UFC 130 Results: Questions Answered and Lessons Learned
UFC 130 is now in the books an the dust is beginning to settle.
Quinton "Rampage" Jackson outclassed Matt "The Hammer" Hamill just like Frank Mir did to Roy "Big Country" Nelson.
Stefan Struve and Jorge Santiago were both finished, the former in a spectacular fashion, by their adversaries Travis Browne and Brian Stann respectively.
On the Spike TV portion of the card, Demetrius Johnson lived up to his "Mighty Mouse" namesake and managed to out-scramble Miguel Torres en route to a unanimous decision and the reinvigorated Tim "The Barbarian" Boetsch proved too in terms of strength much for Kendal Grove, the former winning a lopsided decision.
On the Facebook preliminaries, Renan Barão, Michael McDonald, and Gleison Tibau were all victorious.
Despite the event being only mediocre, there are some important lessons to take away from it. What are they? Read and find out!
The UFC Is Taking Its New Twitter Initiative Seriously
1 of 8
The UFC has recently announced that it will be giving cash bonuses to the most active fighters on the social network Twitter.
If one paid close attention to detail during UFC 130, it could be noted that each fighter's twitter account name appeared as they were walking out.
Although this seems of minor importance, it shows that the UFC takes social media very seriously and is looking to expand through those avenues in the future the likes of which have not yet been seen in sports.
Bigger Sponsors Are Starting to Take Note of the Sport
2 of 8
It was not hard to miss the numerous Dodge adds emblazoned on the top of the cage as well as on parts of the screen, nor was it hard to miss the XBOX 360 adds on the shirt and shorts of Demetrius "Mighty Mouse" Johnson.
Why is this important? Bigger sponsors are starting to enter MMA. More legitimate sponsors mean more credibility, more money and therefore more growth.
Is There Any Hope to Stop Lay and Pray?
3 of 8
The answer is "yes!" Although Miguel "Angel" Torres came up short in his fight to Demetrius Johnson, he displayed an extremely active guard and went for numerous submissions.
Had Torres not been so active off of his back, the fight would have been called a "lay and pray fest" by the fans. However, this wasn't the case and Torres fired off sweep after sweep, and submission after submission.
Even though luck was not on Torres' side, he helped to make the fight a thrilling one. If more fighters were busier off of their backs, the "lay and pray" problem would in large part be solved.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Is "Wall and Stall" the New Problem in MMA?
4 of 8
"Wall and Stall" is the nasty brother of "Lay and Pray." It is a tactic in which Instead of laying on a fighter and praying for a decision, a fighter presses his opponent against the cage (or wall) and seeks to stall the action en route to a decision.
Some may accuse Rick "The Horror" Story of using this tactic against Thiago "Pitbull" Alves but in truth there were some decent exchanges.
Wall and Stall is perhaps more difficult to counter because it can't simply be countered by just firing off submissions or learning take down defense. If a good enough wrestler wants to hold you against the fence, you may have no choice but to stay there!
Nevertheless, if fights like this become abundant, Wall and Stall could become MMA's next big issue.
Tim Boetsch Is a Powerful Middleweight
5 of 8
Not too much to say here. Tim Boetsch benefited tremendously from his weight cut and was able to throw the Hawaii native Kendle Grove around like a child; It was total domination.
"The Barbarian" is a much stronger competitor at middleweight and will likely start receiving more high profile fights should he get another victory (maybe he can fight the winner of Chris Weidman vs. Jesse Bongfeldt?).
Is Brian Stann for Real?
6 of 8
The answer to this one depends on your opinion of Jorge Santiago.
Stann dismantled and outclassed Santiago and earned a TKO at 4:29 of the second round in an impressive victory. There are two thoughts that immediately spring to mind here.
First, the hypothetical critics might say "Big deal! He beat another over-rated champion of a Japanese organization!" meanwhile Stann fans would say "He beat the Sengoku middleweight champion! He is amazing."
The truth is likely somewhere between these two statements. Even so, the MMA community should definitely keep Stann on their radar as a threat to anyone in the division except for those at the very top.
Frank Mir Is a Legitimate Top UFC Heavyweight; Roy Nelson Needs Retooling
7 of 8
Frank Mir controlled every single aspect of his fight with Roy Nelson; it wasn't even competitive with one judge giving Mir a 10-8 round!
Mir sported greatly improved striking as well as a much more muscular physique, specifically his upper body. Nelson on the other hand flaunted his trademark belly but after the fight started it became painfully clear that "Big Country" was fighting against something that he was not, an athlete.
Nelson gassed very quickly and, had the fight gone another round, would not have made it out of the fight. He has now lost two straight and is in sore need of reinventing himself as a fighter.
Maybe he needs to take things a bit more seriously, lose the gut, and drop a weight class.
Is Matt Hamill a Real Competitor? Is Rampage's Heart Gone?
8 of 8
No, and Maybe.
Matt Hamill had one of the poorest performances of his career against Quinton "Rampage" Jackson in the night's main event.
He had no spring in his shots—none of which were successful—nor in his punches—which did not fare much better.
If the fight proved anything, it was that Hamill is still not—and may never be—ready for the big time.
There was considerable talk over whether or not Rampage Jackson had lost his will to fight and was just in it for the money. Rampage didn't manage to finish Hamill and the fight was pitifully standard as far as main events go.
This may cause people to doubt Rampage's killer instinct or devotion but let us give Rampage the benefit of the doubt and chalk it up to him fighting with a fractured hand.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
