UFC 95: Sanchez vs Stevenson (Sat 2/21...Free on Spike)

[CPT]

I'm at work now, so I don't have time to share my own thoughts on this show, but I thought I'd get the ball rolling so I have something to read later, lol.

MAIN CARD (Televised)

Diego Sanchez vs. Joe Stevenson
Dan Hardy vs. Rory Markham
Wilson Gouveia vs. Nate Marquardt
Demian Maia vs. Chael Sonnen
Josh Koscheck vs. Paulo Thiago

PRELIMINARY CARD (Un-televised)

Junior dos Santos vs. Stefan Struve
Brian Cobb vs. Terry Etim
Paul Kelly vs. Troy Mandaloniz
Mike Ciesnolevicz vs. Neil Grove
Evan Dunham vs. Per Eklund

Weak main event, but solid fights top to bottom. I'll post my thoughts about all of the matchups later on.

[cowboyronnie]

Diego's really underrated, still.

Maia vs Sonnen is awesome. I don't think Chael's got the striking on the feet or on the ground to KO Maia, all the while having great defense in all areas - takedowns, wrestling and subs, most importantly. So we'll really get to see what Maia can do.

Neil Grove?? Hahaha. Jesus, that's sad. He's the white Kimbo.

[Cammo101]

Give me...

Diego
Hardy
Marquart
Sonnen
Koscheck
dos Santos
Etim
Kelly
Ciesnolevicz
Eklund

[CPT]

I'll take Sanchez in the main event as well. Pretty obvious pick, even though it's his first fight at LW, and Joe Daddy is no pushover. Sanchez has been one of my favourite fighters since I started watching him on TUF 1. He's just such a ridiculous person. It's probably also because I decided that Diego was the Spanish equivalent for Doug when watching with my friends, and I got entirely too much enjoyment out of rooting for little Dougie Sanchez. I've gone and shared too much. Dougie by TKO.

Hardy vs. Markham should be a solid WW fight. Both guys are on the cusp of top 10 status, although Hardy is a lot closer. I'm not sure I'd move either guy into the top 10 with a win, but I'd be looking to put them in a fight with a top 10 guy just to see what they are all about.

Marquardt vs. Gouveia is another very good matchup. Gouveia completely dominated Jason MacDonald, who is a quality gatekeeper at MW, so he deserves a fight of this level to really test where he's at. That being said, Marquardt is an animal. Even though Gouveia fought at 205 not too long ago, I feel like Marquardt is going to be the bigger and more powerful fighter. He's also very well rounded, and is somewhere in the top 2-5 MW in the world. If a focused Gouveia with a good training camp comes to this fight, he could give Nate a run for his money though.

Maia vs. Sonnen is very interesting. Maia's excellent ground game against Sonnen's wrestling. Tough return fight for Sonnen, but he's got a very good chance of winning the fight. I think Maia takes it and stays undefeated though.

Koscheck vs. Thiago is a fight I would assume Koscheck should take easily. I don't know much about Paulo Thiago, but whenever you can see a top 5 WW in action in the 5th fight from the top of a UFC card, it's pretty good. Thiago could pose some problems for Kos, as I understand he has a great submission game, but for that reason I expect Kos to keep the fight standing up and try to show off his continually improving striking abilities.

Preliminary card could provide some good fights, and I wouldn't be surprised to see some quick finishes on the main card, so I bet we'll see a few of them.

[damo[23]]

I believe the weighin's on friday are free - just off tottenham court road if memory serves.

[cowboyronnie]

I like Joe's talk in the preview. He's confident in his boxing.

**** Sanchez crediting himself with already having beaten Florian, like he's accomplished something at 155. Haha, he cites Tony Robbins! "What I learned in Tony Robbins is that to be the best, you got to seek out the best".

[cowboyronnie]

Sonnen's mentality is really strange. "I've got 9 losses, and I hope this won't be another one!" "I helped train those [previous 3 Team Quest guys Maia has beaten] unsuccessfully." LOL

[Cammo101]

I like Joe's talk in the preview. He's confident in his boxing.

**** Sanchez crediting himself with already having beaten Florian, like he's accomplished something at 155. Haha, he cites Tony Robbins! "What I learned in Tony Robbins is that to be the best, you got to seek out the best".

Diego better hope he does not run into the new Kenny Floarian anytime soon or he will end up on the bad end of a rear naked choke. The Florian that Diego fought is not the same guy that ran through Stephenson.

I wonder if Tony Robbins also told Diego to run from a weight class he was out classed in? If he wanted to fight the best really, he would be at 170 still. Diego saw the writing on the wall, and that writing said that Diego was not as good as GSP, Alves, Fitch, or Koscheck and he should find an easier weight class.

[Cammo101]

Sonnen's mentality is really strange. "I've got 9 losses, and I hope this won't be another one!" "I helped train those [previous 3 Team Quest guys Maia has beaten] unsuccessfully." LOL

I wonder if he ever got the WEC belt from that bum Filho?

