UFC: 10 Things to Take Away from UFC 144

UFC fans were treated to one of the deepest cards in UFC history when the organization returned to Japan for the first time in over 11 years. 

Six of the 14 fighters were past champions or fighters who were involved in a championship bout.  In addition, you also had "The Ultimate Fighter" alumni, a K1 champion and a judo master who happens to be a huge pop star.  

Simply put, this card had it all.  

As the dust settled we saw a changing of the guard in the lightweight division, the end of an era at light heavyweight and a ton of great battles.

Here are 10 things to take away from UFC 144.

Photo Courtesy of Yahoo Sports

A Mixed Night for Japanese Stars

Hosting their first event since 2000, Japanese fighters got to show their skills to their home crowd.  In the case of  Hatsu Hioki, we saw the introduction of a featherweight contender, as he beat down Bart Palaszewki in every since of the word.

The next Japanese star was perennial middleweight contender Yushin Okami, who looked dominant and motivated against Tim Boestch, but ended up losing in the 3rd round.  Then you had Yoshihiro Akiyama lose a very close decision to Jake Shields.  

Overall, Japanese fighters went 3-6 in their fights last night.  Sadly, it didn't do much to dispel the notion that Japanese fighters might not translate that well to MMA. 

However, in the case of of Hioki, he has made a very strong case to take on current featherweight champion Jose Aldo. 

It's Time for Cheick Kongo to Retire

It pains me to write this slide as I have long been a fan of Cheick Kongo since he dismantled Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic at UFC 75.  A very imposing figure, Kongo looked like a person that could compete for a title with excellent precision kickboxing skills.

But while he's had an impressive run in the UFC, going 11-5-1, it's becoming clear Kongo not only won't ever compete for a title, but he may be risking injury every time he steps into the octagon now.

It's becoming abundantly clear that Kongo has a glass jaw as Mark Hunt, a dangerous but unproven MMA fighter, beat him down in two minutes of the first round.  Now, it's not to say that 99.9 percent of us would still be unconscious if one of Hunt's enormous hands landed on our face, but Kongo is a veteran of the sport, and he simply couldn't take the heat.

This is a growing trend for the big Frenchman, having narrowly avoided getting knocked out last year against Pat Barry.  His only wins over the past four years have come against men who are nowhere near contender-ship or have now retired from the sport altogether. 

Perhaps Kongo can still fight the Matt Mitrione's of the world.  But at what point do you ask is it worth it?  

Photo Courtesy of Yahoo Sports

Mark Hunt Has Talent but Time Is Not on His Side

Any talk of Kongo retiring should not take away from what Mark Hunt accomplished last night.  The veteran kickboxer and former K1 champion is now 3-0 in the UFC after a rough run of fights that saw him lose to a who's who of great MMA practioners not in the UFC, including Fedor Emelianenko, Gegard Mousasi and Alistair Overeem (now UFC No.1 heavyweight contender). 

UFC 144 was a coming out party for Hunt, as many fans did not know of his previous successes in Japan and elsewhere around the world. 

This is all good news, but for Hunt, who will turn 38 next month, time is quickly ticking in terms of how long he can be a productive UFC fighter.

The UFC owes it to Hunt to give him a big step up in his next fight to realize if the Samoan could be a contender, or will be someone like Kongo who can beat a fair amount of heavyweights, but will always toil around the early fights of a pay-per-view or co-main event a show on FX or Fuel TV. 

A good next fight for him could be against Frank Mir or a returning Shane Carwin. 

Am I Missing Something with Jake Shields?

For a good amount of years, I kept hearing about this dominant welterweight and middleweight named Jake Shields.  A man who had not lost since 2004, Shields had recently beaten Dan Henderson before coming to the UFC, where he was being labeled a threat to George St. Pierre before he ever stepped foot in a UFC Octagon.

Since arriving though, Shields narrowly beat Martin Kampmann, got dominated by GSP and lost to Jake Ellenberger.  The latter defeat was quite understandable as his father had recently passed away.

