Star-Rated and Weighted: The Final Say on UFC on Versus 6

Say what you will about his style, but UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz is generally a lock for an entertaining fight.

Saturday was no different, as he and top contender Demetrious Johnson went toe-to-toe for 25 minutes, with spirited effort by the challenger that ultimately fell short.

It helped further the 135-pound division’s trial-by-fury scramble to solve the riddle of Cruz, while at the same establishing the champ as the weight class’ gold standard.

In other action, Pat Barry and Stefan Struve left fans irritated, Anthony Johnson put the kibosh on Charlie Brenneman’s underdog story and Matt Wiman and Mac Danzig made us all look less manly by comparison.

So let’s run down one humble B/R writer’s musings from Saturday night’s fight card, and as an added bonus, let’s throw out some good ol’ * ratings in the end to put this sucker into perspective.

Demetrious Johnson Is Going to Make an Amazing Flyweight

The UFC won’t be implementing a 125-pound division until next year, but when that time comes, Demetrious Johnson will be one of the posterboys of the weight class.

Make no mistake about it, Johnson’s speed-based skill set was a curveball bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz struggled to solve early on. Pressing the action, staying in Cruz’s face and never giving the champ a second to find his range or establish his stick-and-move philosophy on the feet, Johnson’s quickness flustered Cruz early on.

And then, Cruz’s physical advantages took over.

Able to close the distance against the fence, Cruz took his opponent’s speed out of the equation and instead used his size to sway the tide in his favor. Whether it was suplexes, hip throws or even Cruz’s trademark knee tap, the final four rounds of the fight looked every bit like a converted featherweight fighting a should-be flyweight.

Johnson was game, though, showcasing the better stand-up of the two, which was certainly not anticipated heading into the bout. “Mighty Mouse’s” pacing flew a curveball into the usual Cruz gameplan, but the mark of a good fighter is being able to adjust on the fly, which is just how Cruz procured his fourth successful title defense; a record for Zuffa 135-pound titleholders.

Fans also got an extensive look at the champion’s ground game, more so than any of Cruz’s previous title defenses. There’s plenty to like, as Cruz stayed active, advanced position and even came within a hairline of cinching in a rear-naked choke in the third round.

It a testament to Johnson’s tenacity and ability to play defense that the action was dragged into deeper waters, but at the same time, it answered a bit more as we try to piece together just what Cruz’s reign is blossoming into.

And it’s one that’s going to be very, very hard to see ending anytime soon. Johnson’s speed clearly gave Cruz fits, but his lack of size proved his downfall, and that’s a combination that I’m not sure any Zuffa bantamweight can match.

You’ve got to bring the fight to Cruz and not allow his free-range to dictate the tempo on the feet. You’ve got to have the size to keep the action upright. As for all the praise heaped on his standup, Cruz is a terrific wrestler, both offensively and defensively. And if you’re going to wind up on the mat, you need to adept in scrambles.

Perhaps a more active Urijah Faber could fit that bill and is successful against Brian Bowles at UFC 139, we’ll get to find out.

Stefan Struve Prolongs the Inevitable

The book on how to beat Stefan Struve is pretty cut and dry.

Despite standing 6'1"1 and possessing an 84-inch reach, Struve is terrible at maintaining distance. Junior dos Santos and Roy Nelson got inside and unloaded on the 23-year-old’s brittle chin.

Barry seemed content to stay on the outside, chipping away with leg kicks and occasionally darting inside, but never came close to landing the kind of fight-ending offense Struve has endured in the past.

It made for a tepid kickboxing exhibition until the light bulb turned on and Struve realized that this is the same guy who got tapped by Tim Hague and Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic. Thus, when Struve dragged Barry to the ground, any gambling man who threw down some cash on “HD” may as well have torn their ticket up that moment.

Struve may well have been operating against a grappling dummy with as much resistance as Barry showed in defending that triangle choke. And upon doing his best Quinton Jackson impersonation, Barry only made things worse.

I get it: Barry’s a fun fighter to watch, is personable with the media and all, but the fact remains that he’s a one-dimensional, mediocre heavyweight who has lost three of four fights with the lone win being a decision over Joey Beltran that was actually competitive.

If the UFC wants to justify keeping Barry around, give him Mark Hunt.

As for Struve, his inability to ever learn how to use his size to his advantage is going to hamper his ceiling at heavyweight, with the Dutchman slotted as nothing more than a half-assed kickboxer with a grappling game that should hypothetically give plenty of heavyweights some fits.

Mario Yamasaki Mars Anthony Johnson’s Greatness

Saturday was not the finest of nights in the career of Mario Yamasaki, whose presence was felt in more than one fight that evening.

But for those who only saw the main card, you saw Yamasaki oversee a welterweight tilt between Anthony Johnson and Charlie Brenneman, which ended on a very questionable note after the former dropped the latter with a vicious head kick.

This was a blind stoppage if there ever was one, as Yamasaki paid zero heed to Brenneman’s reaction after eating the kick.

Was it a vicious strike? Absolutely.

Does Brenneman have one hell of a chin? Apparently so.

Don’t let Yamasaki deduce that, as before Brenneman hit the canvas, the referee had already moved in to intervene as “The Spaniard” didn’t even hit his back but landed on his elbows fully conscious and with his wits about him.

