UFC on FOX 5: 'Henderson vs Diaz'

[kev2050]

I'm not completely sure, but I think you would have to pay for this one if you want the main card. That's the impression I get from the website anyway. You'd be better off subscribing to espn for a month if you can, there's at least 4 events within the next month.

[Gooner]

Diaz points

Gustafsson points

Macdonald points

[Shane O' Mac Version 2]

What a severe letdown. I'm in a pretty bitter mood right now, because all the guys I like lost, but more specifically they lost in one-sided fashion. Wasn't anything close to the dynamic fight card I expected. The prelims got off to a great start, but from the Easton-Assuncao fight everything got super average.

 

I thought Edwards vs. Stephens would go three rounds and be a war, but it barely got started. Impressive finish by Yves though. Swick looked absolutely terrible, I really expected him to have a gritty battle with Brown that would be tough, but clearly his.

 

The most disappointing thing was BJ Penn. I bought into all the fight hype, but he looked the worst I've ever seen him. He just stood there and let Rory beat him up, no attempts at moving away, very little attempts at countering. I guess the pre-fight stuff was really all talk. Big win for Rory, but I really don't like him, and not just for brutalising Penn. From the preview show, the pre-fight video and the post fight interview, he really is one weird dude. He just has this eerie presence about him, it's chilling. I half expect him to be in the news in a few years time for a double murder suicide. Creepy as hell.

 

I picked Shogun, but Gustaffson looked good. Shogun had his moments too, but he's really embracing the sloppy brawl, almost Leonard Garcia like. At least that fight was competitive though, I had either that or Cruickshank vs. Martinez as my FOTN.

 

The main event... I almost don't know what to say. For a guy to dominate elite fighters in the division the way Nate Diaz did, only to be outclassed beyond belief by the champion... where does he go from here? Far too one-sided to be entertaining. I soured a bit on Henderson after the second Edgar fight, when he won a BS decision and acted like he clearly won it, but my dislike really intensified here. His pre fight video- "I look to finish, I don't point score." Fair enough, you can't always stop your opponent, but when you're on a 5 fight win streak by decision, quotes like that just sound ridiculous and shouldn't be said. He did seem to have a killer instinct here beating up Diaz though. But above all else, he just seems like the most arrogant fighter. His facial expressions, the constant fixing of his hair, his "swagger"... just screams, "I'm better than you, so kiss my ass." Can't stand people like that in general life, let alone as a UFC champion. For all Nate's faults, he at least seems pretty down to earth.

 

So here we had a really hyped card that really didn't deliver IMO. Hopefully next week the unheralded FX card brings some surprises.

[wandshogun09]

Even though all my guys lost, I really enjoyed this show.

 

Henderson vs Diaz

For a one sided fight, this was good stuff I thought. Although he wasn't able to get the finish, this was exactly the type of performance Benson needed after all the questions on his reign after the last Edgar fight. He looked fantastic tonight, best showing of his career to date easy for me. He just shut Nate's game down completely. How often does a fighter, even in winning, come out of a fight with Nate Diaz without a mark on him?

 

Not only that, he surpassed my expectations. I predicted he'd win and I expected his wrestling and kicks to be a factor but I certainly never expected him to land the most significant punches and even drop Nate. I really thought he was about to finish Nate at that point. He really did go for the kill as well but Nate is tough as nails.

 

And round 3 was one of the best rounds I've ever seen. Fucking phenomenal stuff from both in that 5 minutes. From the awesome grappling battle to Benson decking Nate. Proper edge of the seat round.

 

Shogun vs Gustafsson

Ah bollocks. Gutted for Shogun. Gusty answered the only two questions I really had of him here though. He survived some good submission attempts and as for his chin, he took some flush bombs off Shogun and didn't even blink. He also surprised me with the takedowns. Very good performance from Gusty.

 

As for Shogun, he started well and I was pleased to see him taking the grappling approach in round 1. But after round 1 he started to look for the KO and became very predictable. He was still landing some big shots but he was too wild lunging in at times and left himself open to counters and point scoring takedowns. I shit myself in round 3 when Gusty hit that fucking Seagal kick. It rocked Shogun which as we know is no small feat.

