Anarchy In The U.K.

A hell of a fight card took place in Birmingham, England as UFC 138 is in the books. An event which was slammed by critics, delivered in action as every bout on the main card ended in a finish for an extremely exciting night of fights.

The main event was a five round non-title Middleweight clash between two fighters looking to move up the ladder and throw their names in the hat for the right to next face division champion Anderson Silva.

Mark Munoz (12-2) and Chris Leben (22-8) are two highly revered exciting fighters in the Middleweight division who both came to fight, but in the end it was Mark Munoz who earned the biggest victory of his career.

After a high paced back and forth first round, Munoz' conditioning took over and he was able to outwork Leben. Munoz used his “Donkey Kong ground and pound” to cut Leben on the left temple to the point where Leben could not see, forcing a corner/doctor stoppage at the end of the second round.

From the opening bell, Munoz controlled where the fight took place with his outstanding wrestling. Mixing things up brilliantly, Munoz used just enough strikes to avoid a slugfest and disguise his shot so he could smother Leben and bring the fight to the ground. Once the contest hit the mat, Munoz outworked Leben and eventually cut him resulting in the end of the fight.

Always a classy competitor, Munoz asked for a title shot after his victoy. Despite his impressive performance, I still believe Munoz is one more victory away from facing the champion. Personally, I would like to see Munoz next face the winner of the upcoming Michael Bisping – Jason “Mayhem” Miller matchup in December to decide who becomes the number one contender to face Anderson Silva.

As for Chris Leben, he will be back despite the loss. Chris Leben is a true warrior who was bloodied and could not see, but still wanted to continue and that is why fans love to watch him fight. He was hit hard numerous times while on his back, but Leben proved once again that he has the most ridiculous chin in all of MMA and fired back each and every time. He needs to reevaluate his ground fighting off his back which I'm sure he will, since Leben is constantly evolving as a mixed martial artist and looks better after every loss.

The co-main event of the evening, was a Bantamweight slugfest between Renan Barao (27-1-1NC) the owner of 16 straight victories and the highly touted debuting Brad Pickett (20-6).

Barao is now riding a 17 fight win streak as he was able to submit Pickett with a rear naked choke at the 4:09 mark of the first round.

Although, the fight did not last a full round it still received fight of the night honors as the contest was nonstop action the whole time through. Both men came out swinging, not wasting any time but it was Barao who caught Pickett with a well timed flying knee which sent Pickett to the mat. As soon as Pickett was on the ground, Barao quickly jumped on him and took his back, securing the body triangle and tapping him out with a rear naked choke.

Barao's performance was impressive enough, that he could now be one fight away from a championship fight against champion Dominick Cruz.

One time contender Thiago Alves (19-8) also fought at UFC 138, against the debuting Papi Abedi (8-1).

Alves came out strong right away with powerful leg kicks, sending a message to Abedi that he did not belong inside the same cage with Alves for his first fight. The message was heard loud and clear as Alves was able to hurt Abedi, get him to the ground and finish him off for Alves' first ever submission win inside the UFC.

Two top British prospects also fought on the UFC 138 undercard and picked up impressive quick first round stoppages.

After a 19 month layoff recovering from a serious rib injury, one of the most talented and promising Lightweight fighters returned in Terry Etim (15-3). Etim is back and better than ever as he was able to stop Eddie Faaloloto (2-3) in 17 seconds of the first round, making an impact in the process.

Etim came out fast, landing everything he threw and when Faaloloto went for a takedown, Etim locked in a standing arm in guillotine forcing the quick tap. The finish was very impressive earning submission of the night honors and even caused Etim to trend worldwide on twitter.

The other U.K. fighter who made an impact was the debuting Welterweight Che Mills (14-4-1NC). Utilizing picture perfect technique and clinch work, Mills landed two huge brutal knees to Chris Cope (5-2), putting him away quickly with a .40 second TKO victory and knockout of the night honors.

Mills made a huge entry into the UFC with his performance and will make some noise in the coming months in the division. Mills did what he had to do tonight and we have just seen a new dangerous Welterweight emerge from the U.K.

Overall, UFC 138 was a fantastic card with exciting, high energy, fast paced fights with loads of action. Not one fight on the broadcast was boring with numerous brilliant finishes. If you have the time watch the card when it airs on Spike TV at 8:00 PM because UFC 138 was an underrated can't miss event.

Bonuses:
Fight of the Night - Renan Barao vs. Brad Pickett
Knockout of the Night - Che Mills
Submission of the Night - Terry Etim



Results:
Mark Munoz defeats Chris Leben via TKO (corner stoppage) at 5:00 of Round 2
Renan Barao defeats Brad Pickett via submission (rear naked choke) at 4:09 of Round 1
Thiago Alves defeats Papi Abedi via submission (rear naked choke) at 3:32 of Round 1
Anthony Perosh defeats Cyrille Diabate via submission (rear naked choke) at 3:09 of Round 2
Terry Etim defeats Eddie Faaloloto via submission (guillotine choke) at .17 of Round 1
John Maguire defeats Justin Edwards via Unanimous Decision (30-27. 30-27,30-27)
Michihiro Omigawa defeats Jason Young via Unanimous decision (28-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Che Mills defeats Chris Cope via TKO at .40 of Round 1