UFC 117 recap

Tough night for me this time around. Not only did I do a pretty lousy job with my predictions, but the one pick I wanted to be wrong about the most proved right in the 11th hour of what looked like perhaps the biggest upset in the history of the sport. Since I wrote a preview for this card previously, I'll refrain from the prediction portion of this recap. Let's get down to business.

Anderson Silva def. Chael Sonnen via Submission (Triangle Choke), Rd 5
What happened: For almost 23 minutes Sonnen looked like he'd pull off what no one thought possible: dominate Anderson Silva. For four and a half rounds Sonnen took Silva down at will, unleashed ground and pound, and even wobbled Silva in the stand up one a couple occasions. Just when it looked as thought Sonnen would cruise to a lopsided decision victory (including a first round widely regarded at 10-8) and capture the middleweight strap, his one major flaw reared its head once again: his awful submission defense. Silva caught him in a triangle choke that ended the fight with just about 2 minutes left.
Thoughts: I feel horrible for Sonnen, and not just because I was rooting heavily for him. He made Silva look utterly human for almost 5 rounds, and one quick mistake cost him the fight and the title. He was just 2 minutes from backing up all the trash he had talked. Well, at least he backed up most of it. He beat the crap out of Silva the entire fight, and while Silva certainly won the contest, in a way Sonnen won the fight. He should at least be proud that he shut down all notions that Silva is an unstoppable force, and that he made him look very beatable. I do give Silva his props for pulling off the clutch submission, but his performance was totally lackluster and he was straight-up embarrassed by Sonnen. There may come a day when Silva comes across a talented wrestler with sub defense (ie. GSP, Shields), and when that day comes Silva may just get shut down completely. Sonnen gained a ton of respect from me even in losing; Anderson not as much because I already had a ton of respect for his skills, and I believe that if his BJJ was really that good he'd have subbed Sonnen in the 2nd or 3rd....as I predicted.
Next for Silva: An interesting dilemma we have here. Vitor Belfort is supposedly next in line for a shot. And after seeing Chael catch Anderson on the feet a few times, I have a bit more confidence in Vitor's chances. However, there is also much clamoring for a rematch with Sonnen, which I certainly wouldn't be angry to see. I don't think Vitor should have to wait even longer for his fight so I'd count on him being next. Yushin Okami should also be in the mix.
Next for Sonnen: If a rematch doesn't happen, I say he should fight Chris Leben. Should he get past Leben he should get another shot at the belt. Or he could fight Silva should he lose to Vitor. OR he could really work on his BJJ and rematch Maia. He has some options.

Jon Fitch def. Thiago Alves via Decision (Unanimous), Rd 3
What happened: Fitch pulled a Fitch and controlled the bout from start to finish with this rugged and persistent wrestling. He also looked much improved in the moments the fight was on the feet, while Alves looked tired and plodding the whole fight, never mounting much offense.
Thoughts: As much as I understand why Alves wants to stay at 170, he seriously needs to move up to 185. Or at least cut down on the weights. He's too damn big for the division. Not making weight for a number 1 contender fight is unacceptable, and he REFUSED to lose the .5 lbs he was over. Know what that means? That means he was so depleted he didn't feel it was possible to lose the weight, at least not without dire consequences. Well ya know what Thiago? Your steep weight cut did have consequences. You looked lethargic and flat-footed in the cage. Your killer instinct was all but gone. You were a shell of your former self. Move up or slim down. You don't need to be the Ubereem of the welterweight division to be effective.
Next for Fitch: It should be the winner of the St. Pierre/Koscheck title fight, but now Dana wants to be noncommittal on that one. I've been hearing about him mulling 185. If he can be strong enough to take Silva down like Chael did, maybe he can squash the spider.
Next for Alves: Middleweight or dieting, first of all. If he does move up Patrick Cote, Leben, and Alan Belcher are good stand up battles for him. Gerald Harris would prove a good test of his takedown defense. If he stays at 170, maybe they dig up their old records and make that fight with Paulo Thiago (who I thought he should've been fighting instead of Fitch anyway) happen.

Clay Guida def. Rafael dos Anjos via Submission (Jaw Injury), Rd 3
What happened: dos Anjos controlled the stand up with much improved muay thai, and nullified much of Guida's wrestling to take the first two rounds on most scorecards. Apparently a punch or punches injured dos Anjos' jaw during an exchange earlier in the fight but he pushed through. After getting taken down, Guida applied pressure to his face and dos Anjos tapped due to the injury.
Thoughts: Though I was rooting for Guida to win, this wasn't his most impressive performance. The win is in some odd gray area: you can't really call it a fluke because it was a Guida's punches that damaged dos Anjos' jaw, but at the same time if he hadn't unknowingly aggravated the injury he may have lost a decision. Guida is showing some improvement since coming under the tutelage of Greg Jackson, but he still has a lot of work to do, as his style is still erratic. dos Anjos on the other hand is looking better and better, and could be one of the UFC's top lightweights in the future. His BJJ is excellent, his stand up looked light years ahead of what it was just a few fights ago, and his wrestling is nothing to scoff at either.
Next for Guida: I'd like to see him face George Sotiropoulos. G-Sot schooled a fine wrestler in Joe Stevenson two fights ago, but Guida keeps an unrelenting pace and is hard to put on his back. It would be a good test for both of them, and a good way to see if George can handle a strong wrestler who won't get sucked into scrambles willingly.

