UFC 112: Invincible

Saturday, April 10th was the debut of the UFC in Abu Dhabi and with three big fights, it looked like this would be one hell of a show.  However a couple of individuals decided they didn’t want to perform to their best of their abilities and due to that this card left many, including fans in attendance, angry and disappointed.  

Anderson Silva retained his UFC middleweight championship by unanimous decision over Demian Maia in easily the worst UFC fight in history.   Anderson spent the first two rounds mocking and disrespecting Maia, swearing at him in Portugese to fight him but when Maia began to answer the challenges in the third, fourth and fifth rounds he started to connect with punches to Anderson and tire him out.   The crowd went from chanting "Silva!" to "Maia" and then to "GSP" as they were upset with the fact that Anderson could have ended this fight quickly but instead seemed to want to "put on a show".   Anderson is not the only person to blame in this one as in the first two rounds he gave Maia as many opportunities as possible to hit him but Maia refused, knowing that the ground is where he had a chance at victory rather than exchanging punches.   After the fight it was announced that Anderson was the winner by unanimous decision.   Without being biased as I am a big Maia fan, I believe he won the third, fourth and fifth rounds which is not saying much considering not much was done in any of the rounds but what do I know?   Referee Dan Miragliati stopped the fight half way through the fifth round to let Anderson know that if he continued to back pedal and run fro Maia, that he would deduct a point.   Had Miragliati done this earlier then we may have seen the end of Anderson's title reign.   Ed Soares, Anderson's manager apologized to the crowd following the fight stating that Anderson is not sure what happened and that something like this would never happen again.   Guess what?   This is Anderson's third performance like this in his last four fights and he continues to make a joke of this sport.   Anyone who wants to debate that Anderson is the best in the world with me should do so as fights like these drop you in those rankings... not help you climb them.   A fight between Anderson and GSP at 170 was rumored to be announced following the fight but after this caused us to witness an extremely angry Dana White, I don’t think we'll be seeing this fight happen anytime soon.

Frank Edgar defeated BJ Penn by unanimous decision to win the UFC lightweight championship in a controversial fight.   I need to watch this fight again and I am far from a big BJ fan however, in my book, BJ won this fight.   This contest was very competitive with all rounds being close enough to award to either one.   Penn came in with a taped up knee and seemed hesitant to take this fight anywhere other then standing and Edgar used this as his opportunity to move in and out of BJ's range and land kicks to the leg, punches and even a couple takedowns, something no one has done to BJ at lightweight in four years.   As the rounds went on BJ continued to slow down and Edgar continued his gameplan with as much gusto as at the beginning of the fight.   Like I said this fight was close and I don’t feel that BJ was "robbed" but do think this fight was as close as Shogun vs Machida.   My opinion is that the two should face off in a rematch ASAP as it sees a case of who was better that night and not like Edgar finished BJ.   BJ was rumored to be moving up to 170 following this fight but as of now not much is known as to his next step.   Regardless the UFC lightweight division just opened up quite a bit following this fight.

Matt Hughes defeated Renzo Gracie by tko at 4:40 of the third round in a mostly boring fight that showed us, as much as these two are legends, they are also way past their prime.   Gracie hadn't fought in three years and Hughes just came off a close decision victory over Matt Serra so this should have been an easy victory for Hughes but instead the two spent the better part of two rounds feeling one another out.   Renzo was able to land some solid shots to Hughes' face but also received many leg kicks that by the third round was enough to end his evening.   The fans in attendance were really into the fights that went to the ground and I believe they, as well as many watching on Pay Per View, were hoping that this one would go to the ground as Hughes was at one time one of the best wrestlers in MMA and Renzo, obviously being that he is a Gracie, has a very good Jui Jitsu game.   It's a shame we were unable to see this.   Earlier, the crowd chanted "Gracie!" but soon began booing in one of the only times during the show, the other being the main event.   In the third round Hughes continued to kick at Renzo's leg and was able to knock him off his feet because of it.   Renzo was in pain and when he was able to get up, Hughes would kick hi again, knocking hi to the floor.   Not long after this, Hughes was able to land a flurry of punches to drop Renzo and let the referee step in to stop the fight.   Post fight, Joe Rogan asked Gracie, after a three year lay off, why did you not take a tune up fight before facing Hughes, to which Renzo said "What type of fighter would I be if I did that?" to possibly the only applause throughout the fight.

Phil Davis tapped out Alexander Gustafsson to an anaconda choke at 4:55 of the first round in a preliminary fight that made the main card.   Davis continues to impress as the rookie was able to overpower Gustafsson and take him to the ground where he applied the choke and ended the fight with just seconds left in the first round.

Rafael Dos Anjos submitted Terry Etim to an armbar at 4:30 of the second round in a very competitive back and forth fight with two of the best submission guys in the lightweight division.   Etim applied a guillotine choke early in the first round for a long period of tie but Dos Anjos was able to tough it out and in the second round, get Etim on his back and apply a tight armbar which Etim initially tried to get out of but was soon trapped and left tapping out.  

