I saw the 2 main heavy weight fights that mattered most, more when I get to it. I am a JDS fan, and wondered if his previous loss to Velasquez burst a bubble and damaged his ego, and then wouldn’t be as confident of a fighter.
I saw a hype video of the fight and Junior was saying that when he went to hospital the last time they determined that his creatine was over 1000 and that was an indication he was overtrained. It isn’t hard to believe he may have driven himself to it because of what he knew was a high calibre fighter like Cain. Excuses sure, but he came up big this time. I was on the edge of my seat every time Hunt landed a combination, you could tell Junior was affected. Importantly, Junior almost finished him in a mounted crucifix after a good take down, and the back kick that ended it I wonder was Vitor Belfort inspired.
As far as Silva on the main event, I presumed that it should go to Cain, but there was this inkling of possibility Silva could pull it off. He was supposed also to have lost to Overeem, I guess the UFC needed a justification to give him a title shot, and when I saw the other hype video there was translation of Silva’s cornermen saying that the first 2 rounds were right on game plan, to get Overeem tired before turning it on.
Edit: Morale of the stories here, Cain sent a message to Junior that he is a calibre of striker added to his grappling (not that he hasn’t demonstrated it before, but still), and Junior sent one back that he can grapple a grand daddy of an opponent, and that he is more than just fists.
He’s got a good jab. It’s quick, intimidating (especially with MMA gloves), he can move with it.
It’s used both with combinations in mind and as a defensive tool.
His straight right is fairly fast and precise. He throws it in combinations and as a single punch.
Both straights of that calibre -long, hard, fast, preciese- are rare in MMA.
Often, they go to the body as a single strike or as part of a combination. This reliably creates openings in his fights.
His overhead right is pure lightning.
The left hook, relatively rarely used by Junior, is dangerous. Mark Hunt can attest to that.
And he also likes the right uppercut.
tldr; the brazilian has not just heavy hands or decent boxing.
He creatively commands a proper ARSENAL of dangerous weaponry.
Now that he throws in takedowns and kicks, too, in there, there’s little to stop him from taking that belt, once again.
The fan in me hopes that Overeem absolutely destroys his next two opponents.
I’d like to see him, a slow, aggressive (counter) puncher- and clinchfighter solve that puzzle.
It was a pretty good card IMO, definitely better than the last train wreck.
Glover is so well rounded and so technically sound, but I just don’t see him beating Jones. He’s probably the only real contender at LHW at the moment though.
Great KO by JDS, but I still think Cain beats him again if they rematch.
Bigfoot never stood any real chance against Cain. The whole “our plan was to let Reem totally dominate Silva for the first two rounds in so that he would gas and we could capitalize on it” is just pure revisionist history. Reem lost that fight by not taking Silva seriously and clowning around for the first two rounds; Bigfoot did not “win” that fight due to superior strategy. But that whole outcome totally screwed up the UFC’s master plan and they had to therefore come up with some sort of BS story line for why Bigfoot was a legitimate contender. Once the actual bell rang though, the truth came out and Cain utterly decimated Bigfoot.
Personally I’d like to see Cormier challenge for the title after JDS gets another shot at it (unless maybe Reem comes back and destroys whoever he fights next), but I know that may not happen due to him and Cain being buddies.
[quote]Sentoguy wrote:
It was a pretty good card IMO, definitely better than the last train wreck.
Glover is so well rounded and so technically sound, but I just don’t see him beating Jones. He’s probably the only real contender at LHW at the moment though.
Great KO by JDS, but I still think Cain beats him again if they rematch.
Bigfoot never stood any real chance against Cain. The whole “our plan was to let Reem totally dominate Silva for the first two rounds in so that he would gas and we could capitalize on it” is just pure revisionist history. Reem lost that fight by not taking Silva seriously and clowning around for the first two rounds; Bigfoot did not “win” that fight due to superior strategy. But that whole outcome totally screwed up the UFC’s master plan and they had to therefore come up with some sort of BS story line for why Bigfoot was a legitimate contender. Once the actual bell rang though, the truth came out and Cain utterly decimated Bigfoot.
Personally I’d like to see Cormier challenge for the title after JDS gets another shot at it (unless maybe Reem comes back and destroys whoever he fights next), but I know that may not happen due to him and Cain being buddies.[/quote]
forget about the mauler?
Excellent card and I agree with you Sento I’m not sure who in their right mind actually gave silva a shot in that fight Cain would have had him beat either way standing or on the ground.
Didn’t catch any of the prelims, but as far as the main card went:
Cerrone fought a fairly smart fight and used his kicks to keep K.J. Noons from getting into an effective boxing range. He also mixed in a few takedowns and some ground and pound to further keep Noons off balance and out of his element. I generally like Cowboy as a fighter, but I don’t really see him threatening for the title any time soon.
T.J. Grant looks dangerous at LW. Maynard is generally a very tough and very big LW, but Grant handled him fairly easily and actually looked like the bigger fighter as well. Even though I think it’s a good thing that Maynard is trying to round out his skills with more striking training, I still think he would have been better to use his wrestling a little more in that fight. I wouldn’t mind seeing Grant get a title shot if Benson wins his rematch with Melendez.
[quote]Sentoguy wrote:
Didn’t catch any of the prelims, but as far as the main card went:
Cerrone fought a fairly smart fight and used his kicks to keep K.J. Noons from getting into an effective boxing range. He also mixed in a few takedowns and some ground and pound to further keep Noons off balance and out of his element. I generally like Cowboy as a fighter, but I don’t really see him threatening for the title any time soon.
T.J. Grant looks dangerous at LW. Maynard is generally a very tough and very big LW, but Grant handled him fairly easily and actually looked like the bigger fighter as well. Even though I think it’s a good thing that Maynard is trying to round out his skills with more striking training, I still think he would have been better to use his wrestling a little more in that fight. I wouldn’t mind seeing Grant get a title shot if Benson wins his rematch with Melendez.
[/quote]
tj is fighting Ben, Melendez ain’t gettin a rematch