UFC on Fox 2 Results: Why It's Not as Bad as You Think or as Good as You Hoped

Last night the UFC presented its second-ever event on the nationally-broadcast Fox network, “UFC on Fox 2: Evans vs. Davis.” The main event between Rashad Evans and Phil Davis was actually supposed to be a main event of a Pay-Per-View a few months back, so expectations were high for this event.

Did it deliver? The answer to that, and even the question itself, is open to interpretation. So here’s what I think: Here are the full results as well as some early commentary for “UFC on Fox 2: Evans vs. Davis”.

Rashad Evans defeats Phil Davis by unanimous decision. Chael Sonnen defeats Michael Bisping by unanimous decision. Chris Weidman defeats Demian Maia by split decision. Evan Dunham defeats Nick Lentz by TKO (doctor stoppage) at 5:00 of Round 2.

Mike Russow defeats Jon Olav Einemo by unanimous decision. Cub Swanson defeats George Roop by TKO (punches) at 2:22 of Round 2. Charles Oliveira defeats Eric Wisely via submission at 1:43 of Round 1.

Michael Johnson defeats Shane Roller by unanimous decision. Lavar Johnson defeats Joey Beltran by knockout (punches) at 4:24 of Round 1. Chris Camozzi defeats Dustin Jacoby by submission (front choke) at 1:08 of Round 3.

Note: According to reports just released today, Weidman actually won by unanimous decision while Sonnen actually won by split decision.

Due to some scheduling conflicts on my part, I came into the “UFC Prelims” mini-event rather late, and in fact was only able to see the excellent Evan Dunham/Nick Lentz fight.

I’ve since caught a few of the matches on the web, and I can say that once again the prelims live up to the hype I’ve given them: they really are “the best MMA you’re not watching.” So watch!

In particular, I really wanted to highlight Nik Lentz as someone that did a complete 180 on me. After Nik Lentz’s supremely boring decision win against Andre Winner a while back, I was ready to write him off as just another lay-and-pray wrestler too afraid of getting KO’d to do anything with his takedowns or to risk the fight staying on its feet for more than a few seconds.

That’s certainly not the Nik Lentz that showed up at the UFC prelims last night.

I don’t know what lit a fire under his ass, but I hope it stays lit. Win or lose, Nik Lentz has been very entertaining lately. His wrestling is still good, but he’s gotten a lot of confidence in his striking and he’s no longer afraid to stand and bang.

He even hit Dunham with some good clean shots a few times. I hope this tough loss doesn’t rattle his confidence, because I’d hate to see him revert back to lay-and-pray  tactics now that I’m this close to legitimately calling myself a Nik Lentz fan.

In regards to the main card…I got two out of my three picks right, but I still had a very mixed bag of emotions. I don’t fault Chris Weidman for gassing in his fight against Demian Maia—I actually expected him to.

I just didn’t think Maia would gas as badly and as quickly, given the fact that he did get a good training camp in. Then again, he got a good training camp in preparing for a striker, and not a wrestler like Weidman. It is what it is…it was certainly a lackluster bout, but these things happen in MMA.

In regards to Bisping/Sonnen…my early reaction is that Bisping got robbed. I had Sonnen winning this fight and I still think Bisping got robbed.

Bisping really impressed me with his ability to neutralize Sonnen’s takedowns for two out of the fight’s three rounds. I think Bisping won the first two rounds due to his stand-up and his ability to neutralize Chael against the cage.

And in the main event, Rashad Evans proved to me that he’s ready for Jon Jones even though he didn’t dramatically finish Phil Davis as expected.

Evans put on a mostly-complete performance, and I think Evans could possibly be the biggest threat Jon Jones has ever faced.

Overall, it’s tough for me to brand “UFC on Fox 2” as a letdown. It certainly wasn’t Pay-Per-View quality, but I’ve seen worse UFC events, whether they were “Fight Night Live” events or even full-fledged Pay-Per-Views.

This was a mediocre event, but mediocre doesn’t mean bad. Hopefully everyone, from the Fox fanbase to the MMA fanbase to the folks pulling the strings behind the curtain, realizes and remembers this fact.

Oliver Saenz, also known as PdW2kX, is a freelance journalist, opinion columnist, hardcore MMA fan, and lifelong video game nerd. For more news, views, previews, and reviews on all things Mixed Martial Arts as well as video games, be sure to visit FightGamesBlog.net.