Dalloway vs. Reljic Dallowa
y's standup was as expected, some decent combos and good td setups, but nothing to ride home about. Reljic had little to offer on the feet past 3 min. While CB's cardio didn't look great it raped Reljic's. CB looked strong on top, actually displayed some decent submission defense, although his only challenges were repetitive quazi-
halfguard omoplatas, over and over again. CB looked meh off his back, Reljic looked meh on top, Reljic looked not so good in scrambles, while CB did alright i geuss. Definitely curious to see both these guys back, see how much of Reljic's defitiencies were do to ring rust, and see if CB actually cleared up some holes in his game. My Thoughts
Prok
ajic vs. Te Huna Prokajic was actually better on the feet, I spit on Te Huna's performance. Te Huna just had better takedowns, and while Prokajic was completely aweful at conrtoling himself and not throwing wild shots, and defense wrestling, he still almost KO'd him.. ya it was that bad Prokajic sucks off his back and everywhere else basically, but can kinda throw haymakers, and te Huna can take people down and lay on them.. awesome. Neither guys really are ufc caliber guys, I think they both should be cut.
Lytle vs. Foster Lytle came out and threw bombs like a douche, Foster was raping him, with awesome strikes complete with footwork, power, head movement, and just impressive technique in general. Foster also was able to take Lytle down at will, although after grabing his back Lytle rembered he knew how to do a kneebar, something Foster obviously hadn't been expecting, and rolled under to get the tap, completely ruining Foster's knee. I wish Lytle could fight like this more often.. the sub game part. I'm actually happy to see Foster hit a bit of a road bump, he's now less likely to get rushed along into a title situation, and will have a better chance to really develop his game, hopefully.
St
ephan Bonnar vs. Krzysztof Soszynski Both guys looked meh on the feet, meh in the clinch. Pretty even, I had it at one round a piece after 2 rounds. The problem with this fight is the lack of commision in Australia. That was obviously a headbutt, not a punch. After two rounds are completed if a fight is stopped due to an inadverdant foul, then it should go to the judge's scorecards. The guy who the judges thought won should have won, not the guy who ended up on the right side of an accidental headbutt. Sozynski is a guy they like, has some popularity after TUF, he's exciting and will probably hang around. This is Bonnar's third consecutive loss, but it isn't really a loss, and after that first fight with Forrest bonnar will always have a spot on the UFC roster.
Cro Cop vs. Perosh Perosh just didn't belong in this fight. Cro Cop had better defensive wrestling, better (altough still decently tentitive) standup. And he still had to finish him with a cut. The most significant part of this fight was its showcasing on why a guy like cro cop needs to be able to knee a bjj guy taking an aweful shot in the face, after a sprawl. I still don't think Cro Cop will be half the fighter his following sugests he will, and hopefully Perosh is gone for good.
Jardine vs. Bader Bader's pace slowed amazingly after the first round. He was dominating Keith with takedowns in the first frame, but after slowing he was outstruck by Jardine in round 2. Although Bader showed us all why Keith's unothodox stlye works against him. Basically everytime Jardine get's knocked out, its by a left hook. And what do you know, a guy who is clearly less advanced on the feet gets a KO because he can throw a proper left hook. I'm impressed that Bader keeps avoiding his obvious flaws and wins anyway, although he won't be able to compete in the tops of the division like this. Jardine appears to be an upper level gate keeper at this point, beat Jardine and you're in title contention.
S
tevenson vs. Sotiropolis De
cent upset here, very impressive. Sotiropolis strung some punches together nicely, showed a great agressive submission game, and most impressively, the ability to threaten and reverse a strong wrestler from his back. His rubber guard was inspiring, and his omoplata sweep was just fantastic. Stevenson on the other hand didn't look horrible, just couldn't put together any considerable offense. Stevenson is another midlevel gatekeeper guy, and I have high hopes for The Souvlaki after that high level performance.
Silva vs. Bisping Not to surprised at the outcome, very competitive fight. Bisping landed pretty well, scored some nice takedowns. However he one glaring weakness was put on display once again, as he ran backwards while Silva came forward, he got cut off, and got his with some serious shots. Silva's standup wasn't that crisp, he just ran at Bisping, and when he didn't stop Bisping didn't know what to do. We did see a nice arm-in-
guillotine attempt from Silva, might have been able to sub Bisping if he had time. Both guys fought how they have always fought no one really closing up holes in their game, Silva was still wild and Bisping still had no footwork and fought dumb. No real thoughts on either fighter's progression.
Velasquez vs. Nog Great performance from Cain. Standup looked crisp, was able to strike at range very well, and left no doubt in anyone's mind who was the better fighter. Nog is always a guy who will have a following, and deservably so, but at this point he's just not a top five guy anymore. And I'm sure we are all excited to see Cain move onto bigger and better things. Rosa Parks wasn't supposed to sit in the front of the bus.. but she did it, and kicked ass anyway. I Guess Nick Diaz is the Rosa Parks of MMA
