The last time that the UFC put on a free televised title fight was at UFC 75 in London England. It was the PrideFC and UFC light heavyweight unification fight of Dan Henderson versus Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. The reason why it was free was that the UFC was nice enough to keep us from paying $60.00 to watch a prerecorded fight during Saturday night prime time due to the time difference. Since then, it only made good business sense for the UFC to have all title fights as Pay Per View. The entrance of the Bantam Weights into the UFC it has given us the opportunity to watch another free televised title fight as they haven’t been around that long, so it will give the casual fans a chance to get to know fighters like Dominic Cruz and Demetrious Johnson. For the hardcore fans, it was a nice freebie that we can watch at the comfort of our own homes and save some money, especially from the frantic pace of the fall MMA event line up.
Dominick Cruz def. Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson by unanimous decision (50-45,49-46,50-45) for the Bantamweight Title.
This fight can be summed up as the battle of two fight clichés: Speed kills. Size matters. For the first time in his career, Dominick Cruz was face with an opponent that could push a faster pace than him. The majority of the striking exchanges were won by Demetrious Johnson purely on his speed. Dominick was on the other end of the game plan in which he employed to win and keep his bantamweight title. Luckily for Cruz, he also had a large height advantage of 5″ and he was visibly heavier than Johnson. Since he couldn’t keep up with Johnson’s speed standing, Cruz used his weight and height advantage to take the fight to the cage, and score multiple take downs, and even a few text book, five point, belly to back suplex throws. From their he rode out a decision victory via octagon control.
Up next for Cruz will most likely be the winner of Urijah Faber versus Brian Bowles on November 19, 2011 at UFC 139. I hope to see Bowles versus Cruz because it feels like there is still some unfinished business as their last fight ended in a doctor’s stoppage in which Bowles could not continue with a broken hand. That’s probably the most unsatisfying way to lose your title knowing that other fighters are given the opportunity to fight on with broken hands, but they stopped your title fight because of one.
For Johnson, the loser of the Faber vs Bowles fight would make sense as having title contending fighters coming off a losses gives them a chance to get back on the ladder. Johnson versus Faber would be very interesting as Johnson clearly showed some holes in his take down defense against the larger Cruz. It would be interesting to see how Johnson and his trainer Matt Hume fill the holes especially against a strong wrestler like Urijah
Stefan Struve def. Pat Barry by Submission (Triangle Choke) at 3:22 of Round 2
Stefan Stuve and Pat Barry was the sideshow of the evening. With the 11″ height difference it almost looked like a kid fighting an adult but once Barry started to throw his tree trunk sized legs against Struve’s thighs, we knew there was a huge potential of another highlight KO of Struve. Luckly for Struve, having such long legs against a tightly compacted opponent give a huge advantage in the submission game. Struve’s transition he used to lock in the triangle choke could almost be exclusively done by him, and also, to make an excuse for Barry, almost impossible to train for.
For Struve, I’d love to see him fight the winner of Matt Mitrione versus Cheick Kongo happening at the end of the month at UFC 137. It would be nice to see him fight someone who has somewhere close to his reach again. Another win or two would give him a chance to fight one of the heavyweight division’s top 5 fighters.
For Pat Barry, I hope he trains more submission defense. Aside from the KO loss against Kongo, all the rest of his losses are due to submissions. He has dropped two in a row now, so he may be on the chopping block on his next fight, but hopefully his personality and his exciting fight style will keep him employed in the UFC even if he loses his next fight.
Anthony Johnson def. Charlie Brenneman by TKO at 2:49 of Round 1
So was this fight an early stoppage? Personally, I don’t think so. Anthony Johnson dominated Charlie Brenneman with a fury of strikes capped off with two devastating head kicks that knocked Brenneman over. The first of which dropped Brenneman to the ground but he made his way back to his feet still in a daze. The second head kick was clean and powerful and Brenneman hands were down away from guarding his head. At that point I believe that he was not intelligently defending himself and the fight was warranted a stoppage regardless if he was KO’d when he hit the ground or not, especially against a extremely hard hitter like Anthony Johnson who could easily do some permanent damage if the fight was continued.
Up next for Johnson, I’d love to see him fight Rory Mac Donald. Although it is expected that MacDonald will be fighting Brian Ebersole at the end of the year, I would prefer to watch the two strongest welterweights in the division face off. Both have an explosive game, and it would be interesting to watch Johnson fight someone his own size for once.
For Charlie Brenneman, I can see the UFC pair him with a top prospect fighter like Paulo Thiago who is coming of a recent win, and is looking for a tough test in their next fight.
Matt Wiman def. Mac Danzig by Unanimous Decision (29-28,29-28,29-28)
This fight was defiantly deserving of fight of the night. Mac Danzig showed he was not scared to scrap and came out with a variety of combinations to Wiman’s chin. Wiman showed some vicious elbows from his clinch which i believe helped him edge out the fight as they caused the most damage. They both also showed some awesome ground fighting with some slick submission attempts and defenses.
Up next for both fighters, I would love to see a trilogy, but I bet both of them would like to take a fight or two before it happens. The light weight division offers lots of options for both fighters and I know Joe Silva must has something interesting planned for their futures. Some interesting parings for either fighter could be Joe Sotoropolis, Spencer Fisher, or TUF champ Tony Ferguson.
