The Rear Naked Column 06.17.09: UFC 99 Fallout

Posted by Samer Kadi on 06.17.2009

UFC 99 is in the books and it turned out to be a decent night of fights. Wanderlei Silva and Rich Franklin delivered their much anticipated war, Davis vs. Hardy lived up to the hype and Cain Velasquez showed that he can hang with the big boys. In this week’s edition of “The Rear Naked Column” we take a look at what the future might hold for some of the winners, and losers who appeared on the main card in Germany.

UFC 99 has come and gone and I thought the show was quite decent overall. We got two very good fights in Silva/Franklin and Davis/Hardy, and nothing else left a real bad taste in my mouth, at least not until reading about Mirko Cro Cop signing with DREAM, but that's for a little later. Well maybe that's a lie, as I was upset about Wanderlei losing but to be honest it easily could have gone either way so I can't complain.

So let's get straight down to business and look back at the fights as well as the next step for the winners and losers.

Marcus Davis Vs Dan Hardy:

The fight: The night started with "the grudge match of the century", as Joe Rogan called it, and I must say it delivered. In fact, I think it was the true fight of the night. The whole fight was back and forth, with Davis controlling the action but Hardy landing the better shots and doing more damage. I thought round 1 went to Davis despite Hardy connecting solid with an elbow that wobbled the Irish-American in the latter stages, while Hardy took round 2 and 3.

I actually agree with Joe Rogan's assessment of Davis' mindset. While Hardy's trash talk motivated him, I think that motivation soon turned into pressure. Davis was too worried about losing the fight to someone he disliked so much and it showed in his performance. While it wasn't below par by any stretch of the imagination, he did look tensed in the Octagon and it mostly showed in his striking. Speaking of which, enough with the Davis' professional boxing experience as his striking isn't really that good, or technical for that matter. I don't doubt his boxing skills but he simply wasn't able to adapt them into MMA. I also thought he should have finished it in the third round when he caught Hardy with that leg lock. At one point, he had it straightened out and fully extended but he oddly opted for a heel hook instead of a knee bar.

As for Hardy, I think his overall performance was good but not great. His standup is clearly dangerous, he showed more versatile striking than his opponent, and training with Freddy Roach, his hands are bound to keep improving. I really liked his use of the elbows, both standing and on the ground – The one that cut Davis was brutal. However I thought he didn't look comfortable fighting off his back at all, as he gave up some positions with sloppy submission attempts. In a division filled with wrestlers, this could be a problem for him.
In the end I thought it was the correct call, as despite Davis outwrestling for a solid period of the fight, Hardy was the one who landed the better shots and did more damage.

I also feel the need to point out that Hardy came off looking much better than Davis post fight. I mean as soon as the fight ended they shook hands, which was good and all. But once the decision was announced Davis refused to shake Hardy's hand and stormed off. So if you dislike him so much, why shake his hand in the first place? But now that you lost you're not willing to do it anymore? Davis came off looking like a sore loser.

What's next?

While this was a really good win for Hardy, I'm not sure he's ready for the top echelon of the division quite yet. But a fight with someone like say, Ben Saunders, who's coming off a defeat will be considered a step back for him. A fight with Paulo Thiago, should he lose to Jon Fitch next month would make for an interesting battle.

As for Davis, he has shown he can't be considered one of the top fighters in the division, but he's not exactly a gatekeeper either. I'm sure he can rack up wins as long as he's fighting the Chris Lytles of the world.


Spencer Fisher Vs Caol Uno:

The fight: First of all, I seem to have liked this fight a little better than most people. That's not to say that I enjoyed it, as that might be a little bit of a stretch, but I didn't find it as offensive as some, notably the live crowd.

Caol Uno is a tough opponent to prepare for: He sets the fight to a frantic pace and is quite relentless. Not dissimilar to a certain carpenter fighting this weekend, minus the takedown ability. Maybe Uno is too small, or maybe Fisher improved his takedown defense dramatically, but the Japanese veteran never seemed able to fully put "The King" on his back for an extended period of time until the third round, despite having a lightning quick shot.

That being said, Uno won that fight. I'm trying to remember what significant offense Fisher mounted the entire fight and a few decent jabs and hooks aside, nothing much springs to mind. Yes he did have the edge striking-wise, but that's not saying much. His sprawl was impressive, he showed great reflexes to avoid those takedowns, but if UFC fights are really based on effective striking, grappling, aggression and Octagon control, then Uno easily controlled three of those four aspects. Not to mention the only significant damage done by either fighter in the entire fight took place in the third round when Uno had Fisher mounted and landed some decent shots.

On a side note, judges should score rounds 10-10 when necessary. It is allowed, so why isn't it used? The first or even second round in that fight could have easily been scored 10-10. And I really don't understand why Bruce Buffer wasn't reading the scorecards.

And finally what was up with Mike Goldberg calling him "Karl" Uno?

What's next?

Despite the win I'm not sure where Fisher goes from here. He didn't look too impressive, but a win is a win. Maybe a fight with the loser of Diaz-Stevenson could be in the works.

