Quick Thoughts On UFC 117

One of the more entertaining nights of fighting that I’ve seen in a little while. Here are my two cents:

Nelson v. Dos Santos

Dos Santos is a beast but Nelson has a considerable chin, bearing to mind Cabbage Correira. Nelson will be an effective gate keeper. If Dos Santos can’t drop Nelson, I struggle to think how he’ll handle Lesnar. I’d like to see Dos Santos gain 25 pds to the full 265 so that there is a little more oomph behind the punches.

Dos Anjos v. Guida

Guida is the best gate keeper in the business, enough said.

Almeida v. Hughes

As much as I dislike Hughes personality (see: TUF Season 6), he looked pretty sharp. With Couture fighting at age 75, there is no reason why Hughes can’t be a contender. Nonetheless, I was shocked that he able to dismantle Almeida via a solid strike and unusual submission. I respect that, in the post fight interview, Hughes said he finished Almeida with a wrestling move, allowing the Jui Jitsu specialist t0 save some integrity.

Sonnen v. Silva

Wah-Wah-We-Wah (ala Borat). Allow me to set this up: i. you are a nobody with ten (10) losses on your record; ii. you talk a tremendous amount of trash against the best fighter on the planet; and iii. you back it up. Sonnen dominated for 4.9 rds, didn’t get stood up for the duration, AND dropped Silva twice with strikes. Silva was certainly exposed as a complacent champ. Nonetheless, it just goes to show how lethal these guys are and that you can’t relinquish focus for a nano-second. Chael Sonnen — my heart goes out to you, I hope you’ll give it another go.