Preliminary card (Spike TV)

 

Middleweight bout: Patrick Côté vs. Tom Lawlor

Lawlor defeated Côté via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).

Middleweight bout: Court McGee vs. Ryan Jensen

McGee defeated Jensen via submission (arm triangle choke) at 1:21 of round 3.

 

Main card

 

Heavyweight bout: Brendan Schaub vs. Gabriel Gonzaga

Schaub defeated Gonzaga via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).

Light Heavyweight bout: Tito Ortiz vs. Matt Hamill

Hamill defeated Ortiz via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27).

Welterweight bout: Diego Sanchez vs. Paulo Thiago

Sanchez defeated Thiago via unanimous decision (30-26, 29-28, 29-28).

Welterweight bout: Jake Shields vs. Martin Kampmann

Shields defeated Kampmann via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 30-27).

Heavyweight Championship bout: Brock Lesnar vs Cain Velasquez

Cain Velasquez wins via KO in round 1

Go Cain Velasquez!

 

I just couldn't stand Lesnar at all so I'm glad to finally see him fall.

Wow, Cain worked Brock over. Absolutely destroyed him. Brock came out and looked good with the flying knee and takedown, but once Cain got in the groove, he was grooving.

Nice night of fights.

 

Cain's technique showed in this one. Brock tried to rush Cain early and over power him, but Cain simply used his technique to escape from take downs and to control Brock. He picked his shots when he has Brock down. Herb Dean did what Josh Rosenthal should have- he stopped the fight when Brock was getting pounded. Let the Cain Velasquez era begin.

 

Jake Shields looked tired by the end of the fight with Kampman, which shocks me. He never looked tired going 5 rounds with Dan Henderson. The weight cut was obviously a huge factor for him. If I were him, I would go back to 185 or at least take another warm up fight at 170 before trying to take out Rush.

 

Diego Sanchez looked like his old self. Now, he just has to consistently look this dominant versus stiff competition at 170.

 

I like Matt Hamill a lot, but he beat up a past his prime Tito Ortiz. How much respect does this really earn him? He got destroyed by Jon Jones. I'm not sure Hamill is an elite 205 guy. If he dropped to 185, though,he could be the next Chael Sonnen, IMO.

 

Brendan Shaub gets a nice win over Gonzaga, but Gonzaga would have beaten him if he takes the fight to the gorund- why didn't he do that?

Gonzaga looked flat out lazy and disinterested, I really don't know what happened to him. Very good win for Schaub, although I really don't think he'll ever be a contender in the HW division. I think he would be much better suited in Light Heavyweight if the weight cut didn't bother him too much.

 

Shields looked good but he was flat out exhausted after the fight, I'm with b2r on him, he needs to take a step back and figure out what he wants his path in the UFC to be.

 

I'm a big Lesnar fan but he got completely dominated tonight. Herb Dean gave Lesnar the benefit of the doubt for as long as he possibly could but when he stopped the fight it was clearly over. I really didn't expect that from Cain at all, he proved himself tonight in a big way and I'm happy for the guy. I'm really interested in seeing what the next few HW match-ups are going to be, things could get really interesting for a while now. There is still no HW in UFC history to defend his title 3 times and I don't see it happening anytime soon.

You figure Brock was lucky his last fight wasn't stopped in the 1st round, he comes out tonight, gets totally dominated and he doesn't get a second chance.

 

Tito Ortiz has no business being allowed to fight anymore, it was nice to see Hamill get the win, but that can't be considered that impressive.

Herb Dean did what Josh Rosenthal should have- he stopped the fight when Brock was getting pounded. Let the Cain Velasquez era begin.

 

I think Rosenthal did a great job and made the right call in that fight and Herb Dean did a great job in this one and stopped it at the right time. The difference between this fight and brocks last fight is Cains shots were tagging Brock flush in the face while most of Carwins GNP was blocked by Lesnars arms while covering up. If Carwins shots landed as clean as Cains did tonight brock is sleeping on the canvas.

I actually think Velasquez vs Carwin would be a better fight than tonights main event.

I'm a big Lesnar fan but he got completely dominated tonight. Herb Dean gave Lesnar the benefit of the doubt for as long as he possibly could but when he stopped the fight it was clearly over. I really didn't expect that from Cain at all, he proved himself tonight in a big way and I'm happy for the guy. I'm really interested in seeing what the next few HW match-ups are going to be, things could get really interesting for a while now. There is still no HW in UFC history to defend his title 3 times and I don't see it happening anytime soon.

 

I completely agree with the bolded statement you made but some folks on Facebook won't...lol...some of my friends think Herb ended it too quickly and that Lesnar was nowhere near being done with the fight...I just couldn't help but laugh at such a bogus statement...some people are just clouded by their loyalty to certain fighters...like I told them, I have no allegiance to any fighter but to say one got shafted is completely wrong.

