I’m sure you’ve all heard of the saying “bored me to sleep” used to describe a particularly dull event or moment but certain parts of UFC 119 literally did bore me to sleep. Granted there have been worse MMA shows and I was really tired after a long week of university but regardless; 119 was another bad PPV.
Prelims Live, which is usually un-noteworthy due to the low-level fighters on display turned out to be the most exciting part of the whole 119 event. Matt Mitrione scored a unanimous decision victory over Joey Beltran in a exciting slugfest. Mitrione – who was the class clown on TUF 8, sure has come a long way. Despite his improvements, Mitrione will need to step his game up to combat the monsters at the top of the Heavyweight division.
Also on Prelims Live, CB Dolloway submitted Joe Doerkson via a modified g guillotine choke. Doerkson scrambled and scrambled out of CB’s clutches but Dolloway was determined to get the choke which he did in 2.47 of Round 1.
I can’t accurately cover the happenings of the Melvin Guillard vs. Jeremy Stephens fight as I had a nap during the whole bout. I’ve been reliably informed I didn’t miss much. Guillard wins by spilt decision.
I was wide awake to see Sean Shrek clash with unbeaten prospect Evan Dunham. This fight was a fantastic contest with Shrek constantly achieving takedowns but unable to do anything with Dunham on the ground. Evan on the other hand attempted and nearly achieved a submission victory. A rear-naked choke in the second round looked like such a certainty of a finish that announcer Mike Goldberg uttered his famous phrase “IT IS ALL OVER!” before having to backtrack a second later when Shrek slipped out of the hold. Despite Dunham’s aggression and seemingly superiority, ‘The Muscle Shark’ got an extremely controversial split-decision victory. When the decision was read out, the crowd rightfully booed the outcome. Dunham was robbed.
FightMetric stats show that Dunham was the superior fighter
Matt Serra vs. Chris Lytle couldn’t be any more different then their first bout four years ago. In the The Ultimate Fighter 4 Finale, Serra and Lytle played it ultra conservative in what has rightfully gone down as the worst TUF Finale ever. After that disappointing bout where Serra picked up the win, the TUF 4 trophy, a shot at 170-pound Champ Georges St. Pierre and in the biggest upset in UFC history, the Welterweight Title; Lytle decided to change his game up. He knew he had to go all out for the win and trust in his skills. This all out approach has earned Lytle several bonus checks for Knockout/Submission/Fight of The Night, checks that Lytle certainly values seeing as the full-time fireman has four kids to feed. That ‘balls-out’ Lytle lid up Serras face for three rounds in a bout where the former champ didn’t look competitive at all. After this impressive win, one must ponder if the fireman from Indianapolis could potentially be involved in the title hunt
The TUF 4 Finale was close. This wasn't
Rogerio Nogueria vs. Ryan Bader caused my already tired body to tapout to the sandman (the mythical character not James Irvin). Too quickly summarise; Bader took Nogueria down. Rogerio couldn’t get up. Time’s it by three and that was your fight. ‘Darth’ Bader by decision.
Mirko Cro Cop vs. Mir promised so much. Mir needed a win desperately after dropping 2 of 3. Cro Cop was out to prove that he wasn’t washed up and can still make a run at the Heavyweight belt. Cro Cop and Mir just didn’t mesh well together. Mir couldn’t take Cro Cop down due to Mirko’s superior takedown defence so all Mir could do was clinch with Cro Cop against the side of the cage for three rounds. Cro Cop was unable to escape from Mir’s clinch and that was what we got for nearly three rounds. I say nearly because out of nowhere in the last minute Mir smacks Cro Cop with a hard knee. Mir wins via KO in Round 3 with 58 secs remaining. Despite the out-of-nowhere finish. Cro Cop vs. Mir should definitely be in line for Worst Fight of the Year. I was asleep during this whole bout and woke up only to see Mirko on the floor. I rewatched the fight the next day and felt like nodding off again.
The Rock admitted that he would've got into MMA in 1996 if the sport was as huge then as it is now.
The night’s big winner wasn’t certainly Mir or even fellow winners Ryan Bader or Chris Lytle. It was Evan Dunham. Dunham was extremely impressive against the former champ Sherk. The controversial nature of the decision will naturally lead the fans to rally behind the Oregon native. Dunham is not your lay-and-pray wrestler. He goes out to finish fights and put on the show for the fans. The kind of fighter both fans and promoters love.
*sigh* another disappointing UFC PPV. As I said in a past review, it’s a crapshoot. Hopefully luck will be on my side for UFC 120 in London as I’ll be there live! A full report of that show and the inaugural UFC UK Fan Expo next time.
