UFC 118 Results and Analysis

Saturday night in Boston made way for some interesting fights, with the latest "Boxing VS MMA" dispute being settled (for now), and the lightweight belt being retained by its owner. Lets look at the results of the fight card:

Nate Diaz VS Marcus Davis

 Results: Diaz performed well in this fight, showing from the beginning he was superior to Davis (and Diaz knew it). He out boxed "The Irish Hand Grenade", beating the side of his face and cutting him pretty good, up until late in the 3rd round where he slapped on a nice guillotine.

Analysis: Marcus Davis looked slow in comparison to Diaz, whose stand up was more effective. Diaz beat him up and wore him out until just minutes from the end of the 3rd when Diaz locked in the submission.

Nate Diaz via 3rd Round Submission

Kenny Florian VS Gray Maynard

Results: Florian had no answer for Maynard's impressive wrestling as he was repeatedly taken down and pout pointed en route to a Unanimous Decision.

Analysis: Florian looked far from impressive last night, and seemingly had no way to alter his game plan around Maynards wrestling. Maynard gets a title shot with Frankie Edgar following this win.

Gray Maynard via Unanimous Decision

 Demian Maia VS Mario Miranda

 Results: Maia tried a few times to finish the fight, utilizing his great BJJ skill set, but was unable as he rode superior grappling to a Unanimous Decision.

Analysis: Miranda, a solid striker, simply could not get around Maia's grappling and wrestling. He did fight off numerous submission attempts, but could not earn the win.

 Demian Maia via Unanimous Decicion

Randy Couture VS James Toney

 

Results: Within the opening seconds, Randy Couture shot for a low take down, and Toney just kind of fell over. After that Couture utilized some ground and pound before locking in an easy arm triangle, and his simplest pay day ever.

 Analysis: There isn't really much to be said about this fight. Anyone who saw it going any other way then what happened last night was either sniffing glue or James Toney himself.

Randy Couture via 1st Round Submission

 

 

Frankie Edgar VS BJ Penn

 Results: The fight resembled much of the previous match up, except with Edgar looking more dominant. he utilized take downs and effective boxing, as well as good defensive wrestling to win a unanimous decision.


Analysis: Once again, BJ did not seem to have anything for Edgar, and it seemed that just like last time, he spent way too much of the fight tentative and waited much too long to try to take the fight to the ground, which he seemingly couldn't handle anyway. 

Frankie Edgar via Unanimous Decicion

  Total Prediction Record for UFC 118 : 3-2

UFC 117 - Silva vs. Sonnen Results and Analysis

Saturday night in Oakland, California the UFC provided their avid fans with a card for the ages. The entire main card was extremely exciting and intense and lived up to all the hype. Let's look at the results, the analysis of each fight:

 Junior "Cigano" Dos Santos VS Roy "Big Country" Nelson

Result: Junior Dos Santos used Roy Nelson as a punching bag for 3 rounds, using some nice combinations and uppercuts, but being unable to keep it from going to the judges.

Analysis:Cigano looked good, but he still couldn't finish Nelson, and we did not see any of his ground game so it is tough looking ahead towards a possible fight against Cain/Lesnar and predicting how he might perform.

 Junior Dos Santos Victory by Unanimous Decicion

Matt Hughes VS Ricardo Almeida

Result: Matt Hughes looked a little worn down previous to his fight Saturday night, but he used that time to silence critics as he rocked Ricardo Almeida and then put him to sleep with a wrestlers version of the anaconda choke.

Analysis: Hughes put himself back in the welterweight picture as he reels off his third win in a row, submitting a high level Jiu-jitsu fighter. Hughes rocked Almeida early in the first, giving him the opening to jump on Almeida and secure the choke.

Matt Hughes Victory by Submission

Clay "The Carpenter" Guida VS  Rafael Dos Anjos

Result: Guida and Dos Anjos fought a primarily stand up, back and forth slug fest with Guida landing the heavier and more accurate shots. Guida notriously fast pace was matched by Dos Anjos for the most part until Guida caught him with a big hand to the chin that injured Dos Anjos. Later in the fight as Guida took Dos Anjos down and grinded him into the mat, he pressed down with his shoulder on the recent jaw injury and Dos Anjos ended up submitting.

Analysis:Guida looked impressive and as always, fought with great cardio and a  ferocious pace.If he can reel off a few more wins, he might be able to fight some of 

the top of the division.

Clay Guida Victory by Submission (Injury) 

Jon Fitch VS Thiago "The Pitbull" Alves

Result: Jon Fitch used his superior wrestling and takedown ability to neutralize the anemic looking Alves in route to the score cards.

Analysis: Jon Fitch as always, looked good in his fight, though it was arguably the least exciting fight on the main card. But regardless, Fitch wins fights, and he beat Alves for the second time Saturday night. Alves on the other hand, looked like the bad cut (missed weight) effected his conditioning and energy levels.

Jon Fitch Victory by Unanimous Decision 

 

Anderson "The Spider" Silva VS Chael Sonnen

Result: Chael Sonnen completely dominated The Spider for the better part of 5 rounds. He dealt with the stand up (even rocking Anderson once or twice) and grabbed him and taking him to the mat where he worked his ground and pound on his way towards a score card completely in his favor. That was untill the late 5th round where he made a mental mistake in his posturing up and Anderson slid in the triangle choke forcing Chael to tap.

Analysis: Chael Sonnen more or less performed better against Silva then every single one of this previous UFC opponents combined, a few more minutes and he would have seen the score cards with him winning every round convincingly. But it is MMA and Silva capitalized on Sonnen's mistake and retained his belt.

Anderson Silva Victory via Submission

 Total Prediction Record for UFC 117 - Silva vs. Sonnen : 1 - 4