UFC 134 Rio reaction: Instant thoughts and commentary

So I just got home from Buffalo Wild Wings, and on the way home I just tried to process what I had just witnessed in UFC 134.

Anderson Silva is the best MMA fighter ever, regardless of weight class, because no one has been able to do what he does in the cage. He just outclassed Yushin Okami. Shogun Rua kept his usual streak of looking unbeatable after a loss going by destroying Forrest Griffin.

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira pulled off one of the biggest upsets this year against Brendan Schaub. Edson Barboza and Ross Pearson put on an excellent striking display in a razor close fight, and Luiz Cane proved that he still likes to block punches with his face.

• Silva/Okami: Silva just outclassed Okami as I mentioned earlier. It’s almost as if Anderson can put any fighter away when he wants to. It’s just incredible to watch him do that little motion with his hands and move them really quickly, and then you know he’s about to go to work. The mere notion that he toyed with Okami who is one of the best middleweights in the world speaks volumes about how good Silva really is. He’s the greatest fighter in our time.
• Rua/Griffin: So what that really Shogun Rua that fought Jon Jones or is Jon Jones just that good? I asked that question in the preview, but might have a different answer now. I picked Griffin to win and he fought the exact opposite of the way he needed to fight to win. He was pretty dumb for standing with Shogun and well, you see the result.
• Nogueira/Schaub: Wow. A lot of folk lost their money on this fight. I never thought Nogueira would knock Schaub out. I mean he has somewhat respectable boxing, but after being off for a year and a half and multiple surgeries? I did notice that Nogueira brought the fight to Schaub from the onset, and I think that made Schaub somewhat uncomfortable. Also, I noticed that Nogueira was able to slip quite a few of Schaub’s jabs which surprised me considering that Nog has looked considerably slower in his past fights. Huge win for Nogueira and I was so hyped because Nogueira is my favorite fighter of all time. I’m not saying he’s ‘back’ with this win, but it certainly allows him so wiggle room in the latter stages of his career. That’s what Schaub gets for picking fights with fighters well past their prime :).
• Barboza/Pearson: Wow. Great fight. Pearson fought exactly how he needed to fight to win against Barboza and arguably deserved to win that fight. It was such a close fight that one couldn’t be upset with the decision though. It was razor close.
• Cane/Nedkov:  Eh, I wasn’t impressed with Nedkov at all. I thought Cane was winning pretty easily until he blocked that haymaker from Nedkov with his face. Cane is notoriously easy to hit and that cost him again tonight. Cool win for Nedkov in his UFC debut, but I doubt he sets the world on fire at LHW.
• Palhares/Miller: I thought this fight should have been fight of the night. Miller showed incredible heart and Palhares is an absolute animal. I thought Palhares looked improved with his standup and showed a decent gas tank although he expended a ton of energy trying to put Miller away in the second round in which I scored a 10-8. Sidenote, what was Palhares thinking in the first round when he stopped punching Miller and jumped on top of the cage like the fight was over?

Side notes:

• Showing the Erick Silva fight 3 times? Really?
• I couldn’t hear the crowd that well in the bar, but they seemed really enthusiastic. Did they rival the Canadian crowd though?
• The referees were horrible tonight. There were quite a few questionable standups. Also, whoever the ref was with Griffin/Rua almost got Griffin killed. Same in the Cane/Nedkov fight in that they let the fighters take too much punishement.
• Who was that judge that gave the 30-25 score in the Palhares/Miller fight? I could see 30-26, but come on man!
• Good for Paulo Thiago to get a win to end the two fight losing streak.

Be sure to check back tomorrow as I put on my UFC matchmaker hat to see what’s next for the winners.