UFC 137: 4 Reasons Why It Was the Most Depressing Event in UFC History

UFC 137 was not nearly the fight card it could have been.  Many fights that fans thought would be very exciting ended up being mediocre.  

Two of the five main-card fights managed to deliver the expected levels of excitement, but the card as a whole was a disappointment.

Instead, UFC 137 will be remembered for reasons that have nothing to do with how good its fights were: It will be remembered for all the sad storylines.  

Here are four reasons why UFC 137 is the saddest fight card in UFC history.

No. 4: Heavyweight Loses Yet Another Contender

Mitrione the was touted as an exciting prospect in the heavyweight division.  He was on a five-fight win streak with four finishes.  He was put against the heavyweight's premiere gatekeeper, Cheick Kongo, in the co-main event.

Unfortunately, Mitrione failed to deliver.  

I thought the judges actually leaned a little too far in Kongo's favor. I had Mitrione winning the first two rounds, but such little happened in the first round that it could be scored either way.

That said, it was the third round that truly established Mitrione was unprepared to hang with top-level heavyweights.  Kongo took Mitrione down repeatedly and delivered average ground n' pound, and toward the end of the round it was clear that Mitrione gave up.

For a little while it looked like the heavyweight division had some new life.  But Stefan Struve, Roy Nelson, Brendan Schaub and now Mitrione have all failed against top competition.  

The heavyweight division continues to be as top-heavy as ever.  I hope everyone's ready for Velasquez vs. JDS I, II and III, since it looks like neither of those two will have any other significant challenges for a while.

No. 3: Japan's Best Fighter Doesn't Deliver

If you looked at any featherweight rankings before tonight, the chances are you'd see Hatsu Hioki occupying the second or third slot, behind only Jose Aldo and on some lists, Chad Mendes.  He was given a solid opponent, George Roop, but it seemed like Hioki's fight to win.

While he did get the victory, it was in a close split decision he lost on damage.  Apart from one submission attempt in the seconnd round, Hioki was uncharacteristically inactive from sidecontrol and mount, and the submission wizard couldn't finish Roop.  The fight ended with him being bullied on the ground.

Hioki insisted that Japanese MMA wasn't dead after the fight.  But Hioki's performance tonight didn't do much to restore credibility to Japanese MMA and Japan's fighters.

No. 2: BJ Penn Retires After Getting Beat Up

Nick Diaz deserves a lot of credit for what he did to BJ Penn.  Most people (myself certainly included), gave him very little chance against Penn.  The first round seemed to affirm these thoughts—Penn landed the better punches and quickly take Nick's back early in the fight.

However, Penn slowed down a little in the second round, and Nick Diaz was able to capitalize.

This is a fighter who had never truly been dominated on his feet.  He had been outstruck by Edgar and GSP, but neither fighter gave him the punishment Diaz gave him.  

His chin didn't fail him, but his heart did, and he was left a bloody mess.

Penn was reluctant to speak after the fight, but said he didn't want to get beat up and would retire from MMA.  It is a somewhat unexpected and depressing to Penn's career.

No. 1: Cro Cop's Career Ends with a TKO Loss to a Fat Guy

In the second most exciting fight on the main card, Cro Cop and Roy Nelson put on an exciting performance.

After a close first round, Nelson hit Cro Cop with a heavy shot at the start of the second round that sent him reeling.  Then, somehow, Cro Cop reversed the situation and absolutely unloaded on Nelson.  If Cro Cop had finished Nelson there, it would have been a storybook finish to his career.

Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be.  

Nelson's granite chin allowed him to survive the beating, and he reasserted his dominance later in the round.  He would end up finishing Cro Cop with ground n' pound after hurting him in the beginning of the third round.

Cro Cop was a fighter who, in his prime, had beaten far more dangerous fighters than Nelson.  At his prime he was the most dangerous striker in Pride, and in 2006 won the Pride Openweight Grand Prix by finishing Wanderlei Silva and Josh Barnett in the same night.

Nelson briefly gave respect to Cro Cop after the bout, but his subsequent attempts at humor somewhat devalued the Croatian's remarkable career.  

It was as sad an end to Cro Cop's career as there could have been, and is the main reason why UFC 137 is the saddest single event in the history of MMA.