UFC 95: Sanchez vs Stevenson

[CCS]

Spoiler: UFC 95 main card

Lightweight bout: Diego Sanchez vs. Joe Stevenson[2]
Welterweight bout: Rory Markham vs. Dan Hardy[2]
Middleweight bout: Demian Maia vs. Chael Sonnen[2]
Middleweight bout: Nate Marquardt vs. Wilson Gouveia[2]
Welterweight bout: Josh Koscheck vs. Paulo Thiago[2]

I'm going to assume that a lot of people are going to watch this seeing that it's going to be on free tv. The mainevent is a pretty exciting match IMO. Both Sanchez and Stevenson are great ground fighters and are ok strikers. That should make for a damn good fight. The rest of the card is pretty meh. I'll enjoy the Koscheck fight just because I'm a big Kos fan. Overall it's an okay card that'll do good just because it's on spike tv.

Diego Sanchez knocks out Joe Stevenson.
Koscheck KO's Paulo Thiago.

 

[imdamiz]

This is a great free card!!!!

You've got Diego making his 155 debut against Joe Daddy who desperately needs a win here to stay in contention for the 155 title. I'll take Joe Daddy by Split Decision.

Demian Maia vs Chael Sonnen has potential to be FOTN IMO. Maia with a win could face the winner of the Marquardt/Gouveia fight for #1 MW contender. Maia by RNC round 2.

Rory Markham vs Dan Hardy: Hardy was less than impressive in his first fight but I see him rebounding nicely here with a TKO win in round 1

Gouveia-Marquardt:Both of these guys are top contenders in the MW division. WIll come down to Wilson's BJJ versus Nate's GnP. nate by decision

Kos-Silva: Kos is becoming a force to reckon with at 170, could he get a shot at GSP again down the road??? Kos with a rd 3 KO

 

[IrishCanadian25]

I am really hoping I am able to catch this show. As mentioned, it's a terrific free card with a lot of well-known fighters. Stevenson vs Sanchez is a match my fiancee and I will be glued to (she's a HUGE Diego fan) and I am also a big Koscheck guy, so I'll be looking forward to seeing how much further he's progressed.

This card proves just how valuable "The Ultimate Fighter" has been to the UFC, and what a genius Dana White is. He is basically able to market a major free TV special (and earn loads of viewers and ad revenue, I am certain) off of the name recognition of three guys who were mainstays on TUF many years ago. Remember - TUF just went through season 7, and these guys were seasons 1 and 2. Staying power, baby!

I look for Diego and Kos to get their hands raised, but the main event is almost too close to call...

 

[jmt225]

While I have nothing against Stevenson, like IC's fiancee, I’m a HUGE Diego Sanchez fan so I hope and think he will kick Stevenson’s ass. But I must admit I’m still not too keen at the idea of Diego at 155. I thought, at full health, he could do some serious damage in the Welterweight Division, and I was looking forward to him taking on Alves and if winning, going after GSP.

I’m also looking forward to seeing Maia fight again, and like many others as of late, I’m also becoming a big fan of Koscheck, so I hope he is able to put on another impressive showing like he did at the Fight for the Troops show.

 

[jmt225]

Damn... so did anyone watch the show or what? Considering it was free, it turned out to be a really good show.

Diego looked great at 155. At first, I thought he looked way too skinny in the hype video (you know, where they show the fighters all wet, shadow boxing with a black background), but his body seemed to adjust well to the weight loss overall. I thought he was pretty lame during his entrance though and that he was only a cage shake away from being MMA's version of the Ultimate Warrior, but shit... fighting wise, his stand-up was spectacular and his wrestling (well, take-down defense anyway) is still top notch. I really think he's going to be a force to be reckon with now that he's at full health. It doesn't matter if it's at 155 or 170, Diego's going to be tough competition for anyone in either one of those weight classes. Can’t wait for his next fight.

Dan Hardy's knockout was awesome, but one punch fights really don't impress me. Let's see him against someone like Anthony Johnson and see how he holds up.

Nate Marquardt looked good, but he's out of his mind if he thinks A) he deserves a title shot and B) that he would actually stand a chance against Anderson Silva. Nate needs to stick around and chase that title after Silva drops it to someone else.

Demian Maia was, once again, spectacular. I really think he's the one guy in the MW Division in the UFC who could give Anderson Silva a run for his money. His stand-up seems to need a little more work, but he's not a ****** like Vinicius Magalhães and understands that he needs to get the fight to the ground as soon as possible. Someone with that mindset and his ability on the ground is going to be extremely hard to defeat. I'm very much looking forward to seeing what the future holds for him.

I was disappointed with Koscheck, but hey, shit happens. He needs to realize that he'll always have an advantage wrestling wise in his division against guys not named GSP, and he shouldn't be going full head, standing up in the 1st round from now on. Take the guy down, wear his ass out, and then stand-up. That way, if Kos gets caught, it won't be a full blow. But whatever. Kos is going to do what he wants to do. I just don't see him ever climbing up to the top of the ladder in the WW Division by standing up every fight though, especially since his punches are so predictable.

And on the Preliminaries, Terry Etim and Junior dos Santos impressed me the most. Both those guys seem to have very bright futures.