped because of injury, but at least we still have a very entertaining main event that will be more then sufficient.

BJ Penn has great flexibility, striking, and terrific grappling which is funny because Nick Diaz is just as great in all of those areas. Both men are almost always in exciting fights as well. I worry about a few things though. Penn has never had great conditioning, at least as far as I am concerned, and I wonder if he will gas in the mid second or third round. Obviously a three round fight won't be as worrisome as a 5 round fight, which I really wish this was, but it will be something to watch for. I also hope that the 3 rounds doesn't adversely affect Diaz, since he tends to get better the deeper the fight gets. For all we know the final bell will ring and Diaz will just be beginning to get into the flow of things. It should be an awesome fight, and hopefully neither of the things I am worried about will come into play.

Mitrione vs. Kongo is an odd co-main event but it could be an awesome stand up war. If Kongo were smart he should take this fight to the ground and fight like he did against Paul Buentello. Mitrione is relatively untested on the ground. If it stays standing I think Mitrione could very well KO Kongo, but he will definitely have to watch out for the reach advantage.

Saturday night could be Mirko CroCop's swan song and if so I hope to hell he goes out on top. Roy Nelson is no push over but he is a beatable opponent. CC needs to use his reach advantage to keep that stocky son of a bitch away from him so he doesn't get Stefan Struved. I'm not expecting a KO from CC, but he could squeak out a decision. Nelson on the other hand could very easily KO CC. He has very good power in his hands and if he gets close, it could be goodnight for the Pride legend.

Hioki makes his UFC debut against George Roop. Very winnable fight for the man everyone is claiming to be the guy to defeat Aldo. However, Roop has a tendency of winning fights he shouldn't win. Hioki should be careful of this. Roop is a bum though and I fully expect him to get his ass kicked. I look forward to seeing it go down.

Jorgensen vs. Curran could be a very fun fight but it isn't one I am looking forward to all that much. Jorgensen is a very good fighter and I suspect he will end this fight somewhat early. Curran has never impressed me.

The Prelims should be pretty entertaining. I hate Cerrone but he is never in a boring fight. The same goes for Siver. Put those two together and we should have a very fun fight that will put the winner right into a title contenders fight most likely. The other Prelim is between Bart and Tyson Griffin. Griffin is a spark plug but his career is really on life support. He needs a win. Bart is always a tough fight for anyone.

The only other fight that interests me is Eliot Marshall vs. Brandon Vera. I don't like Vera, though I don't hate him as much as most do, and Marshall is a guy I really like. I hope the Fire Marshall puts Vera to sleep and can continue with his UFC career because the loser is definitely leaving town.

UFC 137 looks like it should be a lot of fun, hopefully it lives up to it. Nick Diaz and CC are worth the watch all on their own, but it does suck that the GSP/Condit fight had to be called off because this card would be all that much better with a belt on the line.

 

[JWGunslinger]

Sad that I didn't post in this one before the event, my gal was flying in from LA so I've been preoccupied but I still checked out the fight and enjoyed most of it.

None of the prelims really did much for me, I was happy that Ramsey picked up a win though.

The Spike card was definitely the highlight of the event, Bart looked excellent in his UFC debut that I have been waiting for way too long. Sad to see Tyson lose again because I do like him but I really like Bart and I was happy to see him take it, especially in such exciting fashion. His finish reminded me alot of Phil Baroni-Dave Menne, Tyson rocked against the cage getting torn apart by Bart's precise bombs. Excellent composure by Palazewski as well, he pounced on Griffin as soon as he was wobbly but chose his shots as crazy as his flurry seemed and it was a thing of beauty.

The best fight to me was definitely Cerrone vs Siver, I like Siver but Cerrone is one of my heroes and seeing him go out there and outclass Dennis was a treat to watch. Don showed that he was the superior striker by tagging the German several times and rocking the shit out of him with a well timed head kick and a great right, and finally finishing it with a Rear Naked Choke for the win.

Main card was decent but not everything I hoped for, all the guys had good fights but I was really hoping to see Mitrione pick up a win or atleast threaten Kongo more but he'll be back. Nick vs BJ was definitely the best fight on the main card, Nick showed why he's one of the best in the world and picked up a great win. Very sad to see both Mirko and BJ retire on the same night, very rough to see two guys i've looked up to for years go out on losses but both men were warriors and they went out like the champs they are.

 

[INDYjon22]

The show as a whole really didn't do anything for me. CroCop losing was a huge bummer, the only redeeming part of it is that I like Roy Nelson. Hopefully Nelson makes the most of this win and turns it into some sort of a good run in the UFC. It's a damn shame to see CC go out with a loss, but it is time to hang it up, especially before he gets seriously hurt.

Penn vs. Diaz was an awesome fight. I give Penn a ton of props, never been a fan, but he has always been a great fighter. He busted Diaz up pretty good in the first round but then he slowed down considerably. After that Diaz did what he does best, pepper his opponent with punches and wear them out. Penn looked tired, but he came out a lot fresher then I thought he would in the third, but Diaz was to much. Can't wait to see Diaz fight GSP in a few months and if this really is the end of Penn's career, though I don't think it is, he sure as hell had a good one and is an all time great.