UFC on FOX 8

As promised, here is a (very) partial recap of UFC on FOX 8, which I caught between trays of raw oysters and buckets of rum in beautiful Ocean City, MD:

-Liz Carmouche defeats Jessica Andrade via TKO at 3:57 of Round 2:

Andrade, only 21 and making her UFC debut, looked very good in this fight.  She even won the first round, in my opinion, and while she wasn’t really ready for Carmouche, Jessica Andrade remains a bright prospect, with some more smoothing out. 

I also think that you should be have to be busier than Carmouche was to end a fight by tko.  Andrade was eating head strikes, but none of them were really stunning her.  She continued to move and defend.  Just as Carmouche was able to ride out her guillotine in round 1, Andrade may have been able to ride out Car’s strikes.  At the same time, the girl is only 21, they probably want to protect young talent, and I’m not actually arrogant enough to question veteran referee Herb Dean.

An interesting note on this fight, this is the first televised professional MMA event featuring two openly gay fighters.  With the size of the LGBT community in Seattle, one would think that the UFC would have mentioned this in promotion, but I suppose that it’s better that they said nothing rather than say something stupid, which would have been almost unavoidable.


-Rory MacDonald defeats Jake Ellenberger via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27):

People are ragging on this fight, and that’s bullshit.  This was a great fight.  I was engaged, entertained, and excited the whole time.  Those who say that nothing was going on, or that Rory MacDonald was just jabbing have no idea what they were watching.  This was a good fight between two skilled strikers.  It’s not the fighters’ fault if fans don’t know what they’re talking about, or that the UFC doesn’t give fighters time to get the job done with three five minute rounds.  Rory MacDonald is under no obligation to fight stupid, or to get knocked out by Jake Ellenberger just for your amusement.

Yes, it would have been better if the fight had ended more decisively, but that’s not the fight that we saw.  Both fighters were active and responsive.  Ellenberger was not as aggressive as he needed to be, but that’s just because MacDonald shut him down so effectively.  MacDonald continuously convinced Ellenberger that he could get his power shots in, and continuously shut him down.  I’m confident that had the fight gone on longer, we would have seen a ko/tko in round 5 or 6.  The fact that MacDonald avoided Ellenberger’s knockout power, and that Ellenberger, while eating some punches, was able to avoid major damage from MacDonald’s strikes while continuing to engage just proves the technical and defensive skills of both fighters, which is exciting to watch, not boring.

I will say that if MacDonald can develop the kind of power to break facial bones with that jab, he will be even harder to deal with, and pull out more decisive wins, which is what gets you noticed in the UFC.

Overall, the response to this fight just goes to show that world is full of bad fight fans shooting off their mouths and talking trash about good fighters and good fights.  It makes it all the worse when UFC president Dana White joins in, in his typical eff-bomb laced style.  The fact that the Seattle show produced a disappointing return in terms of ticket sales is no excuse to take your frustration out on your athletes.  Maybe White would like to climb into that octagon, throw only overhand rights, and lead with his chin, as he seems to expect his fighters to do.

This fight was also one of the few unanimous decisions on the card.  Now, split decision in and of themselves are not a cause for concern, but the issue here is that, in so many of these fights, opposing 30-27 scorecards were recorded.  This absurdity just highlights the issues with UFC judging, and MMA judging more broadly.  I’ve heard Sal D’Amato’s name tossed out as a target of blame and ire, and I’ve also heard complaints against the Washington state licensing authority, but either way, it just goes to show that you never really want to leave it up to the judges.


-Robbie Lawler defeats Bobby Voelker via knockout at 0:24 of Round 2:

Not that Voelker is any great threat, but Lawler looked fantastic out there, I love to watch this guy fight.  He is extremely quick, accurate, and strong with his hands, which is a lot of fun to watch.  Not to put Bobby Voelker down, the man’s a tough dude and knows how to throw a punch, but no one is really tough enough to keep taking hits from Robbie Lawler, and Voelker tends to rely on his chin over his hands in terms of strike defense.

Lawler is a smart, quick, powerful fighter, with great timing and a natural feel for fist-fighting.  I’m curious to see just how far he goes in the 170lbs division.

Robbie Lawler by headkick.  Beautiful technique, you should this fight out.


-Melvin Guillard defeats Mac Danzig via knockout at 2:47 of Round 2:

Melvin has been in the game far too long to still be calling himself “the Young Assassin.”

Other than that, this fight showed, again, just how effective the jab can be if you have the footwork to make it stick and to confound your opponents’ counters.  Always like to see a finish by strikes.


-Germaine de Randamie defeats Julie Kedzie via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28):

Good to see that de Randamie’s transition from kickboxing to MMA has finally reached level ground, and good on the UFC for bringing relative unknowns to the national spotlight.

Overall, a great fight by two great fighters.  Always happy to see a new striker enter the mix in de Randamie, and always interested in seeing more of Kedzie, being such a dynamic and fun fighter to watch.


-Demetrious Johnson defeats John Moraga via submission at 3:43 of Round 5:

Demetrious Johnson did what MacDonald couldn’t, wouldn’t, or didn’t have the time to do; turn a grinding technical dominance into an actual finish.  His transitions were quick, he aggressively pursued submission after submission, and he just looked extremely comfortable in his ground game.  The 135lbs weight class is so thin right now that if Demetrious Johnson can continue to give us performances like these against higher-caliber opponents than John Moraga, we might have a champion with staying power, someone to build some excitement around 135lbs that just isn’t there right now.


So there you have it; UFC on Fox 8.  I still don’t understand why the lighter weight classes get ignored by so many fans; there is so mach great talent, so many dynamic, engaging, explosive fights in those weight classes that it just doesn’t make any sense.  I think that some fans are still locked into the ‘90s boxing idea of a “heavyweight champion of the world” as the top dawg, and just haven’t taken the time to open their minds to how skilled, exciting, and devastating those lighter fighters actually are.

Anyway, we’re getting ready to go into UFC 163, Aldo vs. Zombie on Saturday, and Belator just had an event on Wednesday that I haven’t had the chance to watch or catch up on yet, so there’s plenty of MMA still out there this summer.  Some might say that the market is a bit over-saturated, but I personally love having new fights constantly around the corner.

I’ll slip in a quick word on the Aldo/Zombie fight before I end this rather long and rambling post. It will be very interesting to see how Jose Aldo’s “grind” style matches up against Chan Sung Jung the Korean Zombie’s steady aggression, and how Aldo will adapt when his opponent doesn’t give him the time and space to plant his feet and throw those low kicks at will. 

The Zombie’s ground work is often overlooked, but he is a talented grappler and a big strong guy.  Aldo is, of course, no bum when it comes to jujitsu, and a very hard man to push around or hold down.

Should be a good fight.  I predict a stoppage, mostly likely by ko/tko by strikes, but quite possibly by submission.  These guys are both so dangerous with their hands that one or the other may be looking for the clinch or takedown, thinking he can outwrestle the other.  In this situation, I still think either would be looking for a gound-n-pound victory, but neither would pass up the chance to attack with a submission and go for the finish.  Be sure to check it out if you can.

That’s all for now, so until we meet again, keep those hands up, and protect yourself at all times.  This has been the Rabbit Punch.