[Chach]

I heard Filho was going to send him the belt even though it wasn't official but I never heard if it actually happened.

Something about Diego annoys the **** out of me. I finally got around to watching TUF 1 recently and his delivery and camera presence is just obnoxious. It's like he took a few bad acting classes and never developed any skills for it. I'm not a huge Joe Daddy fan but I am absolutely rooting for him to win tonight. mahalo
~Chach~

[Cammo101]

I heard Filho was going to send him the belt even though it wasn't official but I never heard if it actually happened.

Something about Diego annoys the **** out of me. I finally got around to watching TUF 1 recently and his delivery and camera presence is just obnoxious. It's like he took a few bad acting classes and never developed any skills for it. I'm not a huge Joe Daddy fan but I am absolutely rooting for him to win tonight. mahalo
~Chach~

I have always disliked Diego. Not only is he smug, but the UFC has been overhyping him since the begining. Nothing annoys me more than people being hyped up before they earn it. Joe Rogan would have you believe that Diego is this elite monster, just as long as you don't really put him in a fight with a real elite monster, because those guys have whipped the floor with Diego.

He is the Michelle Wie of MMA.

[Cammo101]

I'm 0-2 right now on my picks. It looks like a good night for 10-0 BJJ Black Belt's from Brazil.

That stopage in the Koscheck fight was just awful. Rogan tried to make excuses for that crappy referee, but Koscheck was clearly conscious and moving upward, and Thiago was not even trying to pounce. That was esily one of the worst stoppages I have seen. That was a nice shot by Thiago though.

Maia looks legit. He has some out of this word BJJ.


*EDIT: That same crappy ref Goddard let Per Ecklund take a ton of punishment after going down face first. He took a worse shot that Kos and went down limp, yet the ref let him take like 5 unanswered shots to the face before stopping it.

[cowboyronnie]

Who the **** is advising Stevenson that boxing, as a short and muscle-bound man, could possibly be effective? You can't throw effective combinations without body kicks. Inside leg kicks set-up punches and body kicks finish combos. It was painful watching him throw a 1-2, maybe a counter, then stand there slightly out of hands-distance, and so have to re-start into his monotonous boxing stance.

[Cammo101]

Who the **** is advising Stevenson that boxing, as a short and muscle-bound man, could possibly be effective? You can't throw effective combinations without body kicks. Inside leg kicks set-up punches and body kicks finish combos. It was painful watching him throw a 1-2, maybe a counter, then stand there slightly out of hands-distance, and so have to re-start into his monotonous boxing stance.

Agreed. His game plan sucked, but I felt like I saw a different fight than Rogan and Goldy (notorious Diego hypers). I think Diego won the fight, but with 3 pretty close rounds. The announcers were talking like Diego was just mowing Stevenson down. The Diego that fought tonight won't beat Florian or BJ Penn.

How sick did Nate Marquart look tonight?

[CPT]

Pretty entertaining night of fights, even through the undercard. I'm not sure which ones they showed on Spike, since I imagine they had a ton of commercials, and probably some 10 minute feature on a horrible new show, but I think they showed all of them on Setanta's broadcast, and they were all worth watching. Particularly the Kelly vs. Mandaloniz fight.

That was a sketchy stoppage in the Koscheck fight, as it looked like he had recovered and was getting ready to defend himself if Thiago followed up, which he didn't. I kind of think that had something to do with it. Who knows what the ref saw, but if he saw a guy go down like that, and then the guy not pounce on him, like the fight was finished, he might be more inclined to jump in and stop it, without fully considering how jurt Koscheck was or wasn't. Koscheck's fault for getting put on his ass like that though. I like it, because for one, I don't like Koscheck, but more importantly, he now has to work his way back up again, so we could see some more fights with him against other top 10-15 guys. I hope we don't see any nonsense like people putting Thiago in the top 10, though I'm sure we will. Koscheck still wins that fight 9 times out of 10 IMO, we just happened to see the 1 time last night.

Maia may have had the most impressive performance of the night. Sonnen is a tough tough opponent, and Maia just completely had his way with him. He's extremely one dimensional, but that dimension is so good, and he seems to be able to get everyone into that dimension. I think he's a threat to anybody at 185, and while it's probably jumping the gun to talk about him beating Anderson Silva, I think he's the most interesting challenger out there for Silva right now. At least out of the guys Silva hasn't fought before.

Marquardt looked good, and would be the other guy that has a great shot against Silva. I wouldn't be opposed to seeing Marquardt vs. Maia for a title shot, but the timing probably won't be right, since Bisping and Hendo will be fighting for a title shot in July. So Marquardt could get the next shot, and have Maia work through some more guys first (he should probably get a win against a top 10 guy before he gets a shot). That finish was crazy, but Gouveia was really gassed (what else is new), and the fight was fairly close, at least in the first round.

Not much to say about Hardy vs. Markham. That was a sweet KO though. Looked quite a bit like Evans vs. Liddell. I'd like to see Hardy take a step up in competition, but I'm betting they will feed him some guys he can beat in fights in England, so they can have another English star. A fight against Marcus Davis somewhere in the UK would be pretty cool at some point.

