- Andre Galvao notched a nice come-from-behind victory over Jorge Patino after Patino had him all but stopped in the first round. The win was overshadowed, though, by a horrendous stoppage by the referee. Patino had taken maybe two concrete shots with Galvao on his back, and was in absolutely no danger of being finished.
- Daniel Cormier reminds me of an early Rashad Evans; a shorter heavyweight with lightning-quick wrestling. Cormier would do well to follow Evans' career and drop down to light heavyweight, because his height (5'11) will continue to be a hindrance against the giants of the heavyweight division.
- Bobby Lashley needs to do a better job of setting up his takedowns. Lashley was taking shots from far away with no feints or fakes. That allowed Chad Riggs to time the takedown and land an uppercut that split Lashley wide open.
- That being said, the decision to restart Lashley and Riggs standing when Lashley had been in full mount was an indefensible decision by referee Jon Schorle, and it cost Lashley the fight. A winded Lashley flailed for a takedown after the restart, and Riggs was able to pound him out with hammerfists from the sprawl. Would Lashley have been able to last through a third round given how tired he was? Probably not. But there is no question that Schorle robbed Lashley of the opportunity to try. BloodyElbow.com does a nice job of breaking down Schole's incompetence
here.
- Frank Shamrock's assessment that wrestlers should be willing to give up position to attempt submissions is ridiculous in most circumstances. As Lashley was pounding away in the mounted position, Shamrock (and the entire announce team) bemoaned Lashley for not going for an arm bar attempt. If I was cornering a fighter, I would much rather see him stay in dominant position and inflict damage than attempt a submission that causes him to lose dominant position if he misses it.
- Jorge Gurgel's refusal to use his jiu jitsu talents might make him a more exciting fighter, but it won't win him as many fights. His decision to stand toe to toe with heavy-handed KJ Noons meant that a KO wasn't an 'if,' it was a 'when.'
- Not much to say on the "Jacare"/ Tim Kennedy fight. "Jacare" looked improved on the feet, and showed that he can win a fight without his vaunted ground game.
- "Feijao"'s takedown defense was the key to his victory. Even when "King Mo" was able to take him down, "Feijo" was able to work back to his feet quickly. Mo won the second round, but it was evident early that "Feijao" would be able to finish the fight if it stayed on the feet.
