UFC on Fox 7 Prelims: The Mendavideshaw Show

Chad Mendes (left), Joe Benavidez (middle), and
TJ Dillashaw (right) have dubbed themselves Mendavideshaw.

When I said this card was stacked, I truly meant it.  It tied the record for most knockouts in a single event and most of these came in the prelims.  I said the prelims for this card looked more exciting than the UFC 159 main card, and I think that proved to be true.  Even the decisions on this card were exciting because all but one of them could have gone either way.  It was truly amazing what a great night April 20th ended up being for the UFC and its fans!

The night started with a pair of knockouts on Facebook.  Yoel Romero proved to be a really scary middleweight with his flying knee KO.  He is stupid talented and has a bright future with the UFC.  Roger Bowling hits hard but just did not connect enough to win the second fight on Facebook.  Anthony Njokuani stayed patient and eventually clipped Bowling to earn the KO victory.

Facebook ended and everyone who tuned in on FX was in for a three hour treat:

• The first of the self proclaimed Mendavideshaw trio stepped up to face Hugo Viana.  I did not make this name up, they did. This trio is part of Team Alpha Male along with fellow bantamweight Urijah Faber.  Duane Ludwig had just entered their camp to be their head coach as well as striking coach.  Faber had an impressive win just a week prior to this event.  The success did not stop with Faber.  Dillashaw looked incredible and won with a first round TKO.  He had a second round KO just a few weeks prior to this fight so he is on a tear with two finishes in 2013 already.  Give credit to Viana for escaping Dillashaw's back mount without being submitted, but it was not enough for him to avoid his striking.  Dillashaw is a serious contender in the bantamweight division.
• The next fight was between Jorge Masvidal of Strikeforce against Tim Means.  Masvidal won a unanimous decision 29-28 on all three judges scorecards.  However, I think Tim Means landed so many elbows and hammer fists from the ground to score points.  It is tough to win a fight laying on your back but Tim came awfully close to doing so.  Despite his active guard, Means was not the better fighter on this day so Masvidal escapes with the decision victory.
• Flyweight contenders Joe Benavidez and Darren Uyenoyama were next up to bat.  Benavidez is the second of the Alpha Male trio, so obviously he won.  His standup looked better than ever and his ground game was cautious but solid.  He ended up winning with some serious shots to the body of Darren.  Benavidez looks ready for a title shot but might have to take another fight while he awaits the winner of Moraga vs Johnson.  As for Darren, he looks like he needs to do some serious work before  he can fight top level flyweights again.
• Myles Jury took on Ramsey Nijem in the next fight.  Ramsey and Myles had a crazy grappling match in the first round that was very interesting despite nobody being submitted and very few punches being thrown.  In the second, Jury kept it standing and really capped off the fight with an insane second round KO.  On most cards this could have won Knockout of the Night, but it did not on this one despite two KO of the Night honors being given away.
• Francis Carmont entered his fight against an undefeated top middleweight from Strikeforce in Lorenz Larkin.  Carmont also had a controversial split decision win (let's be real, he lost) in his last fight.  Larkin showed amazing takedown defense in this fight but really couldn't get any offense going.  Carmont did nothing to win the fight either, but he did.  I do not know who I would have given the decision to since it was so close.  Either way, Carmont needs to do something better in his next fight if he expects to get any respect in the middleweight division.
• The final bout of the preliminary card saw Chad Mendes taking on Darren Elkins.  Needless to say, Mendes won this fight.  He is the third Mendavideshaw member and he knocked Elkins out in a minute.  It was a great day for Team Alpha Male and a bad day for fighters named Darren.  Mendes is on a tear winning his last three fights by knockout in under five minutes total time.  If someone has the guts to face him, step up.  If not, he will most likely look to fill in for a potential injury on the UFC 162 card.  If Jung or Lamas goes down, he would gladly fill in a title eliminator fight.  I am sure he is down to fight Cub, Siver, or Frankie Edgar too if he is needed to do that.

Predictions came into this event at 45/86.  I was 7/8 on the prelims (DAMN YOU AND YOUR CONTROVERSIAL DECISIONS CARMONT!!) to move up to 52/94.  (55.3%)

This event was so ridiculous because I am combining 3 people into 1 person, AND doing another 3 stars for the main card too.
Three stars:

1. Mendavidashaw (Duane Ludwig)
2. Yoel Romero
3. Myles Jury