FanPost

Monday Morning Black Belt

What an unbelievable MMA weekend. Here at MMBB, we didn't sleep, we stayed up through the night on Thursday watching Fields Dynamite 2010. While the commentary is mediocre at best, the fights were very good. Of course there were your typical Japanese match ups that you just knew weren't going to be close (Overeem vs. Duffee), but there were also some surprises, like Aoki actually making it out of the K-1 rules 1st round against K-1 champion Yuichiro Nagashima. The night (or early morning) was rounded out with such stars as Gegard Mousasi, Mach Sakurai and judo star Hiroshi Izumi.

After we all rang in the New Year, we were treated to UFC 125. I personally thought the card was pretty lackluster on paper, but what do I know. I looked at it like this, putting Clay Guida and Gray Maynard on the same card is an automatic disaster, but I couldn't have been more wrong. While Maynard did go the full 5 rounds with LW Champ Frankie Edgar, it was nothing like the lay and pray that I expected it to be. It was a classic back and forth battle in which Maynard, a wrestler, dominated the stand up in the first round. Edgar on the other hand, outwrestled the much larger Maynard throughout the 2nd-5th rounds. I don't think anyone expected that match up to go the way it went.

I was so relieved that one of the judges actually got it right! In my humble opinion, that was by far one the easiest fights to judge in a long time. Gray obviously scored a 10=8 round in the 1st and also took the 3rd. Edgar took rounds 2,4 and 5. I also see no problem with them running it back one more time prior to Anthony Pettis getting his title shot. If it were a bad decision or a boring fight that ended in a draw, I'd disagree, but who out there doesn't want to see these two go at it again?

As someone who picked Brandon Vera, Chris Leben and Nate Diaz to win, it was a pretty disappointing night for me (as far as picking fights goes). Who out of these three was the most disappointing? Leben was reportedly very sick on Saturday night, not able to work up a sweat and throwing up prior to the fight. I don't like excuses, but will give him a pass. Vera just seems to be a non factor these days, which is strange considering just a few years ago he was saying he'd hold titles in two different weight classes. I'm going to go out on a limb and say he's all washed up.

That leaves Nate Diaz. He got taken down at will against Kim, and showed next to no BJJ skills from the bottom. Caesar Gracie trains that being on the bottom is the dominant position when a fight goes to the ground. If you are a great BJJ practitioner, I agree with that 100%. There are too many steps to get a submission from the top. On Saturday night, Kim either showed that he is a pretty good grappler or that Diaz isn't as good as we all once thought. There were definite openings there (I saw them from my sofa), especially when Nate gave up his back. He could have given up his back time and again with no threat of being submitted. While Kim was on his back, he could have rolled for leg locks (knee bars/heel hooks) over and over. I'm not saying they would have been successful, but it would have been something. In the final round, he Diaz finally turned it on and looked good. The knee, in my opinion, was legal. If one hand on the ground counts as a "grounded opponent," then that rule has to change. Overall I just don't see why Nate doesn't fight like that for three rounds. Lastly, I think fighters at 170 are just too big for Diaz, 155 is the correct weight for him.

Overall a pretty good event with an amazing ending. What did you guys think of all the MMA this past weekend?


FanPosts are user-generated content that do not reflect the editorial opinions of MMAmania.com nor its staff.