UFC 127 Review

In front of a red out energetic Australian crowd, the UFC once again delivered the goods to the Land Down Under. UFC 127 came through with many exciting fights which included bloody wars, devastating knockouts, impressive submissions and upsets galore as well as Brittney Palmer. With all but one fight showed to the world, the UFC has to be proud of the heart showed by all performers, as they put on one hell of a show. 

The main event of the night was an interesting clash of styles as the former welterweight and lightweight champion BJ Penn went up against the best fighter in the UFC to never hold a championship belt, the always hard working and relentless Jon Fitch. I for one thought it was going to be a completely one sided affair, where Jon Fitch outwrestled and grinded out a unanimous decision victory over the legendary Hawaiian. I was mistaken as Penn brought the fight to Fitch and fought his way to the always dreaded and anti-climatic majority draw. 

It was obvious from the get-go that this was not going to be the type of fight everybody expected, as BJ rushed forward and shot for a takedown seconds into the fight. From here on out, it was a chess match between two of the best fighters in all the UFC, as the fight was hotly contested up on the cage.

The first two rounds followed the same formula as Penn and Fitch fought for the dominant position and when one found it, the other worked to get back to square one. This was best demonstrated when Penn took Fitch's back and locked in a deep cross body with his flexible legs as he tried to secure a rear naked choke. Fitch being the brilliant and great fighter that he is, stayed calm and was able to work himself out of the position which ended many fighters nights and get into a dominant top position where he rained down punches. 

Heading into the third and final round of this contest, no one was able to know who was in the lead. This made the third round very important and whoever won the round was most likely to win the fight. Fitch came out from the get go and proved to the world why he is called the blue collar worker. He instantly took Penn down and was relentless for the rest of the round, never giving Penn a chance to breathe and was totally dominant. Fitch was able to cut Penn up throwing punch after punch, and elbow after elbow in a working man's type finishing performance. 

When the bell sounded, signifying the end of the round and fight, Fitch jumped up triumphantly after his great third round thinking he won the fight. I agreed with him and thought h had done enough that round to win the fight in convincing fashion, however, NEVER LEAVE IT IN THE HANDS OF THE JUDGES! When the scorecards was announced, only one judge scored the bout 29-28 Fitch, while the other two scored it 28-28, resulting in a majority draw. 

It was an unfortunate ending, as it was the second draw in three UFC contests this year. When the fight was over, Fitch said he thought he did enough to win the fight in the third round but admitted he did not train any defensive wrestling during camp and that was his downfall. Penn, on the other hand  during his post fight interview looked down and when asked for his thoughts about the fight, admitted defeat and said “he kicked my butt in the third.” Yes he did BJ, yes he did. Nevertheless , BJ said he was up for challenge of doing it again. 

The result of this matchup, leaves the UFC in a difficult position as the winner of this fight was supposed to be the number one contender for the winner of the St. Pierre Shields fight. If it was up to me, I would still give Fitch the nod as the man continues to keep knocking off the contenders one by one. His style of breaking his opponents will and putting them through a meat-grinder, may not be appealing to the causal fan but that is unfortunate as you must admire his dedication to push the fight. Keeping the pace he sets throughout an entire fight, is comparable to sprinting the Boston Marathon, and the man never slows down. To me, this is beyond impressive and he deserves none of the criticisms he receives. He is by far and away the best welterweight fighter not named Georges St. Pierre and he deserves another crack at the title. But with a draw, this may not be the case which leaves the UFC with no clear cut contender and if St. Pierre is victorious than a dream fight against Anderson Silva is closer than we think. 

The co-main event, was as personal a grudge bout the UFC has seen since Rashad vs Rampage last May. Michael Bisping and Jorge Rivera hated each other with a passion and their emotions leading up to the fight became very heated between the two. Bisping did not appreciate being called out by Rivera and Rivera only stirred the pot by saying things such as “I want to fuck him up!” 

Rivera was very confident heading into this fight as he felt his strengths were Bispings main weaknesses. Rivera's main weapon, is his straight right hand which is as powerful as they come in the middleweight devision and has put many good fighters to sleep. Bisping, on the other hand has a penchant for falling into the straight right punches and Rivera believed this is the reason he matched up so perfectly with Bisping.

Bisping, also had a strength that was Rivera's main weakness, that was not brought up at all during the lead up to the fight. This strength was Bisping's unending gas tank. Bisping, is a tireless worker who sets a great pace from the get-go and keeps it up for the entire fight. This added to the fact, he felt underestimated and disrespected and the UFC's British poster boy was pissed.   

I believed Bisping was many notches above Rivera and I was right in that assessment. Bisping was able to take Rivera down at will and eventually tired him out and secured a second round TKO, when Rivera totally gassed out and fell victim to a swarm of Bisping's punches. Bisping ran through Rivera with relative ease and this was all due to his superior conditioning. 

However, the fight did not come without controversy as early in the first round, Bisping hit Rivera with an obvious illegal knee. Rivera had both knees on the floor and Bisping hit him hard on the forehead, which kept Rivera down and unresponsive for a couple minutes. This was clearly the turning point of the fight, as Rivera looked altogether out of it and it looked like the fight would end in disqualification. Still, Rivera knew this was the biggest fight and opportunity of his life and he showed his warriors spirit when he fought the doctors to continue. 

