Velasquez is Victorious in UFC 110; Event Featured Great Batch of Brawls — Who Will They Face Next? » 30ninjas

Velasquez is Victorious in UFC 110; Event Featured Great Batch of Brawls — Who Will They Face Next?

Share on Facebook posted 02-21-10 by John George

The Ultimate Fighting Championship 110 event, broadcast last night on Pay Per View from Sidney, Australia, was one of the best nights of mixed martial arts fights to come along in a long while. The pay per viewers got their money’s worth, as there were almost no boring fights, and plenty of exciting twists and turns.

Velasquez vs. Nogueira

The main event of the evening didn’t take very long, as Cain Velasquez (8-0-0) maintained his pristine undefeated record by taking out Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira (32-6-1) with some devastating strikes at 2:20 in the first round of their heavyweight bout.

Nogueira, also called “Big Nog” to differentiate him from his slightly smaller twin brother, is a true living legend who has faced and beaten some of the best fighters in the world. That Velasquez was able to dispatch him with relative ease makes a very compelling case for Velasquez being considered among the top contenders in the UFC’s heavyweight division.

Velasquez is a top-notch wrestler who chose to win this fight by standing up and striking. In doing so, he displayed tremendous striking skills. Both his punches and kicks were very crisp and powerful, and he was able to actually knock Nogueira out briefly, which is no mean feat. Big Nog is known for having a tremendous ability to absorb punishment and being unbelievably difficult to knock out.

The world of MMA fans as been abuzz since the fight with chatter about how Velasquez would fare against the other UFC heavyweights like Frank Mir, Shane Carwin and the champion himself, Brock Lesnar. Of the three, I think Velasquez would have the best luck against Mir, although the latter has improved his striking and fitness so much, that I’m not sure he’d actually have enough luck to win.

I think both Carwin and Lesnar are too big and too strong for Velasquez to handle. Those guys weigh in at 265 with almost no body fat at all, while Velasquez is nice and jiggly at 245. If Velasquez had to, I bet he could make 205 pounds. Also, Lesnar and Carwin are both as good, if not better, at wrestling than Velasquez. I just don’t see Velasquez being able to take either of them out.

I’d like to see Velasquez take on Junior Dos Santos next, and see what happens. There’s been a lot of Velasquez hype lately, but I think we need to see him in a few more fights against top opponents before we know if he’s truly the real deal.

Silva vs. Bisping

Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva (33-10-1) is another living legend, but he had better luck in the cage than his fellow former Pride fighter Nogueira. Silva earned a close but unanimous decision against solid British fighter Michael “The Count” Bisping (18-3-0) in a middleweight contest.

This was an improved version of Silva who, at 185 pounds, was much leaner than we’re used to seeing him. His leanness made his body look smaller and his head look bigger. This effect exaggerated his gargoyle-like appearance. Pound for pound, Silva has got to be the ugliest fighter in professional mixed martial arts. If a monkey and a catcher’s mitt had a baby together, it would look like Wanderlei’s face.

Most humans would be intimidated enough by Silva’s face to not even bother to put up a fight. Bisping — who, incidentally, is one of the prettiest male MMA fighters — put up a very game performance against the scary Brazilian.

The fight was very, very close throughout, but Silva was able to keep Bisping from doing what he does best: knocking him down and beating him up. Silva kept the fight standing, for the most part, and managed to prevent Bisping from hurting him.

The Axe Murderer also fought a smart fight, placing punctuation marks at the end of each round. He finished the first round with a flurry of punches that had Bisping backing up. The second round ended with Bisping caught in a tremendously tight arm-in guillotine choke that might have finished him if the bell didn’t ring.

The third round also ended with Bisping in deep trouble, having been buckled by one of Silva’s right hooks, and looking like he was about to get finished just as the fight ended.

Bisping doesn’t have anything to be ashamed of. He fought a good fight, but he just didn’t have enough power to deal with Silva. For my money, the Brit may be better off going back up to 205 pounds. He looks a bit too skinny to me at 185, and he may be lacking power because of it.

Sotiropoulos vs. Stevenson

Australian fighter George Sotiropoulos (12-2-0) put on a jiu-jitsu clinic as he dominated veteran contender Joe “Daddy” Stevenson in their lightweight matchup. Sotiropoulos showed tremendous skills both standing and on the ground, denying Stevenson any opportunity to win.

