UFC Fight Night 17 in Review

You got to love these free events by the UFC especially nights like these that are better than some of the latest Pay Per Views.

My picks were right on the money. Here are how the main card events turned out;

Luigi Fioravanti vs Anthony Johnson - Johnson by TKO(strikes) at 4:39 of the 1st Round

With a reach advantage as large as Johnson combined with the his striking ability, Luigi had an impossible time getting close enough to strike Anthony. He did a decent enough job though darting in a few times through out the match and landing blows before ducking out of the exchange. Still it was just a matter of time before Anthony Johnson would land the blow to finish the match and near the end of the 1st he was able to.

Johnson's humble post fight interview with Joe Rogan where he announced how much he hated his own performance and his desire to improve. As a young welterweight his talents will definitely have a future in the UFC.

Mac Danzig vs Josh Neer - Neer by Submission(Triangle Choke) at 3:36 of the 2nd Round

Josh "the Dentist" Neer earned his nickname within seconds of the match when he dropped Danzig with a headkick that adjusted the teeth of Mac. However the first round definitely went to Danzig as he was able to land numerous combination and drop Neer a couple of times. Still Neer was very persistent and could not be stopped. Even after being worked Neer taunted Danzig challenging him to strike.

The second round was all Neer even if his face was bloody and red. Neer ground and pounded with vicious elbows in the first minute of the 2nd round and even when Danzig was able to sweep Josh and get the better position on the ground, Neer merely mocked Mac as he locked a triangle choke that finished the bout. This match won Fight of the Night honors for good reason.



Cain Velasquez vs Denis Stojnic - Velasquez by TKO(strikes) at 2:34 of the 2nd Round

"Denis you got to work," sums up the entire match as Stojnic was unable to create an offense. For 1 and a half rounds Cain Velasquez gave Denis a beating with every single strike possible. Amazingly Denis just absorbed them. The knees, kicks, hooks, and straights that would have finished a majority of fighters were unable to finish the job against Stojnic. Finally the referee just got tired of watching Denis get worked and ended the match after about a minute of vicious ground and pound from Cain.

It was an excellent performance by Cain. His powerful and technically amazing strikes make his stand up something to reckon with. And although Velasquez has an amazing background with wrestling he was unable to use any take downs successfully. It's disappointing to see that Cain couldn't finish the match but his dominant performance will make for some great matches in the future.

Joe Lauzon vs Jeremy Stephens - Lauzon by Submission(Armbar) at 4:42 of the 2nd Round

This was a beautiful match between a striker and grappler. The technical striking ability of Stephens had him dominate the stand up game even though Lauzon braved through the exchange. On the ground it was Lauzon's game where he often swept into a dominant position. Stephens threw so many power shots hoping to knock out and Lauzon and finish the match and if it weren't for the submission I believe Stephens could have won a decision. But things went to the ground in the 2nd and for awhile Stephens had a dominate position that he lost when Lauzon swept and grabbed the arm and finished Stephens.


This is was probably the best UFC event of the new year so far. Future stars Anthony Johnson and Cain Valasquez had great matches that highlighted their potential and the Mac Danzig and Josh Neer fight was one of the most competitive matches in awhile.

So what was your favorite match of the night? Where do you see these fighters going in the future?

UFC Fight Night 17: Lauzon vs Stephens

The UFC will be traveling to Tampa for the first time as the Sun Dome will be hosting UFC Fight Night 17 on February 7. This event will be broadcast for free on Spike TV.

The main event will be a lightweight match between Joe Lauzon and Jeremy Stephens.

The following is short examination of the main card;


Joe Lauzon vs Jeremy Stephens

Joe Lauzon(16 - 4) is 24 years old, 5 feet 10 inches tall, with a reach of 70 inches. He holds a Bachelor's degree in computer networking and use to work as a network administrator before he began training full time in MMA. He now runs a MMA gym in Massachusetts and has been competing in Mixed Martial Arts competitions since 2004.

Lauzon is great ground fighter. His Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is top notch and he has ended 13 of his matches by submission. His stand up isn't as good but is better than most competitors. His take down ability is what makes him really dangerous as he can take opponents down in unpredictable ways like the way Lauzon used a flying scissors heel hook to take Kyle Bradly down in his last fight at UFC Fight Night 15.

Jeremy Stephens(16 - 3) is 22 years old and 5 feet 9 inches tall.. He has been training in MMA for 6 years and began competing in 2005. He is the former Universal Gladiator Championships and Midwest Cage Championships 155 pound champion before relinquishing the titles as he joined the UFC in 2007. Stephens is taking this match on short notice since Hermes Franca had to withdraw from the match due to injury.

