UFC 112: Visibly Vincible - Part 2 of 2
The televised PPV of UFC 112: Invincible started off with a bang.
The long and lanky Hawaiian Kendall Grove at 6’6” presented a ton of challenges for Mark “The Filipino Wrecking Machine” Munoz. In round 1 The Spyder landed a brutal knee and followed with an uppercut that rocked Munoz. Grove continued to look fierce as he connected with at least a dozen hammerfists that would have ended most fighters but Munoz hung on. In the second round, Mark Munoz was able to withstand another flurry from Grove, and went on to ground and pound his way to a TKO victory. With its back and forth exchanges, this fight had the PPV event looking promising, and for their efforts Munoz and Grove took Fight of the Night Honors.
The next fight found English fighter Terry Etim against Rafael dos Anjos. Etim has previously won Submission of the Night honors 3 times and has been touted as a rising star in the UFC, so plenty were excited to see how he would fair against BJJ black belt dos Anjos. Into round 2, the Brazilian was able to avoid Etim’s hands, score a takedown, get a kimura and then finish the fight by armbar.
2 time former Welterweight Champion Matt Hughes and BJJ master Renzo Gracie, at ages 36 and 43 respectively, are no spring chickens. Their fight was billed as a battle between two legends in MMA, and legends they are, but a battle? Eh, their exchange was more like a skirmish. Renzo Gracie appeared to land the most strikes of either fighter in rounds 1 and 2, and Hughes’ cardio appeared suspect. But by round 3 Hughes started landing some unchecked leg kicks that eventually wore on Gracie. With less than 30 seconds left, Hughes was able to end the fight with a few jabs and an uppercut which floored Gracie and referee Herb Dean called the fight.
In his his title defense against challenger Frankie Edgar, BJ Penn looked __________.
Pick your adjective to fill in the blank: he appeared lackluster, out-of-it, deflated, lethargic, timid, despondent…
Gone was the BJ Penn we have seen in previous bouts, the BJ Penn who had so methodically dismantled top contender Kenny Florian and annihilated Diego Sanchez with superior stand-up, flawless takedown defense, and ended Sanchez with a brutal leg kick.
Credit where credit is due, Frankie “The Answer” Edgar looked calm, focused, and obviously had superior cardio. Frankie Edgar is small and fast, and had impressive movement for the duration of the bout, which advantageous to the challenger during this fight. Edgar landed a few damaging blows that blackened the eyes of Penn, and was able to successfully take him down, the first time BJ has been taken down at lightweight in 6 years.
The first 3 rounds were difficult to score; the judges saw a few combinations, though “The Answer” and “The Prodigy” spent most of the first rounds watching their opponent’s timing and feeling out each other’s punches.
By round 4, Penn’s corner was telling him to take it to the ground. But BJ didn’t go for the takedown and continued to stand with Edgar, not testing his wrestling at all. Just 30 seconds into the final round Edgar took Penn down a second time. In the last few minutes, it became increasingly clear BJ was not the same aggressive fighter we’d seen in the past. There’s been a great deal of speculation about the brace on BJ’s left knee and it’s unknown whether he sustained an injury prior to the fight in Abu Dhabi. After witnessing his subpar performance against Edgar, I’m not convinced that Penn wasn’t injured or ill. I’m also not convinced that the judges scored the fight correctly, but regardless, Edgar got the upper hand and won by unanimous decision, making him the new Lightweight Champion.
Following Edgar’s surprise win, the twitterverse exploded with fans congratulating him on his win and recommending new opponents. Several analysts have asked to see Frankie avenge his loss against Gray Maynard. Dangerous lightweight up-and-comer Ross Pearson took to his facebook page to tell Edgar he should watch his back, because Pearson was coming for the belt. Frankly, I’d like to see Frankie get his first challenge in Boston on August 28th with contender Kenny Florian. The two have yet to square off, and Florian has already asserted himself as the number one lightweight contender.
Whereas former Lightweight Champion Penn appeared uncharacteristically dispirited, Middleweight Champ Anderson Silva was bombastic against challenger, fellow Brazilian Demian Maia. From the opening bars of “Aint No Sunshine”, Anderson showed his usual brazen self-confidence. In the first round, Silva landed a spinning back kick, several leg kicks, and a flying knee while Maia attempted to avoid the power of Silva’s hands. Into round 2, fans watched knowingly as Silva menacingly stalked Maia, dropped his hands and extended his chin daring Maia to hit him, and stuffed several takedown attempts from world-class BJJ practitioner Demian Maia. With just 10 seconds left in the second round, a right jab bloodied Maia’s nose and Maia began to wilt.
Into the third and fourth Anderson Silva started to look bored with the fight, while Maia’s frustration and the crowd’s agitation grew. The fighters rarely engaged and the crowd responded by loudly chanting “Maia” and then chanting “GSP”.
By the round 5 things took a turn for the surreal as Silva’s antics built to a crescendo. The crowd continued to boo Silva and cheer his challenger on as Maia persevered despite a broken nose and left eye completely swollen shut. Maia left everything on the mat, as he tried a few more takedowns and landed several punches to Silva, to no avail. With under a minute left in the fifth round, referee Dan Miragliotta said what every viewer was thinking; Miragliotta warned Silva about running around the Octagon and threatened to take a point away if the behavior continued.
Silva retained the belt by unanimous decision to the sound of the crowd’s jeers.
Maia was slow to engage the Champion on his feet, and did little to put himself at risk in the first few rounds. But at the end of the day, Maia lost nothing in this fight and gained a great deal of respect from fans and viewers. With his bizarre behavior at UFC 112, Silva has made himself the target of vitriol and UFC President Dana White has threatened to relegate The Spider’s future fights to the untelevised preliminary card. Silva apologized for his buffoonery but it remains to be seen whether he will go out on a limb and prove his skills by fighting at his full potential and proving he is a Champion.
