UFC 172 Recap

Chris Beal's flying knee is an early KO of the Year candidate.

UFC 172 was awesome.  This event is an early contender for card of the year.  It also contained some KO of the Year and Submission of the Year finishes.  There was not a single bad fight on this card and plenty of guillotines to go around.  Here is my recap of what happened and what needs to happen next:

• Chris Beal took home a $50,000 bonus for his flying knee KO of Patrick Williams.  This was one of the best flying knees I have ever seen.  Hopefully this Beal prospect pans out into a future star.  Many options for him heading forward.  Nam Phan seems like a good option in my book if he doesn't get cut first.
• Danny Castillo had a highlight reel KO of his own that would win him a KO of the Night bonus on any other night.  Charlie Brenneman continues to struggle in the UFC despite having good moments in this fight.
• Bethe Correia was able to close the distance with Jessamyn Duke and win a decision in a solid fight.  Duke needs new strategies because she comes into fights with a huge reach advantage and a muay thai base and only landed 1 leg kick.  He Rousey hip tosses looked good though. Correia has plenty of options for fights, maybe Liz Carmouche?
• Takanori Gomi bested Isaac Vallie-Flagg in Saturday's Fight of the Night.  IVF took a beating but kept charging forward.  IVF was originally set to fight Castillo but since he lost and Castillo won I think Gomi vs Castillo makes perfect sense.  That could also produce a Fight of the Night worth remembering.  As for Vallie-Flagg, he can take on Pat Healy in a war of attrition since those are two merciless lightweight grinders.
• Joe Benavidez was put in some trouble by the talented grappler Tim Elliott but was able to endure and eventually since in a full mount guillotine.  He trapped both arms as well as the neck of Elliot forcing Tim to tap with his feet in a highlight reel submission.  Benavidez took home $50,000 for his handiwork.  Benavidez has many options for future fights but I like the idea of him vs John Lineker right now.
• Max Holloway ended the hype of Andre Fili with a guillotine choke of his own.  The choke did not look incredibly tight but Fili was already rocked by a flurry of punches and had no choice but to tap.  Holloway is young and has a bright future but is a long way away from contending for the title.  As for Fili, he could literally face anyone next and it would make sense.  Holloway vs Siler would be an awesome fight to put on right now in my opinion.
• Jim Miller was the 3rd person in a row to win via guillotine.  His came as a technical submission when he literally put Yancy Medeiros to sleep.  Jim Miller is a star and is on the verge of yet another title shot.  If TJ Grant is healthy, they need to fight.  If not, Miller has awesome possibilities such as Donald Cerrone, Khabib Nurmagomedov, or Josh Thomson to choose from.  Make one of those 4 fights happen and I will be a happy camper.  Miller's original opponent Bobby Green needs to fight Edson Barboza.  How awesome would that fight be?
• Luke Rockhold was taken down by Tim Boetsch but was able to scramble into an inverted triangle position.  It was a funky wrestling match that eventually ended in Rockhold submitting Tim with a kimura while still having the inverted triangle.  Inverted triangle-kimura was the official call I believe.  Rockhold wants a second shot at Vitor and it is hard for me not to believe he could win a rematch.  UFC jitters and the crowd of Brazil is enough to make even the best fighter rattled.  Rockhold is for real people.
• Anthony Johnson made a triumphant return to the UFC by humbling Phil Davis.  Phil needs to go back to the drawing board after this one.  Rumble Johnson has plenty of big fights on the horizon.  Lil Nog makes sense for Phil's next opponent while Rumble should take on Glover Teixeira next!  Book those now.
• Jon Jones looked outstanding in every aspect of his fight with Teixeira.  His elbows make Kenny Florian's look pedestrian.  Jones is for real and I have full confidence that he will take out the Mauler in the rematch.  After that he will likely take on Daniel Cormier and I say he wins that fight too.  As I said a moment ago, Teixeira vs Johnson makes a lot of sense to me right now.  The only other option I see for him is to take on Rashad Evans, if he can get healthy enough to fight before the end of the year.