First of all UFC 133 had to be the quickest UFC PPV in history! I had to count the fights in my head as the co-main event was coming on, like is there only two fights left? It was a decent show, but most of the enjoyment factor was probably robbed because the fights were pretty predictable in my opinion. I mean the likelihood of Tito Ortiz, Yoshihiro Akiyama, and Mike Pyle winning were slim at best and they all got beasted. On to the fights starting with the main event:
- I thought Rashad Evans looked absolutely superb tonight and he delivered the way he was supposed to deliver against Tito Ortiz. I thought Evans would dominate him, but I didn’t think he would be able to finish him and that’s exactly what he did. I knew when Tito didn’t get the guillotine in the second round that Evans would finish him as that was like Ortiz’s last chance at winning. I tweeted that Ortiz should be given props for taking the fight and giving us a decent main event, and also for not issuing an excuse for losing to Rashad. Now we’ll get to see Evans take on the winner of Jones vs. Rampage and either fight will be must see. If he faces Jones, I still favor Jones but I think Evans chances of winning went up a bit with his performance tonight.
- Vitor Belfort just destroyed Yoshihiro Akiyama. I mean that was probably more predictable than Evans beating Oritz. I can’t help but notice Belfort looked bulkier in this fight compared to when he fought Anderson Silva. I like Akiyama, but he needs to fight at welterweight. Someone tweeted Belfort vs. Leben next. I’d watch, but it would probably be a instant replay of what happened to Akiyama tonight.
- Brian Ebersole just destroyed Dennis Hallman. Sweet Jesus! I tweeted that the ground and pound that Ebersole was landing sounded like Rocky beating up the meat in the deep freezer! He permanently took about 15% of Hallman’s life meter away. Dennis Hallman or any other fighter, please do not wear speedo’s in the cage again. Thanks.
- Costantinos Philippou and Jorge Rivera had a grueling back and forth match. I picked Philippou to win but was secretly rooting for Rivera. He said he would retire if he lost this fight and he seemed to be thinking of that as he walked to the cage tonight. The look in his eye was almost as if he knew he may be taking that walk for the very last time.
- Rory MacDonald is a BEAST. It’s hard to believe that this kid is only 22 years old even though he looks 17 still. I thought he would beat Pyle, but he absolutely ran through him once he got back up to his feet. He certainly could ‘have next’ as they say in the hip hop world.
- Matt Hamill has either fought injured in his past two fights or the punishment he has taken over his career has caught up to him. He has shown ZERO explosion in his takedown attempts and just looked really lethargic out there tonight. Props to Alexander Gustafsson though, I liked the way he was aggressive and not afraid to exchange. He seemed to have good fluidity in his strikes and footwork. At 24 years of age, this kid looks promising.
- Chad Mendes fought a ‘safe’ fight which is to be expected when you have a title shot waiting for you, but sometimes fighting safe will cost you a title shot. That may be the case tonight. This was a perfect opportunity to really go for the finish and put himself on the map but he failed in doing so. There was no way Yahya could take him down, nor does he have knockout power. Regardless, Mendes poses problems for both Jose Aldo and Kenny Florian stylistically.
I’m going to get some shut eye, but I’ll be back on tomorrow as I play UFC matchmaker post UFC 133. In the meantime, feel free to leave your thoughts on the event in the comments section!