I completely agree with the bolded statement you made but some folks on Facebook won't...lol...some of my friends think Herb ended it too quickly and that Lesnar was nowhere near being done with the fight...I just couldn't help but laugh at such a bogus statement...some people are just clouded by their loyalty to certain fighters...like I told them, I have no allegiance to any fighter but to say one got shafted is completely wrong.

 

Lesnar had a huge cut under his eye! I can't believe I seen a 270 pound man run scared the fight looked fixed to me.

Lesnar had a huge cut under his eye! I can't believe I seen a 270 pound man run scared the fight looked fixed to me.

 

There was something just not right about Lesnar last night.

Just a few thoughts in response to some of the things posted:

 

Cain vs. Junior will be the next title match; Dana said as much on MMA Live after the fight. I think a Brock vs. Shane rematch to decide the new #1 contender will come as well. With Frank Mir, Roy Nelson and the resources of the UFC to sign guys like an Overeem or even a Fedor (I'm not holding my breath), the heavyweight division will be interesting for the next few years.

 

To insinuate a fix is baseless, IMO. Shane pounded on Brock for at least a minute and got no stoppage; if any fight looks like a fix...

 

Brock doesn't handle getting hit very well. Cain tagged him, Shane tagged him, he reacted poorly in both instances. He turns his back, he runs, he turtles up. This is not how you intelligently defend. He will need a new boxing coach to work on this, IMO.

 

I also don't believe "something wasn't right" with Brock. He rushed Cain hoping to over power him and got Cain down twice. Cain's technique allowed him to get back to his feet quickly. Brock underestimated Cain's ability to handled his size and strength, IMO.

I also don't believe "something wasn't right" with Brock. He rushed Cain hoping to over power him and got Cain down twice. Cain's technique allowed him to get back to his feet quickly. Brock underestimated Cain's ability to handled his size and strength, IMO.

 

This.

 

 

 

Brock thought he could just rush and shoot for takedowns, then oppose his will on Cain on the ground. He did rush, he did get two takedowns but Cain was up both times easily. No question Brock underestimated Cain's ability to wrestle with him with the size difference.

I think Cain's ability to immediately get back to his feet after Brock's takedown surprised me the most. I wasn't totally sold on Cain's power, but I wasn't surprised by it.

 

Brock has got to learn how to take a punch. I've got to say, there's just something wrong when a 270 pound man that looks like Brock Lesnar basically runs away and turtles up when he gets hit. If he can't get that fixed, his days as a top tier HW in the UFC are done. If you look at the Big 4, the other three guys are all devastating with their hands. If he doesn't figure out how to exchange, I don't see him beating any of those guys. Carwin isn't going to make that same mistake again. I think he wins a rematch with Brock.

 

Cain's next two fights will tell the tale about his reign...I figure Carwin will be the opponent for whoever wins the Velasquez/Dos Santos fight. If Cain can handle those two guys, there's no one else that looks like a threat to him. Very impressive performance.

 

The guys on MMA Live asked Dana about Brock's striking and he said his striking was fine as long as he was the guy doing the punching.:lol:

 

Overall, I thought it was a solid PPV. The Sanchez/Thiago fight was very entertaining. I'm very interested to see Jake Shield fight GSP, assuming Shields is 100% and handles the weight cut better.

 

There are some beasts in the heavyweight division right now. The thing that would shock me the most in the UFC looking forward is if any of these big heavyweight clashes coming up go 3 rounds, much less 5. Somebody is getting knocked out. Dos Santos and Velasquez is a good one on paper.

 

But, seriously, Brock Lesnar shouldn't react to getting hit the way I would. I honestly thought he'd be better prepared and handle that aspect of the fight better this time around, based on the improvements he's made to date. I also gave him some benefit of the doubt considering nobody hits like Shane Carwin. Lesnar's stock has taken a big hit, IMO. He was very fortunate to retain his belt in the previous fight...his last two fights have been very similar. Like I said, I gave him the benefit of the doubt, but now that its happened again, you have to look at both fights and you see a guy who doesn't look mentally prepared to exchange with the elite HW's the UFC has brought in. Also, I think any mystique he may have had with his imposing look and freakish combination of size and athleticism has been shattered by his reaction to getting hit. Any good striking heavyweight has got to feel like he can beat Lesnar if he can keep the fight standing.

How many people think that the UFC's "branding" of Jake Shields as a solid contender to GSPs welterweight title was blown out of the water? He's got some work to do if he think he can put GSP away.

 

I didn't expect the Velasquez V Lesnar fight to go that way......Cain was on top of his game AND Lesnar's.

 

Later.