Mark Munoz defeated Kendall Grove by tko at 2:50 of the second round in a fantastic opener.   Grove landed a nice uppercut in the first round that dropped Munoz and left him stunned for several minutes, receiving numerous hammerfists to his face as he continued trying to take down Grove.   The second round began and Unoz was able to take down Grove and land some effective body shots and punches to Grove's face.   Grove put up a good fight landing a few up kicks but eventually Munoz was able to continue to reign down punches until the referee stepped in and stopped this one.   Both men were awarded "Fight of the Night" honors.

In Other Fights:

Rick Story defeated Nick Osipczak by split decision

DeMarques Johnson tko'd Brad Blackburn at 2:08 of the third round with a body kick

Paul Kelly submitted Matt Veach at 3:41 of the second round with a guillotine choke

Jon Madsen defeated Mustafa Al -Turk by unanimous decision

Strikeforce: Nashville on CBS

On Saturday, Strikeforce makes its return to CBS with a night of fights for the Lightweight, Lightheavyweight and Middleweight championships.

Strikeforce Middleweight Championship- Jake Shields vs Dan Henderson

Jake Shields is considered by many to be one of the best fighters in the world not signed to the UFC, many say the same about Dan Henderson and that’s what makes this fight so interesting.   Shields has been on an absolute tear as of late having won his last 13 fights.   This would be a big achievement for any fighter but Shields has done it over the likes of Yushin Okami, Carlos Condit, Renato Verissimo, Mike Pyle, Nick Thopson, Paul Daley, Robbie Lawler and Jason "Mayhem" Miller.   As good as Shields is, he is always looking to test himself against the best and that is difficult when you aren't fighting in the UFC where many of the best do fight.   Due to this, Shields has moved up from a welterweight to a middleweight and not missed a step having won his last two fights in the middleweight division and the title in his last contest with Miller.   Dan Henderson has done it all in the world of MMA having held two titles at once in Pride and fought the best in the world in Carlos Newton, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Renato "Babalu" Sobral, Wanderlei Silva, Renzo Gracie, Ricardo Arona, Murilo Bustamante, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Vitor Belfort, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, Anderson Silva and Rich Franklin.   Hendo is considered to be one of the best fighters in the world at whichever weigh he chooses to fight at and it looks to be the same so far for Shields.   This fight will show us just how good both of these men really are and if an eight year age difference will really matter.   Both men have fantastic takedowns and this could come down to who can get the other to the ground first.   I could see Shields sticking to taking down Hendo as he doesn't have the power in his hands that Hendo does but if he can't get Dan there then it may be a long night for Shields.

Strikeforce Lightheavyweight Championship- Gegard "The Dreamcatcher" Mousassi vs " King Mo" Lawal

Both Lawal and Mousassi are in the same make as Shields and Henderson in that they will both fight at different weights leaving them open for big fights at either division they chose.   For this fight, both Mo and Gegard have chosen to meet at lightheavyweight. Mo has won five of his six MMA fights by tko which is actually fairly strange considering that naturally he is a wrestler.   Having fought for less then two years, Mo has a very good 6-0 record going for him and is one of the most charismatic out there   however his level of competition may not be as high as Gegard's.   This is a big fight for Mo and he definitely has a strong chance but Mousassi has been fighting for seven years and compiled a very respectable 28-2-1record with 17 knockouts and 9 submissions.   Gegard has defeated some of the best fighters in the world in Hector Lombard, Melvin Manhoef, Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza, Mark Hunt, Renato "Babalu" Sobral and Sokodjou.   Gegard has much way to end this fight while Mo is still evolving and may only have one or two.   This should be one hell of a slugfest but probably won’t last very long.

Strikeforce Lightweight Championship- Gilbert "El Nino" Melendez vs Shinya Aoki

The 17-2 Melendez is on a three fight win streak having avenged his previous losses over Mitsuhiro Ishida and Josh Thomson.   Shinya Aoki is the best Japanese talent in the world and has also won his last three fights in a row and in his most recent, broke the arm of opponent Mizuto Hirota when Hirota didn't tap out to a hammerlock and Aoki used it as his chance to break it then stand over Hirota and flip hi the bird.   Despite this pathetic display, Aoki is one of the best lightweights in the world and pulls off highlight reel submissions.   Where Melendez does hold the advantage is in his hands and if he connects with a couple of big shots he could put Aoki away.   This should be a terrific fight and hopefully not Aoki's last in North America.

In Other Fights

Jason "Mayhem" Miller vs Tim Stout

Zach Underwood vs Hunter Worsham

Josh Shockman vs Cale Yarbrough

Dustin Ortiz vs Justin Pennington

Andrew Uhrich vs Dustin West

Chris Hawk vs Ovince St. Preux

Thomas Campbell vs Cody Floyd

Should be some good fights.   That's it for this week everyone.   Enjoy the fights!