Recap of UFC 118

On Saturday night Boston hosted UFC 118 and - with two terrific Pay Per Views in a row - a show that had the potential to be a stinker, ended up being just that. There were definitely a few highlight here in the way of Davis/Diaz, Randy's domination of Toney and BJ vs Edgar ending in a more decisive finish than the last. Overall, though, this show, for the most part, was quite underwhelming.

UFC Lightweight Title Fight- Frank "The Answer" Edgar defeated BJ Penn by unanimous decision in a much more decisive victory than their last encounter. Edgar came in having just barely beaten BJ in their first fight. That time around, he used a strategy were he bounced in and out of BJ's reach, mixing in punches, kicks, and a few takedowns. During this fight, Edgar was able to get the takedown in the early stages of the first round which took a lot of confidence out of Penn. Penn was able to land a couple good punches throughout the fight but nothing too serious as Edgar was too quick to be hit with any combinations. The victory leaves little doubt as to who the UFC's top lightweight is now and it's being reported that Edgar will defend his championship against Gray Maynard in his next fight. Meanwhile, not much is known as to Penn's next opponent. Now that we are once again questioning Penn's cardio and game plan, a move to welterweight may not be all that bad for BJ. With two losses in a row, Penn is going to need a victory to still be considered one of the best.

Gray Maynard defeated Kenny "Ken Flo" Florian by unanimous decision in a typical Gray fight, where he was able to use his superior wrestling to out grapple Florian and earn himself a shot at Frank Edgar's title. This fight was not all that entertaining as Kenny wasn't able to block any of Gray's takedown or mount any submission attempts from the bottom. Florian's kryptonite seems to be wrestlers and Gray certainly proved that. Neither guy was able to really establish much of a standing game and the fight was really decided was on the mat. Gray has handed Edgar his only defeat and as much as neither guy is a proven draw yet, it is an intriguing match up. Edgar has only gotten better since that loss as has Gray. I'm not sure what's next for Ken Flo but he will need to win a few more before coming this close to another title shot at the lightweight championship.

"The Natural" Randy Couture submitted James Toney to an arm triangle choke at 3:19 of the first round in a fight that went down just as everyone had expected. Couture shot in for a single leg early and was able to get Toney down with little resistance. Within a few seconds Couture was able to gain mount and land some punches to Toney's face until he gave up his arm. Couture was able to use the opportunity to get the arm and lock in a triangle choke. I guess Randy's training with Brock paid off as both men have finished their previous fights with the same submission. Although the fight was contested at heavyweight, Couture will fight next at light heavyweight while we will more than likely never see Toney back inside the octagon.

Demian Maia defeated Mario Miranda by unanimous decision in a fight where the less that's said, the better. Maia was able to get Miranda to the ground early on which was surprising as Maia seems to have fine tuned his takedown. Once on the ground however, Maia was unable to really sink anything in to finish Miranda. This fight was pretty one sided but Maia should have been able to finish Miranda and instead began getting gassed as the fight went on. Miranda did well for himself with his submission defense but he really wasn't all that aggressive on the feet where he had the best opportunity. Pretty boring fight that really took the life out of most of the crowd.

Nate Diaz submitted Marcus Davis to a guillotine choke at 4:02 of the third round in what many would say was the only good fight on the entire show. Diaz used his superior reach to keep Davis at a distance and pick him apart with punches for the majority of the fight. Diaz was able to cut open Davis in the first round and eventually caused a serious amount of swelling over and around Davis' eye. Between rounds, the referee and doctor checked on Davis eye and surprisingly the fight was allowed to continue. As the fight went on, you could see the frustrating mounting for Davis as he was unable to really find his range at any point, always looking to land a big left, to which Diaz was quick to avoid. Diaz got the fight to the ground in the third and slapped on the choke. Davis refused to submit and referee Yves Lavigne noticed Davis was out and stepped in and called a stop to the fight. Post fight Diaz said he would like to move back to lightweight which may be a good call although Diaz seems to be successful wherever he goes. Good fight to start the show but sadly, for the most part, the rest of the card would not be able to compare to the same standards.

In Other Fights:

Joe "J-Lau" Lauzon vs "Godzilla" Gabe Ruediger: Lauzon submitted Ruediger by arm bar at 2:01 of the first round

Amilcar Alves vs Mike Pierce: Pierce submitted Alves by straight arm bar at 3:11 of the third round

Andre Winner vs Nick "The Carnie" Lentz: Lentz won a unanimous decision

Greg Soto vs Nick Osipczak: Soto won a unanimous decision

Dan Miller vs John Salter: Miller submitted Salter by anaconda choke at 1:53 of the second round