I would love to see Uno matched up with Clay Guida if he loses to Diego Sanchez. This could be a fantastic grappling battle similar to the one Guida had with Tyson Griffin.

Mike Swick Vs Ben Saunders:

The fight: Anyone can look good fighting cans. I'm not trying to take anything away from Ben Saunders here as I really like the guy but come on, he beat Brandon Wolff and all a sudden he's got the best Muay Thai in all of MMA (according to him) and wants to move up in weight and take on Anderson Silva. Yeah ok, easy there Killa B. I honestly don't think the UFC should have matched up Saunders with an opponent like Swick at this stage. Build him up, feed him another can, match him up with a gatekeeper, and give him the chance to improve his game. For someone who claims to have the best Muay Thai in MMA, he sure pulled guard quickly in the fight. From there nothing much happened, as Saunders did a good job of controlling Swick's posture and used the butterfly guard effectively to prevent him from passing.



Saunders also didn't have much for his opponent in the standup once the second round started. He likes to throw kicks but usually telegraphs them, and this was no exception. Swick finally landed a trademark flurry to finish the fight.

What's next?

Swick looked good, easily dispatching his overmatched opponent, and post fight he quite rightly asked for a top level fighter. I think a fight with Hughes or Thiago Alves (should he lose to GSP) would make perfect sense. Keep in mind Swick won't be fighting Koscheck or Fitch due to all of them training in AKA. In a division where the champion has beaten most of the top fighters, the emergence of a new top contender never hurts.

As for Saunders, why not fight Marcus Davis?

Mirko Cro Cop Vs Mustapha Al-Turk:

The fight: Al-Turk came out with nothing but telegraphed overhand rights and some none-set up takedown attempts. Mirko was a bit cautious at first, probably looking to get a hold of Al-Turk's timing and then unleashed a flurry that dropped the Englishman. He survived, but one eye poke and some academic shots later and the fight was over.

It definitely was anti-climatic, as Mirko was expected to kick his head off. Add to that the eye poke, which Mirgliota should have spotted by the way, and it makes for some controversy. That being said, Al-Turk wasn't going to win this fight. I don't agree with Mirko when he said "that's not what won the fight". Yes it was. Al-Turk was poked and he covered up and did nothing, even Mirko hesitated as he waited to see whether the ref would step in. So yes, in that sense, it basically was what won him the fight. However would he have finished it anyway? Yes, I believe so, probably in the first round as well.

What's next?

Fighting Hong Man Choi again, apparently. With all due respect to Mirko, and he is obviously free to take whatever decision he thinks is best for him, but with all the talk of "I may not succeed to win the UFC belt, but I will die trying" (and he mentioned this in almost all of his interviews), it really is disappointing to see him going back to DREAM. Now he mentioned the fact that he wants to fight often and DREAM grants him that. Ok, but are you seriously going to tell me that White wouldn't have allowed him to fight more than twice a year if he sat there and talked to him about it? I don't buy it. He let Josh Koscheck fight more often. Hell, he's letting ANDERSON SILVA fight more often, why wouldn't he do the same for Cro Cop?

Anyway I've heard many people rave about how Cro Cop "screwed" Dana. He might have, but good luck watching him fight cans in Japan. Oh and a rematch with Fedor? Yeah then good luck watching him get killed.

Cain Velasquez Vs Checik Kongo:

The fight: Well the fight is pretty easy to describe. In the opening seconds of each round, Kongo would rock Velasquez who would recover and take Kongo down, pass his guard and work his ground and pound.

I'm not sure if Cain's standup isn't as good as we thought or if his standup isn't as good as HE thought. Because he clearly came out confident in each round, moving his head, looking to exchange, pushing the action… And then he gets rocked, each and every time. Maybe Cain's standup is actually better than what was on display against Kongo, but he just has trouble performing on fight night as well as he does in the gym. Yes he's been impressive in all of his UFC fights, but he had yet to fight someone who could really challenge him. Now he finally has, and despite some hiccups, he still won the fight and did it against a top contender. That's what some people don't seem to realize. Cain did this in only his sixth MMA fight. Most fighters wouldn't even be in the UFC by that time. You'll find everyone talking about all kinds of holes in his game. Well of course, he's only fought a few times. Sure, his striking leaves a lot to be desired and while he has excellent ground control, his BJJ still needs some work. He couldn't finish that rear naked choke and he had an armbar just waiting for him when he had Kongo mounted late in the third round. But at this stage of his career, this doesn't matter much. He has all the time in the world to improve and if I had to guess, he will. Like Saunders, Cain really wasn't supposed to be fighting someone like Kongo at this stage of his career. However, this is the UFC and you don't fight cans for long. But at the end of the day, Cain was successful.

Brock Lesnar beating Heath Herring when his MMA career was just 3 minutes old is huge. Brock Lesnar stopping Randy Couture in the second round in just his fourth MMA fight is huge, 45 years old or not. Joe Warren beating Kid Yamamoto in just his second MMA fight is huge. Some people choose to disregard that, and instead look to talk about how all Warren did was "hold him down" and how Brock is overrated. And again, now all of a sudden beating Kongo isn't so impressive because Cain showed holes in his games and Kongo has no ground game. And while both these statements are true, the fact is Cain still came in and did what he had to do.

