UFC on Fox 5 Thoughts

UFC on Fox 5 was such a stacked card it is amazing they put it on free tv.  Even though three of the four fights on the main card ended in decisions does not mean the card did not deliver.

Swick versus Brown was fight that did not get much hype due to the magnitude of the other three fights on the card but this was an incredible matchup.  It started with brown dominating the fight on the ground and getting Swick on the defense.  He had both a d'arce choke and a wicked triangle that Swick was able to defend long enough to see a second round.  The second round did not go any better for Swick.  Brown clipped him with a left knocked him back, and as he was falling to the matt connected with a hard right that ended the fight.  This was one of three spectacular knockouts in Seattle.

Next up was Rory MacDonald versus BJ Penn.  In the second round of the fight Rory really took control and landed kicks and punches to the body that had Penn covering up.  It seemed like Rory could have finished the fight but felt the need to clown BJ for another round instead.  BJ was flat out dominated by the promising prospect who will most likely be a champion eventually.  Rory then went on to win a unanimous decision and call out Carlos Condit.  His only career loss was to Condit via a sketchy referee stoppage with 8 seconds left in a fight where Rory dominated the first two rounds.  Hopefully Dana White makes this rematch happen.

Keeping up with the trend of new school over old school, Alexander Gustafsson dominated Shogun Rua in all aspects of their bout.  They swung it out and had wild exchanges, even from the clinch.  Gustafsson held his own in the striking and really took the fight with some sneaky takedowns.  He dominated a legend for 3 rounds and will happily face the winner of Jones versus Sonnen.  His amazing height and reach advantage is something Jon Jones also enjoys, so a potential matchup between the two could mean fireworks.

As for the lightweight championship, it was pretty much what I expected.  Diaz could do little to stop the exceptional striking and wrestling of Benson Henderson.  He even dominated Diaz in the standup.  Diaz usually is pushing the pace and using his dominant boxing to force the fight.  Henderson had none of that, disrespecting the boxing of Diaz while picking him apart with kicks and punches.  Outside of a few leg lock attempts, Henderson was in little danger of being stopped.  Benson dominated him for 5 rounds and maintained his title.  He better get right back to the gym thought, because Anthony Pettis and Donald Cerrone are battling in Chicago for a potential shot at the belt next!

Prelims:
The prelims on FX and the Facebook fight did not let us down either:

• The night in Seattle started with a 1 round submission battle that earned Scott Jorgensen and John Albert fight of the night bonuses.  On top of this a last second (literally) rear-naked choke landed Scotty a HUGE payday with submission of the night honors as well.
• Next up to bat on FX was Dennis Siver making his 2nd fight at featherweight and he absolutely dominated Nam Pham.  One judge even scored all three rounds 10-8 his kickboxing was so dominant.
• Abel Trujillo made his UFC debut against a softer opponent than he originally drew, but looked amazing nonetheless.  After Means and Chiesa were forced out of their bouts, Trujillo and LeVesseur ended up fighting each other.  Trujillo held his own against the cage before eventually dominating LeVesseur and finishing him with brutal knees to the body.
• Detroiter Daron Cruickshank put on a kickboxing show against Henry Martinez.  If not for his ridiculous chin, Daron would have walked away with a 1st round KO, but I am sure he is just as happy with a 2nd round KO via headkick.  Even though I think Daron was robbed of a $65,000 knockout of the night bonus, he still took home a big win and 20% of Henry's purse due to his missing of the 156lb limit.
• After being super pumped about Daron's huge knockout win, I was almost put to sleep by Joe Proctor versus Ramsey Nijem.  All I will say is Nijem won a boring decision to a less than stellar opponent, congrats.
• Raphael Assuncao followed up Nijem with a decision win of his own, outstriking the favorite Mike Easton and snapping his 8 fight win streak.  Assuncao moves to 3-0 since dropping to bantamweight and looks to keep that rolling as he eyes a return to title contention.
• The final bout of the prelims saw Yves Edwards taking a knockout of the night (which I still think belongs to Cruickshank).  Stephens has always boasted an incredible chin, but he came out wreckless and got caught by the "thugjitsu master."

My predictions started off red hot 4/4 but unfortunately I finished the night with a mediocre 6/11 record.