UFC 109: Morning-After Musings on Age in the Cage

Nothing We Didn’t Already Know

It’s hard to walk away from the UFC 109 headliner—between Randy Couture and Mark Coleman—shocked at anything more than Couture notching the third submission victory of his 13-year career.

The dearth of talent between these two fighters was broken down at every conceivable angle in the days leading up to this fight, and, to the chagrin of absolutely nobody, played out as such.

Initially, you’ve got to wonder what Coleman’s game plan was for this fight, as the 45-year-old seemed content to trade with Couture early on, allowing Randy to quite easily force his storied Greco-Roman blueprint on him as the minutes wore on. While Couture is certainly a difficult fighter to put on his back, Coleman has to know that as the stronger fighter, he’s better suited to at least try and make a reasonable attempt to bring things into his comfort zone.

Coleman’s a fighter, much like Tito Ortiz, whose game is still largely stuck in 1997 and has never evolved to the level of a contemporary like Couture.

While Coleman still has obvious power, his simplistic striking has never been anything to write home about and his defense is even worse, lacking everything from head movement to chin positioning. It showed as Couture picked him apart seemingly at will.

It’s About 11 a.m. on Sunday Morning

And it’s still hard to fathom the notion that Chael Sonnen is now within the realm of contention for a crack at the winner of Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort.

The same Chael Sonnen who, in his four fights since returning to the UFC, has been a betting-line underdog in each fight. But he’s gone 3-1 in that stretch, so I’m sure the sports books were having a field day with a commanding decision win last night that few people would have forecasted.

The outcome of this fight set in early on; as in Marquardt’s tour de force since losing to Anderson Silva at UFC 7, he was yet to fight somebody who posed the legitimate threat of putting him on his back.

Unfortunately, that’s all Sonnen is capable of. Upon sealing that first takedown on Saturday night, the fact that Marquardt attempted to do absolutely nothing off his back—be it threaten for submissions or attempt to improve his positioning—set a bleak tone for the his chances in this fight.

As we’ve seen with Sonnen, while his style may not be the most aesthetically pleasing, his top control is very active. He’ll never make a copious attempt to pass guard and seems content to simply work those short strikes. They’re frequent and damaging enough, though, that he can keep the fight on the ground as long as he pleases. And Marquardt obliged at seemingly every turn.

If nothing else, this should provide fans with some genuine sound bytes leading to a possible bout with Silva, because Sonnen has taken his demeanor on the mic to a whole new level—even if it makes the Team Quest product sound like a 13-year-old trolling a message board at times.

That being said, Sonnen’s not a finisher. He never has been and never will be, and scoring 14 of his 24 wins by decision proves that. As comical as the pre-fight banter between he and Silva could be, the same plan installed by Sonnen against Marquardt won't do him any favors in a 25-minute fight.

It could frustrate Silva for a round or two, but nothing more.

The UFC Hates Paulo Thiago

It’s hard not to think the UFC just has it out for this guy. Ignoring that somebody jumped the gun in awarding Couture “Submission of the Night,” slighting Paulo Thiago’s scintillating d’arce choke on Mike Swick (thankfully Dana White righted the wrong and did award Thiago the much-deserved bonus), I can’t recall the last time a nameless fighter had such a tough road to hoe in the UFC.

First, he’s welcomed to the UFC by being given the rare one-fight contract and being dealt Josh Koscheck as his first opponent. Better yet, upon showcasing some of the most abhorrent striking to grace the octagon, Thiago somehow stuns him with an uppercut for the knockout. Next test: Jon Fitch, whom Thiago loses to, but actually comes scary close to submitting early in the fight. It’s a workman-like effort from the Brazilian, who is then speculated to be fighting another top-five welterweight in Thiago Alves at UFC 106.

Fortunately, Alves was pulled from the card and Thiago scored a ho-hum decision over Jacob Volkmann. But then, as if to do him no favors, he’s booked for a rematch against Koscheck at UFC 109. Kos gets injured and he’s dealt Mike Swick, fresh off a loss in a No. 1 contenders fight.

So Thiago, who entered the UFC as nothing more than prospective fodder to keep Koscheck active, is now 3-1 with wins over two top-10 welterweights and his only loss coming at the hands of someone George St. Pierre couldn’t even stop.

Despite doing so, it’s still amazing to watch the deficiencies in his game, namely when he’s striking. Anybody get a vibe that Thiago’s counterstriking approach in the first round against Swick was akin to slap boxing?

Obviously, this fight turned on a dime as Thiago’s Jekyll-and-Hyde standup game provided another awkward, unforeseen knockdown off a punch that, while technically porous, was precise.

I only weep for the poor guy because the opponents likely won’t get any easier. If Koscheck loses to Paul Daley, they could slot in Thiago/Koscheck II like initially planned. Or if Alves beats Fitch, why not pull the trigger on the Alves/Thiago that was initially expected to go down at UFC 106?

I swear the UFC is looking for a reason to fire this guy. And hey, I guess there's a reason they say there are no easy fights in the UFC. But damn, this guy can't catch a break with his matchmaking.