UFC 140 Results: Nik Lentz's Defeat Provides Plenty of Reason for Optimism

It's hard to find reason to be optimistic after losing a fight. At the professional level, your job is to win. So, when you can't do that, it's hard to be too optimistic. 

It's hard, but not impossible. Take Nik Lentz, who lost 30-27 by unanimous decision to Mark Bocek on Saturday. It was Lentz's first loss. Yes, there's reason to be disappointed with the loss, but there's plenty of good to take from it, as well.

On the one hand, Bocek had a distinct home-octagon advantage. The fights were in Toronto, which is where Bocek is from. So, any adrenaline advantage certainly belonged to Bocek. 

Also, while the fight clearly belonged to Bocek, Lentz did well for himself.

In a combat sport, an important strength needs to be the ability to win a fight before it gets to the judges. The only time this fight was even remotely close to ending before the final bell, Lentz was the one in control. 

Lentz's problem is that he fought nearly the entire fight on his back. Yes, it opens up the door for submission opportunities, but that doesn't work too well when you're fighting an opponent familiar with your strategy. That was the case with Bocek.

Bocek knew that Lentz was going to try to trap him. So, Bocek kept moving around, avoiding getting trapped. Yes, every now and again Lentz would come close, but Bocek stayed on his feet for all three rounds. 

The good news for Lentz is that there's plenty of positives to take from this. He knows he can fight well from his back. He proved that all fight long. Despite the fact that Bocek was on top and in control for nearly all of the fight, he was never close to a knockout.

Lentz just needs to find a way to stay on his feet more. If he does that, fights like this won't happen very often. Given what he can clearly do on offense, that's a transition that shouldn't be terribly problematic.

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