Cain also showed a good chin and great recovery. I actually heard people say Cain had a weak chin because he was basically buckled by every punch that connected. Well have you seen those punches?



The second hook in particular is devastating.

As for Kongo, he'll never get to a title shot unless he improves his ground game. His takedown defense has improved against the Al-Truks of the world, but in a division dominated by top class wrestlers, this won't be enough. And once he's on his back, he's a fish out of water. And while Cain couldn't finish, be it because of his "lack of power" or Kongo's durability, someone like Shane Carwin very well could. He doesn't have the takedown defense of Chuck Liddell or even a prime Mirko Cro Cop, so "sprawl and brawl" against Lesnar, Carwin, Couture or Cain is pretty much out of the question as far as Kongo is concerned.

And like many before him, he seems to have forgotten his roots. Cheick, you're not a ground and pound specialist, you're a kickboxer. And despite showing some brutal ground and pound against Al-Turk and Hardonk, trying to put a wrestler on his back isn't a good idea. Every time he had Cain rocked, he closed the distance and attempted to take him down. And not only is that a tough task to pull off against a decorated wrestler like Cain, but it also gave him the time to recover.

What's next?

I think a fight with Heath Herring should still take place for Velasquez. It would be the perfect opportunity to work on his weaknesses all the while taking someone with relative name value who wouldn't be considered a step down in competition. Plus Herring doesn't pose the same threat on the feet that Kongo does. Matching up Velasquez with any other top name isn't a good idea right now. It's too early for Carwin-Velasquez to happen in my opinion, not to mention it wouldn't be the best of match ups for Cain. A win over Heath Herring would further establish him as a top contender, as the heavyweight division title scene takes a clearer shape.

Kongo on the other hand is in a tough spot right now. He can fight another top name, and almost all of them would be bad match ups for him. Sure Mir and Nog aren't the best wrestlers, but all they need to do is pull guard. He's already proved he will pretty much destroy fighters he should be able to beat, but is nowhere near ready for the top guys in the division. Maybe a fight with Gabriel Gonzaga in an attempt to stay relevant (or employed) would make sense at this point. And even that one doesn't sound like a favorable match up for the Frenchman.

Wanderlei Silva Vs Rich Franklin:

The fight: One thing I love about Wanderlei Silva, he delivers. "Knockout, Knockout, War". It ended up being a war. And honestly since neither fighter could afford to get knocked out, I thought it was the "right" result.

That being said, Wanderlei didn't look that good. Yes he still could have won it, but he didn't look good. It was probably the weight cut, as he never had cardio issues in his career. And before the inevitable "steroids" cries, watch his crazy workouts with Rafael Alejarra. He also looked sloppy (even more so than usual). He kept falling all over the place after throwing some kicks or simply slipping for no apparent reason, which might have even influenced the judges' view of things. But Wanderlei is Wanderlei, and he can still end the fight at any moment. It was really amazing to see him clearly tired in the third round, get hit in the groin and suddenly turn it up. He ran on pure adrenaline, stalking Franklin and urging the crowd to react with his hands in the air. You gotta love "The Axe Murderer".



As for Franklin, I thought he looked solid but not great. He didn't counter as well as I thought he would, especially with Wanderlei as always, swinging wildly and keeping his chin exposed. But he still fought a smart fight for the most part, except a few times where he engaged in wild brawls and almost got knocked out for his troubles. I thought Matt Hume did a terrific job of reminding him to follow the gameplan and keep his distance. He didn't exactly pick Silva apart like Rogan will have you believe, but he definitely landed more shots. But in my opinion, Wanderlei was the aggressor, and was the one who came closer to finish the fight. So for that I could see the decision going either way, but some people are going overboard claiming Silva got "robbed".

What's next?

For Franklin, a fight with Shogun would have been great, with the Brazilian looking to avenge his friend. But Shogun is scheduled for a title fight against Machida, and I don't see that one ending well for Rich anyway.
Right now, a fight with the winner of Jardine-Silva would make sense, or maybe Forrest Griffin if he loses to Anderson Silva. With the 205 division being so stacked, Rich could end up being the dark horse.

As for Wanderlei I still think he can do well in the middleweight division. Although as much as some love to deny it, he has lost a step, if not more. It would have been nice if he could drop down with some momentum, but as it stands he could still be a factor. The only obstacle is how he would handle the weight cut.
A fight against the loser of Bisping-Henderson could be great. I like his chances against the likes of Bisping, Leites or even Okami. Henderson would obviously be a tougher test, but it would raise more interest due to it being a rubber match. He'll be fine as long as he don't face Anderson Silva, that one won't make it past the first round. An accurate counter puncher is a nightmare match up for Wanderlei, and Anderson just happens to be the best one around.

That's it for this week. I hope you enjoy the fights next week. Hopefully Guida manages to pull off the upset (I don't see how though) in what should be a great fight.