 

Really good fight though. Shogun never got destroyed though as a lot were predicting. It was a good competitive fight, Gusty certainly got the best of it but Shogun was always a threat. I thought the 30-26 score was off. I had Shogun winning round 1 and Gusty didn't do enough to warrant a 10-8 in either of the following rounds. Doesn't really matter I suppose the right man won.

 

Gustafsson vs Jones/Sonnen then. It's hard to see what's next for Shogun now though. Everyone's booked. Shogun vs Franklin would be great if Franklin decides to fight on and goes back up. Fan friendly fight. That would be a good fight for FOX actually.

 

Penn vs MacDonald

Ah more bollocks. Sad to see BJ beat down again. And I'd say this was worse than the Diaz beating. He was still looking dangerous in round 3 vs Diaz. He got fucked up by Rory.

 

I'm officially, fully, a Rory believer now. Size difference aside, BJ was a champion at 170, he's gone the distance with Diaz and Fitch, regardless of size this was a huge win for SinisteRory. And he put on a show. Proper starmaking fight for Rory. He looked like a killer.

 

His striking looks to have come on massively in a really short time as well. Amazing. What's gonna happen here though? Rory's killing welterweights, pretty soon people will start talking title shots, yet he trains with the champion. It's an odd situation. GSP doesn't want to move to 185 it seems so what gives?

 

I'm well up for Rory vs Condit 2 though if that's the route they go. I was already thinking it when the fight ended, it makes sense, but the callout pushed it over the edge. I really want to see it now.

 

That has to be it for BJ now. It's a shame his comeback wasn't at 155 because I still think he'd do a lot better there. Maybe not one last title reign but I think he'd still be in that top level of lightweights.

 

Swick vs Brown

Fuck, Swick got laid out bad. His chin's never been great but that two shot combo would have put a lot of guys out. Really good fight, different than I expected. Didn't think we'd see such a great grappling exchange, and I expected Swick to catch him in the Swickatine if it did end up there. Brown fought great everywhere.

 

I read Swick was down a good while after the KO, hopefully he's alright now.

 

Prelims were a lot of fun as well for the most part. Chuffed to see Yves Edwards get the KO, I expected a tough 3 round slugfest there, happy for Yves. Still kicking arse after all these years. Nice finishes from Jorgensen and Trujillo as well.

 

But....

 

Cruickshank vs Martinez

This stole the prelims. Fuck me, what a fight. What a finish. Cro Cop would be proud. Tremendous. Had this as FOTN. Shame Martinez missed weight because I can see them not getting FOTN now so they don't have to give him a bonus. Dana's done that before. Cruickshank will get KO Of The Night though for sure.

 

I'm thinking of staying up now for Pacquiao vs Marquez. Hasn't happened yet.

[wandshogun09]

I was wrong...

 

Knockout Of The Night: Yves Edwards

Submission Of The Night: Scott Jorgensen

Fight Of The Night: Scott Jorgensen vs John Albert

 

$65 grand each.

 

Gotta say, I think Daron Cruickshank deserved KO of the night. Jorgensen cleaned up, got $130,000 in bonus money alone. Good on him. Cruickshank vs Martinez would surely have got FOTN if Martinez had made weight though. Hopefully they'll sort Cruickshank out with something extra on his paycheque.

[Shane O' Mac Version 2]

I agree, a head kick is a more impressive KO than an elbow on the ground any day. Can't argue with SOTN. FOTN... eh, Jorgensen vs. Albert was probably my 3rd favourite, with Shogun/Gustaffson and Cruickshank/Martinez following. Of the three, the Jorgensen fight was the most technically impressive though, while the other two were mostly wild brawls.

 

Says something about how the show turned out when they load up the card, especially the main card, with major fights, and a Facebook prelim gets the nod as the best fight.

[The Natural]

Two thoughts coming out of the show: I really enjoyed Bendo's one sided over Nate Diaz, it was easy and BJ Penn got beat up especially in the second. Penn should retire. Penn should be in the UFC Lightweight division but we've all said that for ages now.

