UFC and Strikeforce Thoughts

Official Results

UFC on FX II (3-3-2012)

Oil Thompson defeated Shawn Jordan via TKO in Round 2
Daniel Pineda defeated Mackens Semerzier via triangle/armbar submission in Round 1
TJ Waldburger defeated Jake Hecht via armbar submission in Round 1
Andrew Craig defeated Kyle Noke via unanimous decision
Steven Siler defeated Cole Miller via unanimous decision
Anthony Perosh defeated Nick Penner via TKO in Round 1
James Te Huna defeated Aaron Rosa via TKO in Round 1

Constantinos Philippou defeated Court McGee via unanimous decision
Demetrious Johnson and Ian McCall fought to a majority draw
Joseph Benavidez defeated Yasuhiro Urushitani via TKO in Round 2
Martin Kampmann defeated Thiago Alves via guillotine choke submission in Round 3

• Thiago Alves was looked awesome out there, he was up two rounds and just dominating Kampmann. Only significant thing Kampmann had done was a front kick that briefly hurt Alves. I have no idea why Alves went for that takedown in the end. That was really stupid, he had Kampmann rocked against the cage and his striking had been good enough for him to dominate him for most of the fight. Kampmann’s always been good from the front headlock position so Alves should have known that a guillotine choke was a threat. Good one for Kampmann but a very bad loss for Alves. It was a pretty entertaining fight though.
• I knew Benavidez was a sure pick, and he proved it on this night. Just dominated the Shooto champion with ease, soundly beat him in the first round via grappling. Then in the first ten seconds of the second frame, proceeds to counter Urushitani’s kick to hit a huge haymaker that sends him to the mat. Benavidez finished him off there with a few more power punches. Benavidez looked awesome and he’s going to be a tough challenge to whoever he faces in the flyweight finals.
• I absolutely loved McCall vs Johnson, it’s an early candidate for 2012 Fight of the Year. It might be the most fast paced UFC fight I’ve ever seen. I gave McCall the first round, Johnson the second and gave McCall the third round. The third round in particular was McCall at his best, he was going all out, awesome grappling and great way of getting the fight to the ground. I think Cruz beat Johnson in a more one sided manner but I was far more impress in how McCall fought Johnson than in how Cruz fought Johnson. Cruz, who I am a huge fan of, pretty much out-muscled Johnson. McCall used much better technique and speed to beat him  in my eyes. I was really upset when the judges gave it to Johnson, as it could have been a McCall win or a DRAW. Then we find out later that it was actually a DRAW and we were robbed of what could have been a 4th round. Really sad that we missed that opportunity but at least we’ll see these two guys fight once more. For now, McCall is still the number one ranked 125 lbs in the world.
• Philippou beat McGee in a fight that wasn’t bad but the epitome of average. McGee did much better in the third round but not good enough to finish his opponent or force a draw.
• The way Te Huna destroyed Rosa was really violent nasty stuff.
• It’s amazing that Anthony Perosh is in a three fight win streak in the UFC. When he was brought in as a sacrificial lamb to Mirko Cro Cop at UFC 110, I didn’t think he would still be around two years later and be on a good three fight win streak. Good for him and it was nice to see him get the stoppage one second before the first frame ended.
• I guess Siler is the “Miller Killer” now, I really thought he had no chance in hell of beating Cole Miller. Maybe Cole lost some strength dropping down, or maybe he underestimated him. It was a really good performance by Siler, he constantly outlanded Miller in the first two rounds. Miller finally took the third round but it was too late.
• I was only half-way paying attention to Craig-Noke, but it seemed like a nice win for Craig.
• The Waldburger submission was amazing, that was really great.
• So was the Pineda submission, that was awesome. Will poor Mackens Semerzier finally be cut soon? Or will Sean Shelby find it in his heart once again to keep him on his roster of featherweights?
• Thompson vs Jordan was pretty fun violent fight. Good brawl.

Official Results

Strikeforce (3-3-2012)

Ryan Couture defeated Conor Heun via TKO in Round 3
Pat Healy defeated Caros Fodor via arm-triangle submission in Round 3
Roger Bowling defeated Brandon Saling via TKO in Round 2
Sarah Kaufman defeated Alexis Davis via majority decision.

Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza defeated Bristol Marunde via arm triangle submission in Round 3.
Lumumba Sayers defeated Scott Smith via guillotine choke submission in Round 1.
Kazuo Misaki defeated Paul Daley via split decision
Josh Thomson defeated KJ Noons via unanimous decision
Rounda Rousey defeated Miesha Tate via armbar submission in Round 1.

• The Rousey-Tate fight had been hyped up so much and I’m glad that the final product delivered. Rousey looked awesome in the fight, she quickly got the fight to the ground and almost had the armbar. It’s an accomplishment that Tate was able to avoid the first armbar and was able to take Rousey’s back. That was impressive, but Rousey is too much for her, she ended up getting a great judo hip throw to take the fight back to the ground. I was worried that Rousey would just go for the ground and pound stoppage when she took Tate’s  back, but was glad she used that as a set up for her armbar. The final armbar itself was one of the nastiest one’s you’ll ever see in mixed martial arts competition. Just a brutal finish to a classic fight. This whole thing, from beginning to end, made Rousey a huge star that should be feared. It’s going to be a long time before we see anyone find a way to survive Rousey’s grappling attack.
• Very disappointing fight with Thomson vs Noons. Still, it says something about Thomson that he was able to beat Noons coming in with all the issues he had going for him. But I would rather see Gilbert Melendez fight guys like Anthony Pettis, Frankie Edgar, Gray Maynard or Benson Henderson than Thomson again.
• I love the irony of Paul Daley trying to win a fight with takedowns, it was kinda amusing. Misaki did get bloodied bad in the third round but he was too fast for Daley. Misaki was hitting some great strikes, I’m glad to see him win on American soil. I liked this fight quite a bit.
• I love Scott Smith but he’s so far past his prime now, it’s sad. Sayers did hit a nice northern lights suplex, it was a cooler suplex than the one we saw in the Ken Shamrock vs Matt Hume worked Pancrase fight.
• Jacare looked good against Marunde, but that was to be expected. Jacare should be fighting much higher caliber talent but it seems like they are all under the UFC or Bellator banner now.
• Kaufman vs Davis was awesome, it was the second best fight of the night, behind the Tate-Rousey headliner. Kaufman’s striking looked better than most men’s striking. She’s gotten really great, really aggressive too this time around. She lost the final round of the fight, Davis finally got it to the ground and looked really good there. I wonder what would have happened if Davis chose to try to get the fight to the ground much sooner? Still a great fight, Kaufman deserves a shot against Rousey.
• I missed the first three fights unfortunately but I hope to watch them soon.