Breakdown of UFC Fight Night 22

Nate "The Great" Marquardt vs Roussimar Palhares- This fight has been giving me fits since it was scheduled some months ago. For the last few years, Marquardt has been considered one of the top fighters in the Middleweight division while Roussimar has slowly been making a name for himself with impressive showings. The last time Marquardt stepped into the cage, he was dominated by Chael Sonnen who took down Nate repeatedly and was victorious. If Nate is going to get back on track and hope to get a title shot again soon then he will have to win this fight and that isn’t going to be easy. Palhares is a terrific submission fighter in the league of a Shinya Aoki or Demian Maia with power in his hands. The one drawback? He doesn't have all that much technique. Palhares has never been submitted or knocked out and the only way to beat him apparently is to wrestle him to the mat and hold him there - as evidenced in his fight with Dan Henderson. If Nate takes the fight to the ground I don't see it being all that safe as Nate's been submitted before and Palhares only needs a few seconds to make it happen. The safe bet for Nate would be to keep this standing and avoid Palhares pulling guard. There's a strong possibility that Palhares can pull off the submission but I think Nate takes this fight very seriously and avoids most dangerous positions Palhares intends on putting him in.

Prediction: Marquardt by unanimous decision

Gleison Tibau vs Jim Miller- Tibau is a rather large lightweight with a 6-4 record in the UFC holding victories over Josh Neer, Caol Uno and Jeremy Stephens amongst others. With losses to top level competitors such as Tyson Griffin and Nick Diaz, Miller should be able to see exactly where he is in the thick of things at lightweight with this fight. Jim Miller has done very well for himself throughout his career, having only lost two fights, one to the lightweight division's number one contender, Gray Maynard and the other to current champion, Frank Edgar. Miller has some great takedowns and tends to fight safe, refraining from unnecessary risks and such and has a superior wrestling game. I see Miller controlling Tibau on the ground for 15 minutes and earning himself the victory in a competitive fight.

Prediction: Miller by unanimous decision

Cole Miller vs Ross Pearson- Striker vs submission specialist here. Cole has a fantastic set of submissions from his back and a lanky frame that will help him a little in this fight as Pearson is quite a bit shorter. Miller has shown that he can bring the fight to anyone and has submitted the likes of Dan Lauzon, Jorge Gurgel and Junie Browning but when facing strikers he tends to find himself knocked out. Pearson has looked pretty good since winning his season of TUF and has a very well rounded game. Cole's takedowns aren't all that great and I don't think he'll be able to get the fight to the mat and if this is the case he's in for a long night. Both men are quick starters and Pearson should be able to land that knockout punch in the early minutes of the fight.

Prediction: Pearson by tko

Efrain Escudero vs Charles Oliviera- Efrain is a tough dude with good standup, great takedowns, and takedown defense while not much is known about Oliviera. Charles looked extremely impressive in his last UFC having submitted Darren Elkins in :41 seconds of the first round. Charles looks to have a great submission game but being that he was only in the cage for less than a minute we still don’t know what all this guy has to offer and Efrain is a good choice for him to show what he has. With a 13-0 record, Oliviera has finished 12 opponents, six of which were by tko and another six by submission. This is a tough call but I think if Efrain keeps it standing he'll take a decision but if it goes to the ground, Efrain has shown he can be submitted and Charles wont be wasting anytime looking for a tap. Should be a good fight and should be a good opening fight.

Prediction: Escudero by unanimous decision

In Other Fights:

Kyle Kingsbury vs Jared Hamman- Prediction: Hamman by tko

Yves Edwards vs John Gunderson- Prediction: Edwards by tko

David "Daudi" Mitchell vs Anthony "TJ" Waldburger

Rich Attonito vs Rafael "Sapo" Natal

Brian Foster vs Forrest "Meat Clever" Petz

Dave Branch vs Tomasz Drwal

Division Top Tens

Like everything I write, these are all my own opinions and we're all entitled to our own. I thought I would list a top ten for each division as I see it and I'll try to keep it as a regular thing for future columns.

