Just needed a place to voice my opinions on the card.
As for Hominick vs Korean Zombie and Patrick vs Ebersole, I didn't pay much attention. Whether they were good fights involving good fighters, they dont mean much in the grand scheme of things to casual fans.
First, lets talk about Tito vs Little Nog. Tito started out confident like he was the fighter that he was always "told" or hyped that he was, but I sensed it early that Little Nog just had more intensity and a "right" to be in that ocatagon. *While I'm on the subject of Tito, I just want to point out that I feel that the MMA "Legends" of yesterday, don't match up well with the top talent of today. When Joe Rogan speaks about the evolution of MMA, I believe it. If you put a 2003 version of Matt Hughes, Rich Franklin, Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture, Andrei Arlovski, Tito Ortiz etc against the stars of their respective weight classes, it's hard as hell for me to see them winning and/or being as dominant as they were.* But then again, without them paving the way as they did, who knows if MMA would of evolved as it has.
As for Tito, Tito came out confident, but it just looked like Little Nog realized "this guy's got shit" and just went to town on him. A nice stiff knee to the liver seems to do Tito in everytime and Tito just continued to fold as the fight went on eventually being TKO'd by shots to the body in the feetle position.
In the next match, we saw a rematch between TUF coaches Frank Mir and Big Nog. I've been a fan of Mir's for awhile and always wanted to see him come out on top when pitted against Brock Lesnar. Anyway, Mir already held a TKO victory over Big Nog when they first met, but I was nervous because Big Nog was said to have been suffering a staff infection during that fight which might of attributed to why he was easily beaten by Mir in their first fight. So the fight got underway with the usual back and forth as both men eventually ended up in the clinch and though Mir was weathering the store and reversing positions, he was eventually clipped by Nog and it looked as though Mir was on wobbly legs and that Big Nog was going to avenge his loss against Mir. Mir was staggered by a shot by Nog and Nog seemed to jump on him for a submission or a mount, but some how, against the BJJ black belt (Big Nog) Mir managed to turn the fight into a grappling game on the ground as he got ahold of Big Nog's arm and rolled with him. Big Nog fought feverishly to get his arm loose from Mir's grip, but Mir continued to roll and re-take dominant position until the point he snapped on a submission that looked like it broke Big Nog's arm as Mir cranked the life out of it.
Mir won by submission, which puts him back into mainevent/title contention. Atm, there is word that Alistair Overreem is out of UFC 141 VS Brock Lesnar and that Frank Mir will be suplemented in to face Brock Lesnar for the third time, but that's just a rumor at this time. The rumor stated that Alistair had a family problem at first, but then said it was that the athletic commision might have issue with him and performance enhancing drugs.
Mir vs Lesnar III has always been a fight MMA fans have wanted to see and if AO was out of the fight, there is no better guy that I could think of to face Lesnar, then Mir. The two have much history and I'm sure it's a fight most fan want to see, maybe even more so then Overreem vs Lesnar.
As for the last fight, I figured Machida posed a "different" match up for Jon Jones, and the first round my thoughts were correct. Machida's elusiveness and technical prowess was highlighted during the first round of his fight with Jones, who has seemed unbeatable as of late. Where others have seemed unable to even penetrate Jones, Machida was able to time it right and give the champion a go for his money ... atleast for the first round. In the second round, Jones eventually took Machida down and with only one insignificant elbow, Jones was able to post Machida's forehead wide open. After that, Machida tussled with Jones to get up and as they did, the fight was eventually paused for a doctor to check Machida's wound. The fight continued and Machida was able to seperate himself from Jones, but not for long as Jones eventully applied a standing choke hold that Machida struggled to get loose from and eventually went to sleep from.
I really wanted to see Machida win this match and the outcome left me wondering who can actually beat Jones. There is no one Jones will face who will be the favorite. Everyone is now an underdog. It is like pitting man vs Bear, and you only hope that man can find a way to survive and defeat the bear. On the horizon for Jones, there are names like Henderson and Evans. Both have knockout power, but aside from that punchers chance, it's not like either will beat Jones standing or in most aspects of the fight. The only way to beat Jones is to get a lucky hit or be able to submit him while he's on top of you. Your not going to see much of Jones being taken down and ground and pounded on or someone picking him apart in the stand up game. The only way to defeat him, is by getting lucky, if your the current crop of title contenders.
Even UFC's current pound for pound champ Anderson Silva couldn't match up well with this guy, and would need to depend on the slim chance of a knockout or submission. If Jones and Silva were to mix it up, Jones would most likely try and bring Anderson down the way Sonnen and Henderson have and (in my opinion) a couple of elbows from Jones to Silva seems like some of the worse G&P Silva will have seen. If Silva is able to keep the fight standing he has a better chance because he is the better striker between him and Jones and he has long limbs as well. But Jones can be elusive and there is no telling what could happen in a stand up battle between the two.
As for the possible match ups in Jones future, I give little chance to Dan Henderson and Rashad Evans on beating him as they will need to KO him to do so, standing up. Anderson Silva probably has the best chance considering he's the best/most accurate striker and has a BJJ black belt that if he were taken down, he might be able to submit Jones. But yet, I'd still figure Hendo/Evans had 25% chance while Silva had about 35% chance.
Aside for them, I could only see a heavyweight looking to cut maybe giving Jones a better fight. If Cain Velasquez decided to cut weight (which im sure he wont) then maybe we would see someone challenging Jones throne. Jones needs to be in there with someone his own size who could close the gap in reach, preferably a devastating striker.
For now, it's hard to imagine anyone being given much chance against Jones, though one good shot is all that is needed.
