Last Saturday the UFC held its second event on Fox, headlined by Rashad Evans vs Phil Davis, and Chael Sonnen vs. Michael Bisping. Now that the event is over, it seems like the UFC should have made a few different picks in terms of what fights went on the card. The fights shown were almost all between highly skilled grapplers and wrestlers, but since the Fox shows are designed to appeal to new fans, perhaps they should have gone for some more explosive fighters, who had less of a chance of going to decision. A let down of an event, but I expect this weekends UFC 143 event to more than make up for it. Predictions and such for that will follow later in the week, but for now here are some quick results for UFC on Fox 2, and a look at how I did with predictions.
Michael Johnson vs. Shane Roller
I admit it, I sold Michael Johnson short in this fight. I thought that Roller's superior submissions and grappling, coupled with Johnson's history of questionable submission defence, would give Roller the edge he needed to get the win. Johnson showed some great takedown defence in this fight, and used his superior striking to beat Roller on the feet. Now that Johnson has addressed the problems he has had with grappling, his great striking could be the difference maker if he starts to face some higher quality opponents.
Prediction: Shane Roller by submission.
Result: Michael Johnson by decision.
Nik Lentz vs. Evan Dunham
Nik Lentz can really take a beating, his performance in Saturdays Fight of the Night definitely proved that. Both guys were impressive, and the fight actually seemed quite even until a good way through the second round, when Dunham started landing serious punches and elbow shots on the face of Lentz. A damn good fight, which sticks out even more because of how dull most of the fights on either side of it turned out to be. While the lightweight division is pretty stacked in terms of main event players, I expect Dunham to face a big name or two this year should he keep winning.
Prediction: Evan Dunham by decision.
Result: Evan Dunham by TKO (doctor stoppage after 2nd round).
Demian Maia vs. Chris Weidman
The less said about this fight the better. I hate to rag on guys too hard for not performing, but Demian Maia really needs to evaluate his career plan soon, because he is in serious danger of being thrown right into the "has been" pile. Weidman was justified in getting tired considering he took the fight at such short notice, but it really was a snoozefest of a fight. Maia seems determined to get people to respect his standup in recent years, but he is only hurting his career by refusing to utilise the grappling skills, which are effectively the only thing that ever made him a standout fighter. If you didn't watch this fight, don't bother.
Prediction: Demian Maia by submission.
Result: Chris Weidman by decision.
Chael Sonnen vs. Michael Bisping
Like plenty of people in the build up to this fight, I counted Bisping out before the fight even began. It seemed like he just couldn't hang with Sonnen, given how Sonnen has blasted through other fighters with similar styles in recent years. Bisping proved far tougher than I thought however, and I think he did well when it came to stopping takedowns and trying to control Sonnen. When the fight was on the feet Bisping was getting the edge as expected, and there was even one point when it looked like he was about to secure a triangle choke on Sonnen, his long time Achilles heel.
Sonnen got the decision victory in the end, and though it could have gone either way for the first two rounds I didn't agree with Joe Rogan in the third round when he was saying that Sonnen needed to finish Bisping if he wanted to win. The rematch with Anderson Silva is finally going to happen, and Bisping has proven that he can hang in there with top level fighters. A good result for Sonnen, but not too bad for Bisping either in the long run.
Prediction: Chael Sonnen by decision.
Prediction: Chael Sonnen by decision.
Rashad Evans vs. Phil Davis
Anyone who was saying in the build up to this fight that Phil Davis was not ready to compete with someone at Rashad's level, congratulations, you were right. This was another dull fight, that saw Rashad beat Davis in every area, though Davis held on to lose by decision. This was the second result that plenty of people were hoping for in terms of future matchups, as Rashad will now face light heavyweight champion Jon Jones in April.
Though he won, this was not an impressive performance for Rashad, and perhaps the fact that it is only his second fight in roughly a year and a half had gotten to him. This cage rust could be gone by the time April rolls around, but as far as Rashad's chances against Jones go, he is going to have to sharpen up his game no end if he wants to avoid the vicious beating that I think he just signed on for. Most rivalries don't run this long without the fighters featured having faced each other at least once, but I think once they do then Rashad could well be looking at another layoff, soon to be one more victim on the ever growing Jon Jones hit list.
Prediction: Rashad Evans by KO/TKO.
Result: Rashad Evans by decision.
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