Still, last night's fight against Yoshihiro Akiyama was an interesting contest between two guys who have been hyped to the moon, but have failed to live up to expectations.  Their fight was a microcosm of their times in the UFC.

It had flashes of brilliance with text book take downs in wrestling and judo respectively, but too much of the fight was spent with Shields nervously throwing weak kicks and punches and "Sexyama" simply absorbing the shots.

Ultimately Shields won, but hardly in impressive fashion.  Akiyama looked much stronger and he had almost no fear of Shield's power.  Perhaps Shields can turn it around, but he hardly looks like a title contender.

Akiyama meanwhile is in trouble, having lost four fights in a row, though two of those losses garnered fight of the night honors.  He seems to have the skills to be a UFC fighter and he's certainly had steep competition.

Ultimately though, fighters who are 1-4 in the UFC do not usually get kept.  In the end, I see him getting one last shot at welterweight until Dana White tells him to pursue a full time singing career. 

Tim Boetsch Has an All-American Comeback

The fight between Tim Boetsch and Yushin Okami last night reminded me of Rocky II.  In that movie Apollo Creed had beaten Rocky to a pulp and clearly had the fight won.  All he needed to do was evade the Italian Stallion and the belt was his.

With his back against the wall though, Rocky came out of his corner and proceeded to hound Creed and brutalize him with shots until scoring the shocking knockout.

That same scenario occurred in this encounter as Okami, coming off a loss to Anderson Silva, controlled Boetsch in every way imaginable.  He was out-boxing him, out-wrestling him and pounding him from various positions. 

Down two rounds, the message was simple for Boetsch: You must knock him out.

And that's just what he did, coming out of his corner to nail Okami with some of the more brutal uppercuts I have ever seen until the former No. 1 contender succumbed to the beating.

It was a career changing moment for Boetsch, who is now 5-1 in the UFC but had never achieved a win like this.  Fans will remember this fight moving forward and with this win, Boetsch is now one win away from being on the short list of contenders for the middleweight belt.

Anthony Pettis Makes His Case for No. 1 Contender

Anthony Pettis has traveled a windy road over the past year or so. 

On December 16th, 2010 Pettis defeated Benson Henderson for the WEC lightweight championship in what was the last fight in WEC's history.   The fight will forever be remembered for Pettis's jumping kick off the cage that Henderson somehow absorbed and kept fighting on.

For those who haven't seen it, watch the video!

When he came to the UFC, Pettis was supposed to fight Frank Edgar, but a rematch with Gray Maynard forced "Showtime" to fight the exciting and dangerous Clay Guida, a fight that Pettis lost, knocking him out of the No. 1 contender spot.

Pettis has now spent the last year getting back to that level and with last night's highlight reel knockout over respected fighter Joe Lauzon, he may have reclaimed the No. 1 contender status, possibly setting him up for what could be an amazing rematch against Henderson. 

Darth Bader Shows Rampage the Darkside

Ryan "Darth" Bader is another fighter who was just one win away from being a No. 1 contender. 

Just a little over a year ago, Bader was fighting Jon Jones in a fight that, at the time, had no title implications.  But an injury to Rashad Evans all of a sudden made this a much more important fight, and Jones dominated and won in the second round.

Still smarting from the loss, Bader took on Tito Ortiz in July and shockingly lost this fight too.  It was a great moment for the UFC, but a disaster for Bader.  All of a sudden, a fighter that was touted as one of the UFC's fastest rising stars was now being questioned and labeled as overrated.

Bader started to answer critics by knocking out Jason Brilz last November.  Still, upon the announcement that he'd fight Rampage Jackson in Japan, most people didn't give Bader a chance.

Say what you will about Jackson's condition or desire, but Bader dominated the fight save for a few moments in the second round.  He controlled Jackson and showed the world that Ryan Bader is a contender in the light heavyweight division.

With Jones dispatching the likes of Shogun Rua and Lyoto Machida, you could argue Bader is one win away from a title shot.

It should be noted that I, as well as everyone else I saw the fight with was relieved to see Bader escape major injury after he was taken down awkwardly by Rampage in the second round.  It looked for a moment that his neck and arm both twisted and contorted in a scary fashion.

