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There were plenty of new story lines coming out of UFC 105 as two men seemingly earned title shots while another doesn't seem to have a logical next fight after his victory.
Saturday's event from Manchester, England, was full of great action featuring Randy Couture seeking out a decision win over Brandon Vera, Dan Hardy decisively defeating Mike Swick, and an undercard full of knockouts.
Randy Couture def. Brandon Vera by unanimous decision
The night's main attraction was great for those who love grappling against the cage, but overall Couture against Vera was in the middle in terms of excitement. The majority of the action early on was Couture pressing Vera up against the cage looking for a takedown, evolving into whether he could survive Vera's kicks when the action pushed to the middle of the Octagon.
Couture earned the decision by controlling Vera for the first round, and doing just enough in the third. Vera easily took the second round through powerful kicks, including a sequence where he connected on a body kick to the ribs, hit a punch, and threw a knee that knocked Couture down midway through the round. Vera attempted to finish, but wasn't fast enough, and seemingly didn't have enough energy to finish the attack.
In the third, Couture attempted to keep it close while Vera was seeking separation to land more kicks. Couture was fine to exchange, but Vera was getting the best of them, taking advantage of multiple referee separations all night. This was probably as even a round as you could get, and if Vera had got the duke, Couture wouldn't have had much to complain about. All judges scored the bout 29-28.
Upon hearing the decision, Vera simply walked out of the cage and sat dejected on the outside, failing to immediately acknowledge Couture. To me, that was disappointing as Vera was impressive in defeat, but still manages to revert back to this bizarre attitude at the worst possible time.
What's next for Couture? I'm not sure. I don't think he earned a title match against Lyoto Machida with the win that honestly felt inconsequential in the grand scheme of the light heavyweight division. Would it make sense to put him against the winner of Rashad Evans against Thiago Silva? What about a bout with Wanderlei Silva at 205? Rich Franklin at 205? There's no obvious next opponent or next step here.
Dan Hardy def. Mike Swick by unanimous decision
Hardy was good, but not dominant in defeating Swick via unanimous decision. Hardy simply hit harder and took advantage when in the position to do so. He's a big welterweight, and was more filled out than Swick.
The first round featured a lot of cage grappling with a few exchanges, and as the fight wore on, Hardy's shots began to hurt Swick. Hardy had him grounded in the third, and was hitting some hard elbows, opening up a cut on the side of Swick's head, which you don't see that often.
Two judges scored the fight 30-27 with another at 29-28.
With the win, Hardy earns a shot at Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre (who was in attendance) sometime in 2010. There was nothing that Hardy showed me here that makes me think he's got a prayer against GSP.
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