Stephens last fight was in November 2008 at UFC 91 where he was able to score a brutal KO victory over Rafeal dos Anjos using a powerful right hand uppercut near the end of the 3rd Round. This knock out earned him the Knock Out of the Night honors.


Stephens KOs Anjos

A majority of Stephens victories come by KO, 12 to be exact. But he also has a solid ground game that stems from his wrestling abilities. He is capable of pulling off submissions brilliantly like getting an Armbar from the guard position

Prediction: Joe Lauzon by Submission
Jeremy Stephens has a chance to make a big name for himself in this match up, but in order to do that he most avoid the brilliant take downs from Lauzon. The stand up battle will be even but Lauzon will be able to get a take down in the middle of an exchange and pull of a submission.


Cain Velasquez vs Denis Stojnic

Cain Velasquez(4 - 0) is 25 years old, 6 feet 1 inch tall with a reach of 77 inches. He is a 2 time All-American collegiate wrestler from ASU and a Junior College National Champ. He began his MMA career in October 2006 with Strikeforce. In 2008 Velasquez joined the UFC and in his debut match he defeated Brad Morris in the 1st Round by TKO (strikes).

In his last fight Velasquez came out strong againist Jake O'Brien at UFC Fight Night 14. The match quickly went to the ground where Cain was able to trap O'Brien's one arm with his legs and the other with his head leaving O'Brien's head open for some powerful pounding. The match was over at 2:02 of the 1st Round, a TKO victory for Velasquez.

Denis Stojnic(5 - 1) is 28 years old and 5 feet 11 inches tall. He is kickboxer and samba practitioner fighting out of Bosnia. This will be Stojnic's debut match in the UFC.

A majority of Stojnic's wins come by Decision. He has competed in several MMA organizations in Europe including Shooto Holland and Obracun Ringu.

Prediction: Cain Valasquez by TKO(strikes)
It's hard to predict this match with so little information on Stojnic. But considering the dominance of Valasquez wrestling ability and the fact that Stojnic's wins come by decisions.


Mac Danzig vs Josh Neer

Mac Danzig(18 - 5 - 1) is 28 years old, 5 feet 9 inches tall with a 70 inch reach. Mac has competed in several MMA organizations in the past 8 years including Gladiator Challenge, World Extreme Cagefighting and King of the Cage. He was then accepted into The Ultimate Fighter 6 where he won the lightweight division. He currently trains at Xtreme Couture and is a proud Vegan.

Danzig is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioner and an amazing Boxer. He has won 10 fights by Submission (mostly by Rear Naked Choke) and 4 by KO. His grappling game is top notch so look forward to seeing him work this game against Neer.

Josh Neer(24 - 7 - 1) is 25 years old, 5 feet 11 inches tall with a 73 inch reach. He has competed in several MMA organizations since 2003 fighting for a few groups before joining the UFC in 2005.

Neer practices Muay Thai and has a strong wrestling background. He is a great striker with powerful punches and he uses his wrestling abilities to achieve great position on the ground for some ground and pounding.

Prediction: Josh Neer by Unanimous Decision
Neer has the wrestling ability to negate Danzigs grappling. With excellent striking skill he should be able to pull off the victory.


Luigi Fioravanti vs Anthony Johnson

Luigi Fioravanti(13 - 4) is 28 years old, 5 feet 8 inches tall with a 70 inch reach. He is a former Marine who began training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and kickboxing while stationed in California and Iraq. He is currently a member of American Top Team.

His last match was a catchweight match with Brodie Farber at UFC Fight Night 16 where he won by Unanimous Decision. In that match Fiorvanti was able to use superior grappling skills to dominate Farber on the ground almost catching Farber in a few chokes.

Anthony Johnson(6 - 2) is 24 years old, 6 feet 2 inches tall with a 78 inch reach. He began his UFC career in 2007 at UFC Fight Night 10 winning in his debut match against Chad Reiner by KO. He is currently 3 - 2 in the UFC.

Johnson has won 4 of his matches by KO. His speed and power make his striking a dominant force in the ring. He has good wrestling ability that helps him control fighters in the clinch or grapple on the ground.

Prediction: Anthony Johnson by Split Decision
Johnson's size will make a big difference in the bout. When Fiorvanti goes for some grappling he'll wear himself out against the bigger opponent. Plus with an 8 inch reach advantage Johnson should dominate the stand up.