Lightweight Division

1. Frank Edgar

2. Gilbert Melendez

3. Benson Henderson

4. BJ Penn

5. Gray Maynard

6. Kenny Florian

7. Shinya Aoki

8. George Sotiropolous

9. Evan Dunham

10. Jim Miller

Welterweight Division

1. Georges St. Pierre

2. Jon Fitch

3. Josh Koscheck

4. Nick Diaz

5. Thiago Alves

6. Martin Kampmann

7. Dan Hardy

8. Paulo Thiago

9. Jake Shields

10. John Hathaway

Middleweight Division

1. Anderson Silva

2. Chael Sonnen

3. Jake Shields

4. Yushin Okami

5. Ronaldo "Jacare" Desouza

6. Dan Henderson

7. Demian Maia

8. Nate Marquardt

9. Robbie Lawler

10. Chris Leben

Lightheavyweight Division

1. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua

2. Lyoto Machida

3. Rashad Evans

4. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson

5. Rafael Cavalcante

6. "King Mo" Muhammed Lawal

7. Forrest Griffin

8. Jon "Bones" Jones

9. Gegard Mousasi

10. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira

Heavyweight Division

1. Brock Lesnar

2. Fabricio Werdum

3. Fedor Emelianenko

4. Cain Velasquez

5. Shane Carwin

6. Junior Dos Santos

7. Alistair Overeem

8. Frank Mir

9. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

10. Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva

Pound for Pound Rankings

1. Georges St. Pierre

2. Anderson Silva

3. Jake Shields

4. Jose Aldo

5. Fedor Emelianenko

6. Gilbert Melendez

7. Benson Henderson

8. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua

9. Frank Edgar

10. BJ Penn

Upcoming Events

Shark Fights 13 from Amarillo, Texas- September 11th, 2010

"The Dean of Mean"Keith Jardine vs Trevor Prangley

Rameau Thierry "The African Assassin" Sokoudjou vs Houston Alexander

Drew "The Massacre" McFedries vs Joey "Dreasmasher" Villasenor

Karen Darabedyan vs Marcus "The Wrecking Ball" Hicks

Douglas Evans vs Ronnie Mann

Aaron Rosa vs Dave "Pee Wee" Herman

Eric "Bighead" Davila vs Pete "Secret Weapon" Spratt

Paul Daley vs Jorge "Gamebread" Masvidal

Johnny Rees vs Paul Bradley

UFC 119- From Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana- September 25th, 2010

Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic vs Frank Mir

Ryan Bader vs Antonio "Lil Nog" Nogueira

Matt "The Terror" Serra vs Chris "Lights Out" Lytle

Jeremy "Lil Heathen" Stevens vs Melvin "The Young Assassin" Guillard

Joey "The Mexicutioner" Beltran vs Matt Mittrione

CB Dollaway vs Joe "El Dirte" Doerkson

TJ Grant vs Julio Paulino

Evan Dunham vs Sean "The Muscle Shark" Sherk

Mark Hunt vs Sean McCorkle

Thiago Tavares vs Pat "Awesomely Awesome" Audinwood

Waylon Lowe vs Steve Lopez

Dream 16- From Nippon Gaisha Hall in Nagoya, Japan- September 25th, 2010

Gegard Mousasi vs Tatsuya Mizuno

Jason "Mayhem" Miller vs Kazushi Sakuraba

Joe Warren vs Michihiro Omagawa

WEC 51 from Colorado- September 30th, 2010

Jose Aldo vs Manny Gamburyan

"The Korean Zombie" Chan Sung Jung vs George Roop

Leonard "Bad Boy" Garcia vs Mark "The Machine" Hominick

Miguel Torres vs Charlie Valencia

Mike Thomas Brown vs Cole Province

Donald "The Cowboy" Cerrone vs Jamie "The Worm" Varner

Chris Horodecki vs Ed Ratcliff

Chad "Savage" George vs Antonio Banuelos

Zhang "The Mongolian Wolf" Tie- Quan vs Alex Karalexis

Tyler Toner vs Diego Nunes

UFC 120- From The UK- October 16th, 2010

Michael "The Count" Bisping vs Yoshiro "Sexyama" Akiyama

Carlos Condit vs Dan "The Outlaw" Hardy

Cheick Kongo vs Travis Browne

John "Hitman" Hathaway vs Mike "Quicksand" Pyle

Alexander "The Mauler" Gustafsson vs Cyrille "Snake" Diabate

Claude Patrick vs James Wilks

Rob Broughton vs Vinicus "Spartan" Kappke

Curt Warburton vs Spencer "The King" Fisher

James McSweeney vs Tom Blackledge

Steve Cantwell vs Stanislav Nedkov

Paul Sass vs Mark Holst

UFC 121- From The Honda Center in Anaheim, California- October 23rd, 2010

UFC Heavyweight Championship- Brock Lesnar vs Cain Velasquez

Matt "The Hammer" Hamill vs "The Huntington Beach Badboy" Tito Ortiz

Jake Shields vs Martin "Hitman" Kampmann

Diego "Nightmare" Sanchez vs Paulo Thiago

Gabriel "Napao" Gonzaga vs Brendan Schaub

Patrick "The Predator" Cote vs "Filthy" Tom Lawlor

Jon Madsen vs Gilbert "Huricane" Yvel

Sam "Hands of Stone" Stout vs Paul Taylor

Court "The Crusher" McGee vs Ryan Jensen

Chris Camozzi vs Dongi Yang

Daniel Roberts vs Michael "The Joker" Guymon

UFC 122- From Oberhausen, Germany- November 13th, 2010

"The Phenom" Vitor Belfort vs Yushin Okami

"The Polish Experiment" Krzysztof Soszynski vs Goran Reljic

Jorge "El Conquistador" Rivera vs Alessio "Legionarius" Sakara

Jason "Hitman" Brilz vs Vladimir "The Janitor" Matyushenko

Amir Sadollah vs Peter Sobotta

UFC 123- November 20th, 2010

Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida vs Quinton "Rampage" Jackson

Rory MacDonald vs "The Immortal" Matt Brown