UFC on Fox: Henderson vs. Thomson (Jan. 25th)

[LittleOzzy]

Lightweight Benson Henderson vs. Josh Thomson
Heavyweight Stipe Miocic vs. Gabriel Gonzaga
Featherweight Darren Elkins vs. Jeremy Stephens
Bantamweight Chico Camus vs. Yaotzin Meza
Lightweight Donald Cerrone vs. Adriano Martins
Welterweight Pascal Krauss vs. Adam Khaliev
Bantamweight Junior Hernandez vs. Hugo Viana
Bantamweight Eddie Wineland vs. Yves Jabouin
Heavyweight Walt Harris vs. Nikita Krylov
Lightweight Daron Cruickshank vs. Mike Rio
Heavyweight Jared Rosholt vs. Oleksiy Oliynyk

[Bernman]

Sergio "Showtime Next" Pettis vs. Alex "Bruce Leroy" Caceres was added to the card. If you don't like that match-up, you're a fake MMA fan or tough guy.

[CPT]

What weight class? If it's 125 I'm not interested.

[Gibby]

What weight class? If it's 125 I'm not interested.

125 is awesome, already arguably deeper than 135 and HW.

And the fight is at 135 pounds, so it's OK to watch

[miladay]

Main event is awesome. Got Bendo by decision. So good.

[CPT]

Maybe lost in the shuffle, but this card is this weekend and it's got some good fights on it.

[REDDzone]

Cool fights and I'll certainly watch. That said, the main event makes no sense to me. Thomson is the number one contender. What do they do after Bendon decisions him?

I'm not sure if Benson's mom would even pay to watch Pettis/Benson III as of now.

[cowboyronnie]

It appears to not make sense from the UFC's match-making perspective, sure, but in the short-term it's a really great fight. Screw that reactionary asswipe, but Thomson is a top-tier fighter. He just KOd a Diaz!? And those fights with the legit Melendez were really tightly fought. And Bendo just straight-up wins fights. This is a real awesome match-up.

Why is this Cowboy's opponent? Who?

Wineland moves beautifully, I love to watch him.

Stephens is ever-improving and has a nice relaxed boxing style, on top of being hard as nails.

I'm just not keen on any of the actual styles these name-carrying matches promise.

[REDDzone]

Both are bad dudes, I just don't think anyone beats Bendo at LW except Anthony tbh. Just too tough, sick chin. Then again I never in a million years thought he'd be subbed either though so who knows.

Thomson is almost a 3:1 dog at my book. Not seeing a lot worth betting on here. Elkins/Stephens is dead even so if anyone feels super strongly about that one, could be a good play.

[Headliner]

Sergio "Showtime Next" Pettis vs. Alex "Bruce Leroy" Caceres was added to the card. If you don't like that match-up, you're a fake MMA fan or tough guy.

Nice.
Although it sucks in a way because one has to lose, and those are two names that will carry some weight from a fan perspective, and there is not a lot of name weight in that division just yet.

[CPT]

Wasn't Thomson only a #1 contender as an injury replacement anyway?

If there's one division I'm not worried about knocking off contenders, it's LW.

1) There are already a few guys I'd be cool with seeing get a title shot at any point (Gil, Khabib, Grant), and a few that are a win or two away from that status (Bendo, Diaz, Dos Anjos). Then you have some solid guys working their way up (Michael Johnson, Khabilov, Green, Barboza), and the threat of guys like Aldo or Edgar coming up to LW. There are also tons of solid guys to match these guys up with (Lauzon, Miller, Cerrone, etc), and any of those guys could go on a run as well. It's the best and deepest division in the sport. Just make good fights and I'm happy.

2) It's not like Pettis is some dominant champion that is just running through everyone. He has yet to defend the belt, he only has wins over two of the guys previously mentioned, and he has a loss to Clay Guida within his last five fights. He's probably the favourite in any of those fights, but he doesn't get credit for beating them until he actually does it. It's not like some divisions where the champ has already run through the division and you're faced with propping up weak contenders or recycling old ones.