It worries me in moments like those that a UFC fighter can get seriously hurt and the ramifications that can come from it.  Though we hear every year of boxers dying from injuries inflicted in the ring, the UFC is one catastrophe away from naysayers claiming how barbaric the sport is.

I hope that moment never comes, but the UFC must have a strategy in place if that moment should ever arrive.

Is It Time for Rampage to Say Goodbye to the UFC?

As impressive as Ryan Bader was last night, the millions of people watching this event around the world had to be bitterly disappointed with just how bad Quinton "Rampage" Jackson looked last night.

Despite the fact he had spoken at length about his love for Japan and how excited he was to return to the same place he accomplished so much with Pride, he was dominated for essentially the entire fight.

I actually felt bad in a way for Jackson and the fans.  They came ready to see the man that was so known for his aggressiveness and violent fighting ability.  What they got was a man who just seemed ready to move on from the UFC.

Jackson could not make weight and, despite the size advantage, appeared small. 

It would be one thing if this fight were an aberration.  But since his win over Dan Henderson in 2007, he's only gone 4-4.  Those wins include victories over a perceived washed up fighter in Wanderlei Silva, Keith Jardine who was cut from the UFC, Matt Hamill who has retired and Lyoto Machida, a fight that Jackson and many others felt he lost.

I'm certain that Jackson and his camp will claim some sort of injury for last night's disaster, but let's get real here.  The Rampage Jackson we've seen from highlight videos is gone.  It would be better for him and the UFC to make the decision to pursue acting full time and put the fighting behind. 

Frankie Edgar Has Deserved the Right to Decide Where He Fights

Last night we saw former champion Frankie Edgar get beaten to a pulp.

Though he was correct in his post-fight comments that he landed more strikes, it was abundantly clear that it was Benson Henderson that delivered the most damage.  While Edgar left the octagon with a closed left eye and almost certain broken nose, Henderson was smiling and flashing poses like he had just gone through a sparring session.

It was also clear just how small Edgar looked compared to Henderson.  Not only did they seem one weight class apart, it looked like Henderson could easily compete at welterweight while Edgar appeared to be a featherweight.

With Edgar's loss, many people are talking about the fact Edgar should cut weight and fight at 145.  Joe Rogan asked him this question immediately after his fight, a move that I think was quite disrespectful.

Frankie Edgar has gone through wars in the octagon with just one loss overall and yet here is Rogan asking him this while the guy is bleeding after a title bout?  It's a credit to Edgar that he didn't go off on him.

With the questions circulating about what weight class he should fight in, it should be up to Edgar.  He deserves the right.  I frankly believe he deserves a rematch as one judge actually scored the bout 48-47. 

Regardless of last night's outcome, no one will ever question the heart and determination of Edgar.  Despite being severely beaten, he still managed to knock Henderson on his butt midway through the fifth round.   Even in losing, my respect for Edgar grew even more. 

Welcome to the Age of Benson?

I won't lie.  I was rooting for Henderson last night and truly believed he would win.  His fight with Jim Miller last year told me this guy was for real.  He's incredibly big for a lightweight and doesn't appear to have a weakness.

His stand up game is solid with huge kicks.  He has good submission offense and defense and also has pulverizing ground and pound.

We have all heard the words before "The Age Of.....".  Guys like Lyoto Machida, Cain Velasquez and Brock Lesnar have had this moniker attached to them, yet their ages didn't exactly last very long.

I am inclined to believe that Henderson will have a good run as champion but the lightweight division is incredibly deep.  Guys like Anthony Pettis, Gray Maynard, Clay Guida and more are all waiting in the wings. 

But Benson Henderson exhibited what a mixed martial artist is in his defeat of Frankie Edgar. He also shows why UFC fighters are some of the best athletes out of the octagon because he has an infectious personality with a million dollar smile that could soon see he and Jon Jones doing commercials together.

Long live the "Age of Benson"?  Perhaps not.  But the bad news for Edgar is that I think you're going to see the age of the big lightweight.