As for Hominick vs Korean Zombie and Patrick vs Ebersole, I didn't pay much attention. Whether they were good fights involving good fighters, they dont mean much in the grand scheme of things to casual fans.
First, lets talk about Tito vs Little Nog. Tito started out confident like he was the fighter that he was always "told" or hyped that he was, but I sensed it early that Little Nog just had more intensity and a "right" to be in that ocatagon. *While I'm on the subject of Tito, I just want to point out that I feel that the MMA "Legends" of yesterday, don't match up well with the top talent of today. When Joe Rogan speaks about the evolution of MMA, I believe it. If you put a 2003 version of Matt Hughes, Rich Franklin, Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture, Andrei Arlovski, Tito Ortiz etc against the stars of their respective weight classes, it's hard as hell for me to see them winning and/or being as dominant as they were.* But then again, without them paving the way as they did, who knows if MMA would of evolved as it has.
As for Tito, Tito came out confident, but it just looked like Little Nog realized "this guy's got shit" and just went to town on him. A nice stiff knee to the liver seems to do Tito in everytime and Tito just continued to fold as the fight went on eventually being TKO'd by shots to the body in the feetle position.
In the next match, we saw a rematch between TUF coaches Frank Mir and Big Nog. I've been a fan of Mir's for awhile and always wanted to see him come out on top when pitted against Brock Lesnar. Anyway, Mir already held a TKO victory over Big Nog when they first met, but I was nervous because Big Nog was said to have been suffering a staff infection during that fight which might of attributed to why he was easily beaten by Mir in their first fight. So the fight got underway with the usual back and forth as both men eventually ended up in the clinch and though Mir was weathering the store and reversing positions, he was eventually clipped by Nog and it looked as though Mir was on wobbly legs and that Big Nog was going to avenge his loss against Mir. Mir was staggered by a shot by Nog and Nog seemed to jump on him for a submission or a mount, but some how, against the BJJ black belt (Big Nog) Mir managed to turn the fight into a grappling game on the ground as he got ahold of Big Nog's arm and rolled with him. Big Nog fought feverishly to get his arm loose from Mir's grip, but Mir continued to roll and re-take dominant position until the point he snapped on a submission that looked like it broke Big Nog's arm as Mir cranked the life out of it.
Mir won by submission, which puts him back into mainevent/title contention. Atm, there is word that Alistair Overreem is out of UFC 141 VS Brock Lesnar and that Frank Mir will be suplemented in to face Brock Lesnar for the third time, but that's just a rumor at this time. The rumor stated that Alistair had a family problem at first, but then said it was that the athletic commision might have issue with him and performance enhancing drugs.
Mir vs Lesnar III has always been a fight MMA fans have wanted to see and if AO was out of the fight, there is no better guy that I could think of to face Lesnar, then Mir. The two have much history and I'm sure it's a fight most fan want to see, maybe even more so then Overreem vs Lesnar.
As for the last fight, I figured Machida posed a "different" match up for Jon Jones, and the first round my thoughts were correct. Machida's elusiveness and technical prowess was highlighted during the first round of his fight with Jones, who has seemed unbeatable as of late. Where others have seemed unable to even penetrate Jones, Machida was able to time it right and give the champion a go for his money ... atleast for the first round. In the second round, Jones eventually took Machida down and with only one insignificant elbow, Jones was able to post Machida's forehead wide open. After that, Machida tussled with Jones to get up and as they did, the fight was eventually paused for a doctor to check Machida's wound. The fight continued and Machida was able to seperate himself from Jones, but not for long as Jones eventully applied a standing choke hold that Machida struggled to get loose from and eventually went to sleep from.
I really wanted to see Machida win this match and the outcome left me wondering who can actually beat Jones. There is no one Jones will face who will be the favorite. Everyone is now an underdog. It is like pitting man vs Bear, and you only hope that man can find a way to survive and defeat the bear. On the horizon for Jones, there are names like Henderson and Evans. Both have knockout power, but aside from that punchers chance, it's not like either will beat Jones standing or in most aspects of the fight. The only way to beat Jones is to get a lucky hit or be able to submit him while he's on top of you. Your not going to see much of Jones being taken down and ground and pounded on or someone picking him apart in the stand up game. The only way to defeat him, is by getting lucky, if your the current crop of title contenders.
Even UFC's current pound for pound champ Anderson Silva couldn't match up well with this guy, and would need to depend on the slim chance of a knockout or submission. If Jones and Silva were to mix it up, Jones would most likely try and bring Anderson down the way Sonnen and Henderson have and (in my opinion) a couple of elbows from Jones to Silva seems like some of the worse G&P Silva will have seen. If Silva is able to keep the fight standing he has a better chance because he is the better striker between him and Jones and he has long limbs as well. But Jones can be elusive and there is no telling what could happen in a stand up battle between the two.
As for the possible match ups in Jones future, I give little chance to Dan Henderson and Rashad Evans on beating him as they will need to KO him to do so, standing up. Anderson Silva probably has the best chance considering he's the best/most accurate striker and has a BJJ black belt that if he were taken down, he might be able to submit Jones. But yet, I'd still figure Hendo/Evans had 25% chance while Silva had about 35% chance.
Aside for them, I could only see a heavyweight looking to cut maybe giving Jones a better fight. If Cain Velasquez decided to cut weight (which im sure he wont) then maybe we would see someone challenging Jones throne. Jones needs to be in there with someone his own size who could close the gap in reach, preferably a devastating striker.
For now, it's hard to imagine anyone being given much chance against Jones, though one good shot is all that is needed.