[REDDzone]

Wasn't Thomson only a #1 contender as an injury replacement anyway?

If there's one division I'm not worried about knocking off contenders, it's LW.

1) There are already a few guys I'd be cool with seeing get a title shot at any point (Gil, Khabib, Grant), and a few that are a win or two away from that status (Bendo, Diaz, Dos Anjos). Then you have some solid guys working their way up (Michael Johnson, Khabilov, Green, Barboza), and the threat of guys like Aldo or Edgar coming up to LW. There are also tons of solid guys to match these guys up with (Lauzon, Miller, Cerrone, etc), and any of those guys could go on a run as well. It's the best and deepest division in the sport. Just make good fights and I'm happy.

Grant can't even train yet, will that dude ever be right? Seriously, good thoughts to him. Khabib I'd be fine with, everyone is ducking him, I bet Anthony wouldn't though. I'm not interested in Bendo/Pettis III yet, and from Dana's comments I really don't think that fight will happen anytime soon. Dos Anjos is a good one. I think everyone else you names is atleast 2-3 fights away.

edit: Now I remember what I wanted to address - I think the Nate in a title fight talk is wayy premature. Benson literally smacked the sight out of his eyes and Thomson kicked his head off, and most recently he ducked Khabib. In between he KOed a guy who has one win in the last 8 years (and none of this was hyperbole at all).

2) It's not like Pettis is some dominant champion that is just running through everyone. He has yet to defend the belt, he only has wins over two of the guys previously mentioned, and he has a loss to Clay Guida within his last five fights. He's probably the favourite in any of those fights, but he doesn't get credit for beating them until he actually does it. It's not like some divisions where the champ has already run through the division and you're faced with propping up weak contenders or recycling old ones.

lulz Who is this directed to? Nobody said Pettis is some dominant champion or anything remotely close to that. I just said nobody wants to see Bendo/Pettis III "as of now". Is that really an absurd claim?

[CPT]

Wasn't Thomson only a #1 contender as an injury replacement anyway?

If there's one division I'm not worried about knocking off contenders, it's LW.

1) There are already a few guys I'd be cool with seeing get a title shot at any point (Gil, Khabib, Grant), and a few that are a win or two away from that status (Bendo, Diaz, Dos Anjos). Then you have some solid guys working their way up (Michael Johnson, Khabilov, Green, Barboza), and the threat of guys like Aldo or Edgar coming up to LW. There are also tons of solid guys to match these guys up with (Lauzon, Miller, Cerrone, etc), and any of those guys could go on a run as well. It's the best and deepest division in the sport. Just make good fights and I'm happy.

Grant can't even train yet, will that dude ever be right? Seriously, good thoughts to him. Khabib I'd be fine with, everyone is ducking him, I bet Anthony wouldn't though. I'm not interested in Bendo/Pettis III yet, and from Dana's comments I really don't think that fight will happen anytime soon. Dos Anjos is a good one. I think everyone else you names is atleast 2-3 fights away.

2) It's not like Pettis is some dominant champion that is just running through everyone. He has yet to defend the belt, he only has wins over two of the guys previously mentioned, and he has a loss to Clay Guida within his last five fights. He's probably the favourite in any of those fights, but he doesn't get credit for beating them until he actually does it. It's not like some divisions where the champ has already run through the division and you're faced with propping up weak contenders or recycling old ones.

lulz Who is this directed to? Nobody said Pettis is some dominant champion or anything remotely close to that. I just said nobody wants to see Bendo/Pettis III "as of now". Is that really an absurd claim?

Wasn't directed at anyone. People have to be able to comment on Anthony Pettis without it being personal.

I just think LW is really wide open, so the UFC can afford to make these kind of contender vs. contender fights. I'm not trying to watch Bendo vs. Pettis III right now either, but if Bendo wins this fight and one or two more, who knows. Part of the point of the Pettis thing was that he may not even be champ by the time Bendo gets his 2-3 wins (if he does).

