UFC on Versus 5 Reaction: Immediate thoughts and commentary

First off, I send my condolences to the family of world renowed MMA trainer Shawn Tompkins who passed away in the last 24 hours or so. He’ll always be remembered..RIP.

Wow! We said going into this UFC on Versus 5 event that it looked great on paper and boy did these fighters deliver! First of all I must acknowledge that my correct prediction streak of ten straight fights has been destroyed by this event as I missed all 4 of the main event fights! Just goes to show that even the best have a day off every now and then :). Anyways, let’s briefly talk about the fights:

• Amir Sadollah/Duane Ludwig-Talk about a war of attrition. Ludwig pretty much took it to Sadollah with a better more powerful version of muay thai. I thought Sadollah would be able to get Ludwig down, but the punishment Ludwig delivered early in the fight took a lot out of him. Tough loss for Sadollah who is a very tough guy, but I never thought he would be a contender in the welterweight division because of his lack of wrestling and that cost him tonight. Nice win for Ludwig.
• Charles Oliveira/Donald Cerrone-Wow. Cerrone actually didn’t get off to a slow start in this fight. It was clear that he was much larger than Oliveira(who should drop to 145) and was landing the more powerful strikes. That was Cerrone’s first ever MMA win via TKO/KO. He’s won three in a row in the UFC, so it’ll be interesting to see who they match him up with next.
• Ben Henderson/Jim Miller-I wrote that I would give Henderson the slight edge in wrestling, and boy did I not pay for sticking with that notion. Henderson DOMINATED Miller in this fight. I wouldn’t go so far as to say he should get a title shot, but he’s certainly increased his stock quite a bit. I’d like to see him fight Clay Guida next since Guida will not fight Melvin Guillard(teammates). It sucks for Miller in that he climbed all the way to the top of the ladder only to get his fingers stepped on to fall down a few pegs. He’s a tough guy but the knock on him is that he always has problems with guys that are better wrestlers than him and tonight was no different.
• Chris Lytle/Dan Hardy-Wow! What a way for Chris Lytle to end his career. I had him winning all three rounds as he was laying the wood to Dan Hardy with body shots and overhand rights. I said that Lytle could win this fight if he got it to the ground and he locked in a submission instantly when Dan Hardy went for that takedown. Dan Hardy will likely be cut as that was his fourth loss in a row. I agree with what Joe Rogan was saying on the broadcast in that Hardy stopped using all of his tools(kicks) and that cost him the fight.

Sidenotes:  Jared Hamman straight BEASTED C.B. Dollaway after a competitive first round that probably went to Dollaway. However, Hamman took over in the second and got an impressive win in his UFC middleweight debut. Joseph Benavidez looked good as well, defeating Eddie Wineland via unanimous decision.

Be sure to check back tomorrow for the usual UFC matchmaker post that I do after UFC events as well as more coverage of upcoming events.