A lot of credit is deserved for Rivera, as he did not look in any condition to continue and still went forth and went out like a true fighter. While he may have lost the fight, Rivera earned my respect and made a fan out of me and millions of others watching. Despite being clearly outmatched by a better opponent, Rivera gave it his all and will be back to fight another day. 

On the other side of spectrum, Michael Bisping made a statement with this fight and is possibly one fight away from a title opportunity. Bisping had been criticized as of late for not being able to finish his opponents and he put an end to that argument by finishing a dangerous fighter in devastating fashion. I do not know who his next opponent will be, but it will be hard pressed for the UFC to not put the Brit in a title eliminator bout. 

The third featured fight on the card showcased up and coming Australian lightweight sensation George Sotiropolos taking on German kick boxer Dennis Siver. This was an exciting fight between the two and had fight of the night potential and it lived up to the hype. However, the winner of the fight was not the favored fighter as Dennis Siver was able to beat the hometown Sotiropolos by unanimous decision. 

The story coming out of the fight, was not what Siver did but what Sotiropolos was unable to do. While Sotiropolos had an obvious advantage on the ground, he was not able to get the fight to the mat once during the fight. Siver showed excellent takedown defense, but it looked easy as Sotiropolos shot from far away and reached for every takedown. His wrestling disability was clearly exposed, when you take a look at how elite wrestlers such as Grey Maynard, Josh Koscheck or Chael Sonnen shoot for their takedowns. Those fighters fully commit to the takedown and drive through their opponents lifting them off their feet and pounding them into the mat. If Sotiropolos is to be touted as a future contender for the title, he must improve his wrestling because if he cannot use his jiu-jitsu during a fight, he is an average competitor at best. 

Let's not take anything away from Siver though as the man did what he had to do to win. He came into a hostile territory and worked his game plan to perfection. He kept the fight on the feet which was his comfort zone and hurt Sotiropolos many times especially in the first round when he knocked the Aussie down thrice. However, the fight was far from perfect and holes were showed in the German's overall game. The main hole was his conditioning as Siver casually faded and slowed down considerably as the fight wore on. He is a big lightweight who has to cut a considerable amount of weight and this is a drastic flaw, especially if it hinders him from keeping up with the Frankie Edgar's of the division. Siver is good prospect who won a hell of a fight, but in my opinion, he is still miles away from being an elite contender and challenger for the title. 

Taking the fight on two weeks notice, one had to appreciate Brian Ebersole's fighting spirit.  Especially when he was making his UFC debut and filling in for an opponent who was set to face the hard hitting and uber dangerous Chris Lytle. However, upon my first impression that appreciation was instantly faded as Brian Ebersole had to be one of the strangest competitors to ever set foot inside of  the octagon. 

This was evident from the very beginning as Ebersole came out to the fight wearing sparring headgear and sported an upward arrow shaven into his chest hair. Needless to say, this was highly unusual but not the strangest thing Ebersole did during this fight. Even Ebersole's opening move of a cartwheel kick, yes you read that right a cartwheel kick was not the strangest occurrence of the night for Mr. Ebersole. The absolute strangest and unconventional thing Brian Ebersole did during his fight against Chris Lytle, was win.

Lytle had been on a wrecking spree as of late in the welterweight division and this was supposed to be his coming out party into the top of the division against Carlos Condit. But when Condit got hurt and pulled out of the fight, it seemed Lytle's spirit was pulled as well. Lytle did not look interested in being inside the cage with Ebersole, even though they had similar backgrounds and he payed for his overconfidence with a loss. He fought a sloppy fight and did not look like the Lytle we have seen as of late. This was unfortunate as I had high hopes for Lytle because he is an exciting fighter who always brings it, but tonight he suffered an embarrassing defeat. 

Mr. Ebersole on the other hand must have decided if he can never be the sports pound for pound best fighter than he was going to be the pound for pound weirdest. Ebersole without a doubt showcased the most unorthodox striking I had ever seen including the now infamous cartwheel kick, abnormal attacks such as his patented shoulder strikes and amazing submission defense. While the first two are humorous, the submission defense was not a laughing matter as it was truly impressive. Lytle dropped down for many guillotine chokes, including three in the first round and Ebersole was able to defend and get out of all of them. Ebersole was also able to deeply hurt Lytle, hitting him with vicious knee in the second round which opened up a deep cut on Lytle's forehead. The cut looked like Lylte was hit with an axe and it appeared  we were able to see into his childhood memories. Needless to say, it was an upset I did not see coming and while I may not have liked Ebersole at the beginning and middle of the fight, now that it is all said and done, I appreciate him now for not only taking the fight but making it memorable and something I will never forget. Well done Mr. Ebersole, good job. 

The opening fight of the pay per view was a quick contest as hometown boy Kyle Noke was able to defeat Chris Camozzi 1:35 seconds into the first round via rear naked choke. The fight was quick and painless for Noke, who barley broke a sweat inside of the octagon and was able to secure the submission of the night bonus for his work inside the cage. 