Bendo is a tough guy to match up right now, because he's already fought a few more of the names on the list, and after a pretty decent reign as champ, he can't really get matched up with a Gleison Tibau. Competitively, he could, but he's a main eventer right now, and the other guy has to be someone credible.

[REDDzone]

It was clear your post was in reference to mine not liking the fight, I'm not making it personal because its about Pettis in any way, I honestly could care less.

Thomson is number one contender, you give him Benson it knocks him off that pedestal and you lose that. Normally you just give the guy who knocked off the number one contender the title shot, but in this case you can't. It just leaves Benson in this awkward place. That was my point. FWIW I think Benson could knock off just about anyone in the division.

I bet he wouldn't duck Khabib either. I think Melendez II could have been a good fight, since people (incorrectly imo) thought Gil beat Bendo the first time.

[CPT]

But Thomson is the number one contender to a champ who isn't ready to fight, and was really only number one contender because he's the guy who made the most sense in an injury situation. He's only coming off one win himself.

Diaz is maybe 2-3 fights away instead of 1-2, but when we talk about "x fights away" without knowing who they are against, what does it really mean? Say he beats Cerrone again and then, say, Dos Anjos in a title eliminator. Depending on who else is on a streak at the time, I think he could get a shot. All I meant is that he's in that second tier behind the top contenders.

[cowboyronnie]

Wasn't Thomson only a #1 contender as an injury replacement anyway?

If there's one division I'm not worried about knocking off contenders, it's LW.

1) There are already a few guys I'd be cool with seeing get a title shot at any point (Gil, Khabib, Grant), and a few that are a win or two away from that status (Bendo, Diaz, Dos Anjos). Then you have some solid guys working their way up (Michael Johnson, Khabilov, Green, Barboza), and the threat of guys like Aldo or Edgar coming up to LW. There are also tons of solid guys to match these guys up with (Lauzon, Miller, Cerrone, etc), and any of those guys could go on a run as well. It's the best and deepest division in the sport. Just make good fights and I'm happy.

Good rundown of LW.

My two personal favorites here are Barboza and Miller, though I think Bern had a good post on why Barboza has weaknesses. They're just such complete fighters and driven, hard workers...I'm always impressed.

To my mind, Johnson's rise has come without much notice. And his boxing defense is sloppy. But evidently he is another player.

Green isn't worth a mention, that lead-hand at the hip style...he does not have actual mastery of it. There's a clear ceiling on his use of it. Watch the dif between hsi use and Dillashaw's.

[REDDzone]

I'm skeptical of Barboza's ground game tbh. I listened to an interview of his where he was talking about disliking the ground game, etc. I'm just not sure if you can excel against a guy who has a passion for it if you hate it. The usual examples of guys who talk about disliking the ground game seem to never improve there. Granted that group includes the likes of Pat Barry, so maybe its not a good comparison to him. I will say I think he did some good stuff from butterfly against Castillo in his last fight. Not to mention its tough to take someone down if your lead leg can't bear weight because he has kicked it off.

Johnson is fighting Guillard now, so that'll be an interesting test for him. I feel like he almost got put out recently and had a nice little comeback, but I remember not liking at the time how easily he was getting hit standing.

[REDDzone]

I'm pretty sure Goldberg just said Krylov has been impressive in his ufc career....his "ufc career" literally consists on the most embarrassing fight I've seen, and he was finished in it.

Unless he just said career, I may have misheard.

[REDDzone]

AND THEN HE COMPLETELY REDEEMS HIMSELF.

Lol seriously though, Harris is a beast, that was crazy.

[REDDzone]

Sergio displays his inexperience by going for that heel hook. He didn't have it at all. Caceres' other leg was free, so all Bruce Leeroy had to do was turn with the submission and backstep and he had a clear path to the back which obviously sealed the deal.

Sucks.