Stevenson found himself found himself basically spending all three rounds just trying to defend Sotiropoulos’ multifaceted attacks. Overall, it was an excellent fight that gave Sotiropolous a chance to really show his stuff against a former title contender.

I really didn’t see any holes in the Aussie’s game, and I’d love to see him face some of the other top lightweights, like Kenny Florian, Diego Sanchez or Kenny Florian. I think he’d show he’s good enough to deserve a title shot. Whether he’s actually good enough to pose a real threat to current dominant champion B.J. Penn, is a different story. But I’d love to see the fight.

Bader vs. Jardine

Ryan “Darth” Bader (11-0-0) kept his record spotless and showed that he’s worthy of contender status by beating unorthodox long-time contender Keith “The Dean of Mean” Jardine (15-7-1) in a light heavyweight match.

Bader dominated the first round, getting the better of the striking and the ground game. Jardine came back in the second round, shifting the fight’s momentum and seeming to take control as Bader appeared to get tired. Jardine was successful in keeping Bader from taking him down, and he managed to land some good punches.

The fighters appeared even as the third round got underway, with Bader seeming to have caught a second wind. The beginning of the end came when Bader tagged Jardine with a right hand that stunned him, and Darth followed it up with a flying knee and a left hook that seemed to knock Jardine senseless and triggered a referee stoppage.

Bader earned the title “The Ultimate Fighter” by winning the reality show’s light heavyweight tournament in December 2008. Since then, he’s been on a tear in the UFC, defeating Carmelo Marerro, Eric Schafer and, now, Jardine. Bader’s obviously a talented and skilled fighter. My only issue with him is that he’s such a boring guy. I’d really like to see a spark of character or personality somewhere in there. So far, I haven’t been able to spot anything.

Jardine, on the other had, is a real character. With his Cro-Magnon brow and King Tut beard, he’s a freakish delight to behold. And I also appreciate his kookiness, as exemplified by his pre-fight nipple tweak, which he performed as a sort of homage to his best buddy, the former light heavyweight champ, “Sugar” Rashad Evans. All things being equal, I’ll always root for the guy with character.

Filipovic vs. Perosh

Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic (26-7-2) came out looking bigger, stronger and scarier than I’d seen him since he made his way from Pride into the UFC two years ago. Cro Cop faced and defeated Australian fighter Anthony “The Hippo” Perosh (10-6-0), who took the fight on very short notice.

Cro Cop displayed tremendous striking and takedown defense to beat the crap out of Perosh, and turn the poor Aussie into a bloody mess. Perosh had no answer for Cro Cop’s relentless attack, which resulted in a huge gash on Perosh’s head from one of Cro Cop’s elbows during a ground-and-pound session in Round Two. The cut led to a doctor’s stoppage between rounds.

This was the first time I saw Perosh fight, but I hope it is not the last. I gained great admiration for him, as he displayed great heart and a truckload of guts by keeping it going against an opponent who truly overmatched him. Perosh showed the kind of courage in the face of adversity that makes great fighters serve as heroic examples of the best in each of us. My hat is off to him.

As for Cro Cop, I had counted him out as someone who had lost his edge and gone over the hill. This fight made me revisit my opinion. I don’t know if improved diet, better exercise or some secret sauce led to this improvement, but Cro Cop really looked like his old scary self again. Let’s hope he can keep it up.

Soszynski vs. Bonnar

This might have been my favorite fight of the night. Canadian fighter Krzysztof “The Polish Experiment” Soszynski (19-9-1) mixed it up with Stephan “The American Psycho” Bonnar (11-7-0) for more than two exciting rounds until the fight was stopped due to a cut on Bonnar’s head that left him drenched in blood.

The outcome is currently ruled a technical knockout victory for Soszynski due to doctor’s stoppage, but it should be ruled a no contest due to an accidental head butt. Bonnar fought very gamely and deserves better than to have another loss on his record.

The two fighters were very evenly matched, with the edge in technical skills maybe going to Soszynski, while the edge in aggression and pure heart maybe going to Bonnar. I was sorry to see the fight end the way it did, as I would have loved to see how it would play out.

This is the third straight loss for Bonnar, unless it is reconsidered to be a no contest, which it should be. I hope the UFC doesn’t consider cutting the veteran, as he is a very game guy with solid skills who is always a lot of fun to watch.