[Mr Tibbs]

I don't know if anybody else thought about this but there is somethine distinctly unlikeable about Rory MacDonad! It could make for a great teacher vs student fight with GSP.

[Evolution4life]

First UFC show I have watched in a long time, I really enjoyed it, no prelims & all that for me just the main show.

 

Annoyingly my recording, even with an extra 10 minutes added on, cut off at the 4th round of the main event! Cheers Virgin! Happen to anyone else?

[The Natural]

Really hope the winner of Donald Cerrone/Anthony Pettis gets Benson Henderson for the UFC Lightweight Championship. What a fucking fight either would be.

[David]

If someone had to ask me my dream results for all fights I don't think it could have really gone any better. The only thing that could have made my night even more was if that cracking punch that Benson threw just after Nate tried more of his mean mugging had put the fool away altogether.

 

Still, a cracking night of fights, and great results as far as future fights go. I really hope the UFC end up booking Benson vs Cerrone/Pettis & Jones vs Gustafsson next. Both title fights would be hard to call and pretty competitive in my book.

 

As I thought, Penn looked fucking tiny at 170lbs. He has to realise that it isn't 2004 anymore, and that you simply can't attempt to take on elite fighters who are just as talented as you are but much bigger. Saying that, retirement shouldn't be his next move. There's plenty of exciting fights for him (and possibly even a title run) for him in his natural weight class. I for one would certainly like to see Benson Henderson, Nate Diaz, Donald Cerrone vs BJ Penn.

 

Shogun, like Penn, has all the heart in the world (and a hard head), but he never really troubled Gustafsson. Hopefully the UFC live up to their word and give Gustafsson the next crack at Jones after he runs through Chael Sonnen. I'm not holding my breath though.

 

Swick vs Brown was a decent opener as well, although I'm not really fussed about either guy.

 

Shit, I've still got the prelims, some 24/7 episodes and the Pacquiao fight, the Kessler fight, and the fight card from 5 last night to watch. It's going to be a busy day!

[hbk4life]

That was a depressing main card for me. I never really gave Penn much of a chance and thought he would be dominated, but it was still tough to watch. I really thought Rua would look good and thought he could finish Gustafsson in the 2nd or 3rd round but it just didn't happen. Then I just needed Diaz to win to get my acca for the night up, so to see him dominated as well made it 3 fights in a row where I had a sad face on.

 

That being said it's a good thing MacDonald and Gustafsson won, they are the future and I can't wait for the Condit/MacDonald rematch if they go with that. I'll be supporting Condit though, as good as MacDonald is I don't like him and like everyone else has said there really is something creepy about the guy.

 

Cruickshank looked great on the prelims, he's definitely one to keep an eye on.

[The Natural]

Hopefully the UFC live up to their word and give Gustafsson the next crack at Jones after he runs through Chael Sonnen. I'm not holding my breath though.

 

I think that might depend on Henderson/Machida. If either put on a great performance, they could get the nod.

[Bus Surfer]

My recording cut off into the third round of the Diaz Fight and I missed half of it, but Benson really shut him down. Nate just had no opportunity to get going at all. Credit to Henderson.

The Penn/Macdonald and Shogun/Gusty fights went as planned. I was a bit disappointed in BJ. Maybe I was buying into the hype but I expected a bit more. Macdonald looks like he's come on a lot since we last saw him. Scary dude.

Gustaffson survived what seemed a few hairy moments and did a great job overall. Shogun as always looked tired after the first, but there's no quit in him. I want to see Gusty/Jones, but I think it's a bit short sighted to be lining him up for Jones next, when were still 4 months away from Sonnen/Jones. I won't complain though.

 

Prelims were an easy watch. I was surprised at how Dennis Siver dominated Nam Phan. Siver looks great at 145. The Cruickshank/Martinez fight was amazing, how the hell didn't Cruickshank get KO of the night? Abel Trujillo looks like a fireworks, also.

 

Good show. Gutted I didn't put my treble bet on though

 

 

Lordy

[Bus Surfer]

Just to clear it up...

 

 

That seems incredibly stupid to me.