UFC 106 took place last night and featured several important fights including one with title implications.

George Sotiropoulous defeated Jason Dent by armbar in the 2^nd round in the card’s opener.   George continues to impress with his standout Jui Jitsu and was able to submit Dent who is not that easy to get to tapout.   Impressive performance for George.

Caol Uno and Fabricio Camoes went to a draw in a fight I didn’t see and don’t regret not seeing.   Uno is a   shell of his former self and should have had no problems winning this one.   Instead he went to the UFC’s first draw since Tito vs Rashad against a beatable opponent and will   more then likely find himself in an office with Joe Silva and Dana White trying to justify why they keep a has been like himself on their roster.   Let’s hope he loses that argument and we see no more of Uno in the UFC.

In the 1^st upset of the night, submission machine Brock Larson was Tko’d in the 2^nd round by Brian Foster.   Twice, in the 1^st round Larson was deducted points for throwing illegal kicks but it didn’t seem to matter as Foster was able to finish him in the 2^nd with a flurry of nice shots.   That’s two in a row for Larson but due to him having several victories in a row I’m sure we’ll see him in the UFC at least once more.

Kendall Grove managed to submit Jake Rosholt in the 1^st round with a triangle choke that came out of nowhere.   This fight proved how competitive and unpredictable MMA can be as Jake was overpowering and out wrestling Kendall only to leave himself in a bad position for a split second and have Kendall wrap his legs around Jake’s head and arm and squeeze.   With this win Kendall avoids being cut from the UFC.   I’d love to see a rematch at some point here though as 9 out of 10 times Jake wins this fight.

In another upset Ben Saunders knocked out Marcus Davis cold in the 1^st round following a big knee and follow up shots that were not needed as Davis was already out.   Saunders had a big reach advantage and did something no one else has been able to do, he knocked out the Iron jawed Davis.   This is undoubtedly the biggest win of his career and we will more then likely see this land him in competition with the elite of the UFC’s Welterweight division in his next fight.

Amir Sadollah was victorious over the overhyped, overrated, returning big mouth Phil Baroni by unanimous decision.   Amir was able to avoid those big shots from Baroni in a fight that was new school UFC vs Old School UFC.   Baroni will more then likely find himself in competition with Marcus Davis in a future UFC event as both like to stand and bang and need a win desperately.

Antonio Rogerio   Noguiera, or Lil Nog as people refer to him, made his UFC debut against his friend Luiz Arthur “Banha” Cane and TKO’d him in the 1^st round.   Both men came out looking to stand and trade and it didn’t take Nog long to start landing big left hands which eventually dropped Cane.   With this win, Lil Nog climbs into number ten in the top ten Lightheavyweights and Cane falls out of title contention.  

Paulo Thiago defeats UFC newcomer Jacob Volkmann by unanimous decision in a fight that would have never made the main card had Karo Parisyan/Dustin Hazelett not been cancelled.   Thiago has faced only top ten competition with a knockout victory over Josh Koscheck and Unanimous Decision loss to UFC Welterweight Gatekeeper Jon Fitch.   Although Volkmann was not as well known or highly ranked as the previous opponents, this is still a big win for Thiago and will keep him facing the top fighters.   Maybe a fight with Ben Saunders down the line?

Josh   Koscheck defeats Anthony Johnson by submission to a rear naked choke in the 2^nd round and puts himself right in-line for a title shot at GSP’s title at some point.   I saw this one going to Johnson when I made my picks as Johnson has heavy hands and Koscheck’s been standing and banging a lot more lately.   Instead KOS played it safe and took it to the ground where he held a distinct advantage.   Post match, KOS claimed he was the rightful number 1 contender and wants Dan Hardy who is to fight GSP next.   I hope Dana and Joe Silva sign this fight as Koscheck deserves a shot more then Hardy and proved it by beating Johnson.   Let's make it happen!

In the main event of the night Forest Griffin battled, beat and avenged his previous loss to Tito Ortiz by split decision in a fight that was not as close as the split decision indicates.   Forrest won rounds 1 and 3 but Tito had the 2^nd.   This fight again shows that the judging system in MMA is flawed and needs to be restructured.   Tito looked alright in this one considering he hasn’t fought in over a year and Forrest fought like someone who was a loss away from taking a walk from the UFC.   Anyone smell a Rich Franklin/Forrest Griffin season of the Ultimate Fighter coming up?

All in all this was a weak card that should have been free.   It sucked even more that the fight I wanted to see most Parisyan and Hazelett was cancelled on Friday due to Parisyan and his “mental issues” or “painkiller addiction”, depending on who you ask.   Karo was at one point in title contention and the number one contender to the Welterweight championship but has fell off in the last couple years having been knocked out by Thiago Alves and being handed a No Contest after defeating Dong Hyun Kim last year when he had tested positive to a banned substance.   Dana White publicly fired Parisyan after this which is fair but I think more people have to realize that Karo’s human and makes mistakes.   With his talent hopefully this guy gets his feet on the ground again and becomes the champion I know he can.

It was reported earlier this week that Brock Lesnar had successful surgery and is recovering at his home.   Originally reports had Dana White saying that Brock may never fight again but Dana never thinks before he talks and now people are saying Brock will be back in 6 months or so.   Regardless of when he gets back lets all wish Brock a speedy and successful recovery.  

This weeks episode of the Ultimate Fighter saw Brendan Schaub and John Madsen fight.   Madsen took the 1^st round by getting Brendan down and doing little more than that as the 1^st round came to an end.   The 2^nd round started and Brendan was able to keep it standing only to land a couple big shots, the second of which floored Madsen giving Schaub the victory by knockout in the 2^nd round.   Brendan looked better in the fight then the 1^st fight he had but still doesn’t look like he’s going to win this season.

Again this week TUF teased Kimbo perhaps returning to fight in the house.   Im going to say the same thing I’ve been saying all season, Kimbo will NOT return.   There have been several fighters this season that have put on better performance than Kimbo.   Domenico and Wren have been most impressive in their losses and even though Kimbo is a ratings draw Dana would never put him on to fight in the next round if there were more deserving guys, which there is.

WEC held an event this week and in the main event hard hitting Jose Aldo was able to TKO and win the WEC Lightweight Championship over ultra tough Mike Thomas Brown.   I didn’t think this would happen but it did and it seems like a reoccurring theme in WEC that the fighters and champions that should win, don’t win as this year has seen MTB and Miguel Torres TKOed or knocked out, things thought to be impossible at one point.

Dan Henderson is STILL a free agent.   I wouldn’t doubt it if we see DREAM snatch him up for a one fight deal on the New Year’s card.   Only time will tell if this happens.

The UFC has a Fight Night scheduled in 2 weeks with the main event being everyone’s favourite deaf fighter, Matt Hamill taking on the young, dominant Jon “Bones” Jones.   I’ll have a breakdown and predictions for this in the next week.  

That’s all for this week everyone, hopefully you’ve enjoyed it and check back next week for more.   Take care.