UFC 135 Results: Questions Answered and Lessons Learned

UFC 135 is finally over and the dust is beginning to settle. Jon Jones has proven his worth and crushed Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Josh Koscheck battered Matt Hughes after initially being frustrated.

However, there were other fights on the card that each had their own implications for the UFC and MMA.

What questions were answered and lessons were learned from the event? Read and find out!

James Te Huna's Striking Is Very Finely Tuned

James Te Huna totally dominated Ricardo Romer; it wasn't even competitive.

Romero's shots were coming from way outside and Te Huna took full advantage, blocking the takedown attempts with ease and landing crushing counter punches. Te Huna's striking swiftly proved too much for Romero and he won via TKO at 47 seconds in the very first round.

Japanese MMA Is on Life Support but Isn't Dead

Takeya Mizugaki managed to pick Cole Escovedo apart throughout the first and second rounds en route to his second round TKO victory.

Mizugaki's striking was very crisp and accurate and his clinchwork was also very smooth; he even managed to batter Escovedo while Escovedo had a Thai clinch on him.

His victory as well as Takanori Gomi's defeat at the hands of Nate Diaz prove that, while Japanese MMA isn't exactly thriving, it isn't dead like some people think; there are still some very talented fighters that train out of Japan.

The Times They Are a Changin'

Did you notice the new referee shirts and tape on the gloves? The look has been streamlined to fit in with the modernity and popularity of mixed martial arts. While this is likely just a choice made by Colorado's athletic commission, it may catch on with the rest of the commissions and we could have a new way to tape gloves and new referee shirts permanently.

A picture of the shirts isn't up on the Internet yet so you'll just have to suffice with a regular picture of Josh Rosenthal.

Tim Boetsch Is Slowly Becoming Dangerous

Tim Boetsch's initial fight at middleweight against Kendall Grove was an impressive outing. Unfortunately, he second foray into the division against Nick Ring wasn't as spectacular but it still earned him a victory.

While Boetsch did look a bit sluggish, he demonstrated increased takedown abilities (specifically via beautiful throws) as well as improved submissions. If he keeps improving at this rate, he will become a dangerous competitor in the middleweight division.

Nate Diaz's Is Improving but in the Wrong Areas

Nate Diaz already good striking looked absolutely great against Takanori Gomi. His punches were quick and always in perfect combinations.

Even his submissions seemed slicker. However, one area where a marked improvement was not seen was his wrestling.

Wrestling has always been the Achilles' heel of Nate Diaz (as well as his brother Nick Diaz) but they just don't seem to know or care. Because of this, he will only go so far in the wrestler-heavy lightweight division.

The UFC Heavyweight Division Needs a Lot of Work

The examples set by the main card's two heavyweight fits (Rob Broughton vs. Travis Brown and Mark Hunt vs. Ben Rothwell) showed that the UFC heavyweight division isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Yes, there are fighters like Cain Velazquez, Junior Dos Santos, Frank Mir, and Alistair Overeem but then there are the fighters listed above.

All of the heavyweights on the main card demonstrated extremely poor conditioning and rudimentary skills that would see them seriously injured against the likes of the upper echelon of heavyweights. While every division does need padding, it doesn't need that much and the padding doesn't have to take up two of five fights on the main card.

The UFC heavyweight division needs some work; a few new signings should be made to bolster the division and increase the amount of talent there.

Ben Rothwell Was Extremely Overrated

When Ben Rothwell, a fighter who was 31-7, loses to Mark Hunt, a fighter who was below .500 at 6-7, it means that there was definitely something wrong with Rothwell's record.

What was wrong with it? It was built by fighting low level competitors. Whenever Rothwell has fought at least decent competition he has struggled; he is tough until the other guy fights back.

Need proof? Just observe the video that depicts a young Ben Rothwell in a total mismatch. These were the kinds of fighters he was fighting.

Josh Koscheck Has Worked out the Cobwebs

Early in Josh Koscheck's fight with Matt Hughes, Hughes was getting the better of the striking against a Koscheck who seemed to be almost afraid of Hughes' strikes. He was backing away rapidly and looked uncomfortable.

However, as the fight went on Koscheck found his range and eventually earned a TKO victory over the legend Hughes. Koscheck has worked the cobwebs out of his game from the Georges St-Pierre fight and is ready to dominate again.

Rampage Jackson Is Just a Boxer

Watching Jon Jones dismantle Quinton "Rampage" Jackson was like watching a mixed martial artist dismantle a boxer.

Jones employed an array of techniques which included takedowns, kicks, elbows, punches, and even crawling on the floor. Jackson on the other hand just swung at Jones' head.

He threw big shots and missed on every single one. He hasn't diversified his game since his UFC debut and he has shown no signs of doing so, million dollar training camp notwithstanding.

Jon Jones Is the Real Deal/The UFC Has It's Next "Franchise" Star

Jon Jones absolutely dominated Rampage Jackson and in doing so defended the light heavyweight title. Jones was never in trouble throughout the fight and Jackson landed no strikes of consequence.

Jones' skills seem to be growing exponentially. He looked very impressive in his victory and no one envies his next opponent, Rashad Evans.

In addition, Jones appears to be light years ahead of the division in terms of skill. Because of this and his young age (24), he is the perfect candidate for the UFC to build the future of their franchise on. Expect to see more of Jones everywhere, Nike commercials, Wheaties boxes and everything else you can think of.

The UFC Is Not Above WWE-Type Antics

If you were still watching after Joe Rogan interviewed Rampage Jackson, he then interviewed the next challenger to Jon Jones' title, Rashad Evans.

Jones was then brought over and a staredown and argument was staged, sadly proving that the UFC isn't above WWE-style antics like this.