Hardly in position to make the right call, Yamasaki did nothing survey the situation and acknowledge if Brenneman was still OK, just blindly leaping in to haul a bout that shouldn’t have been stopped at that moment.

It’s a shame because it took away from what was a great showing by “Rumble,” who shut down Brenneman’s wrestling handily and made him pay for every ounce of that failed takedown.

Johnson’s size is always going to be a concern, and the longer his fights go, cardio issues will pop up.

But for those first few moments, there are few fighters at 170 who are as dangerous as Johnson. His rare combo strength, power and athleticism have always made “Rumble” an interesting darkhorse when mulling over potential contenders for Georges St-Pierre, and with two straight wins under his belt, let’s hope Johnson can make the most out of his newfound momentum.

Matt Wiman and Mac Danzig Are All That Is Man

Matt Wiman and Mac Danzig carried their gonads around in a wheelbarrow Sunday morning because those two went to war the night before.

Meeting back at UFC 115, the two built off their first encounter in a big way in one of the more grueling displays of clinch fighting we’ve seen in a while.

It basically a game of one-upsmanship, with each fighter obliging the other with a myriad of elbows, knees and short punches. It was an element of Danzig’s game that set the tone early with some terrific clinch uppercuts, while Wiman was more elbow-centric, even mixing in a heavy knee in the first round that visibly damaged Danzig.

At distance, the pace was fast and frenetic with sthe ame applying to any exchanges on the ground, and overall, no lulls in action whatsoever.

Even as the rounds wore on and both fighters grew fatigued, it didn’t hamper the pace and the exchanges stayed precise and technical, without divulging into sloppy violence.

I agreed with the 29-28 scorecards for Wiman, with him doing just enough to edge rounds one and three by landing the more effective offense at distance coupled with controlling the action on the ground, despite not getting a single takedown and relying on Danzig errors to assert his top game.

But as clichéd as it may sound, nobody lost in a fight like this. Wiman erased the taste of a narrow decision loss to Dennis Siver, while Danzig put forth what I’d argue is his best showing in the octagon, even in defeat.

This fight opened the card with a bang and put on what may very well end up being one of the 10 best fights we see this year.

What Did You Miss on Facebook?

In case your attention was preoccupied by afternoon college football or playoff baseball, here are highlights and lowlights of the evening’s Facebook-aired preliminary card

•Mario Yamasaki’s horrid officiating in the Anthony Johnson-Charlie Brenneman fight wasn’t without precedence, as he let his authority overshadow two of the night’s preliminary bouts. After stopping the opener between Joseph Sandoval and Walel Watson early, Yamasaki tried to save face by not jumping the gun during Yves Edwards-Rafaello Oliveira. The end result was arguably worse, as Edwards dropped Oliveira with a head kick in the second round and proceeded to land 20-plus unanswered shots with no sign of intelligent defense before Yamasaki halted the action. Basically, Mario was trying to find that smooth medium between poor officiating and unsafe officiating.

•Yamasaki wasn’t alone, though, as his brother was on the scene as well. For the lack of being able to remember his name and not having anything more clever, we’ll call him Wario Yamasaki, who derailed a stellar bout between Shane Roller and T.J. Grant by misinterpreting Roller’s reaction to a third-round armbar by Grant. No tap, no cry of pain, nothing. It marred a solid lightweight debut for Grant, whose grappling was one step ahead of Roller the entire way.

•For those who enjoyed Matt Wiman vs. Mac Danzig, you got to see the poor man’s version of the bout earlier in the night between Josh Neer and Keith Wisniewski. Halted two rounds in via doctor stoppage, Neer rode a wealth of in-fighting to victory by pasting Wisniewski with repeated short elbows and other clinch strikes.

•After keeping the action upright, Michael Johnson was finally lured into Paul Sass’ guard and paid for it dearly. With Sass going for a heel hook, Johnson’s attempt to escape only made matters worse, with the Brit notching his 10th submission win in 12 fights.

The Final Verdict

And with all that said, how does this main card stack up? Let’s evaluate it on the tried-and-true five-star scale of subjectivity:

Dominick Cruz vs. Demetrious Johnson: ***1/4

Another entertaining Cruz title defense. Johnson was game every step of the way and made the champ work for every second of his unanimous-decision victory. The only reason I can’t go any higher is just because as the fight wore on, the drama dropped off a bit after it was apparent “Mighty Mouse” didn’t have the chops to bag a stoppage.

Pat Barry vs. Stefan Struve: *1/4

Beyond a neat finishing sequence, there really wasn’t anything here beyond eight minutes of slow, tepid kickboxing.

Anthony Johnson vs. Charlie Brenneman: **

Any and all of those stars are for Johnson’s violent dismantling of Brenneman, making him pay for an early takedown attempt the nasty head kick finish. Brenneman’s beard runs strong in those one, though, taking the kick like a champ, and who knows what we may have been treated to if Mario Yamasaki was a competent referee.

Matt Wiman vs. Mac Danzig: ***3/4

What can be said that hasn’t already? Excellent back-and-forth encounter with a terrific pace that never let up and about as thrilling a display of dirty boxing and clinch-fighting as you’ll see this year. Wiman always brings the goods and props to Danzig for turning in the most entertaining performance of his UFC career. What an opener.