Matt Hughes def. Ricardo Almeida via Technical Submission (Modified Anaconda Choke), Rd. 1
What happened: Hughes looked awkward and uncomfortable in the stand up and Almeida looked like he was biding his time to pick the hall of famer apart. Then in the blink of an eye, a left hook sent Almeida to the canvas and Hughes followed him down, applying a front headlock. Through what looked like a classic application of old man strength, Hughes choked Almeida unconscious with an anaconda choke....or something. The choke wasn't even fully applied. That's some power.
Thoughts: Upset of the night without a doubt. Many (including myself) thought Hughes was done as a relevant name in the welterweight division. He proved us all wrong. I guess his performance at UFC 112 against Renzo Gracie was just a bit of an off night. What was even more impressive is that he took down a Gracie black belt with a very un-technical wrestling move. Welcome back to relevance Mr. Hughes.
Next for Hughes: He wants to take the rest of the year off to hunt and relax, and at this stage in his career he's certainly allowed. When he gets back I think the consensus match we all want to see is Hughes vs. Hallman 3. Dennis Hallman has 2 submission wins over Hughes earlier in their career. Let's see if he really does have Matt's number. His win on the undercard of this event makes even more of a case.
Next for Almeida: There are lots of matches in the division for Almeida. Paulo Thiago, Thiago Alves, Ben Saunders, or Mike Pierce would all make for interesting match ups.

Junior dos Santos def. Roy Nelson via Decision (Unanimous), Rd 3
What happened: Pretty much everything I predicted except Nelson showed tremendous heart (and a helluva chin) by not backing down from dos Santos, leading to a lopsided decision loss.
Thoughts: Much was learned from this fight. We learned that Roy Nelson is a tough SOB....and also that he can't hang with the heavyweight elite. Well, I guess I already knew that second part, but this fight proved it. We also learned about dos Santos' cardio looks like when he goes past the 1st. He still pushed on and stayed busy, but he was clearly tired in the 2nd and especially the 3rd round. This is almost to be expected when large men expend large amounts of energy, but it is still something he can work on. JDS also showed us more of why he's widely regarded as the best boxer in the heavyweight division, as he threw crisp and effective combinations throughout. His defense could use some work, but he still looked very impressive overall.
Next for dos Santos: The winner of Brock Lesnar vs. Cain Velasquez title fight. Should be exciting no matter who he gets, but after this fight I question dos Santos' chances against dominant wrestlers like Cain and Brock. If dos Santos was rendered tired by his stand up exchanges, what will happen when he has to bear the weight of a relentless wrestler for extended periods of time?
Next for Nelson: Nelson showed that he is solid gatekeeper material with this loss, but he's still up for a big fight or two. He could be Shane Carwin's next fight, or maybe even Cro Cop. A rematch with former IFL rival Ben Rothwell would also be a great idea. I'm sure Roy is looking to avenge the close (some would say controversial) split-decision loss to Rothwell.

Prelim notes and recap
- Phil Davis vs. Rodney Wallace (unanimous decision for Davis) was regrettably the only fight I managed to watch, and it was such a one-sided drubbing that it was barely worth watching. I knew Wallace had no business in there with Davis before the fight even began, and it was driven home ten-fold. If you ask me, I found it a puzzling match up to make in the first place as Davis is clearly better in all aspects of the game. You know what they're trying to do when they put a highly impressive rising prospect who's 2-0 in the UFC against an underwhelming former prospect who's 0-2 in the UFC? Get rid of the latter. I expect Wallace to be cut.

- You know, I was baffled reading about Rick Story being an underdog against Dustin Hazelett, but I thought maybe they were all right since I'm sure they know more about him than I do. Well I guess they don't because he brutalized Hazelett in the first, and continued into the second until the ref had to wave him off. Not that I wanted that to happen; I'm a Hazelett fan and I hate that he lost, but I had Story to win the whole time.
- Johny Hendricks may have looked shaky early, but he made up for it by dropping Charlie Brenneman 4 times in 40 seconds during the 2nd round to flip the ref's compassion switch.
- Tim Boetsch took a clear and boring decision from Todd Brown. Nuff said.
- Stefan Struve came back from an absolute beating and a grotesquely swollen lip in the first round to turn right around and knock out Christian Morecraft just 22 seconds into round two. Struve has proven time and time again that he can handle adversity. Very impressive, but its about time he does some of the dominating haha.
- In a complete shocker to me, Dennis Hallman dominated Ben Saunders with takedowns and good wrestling from bell to bell to earn a unanimous decision. Bring on a third match with Hughes!

Very good fights overall tonight, even if Fitch's grind-fest and Silva's Hail Mary (see: lucky....sorry, I'm still sour about it) submission win all but ruined the night for me. One thing it did accomplish is that it made the landscape of the middleweight division a bit more interesting. I guess I'll post any worthy thoughts I have of more undercard fights if/when I see them.