Usually, the main card of the pay per views are the only fights the fans are able to see, but the UFC has worked hard to change that the last couple of months and most of this preliminary card was viewable to the world. The main fight which was shown for free on ION TV pitted TUF 9 winner Ross Pearson taking on the always exciting Spencer Fisher. This fight had fireworks written all over it since it was announced and it delivered. The fight was back and forth the entire time with Fisher getting the better of the first half of the fight but Pearson was able to steal the decision with a spectacular second half. The fight was in Pearson's bag when he surprised not only Fisher with takedowns but also the world, proving that the boys in the U.K. are working hard on their wrestling and are not one trick pony's anymore. It was an impressive performance for Pearson and if he is able to keep up his progress he will only get tougher and tougher competition moving forward. 

Another fight shown to the world that ended quickly via rear naked choke was the light heavyweight fight between Alexander Gustafsson and James Te Huna. Te Huna came out aggressive and took Gustafsson down early putting the Sweedish mixed martial artist in dangerous position but Gustafsson was able to overcome and eventually reversed the position, forcing Te Huna to tap out 4:27 seconds into the first round. It was the most silence I ever heard during a finish for a fight as not a person clapped and you could hear the mice scatter throughout the arena. Despite the lack of approval, it was a good win for Gustafsson and he lives to fight another day. 

As in typical UFC fashion, one fight has to be a controversial judging decision leaving all those who watched saying “What the fuck where they watching?!” That fight came in the middleweight contest between the debuting Riki Fukuda and Nick Ring. Ring who was a contestant on the the last ultimate fighter season, was notable for defeating that seasons champion Court McGee on the show before he was forced to drop out due to a knee injury. This was his first fight since that injury and he showed the brilliance we saw on the show for all of one minute. The rest of the fight was all Fukuda as he used his picture perfect takedowns to control Ring for the remaining fourteen minutes. However, Ring's one minute must have left a considerable and drastic impression in the mind of the judges as they all scored the fight in favor of Ring and he left with a bogus unanimous decision victory. 

Facebook, as become a crucial promotional tool for the UFC as Dana White and company have used the popular social network site to broadcast free fights over the internet. The first fight they showed for UFC 127 was a featherweight contest between the poster boy for MMA in China, Zhang “The Wolf” Tie Quan defeating Jason Reinhardt with an impressive guillotine choke :48 into the first round. This was probably the most important fight of the night, as Zhang is the only fighter to come out of China and his success is vital for the sports overall growth in the Chinese culture. He did not disappoint as he came out swinging and when Reinhardt exposed his neck, Zhang instantly snatched hold of it and finished his opponent with a picture perfect, beautiful tight guillotine choke, earning himself the W.

The next fight shown on Facebook, was Sydney Australia's pioneer MMA fighter Anthony Perosh taking on England's Tom Blackledge. The Sydney crowd was hot for this contest as was I when Perosh came out to Kickstart My Heart by the greatest band of all time, Motley Crue. Obviously I wanted Perosh to win due to his song choice and he got his first UFC win with a rear naked choke in the first round, with help from the world most notorious rock band. Perosh, was one of the first ever Jiu-Jitsu black belts to come out of Australia and by making his move down to light heavyweight, he was finally able to showcase his skills. As soon as the fight hit the mat, Blackledge was outclassed and forced to tap which brought a loud ovation from the ecstatic Australian crowd. I could probably spend the next two hours speaking about how Motley Crue won the fight for Perosh, but instead I will just smile a big told you so. Motley Crue is amazing!

The last fight shown to the world featured a lot of jiggle as former PRIDE star Mark Hunt took on Chris Tuchscherer in a heavyweight contest. Besides thinking the cage was going to collapse due the extensive weight inside the octagon, the fight was pretty exciting. Tuchscherer was the perfect opponent for Hunt, as he liked to stand and trade and that is the extent of Hunt's MMA fighting ability. Hunt bloodied Tuchscherer up causing a massive cut on his eye which had Tuchscherer's eyelid falling into his own eye.  Midway through the second round, Hunt finished the fight with a powerful uppercut which had Tuchscherer seeing Tweety Bird's. The uppercut was so powerful, that after Hunt connected with it, he moved away with his hand in the air before the referee stepped into call it. The fight was over and Hunt knew it and he will be back inside the UFC despite Dana White's wishes. 

All in all, UFC 127 was an exciting event which showed a lot of good fights and I am thankful for that. The Australian fans were crazy and very educated which made the show much better as they cheered takedowns and knew what the fighters were doing. It is one of the most annoying things to a fan of MMA to hear the crowd boo during moments of a fight after a takedown or clinch work up against the cage. The Australian crowd was great, and I am sure the UFC will return to the land down under for a third time very soon. Also, the UFC showed a lot of Brittney Palmer which is always a fantastic thing has the girl is gorgeous and should be my wife. A perfect ring girl that is a whole lot of woman. Until the next fights on March 3rd, the UFC is out for now. Brittney I will see you then. ;)