UFC 123: "Stagnet" Jackson vs. "Your Passive Aggressive Ex-Girlfriend" Machida

UFC 123 was no blockbuster and forgetable for most, but for the die hard cauliflower ears UFC 123 was reminder of MMA classics with the future of the sport taking over the night while the veterans went dancing.

George Sotiropouls vs. Joe Lauzon may have been the first fight, but easily became the fight of the night after a back and forth display of heart and will. Joe Lauzon, an understudy of BJ Penn, dominated the beginning of the first round with a flurry punches and the avoidance the take downs. The young gun looked as if he was going to claim the round until Sotiropouls turn it on. Sotiropouls flipped the switch and went from blind shooting and surgical jujitsu take downs which left him on top Lauzon searching for an armbar at remainder of the first round.  Lauzon came out of his corner swinging the in second but not with the same fire he showed in the first. Carrying over the momentum, it was only a matter of time until Sotiropouls had Lauzon on his back trying to avoid an arm bar or a kimura. Lauzon struggled to try and get back to his feet, but Sotiropouls never gave him the chance by sealing the deal with a crisp kimura.

The next fight featured was Phil Davis (the picture above is him at weigh in) vs Tim Boetsch. This fight became an instant classic with a never before seen kimura executed with one arm. Phil Davis came into the fight as the more dominant wrestler but opened the fight by displaying superior striking than Boetsch. Trying to make a statement, he repeatably passed at the opportunity to keep the fight on the ground to continue the punishment on his feet. In the second when Davis was tired of playing with his chew toy, he shot, gain sided control, and began the punishment. With control on the right side of Boetsch, Davis reached under and gained wrist control of the left arm while slowly dragging  it behind Boetsch. It was not evident what Davis was doing until Boetsch arched into a bridge in agony revealing the kimura giving Davis the submission. After the fight, Rogan proceeded to call this never before seen move the "The Wonderful" after the man who was the first to execute it: Phil "Wonderful" Davis.


All that needs to be said about the Gerald Harris vs. Maiquel Falcao fight is that Harris' extreme reach advantage is negated by his unorthodox stance (leaning very far forward with his arm exended trying to feel out his opponent) and is only to jab extremely well but in the process sacrifices off hand hooks and leg kicks. Falcao took advantage of this and did whatever he willed for two rounds and looked extremely well but lacked the heart to go three rounds and just looked uninterested in the third. Falcao is a good fighter that may take longer to earn the respect he deserves because of his lack of killer instinct.

 The night before the fight I pulled an all nighter reading Matt Hughes' book "Made In America". So when I spent 7hrs reading his book to see him get knocked out in 21 seconds all I could think was,"...at least he wasn't knocked out faster than Coal Uno".  After spending two days going day and watching the previous Hughes vs. Penn fights, it's evident that Penn is the perfect kryptonite for huges because Penn take down defense is the perfect counter for Hughes wrestling and after the rare occasion of Hughes getting him down, Penn would quickly contort out out. In the fight that Hughes won and against Penn on the ground, it was late in the 3rd and Penn has always had a history of not being well conditioned. This combination exposed Hughes weak striking defense and in both loses to Penn, Hughes was struck with a left hook, taken to the ground, and ether TKO or submitted. After seeing this trilogy between two of the greatest, it  appears BJ Penn is motivated again and Hughes could use some lessons from Freddy Roach. With the rise of Penn again it sems that the only way to beat a motivated Penn is to take the fight to Penn with intense non stop striking just like Frankie Edgar did in Edgar vs. Penn 2. I saw that fight and the Penn in the ring 118 was not the same man that showed up motivated in 123. Though today Penn could take the title, he will have to wait in line behind Gray Maynard (my personnel favorite in the lightweight with Edgar shortly following) and prove to Dana White that he won't lose his motivation like he did for those few years.


THE MAIN EVENT or The Pillow Fight of the Night or a repeat of UFC 122

Let me start of by saying, both of these fighters were extremely well coached. Machida, like he always did, was able to avoid the knock out ability of Rampage. Machida went to town on on Jackson's leg lead leg clearly slowing him down. The same goes for Jackson's ability to get Machida against the fence and strategically go to town on hisback/striking leg which slowed down Machida's kicks and his mobility in his elusive karate style which has been his success in all his previous fights. With that being said, this was almost as sickening as Marquardt vs. Okami in UFC which was also a shot at the title. The only thing that brought any excitement to this fight was Jackson shooting late in the fight only to see why he was coached not to play into Machida strength of countering. In a matter of seconds Machida had Jackson in an arm bar almost locked out when Jackson stood and slammed him to the mat. The fight finished with some flurries after that but nothing spectacular. This fight was a victim of good coaching and either man could have left being called a genius depending on if they one. Machida could have easily been called genius for being patient for two rounds and frustrating Jackson into walking into a submission. Instead, Jackson came out looking like an angel by being able to control Machida along with his aggression for two rounds and with the cherry on top being able to escape the submission king of the light heavy weight class.

Names to remember for the future: Brain Foster, George Sotiropoulus, Penn (if he is this motivated in the future he could still be the future of the light weight) and last but not least PHIL DAVIS!!! Pretty soon Rampage and the rest of the division will have to worry about him.

Final thoughts: the past few fight that have offered a shot at a title in any weight division, the fighters have been so hesitant to leave everything thing on the line because they have been so concerned with the title shot. Dana White has to do something about this or else all the hype after UFC 121will have been lost and may hinder UFC as the fastest growing sport.