Bizarro world is a fictional planet in the DC Universe, named Htrae (earth backwards) has been a staple of comic book fandom since the mid-sixties and been played out largely in pop culture between television series’ like Seinfeld and Buffy The Vampire Slayer.
In the fictional play-fighting world of professional wrestling commentator Jerry Lawler often refers to Canada as bizarro world due to popular characters in North America getting negative reactions and vice versa.
Well, tonight, UFC 149 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada was fitting of the bizarro world title – Ryan Jimmo hadn’t finished a fight since 2008 and obliterated Anthony Perosh in seven seconds, meanwhile Hector Lombard who’s known for highlight-reel first round finishes lost a slow, plodding Split Decision.
But it wasn’t all bad, at the top of the card Renan Barao notched the biggest victory of his career to date, capturing the interim UFC bantamweight title winning four of the five rounds against former featherweight king Urijah Faber.
As I always do, I’ll take a look at the card and the matches to make coming off a truly bizarro evening of fighting.
Renan Barao vs. Dominick Cruz
Well, we have two champions, and it only makes sense that you match them up and see who the true divisional king is at 135-pounds – Barao pestered Team Alpha Males leader with his leg kick while using his lanky frame to land shots and keep “The California Kid” at bay.
While most questioned the cardiovascular fitness of the Brazilian heading into this fight it wasn’t a factor as he went the full distance with Faber, denying him his first UFC championship.
Match-making for Barao right now really comes down to whether or not he came out of the fight unscaved, while not confirmed I have heard tattles of a potential broken hand from the new interim champ.
If he is going to be sidelined for a significant amount of time then it makes sense that his next opponent will be Cruz, if he survived the evening without any issues then pairing him with another young 135-pound star in Michael McDonald would be a great match.
Urijah Faber vs. Miguel Torres
With defeats to the two current kings of the division, Faber is left in a state of purgatory right now, with no real argument to challenge for a championship again in the immediate future and having beat a lot of the top guys in the bantamweight rat race convincingly.
We are at a point where he might fall back a peg and become a notable name that fights other notable names in the division, matching him with Miguel Torres would be a great fight that would make us feel like its 2008 all over again.
At one point in the saga of the lighter weight-classes Faber ruled 145-pounds and Torres ruled 135-pounds, there was talk of a champion-versus-champion match in the works but it never culminated but better late than never for a meeting of two WEC heroes.
Tim Boetsch vs. Michael Bisping
Tim Boetsch derailed the near six year unbeaten streak of Bellator’s middleweight champion Hector Lombard tonight as he continues his ascent up the middleweight ranks as the unlikely contender.
While it’s fair to say that with his winning streak capped with wins over Lombard and Okami that he has the right to call for a championship fight, right now I don’t think he is ready to tangle with Anderson Silva, especially after such a lackluster performance.
Originally he was scheduled to meet Michael Bisping tonight, I think that’s a good match to make right now with both men being right at the top of the middleweight cue if they got their hand raised there.
Hector Lombard vs. Mark Munoz
Well, in the lead up to the fight Hector Lombard spoke of fighting Mark Munoz next which was laughed upon by UFC figurehead Dana White but now that both have suffered defeats in the past five days, it’s actually a suitable match.
Munoz just got dominated by rising star Chris Weidman and snapped his championship hopes in half, a win for either of them over the other can cement them at the top of the 185-pound division.
Matt Riddle vs. Dan Hardy
Matt Riddle stole the show at the post-fight press conference telling a tale of being spat on by a Brit when he fought on UK soils at UFC 105 and moments later Dana White laughed and shouted “We have to make that fight now”
Well, not only will that be a fun match with both men being known for having reckless abandon inside the eight-sided fighting surface but a suitable test for both men at this point in their careers.
Ryan Jimmo vs. Vladimir Matyushenko
Jimmo blasted Australian fighter Anthony Perosh snapping his three-fight unbeaten streak in record time and made a real statement to the rest of the 205-pound division that he isn’t a boring point fighter.
At this point in his career he’s looking to make a move up the light-heavyweight division quickly so a match with the always tough 41-year-old Vladimir Matyushenko would be a fair fight to help determine whether he can swim with the best at 205-pounds.
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