I really enjoyed Sanchez vs. Stevenson. One of the better fights I've seen so far this year. I'm one of the people who likes Sanchez though, as I mentioned earlier. I can certainly understand why some people wouldn't like him though. His antics could rub some people the wrong way, but I just find them hilarious. I don't think he's been unfairly hyped though. He won The Ultimate Fighter MW tournament, which had some quality fighters in it, in Florian, Koscheck, Leben, and Quarry (although he got injured). Then he came through in his tests against Diaz, Karo, and Riggs, dropped a decision to Koscheck when he had a bad staph infection (it wasn't like Koscheck was particularly impressive in the fight either), and then dropped a split decision to Fitch. I'd hardly think they wiped the floor with him. Both fights were probably closer than last night's fight against Stevenson. Good debut at LW for Sanchez, but I agree that he doesn't look ready for Florian or BJ. He was never in any real danger, but considering the way Florian and Penn looked against Stevenson, Diego probably wouldn't have anything for them. It's not always fair to draw conclusions like that though, so we'll see how he does in his next fight, probably against a Clay Guida/Gray Maynard level guy.

[Chach]

I was watching the fight at a bar so I wasn't paying attention to the fight as much as I should have. I saw most of round 1 and I thought Joe won that round. He seemed more aggressive and had the submission hold but I got distracted by conversation during the second and third round. That is why I like watching them alone.

Marquardt's a beast. Gouveia looked good in the first round and that was it. And he used to be a light heavyweight? He was completely outsized by Marquardt. I really think Marquardt's the only one who stands as a real challenge to Silva. I LOVE Maia, I think he is just so smooth and entertaining to watch. But his striking is light years behind Silva and I don't know if he is going to be able to fight through his Muay Thai enough to even get a chance at subbing Silva and Silva is a BJJ black belt as well, isn't he? He has a high level belt if it's not black so it's not like Maia is going up against a scrub. If he can step up his striking then there is a chance. I'd like to see Marquart get a title shot and then the the winner of that fight faces Bisping/Hendo with Maia facing the winner of that match-up. Gives Maia a chance to build up his stock more and time to develop his striking more. mahalo
~Chach~

[cowboyronnie]

I'm 0-2 right now on my picks. It looks like a good night for 10-0 BJJ Black Belt's from Brazil.

That stopage in the Koscheck fight was just awful. Rogan tried to make excuses for that crappy referee, but Koscheck was clearly conscious and moving upward, and Thiago was not even trying to pounce. That was esily one of the worst stoppages I have seen. That was a nice shot by Thiago though.

What??? He was moving upwards cos he was zombified. His eyes were in the back of his head! What are you talking about?

[cowboyronnie]

I was watching the fight at a bar so I wasn't paying attention to the fight as much as I should have. I saw most of round 1 and I thought Joe won that round. He seemed more aggressive and had the submission hold but I got distracted by conversation during the second and third round. That is why I like watching them alone.

Joe got completely schooled every minute of the fight. Diego was as effective in the first as the second and third. Joe kept committing to those rights, and so had no counter to the uppercut.

**** Chico was holding his right with his palm facing him like he was fighting the Marquess of Queensberry, and Joe couldn't do anything. He was unbelievably quick in the wrestling too.

Diego will be a pound-for-pound king soon. Wait for laugh at Cammo.

[cowboyronnie]

Great event. But how is the UFC getting so many stand-up fights lately? Such little wrestling. Is it their match-making, is this MMA in 2009, have they been paring down their roster of wrestlers, is everyone trying to be crowd-pleasing?

[cowboyronnie]

I was watching the fight at a bar so I wasn't paying attention to the fight as much as I should have. I saw most of round 1 and I thought Joe won that round. He seemed more aggressive and had the submission hold but I got distracted by conversation during the second and third round. That is why I like watching them alone.

Marquardt's a beast. Gouveia looked good in the first round and that was it. And he used to be a light heavyweight? He was completely outsized by Marquardt. I really think Marquardt's the only one who stands as a real challenge to Silva. I LOVE Maia, I think he is just so smooth and entertaining to watch. But his striking is light years behind Silva and I don't know if he is going to be able to fight through his Muay Thai enough to even get a chance at subbing Silva and Silva is a BJJ black belt as well, isn't he? He has a high level belt if it's not black so it's not like Maia is going up against a scrub. If he can step up his striking then there is a chance. I'd like to see Marquart get a title shot and then the the winner of that fight faces Bisping/Hendo with Maia facing the winner of that match-up. Gives Maia a chance to build up his stock more and time to develop his striking more. mahalo
~Chach~

Yeah, I'm still nowhere near confident in Maia. The UFC would be making a mistake if they put him against Silva. He's a long-term investment, they need to allow him to develop.

Aoki is still the best grappler in MMA, IMO - he's the only guy who can Royce at the top. Maia, Hazelett, maybe someone else are a step behind.