Those are the main events there should be few good matches. I'm looking forward to the Johnson bout and seeing how well his striking game is.

Anyways which fights are you looking forward to? Think any of my picks are wrong?

UFC 94: St-Pierre vs Penn 2 In Review

In the beginning of the PPV the announced said, "everyone in the world believes this will be the most magical night of the Ultimate Fighting Championship." I think everyone in the world most have been very disappointing once all the fights were done. But I'll get into that later.

My predictions were all correct this event and a couple of the fights were pretty fucking good. Here is how the night went;

Nate Diaz vs Clay Guida - Guida by Split Decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

I predicted that Guida would win by TKO but I had no idea that he was 5 inches shorter than Diaz and had an 8 inch reach disadvantage. However the size advantage was negated throughout the match as Guida would shoot in for take downs some successful some leading to clinching stalemates. Still Guida was relentless and would not get off Diaz never allowing Diaz to be successful with his strikes until the 3rd round. Diaz finally had some great offense but it was too late as Guida had already won the 1st 2 rounds.



This was definitely one of the best fights of the night and won fight of the night honors.

Karo Parisyan vs Dong Hyun Kim - Parisyan by Split Decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

This was a slow grappling match between 2 great Judo practitioner. The fighters spent a majority of the fight within the clinch trying to trip the other one up. The first round went to Kim as he was able to take down and control Parisyan the entire round. In the 2nd round Parisyan scored a beautiful Judo throw that had the crowd cheering and controlled that round. The final round was really close and in all honesty I would have given it to Kim for the few strikes he was able to land within the clinching. I thought Parisyan was going to win this by submission but Kim is the one that went for submissions more often whatever though I still predicted the right winner.

Stephan Bonnar vs Jon Jones - Jones by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

Jim Jones came out strong pressing the action constantly. He used a variety of techniques to dismantle Bonnar with sound striking and powerful takedowns. Unfortunately near the end of the 2nd round Jones was getting fatigued from fighting to hard but was still able to pull off a suplex on Bonnar and then attempted a flying scissors trip. The 3rd round was a little more even as Bonnar was able to capitalize on the fatigue of Jones even attempting to submit Jones by a Triangle Choke that Jones was able to escape. I had predicted Jones would be able to finish Bonnar and he came close to it, especially in the 1st Round when Jones landed a spinning back elbow that sent Bonnar to the mat but Bonnar was able survive till the end of the match and lost in the cards.

Lyoto Machida vs Thiago Silva - Machida by KO (Punch) at 4:59 of the 1st Round

Lyoto Machida fought the type of fight he is known for; striking and running. Thiago Silva was suppose to be the aggressive striker but Machida's movement never let Silva get a strike. Instead Lyoto kept landing shots here and there even knocking down Silva a couple of times. Finally with a few seconds left in round 1 both fighters were locked in each others clinch and Lyoto tripped Silva sending him to the mat. Lyoto then capitalized on a grounded Silva and threw a punch down that knocked Silva out with a second left in the 1st Round. A great KO that earned Machida Knock Out of the Night honors.

Georges St-Pierre vs B.J. Penn - St-Pierre by TKO (Doctor Stoppage) at the end of the 4th Round


This match was dubbed as the greatest match in the history of MMA before it ever even happened. That claim turned out to be a joke. While the first meeting of these two turned out to be an epic battle that St-Pierre narrowly won, this rematch turned out to be a beating with St-Pierre dominating Penn using his size and skill. It was amazing to see St-Pierre going for take downs and pounding Penn on the ground where B.J. is a world champion.

Click here to watch the fight between GSP and BJ

For four rounds we saw St-Pierre taking Penn to ground and passing guard so easily before begining to pound with hammer fists, elbows and punches. By the end of the 3rd round you can tell Penn lost the heart to keep fighting. And at the end of the 4th round he was simply done. His corner called over the doctor and had him stop the fight. It's a shame to see such a great fighter like Penn get utterly controlled but St-Pierre deserves credit for making Penn look like an amateur in the ring.


And that was the most magical night in MMA. It wasn't a bad night of fights just really disappointing. Both main events were really one sided and the lack of competition from such top fighters sucks. $44.95 to watch a beating doesn't seem worth it, I want to see a fight.

Still great performances by Clay Guida and up and coming UFC star Jon Jones. Keep an eye out for Jones he definitely has a future within the light heavy weight division.

So what was your favorite fight of the night? Any decisions you felt went the wrong way? Who you looking forward to seeing fight again?