Great night of fights!

 

Silva vs. Sonnen 2- we have to see it. Silva said he had a rib injury and that contributed to his performance. I don't know that he couldhave stopped Sonnen's takedowns at 100%. Chael deserves another shot and I can't wait to see it!

 

That being said, Silva didn't do much "damage" to Sonnen and those saying that he did the most damage didn't watch the fight closely, IMO. Silva landed one elbow to Sonnen's eye and that cut him. Blood does not equate damage. How many time did Sonnen catch Silva flush on the chin throughout the fight? Silva won, but he got controlled and man-handled. He was able to land the submission because of his long limbs and Sonnen's inability to handle the submission attempt.

 

Jon Fitch did what I thought he would do. He is a tough guy to fight anyway, but if you take a 13 month layoff due to injuries and have trouble cutting weight as Alves did on both accounts, that fight was over before it started. Fitch is going to have to get a tune up before his title shot, though, because I can't imagine Dana would give Fitch another shot before he'd give Shields the shot (should Shields beat Kampmann and Rush beat Kos).

 

Maybe Fitch's next opponent should be Matt Hughes? That was a sick choke and Almeida is no push over. I think a Fitch-Hughes fight with the winner getting a shot at the title would make for a great fight. Hughes isn't running on empty; he still has some gas left in his hall of fame tank.

 

I love Clay Guida. He always gives you an exciting fight. I love that he has gone to Greg Jackson's camp. I think that will help him get a title shot soon. I would like to see him get a Grey Maynard or a Ken Florian. It would make for a solid scrap!

 

 

Junior Dos Santos deserves a title shot, but what he showed me last night only proves that he is not on the level of the top guys. If you can't KO Roy Nelson, then you can't KO Brock, Cain or Shane. I like what I saw from Big Country. Back to the drawing board, but that dude is tough.

 

:thumb:

 

Would love to see that. Hughes is as good of a wrestler as it gets, even if it is past his prime. Would be an awesome scrum to say the least between those two, total fight for control the entire time.

 

 

I love Guida as well, always going 200 mph. Working at Greg Jackson's is going to maybe one day get him a shot at the 155 title.

 

Dos Santos looked very good, but clearly not on the same level as Brock, and more than likely even a Carwin, Mir, or Velasquez. I wouldn't use the couldn't KO Nelson bit though at all, Nelson looked pretty cabage-esque last night IMO. Dos Santos was landing bombs and Nelson just ate them.

Anything can happen in MMA at any point in the fight!

 

Reason #1 why you gotta love it.

 

I doubt anybody outside of Chael Sonnen thought he could do what he did last night. But, I gotta give Anderson Silva some props. He can take a punch. You never know how a guy will respond who hasn't been tested in so long. Other than the first punch that nearly knocked him down, Silva never acted like Sonnen hurt him at all, IMO. Whether he was or wasn't hurt, Chael Sonnen was dominant for virtually the entire fight. Early in the fourth, I thought Silva hurt him, and then the triangle.

 

The last two PPV's have been about as good as you get from the UFC. Two dominant champions coming from behind the 8-ball to gain submission victories. Good stuff.

 

Roy Nelson is a tough dude as well. I wouldn't write Dos Santos off against Brock Lesnar. I also wouldn't pencil Brock in as his next opponent. I think Cain Velasquez is quite capable of taking the belt.

 

And, is it just me, or has Matt Hughes looked better in his last two fights than he has in quite a while?

It was worth watching the beating he took before that. Trust me.

 

Sonnen had looked so good and in control from top position the whole fight, I even thought it was over when he got him down again in the fifth. Even as good as Silva is from the bottom, Sonnen basically dictated everything in this fight, especially on the ground. Looked so good, didn't give Anderson anything, wouldn't allow him to get up, anything. So like I said earlier, I had even told my buddy that it was over unless Silva could get up. I mean we have saw Silva finish a fight from the bottom before, but the way this one played out I never thought for a second Sonnen was going to get caught.

 

I know one thing, we definitely saw a different Anderson Silva after the fight, very very humbled. Layed his black belt and UFC Belt on the ground and knelled in front of Sonnen. Wasn't cocky or anything, this fight really brought him back down to earth.

 

He always bows before his vanquished opponent. That was nothing new.

And, is it just me, or has Matt Hughes looked better in his last two fights than he has in quite a while?

 

It is a subtle thing, but I like that Hughes went back to an orthodox stance in his stand up rather than the southpaw stance. They say wrestlers like to have the strong leg forward to help with takedowns, but you sacrifice your power in your strong hand, making setting up the takedown more difficult. Hughes is so strong, he doesn't need to sacrifice the punching power. He can get takedowns regardless. I think this little tweek helped him last night and I hope he continues to trust his hands a little bit more.

I agree, he honestly looked like he was completely uninterested in the fight the entire time. He was always calm, never panicked and it seemed as though he was almost trying to prove a point. He was defending himself but it honestly looked like he never even attempted to get up in the first 4 rounds. This fight also showed us how great of a chin Silva has, he took some very good punches square to the chin and they never phased him for a second. He didn't even put his hands back up half of the time Sonnen caught him, this fight reminded me of the rope-a-dope.

 

That's another impressive thing about Silva that we've seen before to a lesser extent, his ability to always stay composed, focused and confident no matter the situation. Joe Rogan was saying that the first round was going to hurt Silva's confidence, but it didn't seem to. He came out early in every round, looked explosive and was looking to engage and finish the fight standing. Give Sonnen credit for avoiding getting caught and taking the fight to him.

 

I can't say Silva got lucky. When a guy who is capable of finishing a fight from pretty much any position at any time, he's not lucky when he does just that regardless of what has transpired to that point.

 

Assuming they rematch, it will be interesting to see if Sonnen can replicate that performance. I'm skeptical. Of course, I didn't think he could do it the first time. Anything can happen.

He always bows before his vanquished opponent. That was nothing new.

 

True, but there wasn't really the normal hopping around, jumping, dancing, that you usually see from Anderson. The first thing he done was walked over and bowed, not a lot of celebrating at all last night, IMO he was humbled.

 

When he first came into the UFC he showed world class respect to all of his oponets and always knelled at their feet after the fight. The last two or three though he had been doing a lot of outclassing and showboating, that all stopped last night.

True, but there wasn't really the normal hopping around, jumping, dancing, that you usually see from Anderson. The first thing he done was walked over and bowed, not a lot of celebrating at all last night, IMO he was humbled.

 

When he first came into the UFC he showed world class respect to all of his oponets and always knelled at their feet after the fight. The last two or three though he had been doing a lot of outclassing and showboating, that all stopped last night.

 

I do think he was a bit relieved to pull that fight out. I suppose he understood that dancing and showboating may have seemed a bit out of place after getting beat on for four and a half rounds.

Awesome night of fights!

Couldn't agree more! WAR HUGHES!!!!

 

Later.