john lawrence gets in the octagon …
UFC on Fuel TV 10 set the bar for submission victories last week with eight, count them, eight submission victories. Not to be outdone, UFC 161 had to set a record of its own. While not as impressive as submissions, UFC 161 boasted nine, yes count them, nine decision victories. I just find it ironic that a free event set the bar for submissions, and a pay per view set the tone for snoozers.
While I usually break down the fights round to round, I’m not going to bore you with all the sorted details of this fiasco. We will just get down to the bottom of what shaped out to be a horrible night of fights for the UFC.
Roy Nelson, to put it bluntly , was outmatched against relative newcomer Stipe Miocic. While Miocic, is by no means, the upper echelon of the heavyweight division, he is also a former Division I wrestler and Golden Gloves champion. That being said, he outscored the number five ranked heavyweight in every round, winning on all three judge’s scorecards 30-27.
In one of the highlights of the evening, women’s bantamweights Alexis Davis and Rosi Sexton put on quite a show for the fans in their UFC debut. They were able to showcase brilliant grappling, striking, jiu-jitsu, and more. Davis showed fantastic clinch work and phenomenal ground and pound, to the point where referee Herb Dean almost stepped in to stop the fight. Sexton showed what grappling defense is all about, but ultimately her defense was not enough as it went to the judges. Davis was able to secure the decision victory unanimously.
Lightheavyweight Ryan Jimmo threw everything but the kitchen sink at Igor Pokrajac, but ultimately could not finish him. Igor absorbed punch after punch in the clinch, and never really could mount his own attack, but I guess at least he didn’t get knocked out. The judges declared it unanimously in favor of Jimmo.
In one of the only fights really worth talking about, there unfortunately wasn’t much to tell. Heavyweight Shawn Jordan dispatched Pat Barry in a mere fifty nine seconds. It was exciting to watch, but it was over quickly. Barry who has always been a little short for the heavyweight division, may need to consider a drop to light heavyweight as his record falls down to 8-6. Congratulations to Shawn Jordan though, for a very impressive performance against a very tough fighter.
In the main event of the evening, we got to watch as two legendary fighters threw down. Dan Henderson and Rashad Evans put on a great show as they went the distance. Thew both showed why they are in the MMA elite. Henderson may be 42 years old, but in the first round, he still showed why he is to be respected as Rashad Evans charged in and got his clock cleaned by the former champ. He was able to shake it off and eventually built up some momentum in the second round. This carried on into the third round where Evans was far more aggressive than Henderson, as Henderson started showing signs of fatigue. My only complaint about this fight is that nobody really explained why this fight was only three rounds instead of the usual five for a main event, but other than that, it was great to watch. Inevitably Evans squeaked out the split decision victory over the former Pride and UFC champ in what may be the closing moments of a great fighter’s career. Personally, I think they should give Henderson one more title shot, just because he is Dan Henderson. Why not?
The preliminary fight results:
Jake Shields def. Tyrone Woodley via split decision
James Krause def. Sam Stout via submission (guillotine choke)
Sean Pierson def. Kenny Robertson via majority decision (one judge had the score even)
Roland Delorme def. Edwin Figueroa via unanimous decision
Mitch Clarke def. John Maguire via unanimous decision
Yves Jabouin def. Dustin Pague via split decision
The post fight honors are really hard to figure out since there was only one knock out and one submission, but
KO of the Night: Shawn Jordan
Submission of the Night: James Krause
Fight of the Night: James Krause and Sam Stout
