UFC 121 Brock Lesnar vs. Cain Velasquez October 22nd, 2010 from Anaheim , California
OH MY GOSH! What a great night of fights! The best part about it was obviously the dethroning of Brock Lesnar, but let me get into each fight and what happened (I wrote this blog for two hours and silly blogspot deleted everything when I clicked the publish button. I deleted the notes I took as I wrote about each fight so this is straight memory now, I apologize in advance if I am totally off). They didn't show Camozzi's fight but I checked up and saw he won the split decision.
Patrick Cote vs. Tom Lawlor - middleweight
Lawlor controlled most of the fight. I don't remember the specifics but he did get some major takedowns and just dominated Cote and won the unanimous decision.
Court McGee vs. Ryan Jenson - middleweight
The first and second rounds seemed pretty even until McGee landed a major takedown in the last few seconds. The third round he picks up from where he left off with a big takedown right at the beginning. McGee grabs the choke and wins by submission within the first two minutes of the third round.
Brendan Schaub vs. Gabriel Gonzaga - heavyweight
Schaub looked fantastic in this fight. He was really fast and was able to get in, land some big hits, and get out before Gonzaga even had a chance to counter. Gonzaga would trip up and stumble every time he was pushed backwards. Not saying it was totally one sided, Gonzaga was able to land a few hits but Schaub really ran the fight. Gonzaga tried to get a submission hold around Shaub's neck in the last second of the third round but it was way too little too late and Shaub won the decision 30-27 from all three judges. At the post fight press conference Schaub mentions Frank Mir being a fighter he would like to take on. It seems that Mir is becoming a stepping stone for any heavyweight to earn a title shot and I am absolutely fine with that. I love seeing Mir get his butt kicked, especially by a guy I really like, like Schaub.
Tito Ortiz vs. Matt Hamill - light heavyweight
Returning after some major back and neck surgery Ortiz' experience was definitely still evident. In the first round even when he was taken down he was able to quickly scramble out of tough spots and get back to his feet. I feel like his coaching experience played against him though. Every time he went in and landed some big hits in an exchange he backed off right away. Hamill did come back stronger in the second and third round, landing some big hits on Tito's chin, so many that Tito has to wear sunglasses to hide his face during the post fight press conference. Hamill clearly wins the last two round and grabs the unanimous decision. In his interview after the fight he talks about how grateful he is to Tito and everything he had taught him. He feels honoured to have been able to fight him and they will remain friends after this fight. I'm not sure what's going to happen with Tito now. He has lost 4 of his last 5 fights now and the 5th wasn't a win, it was a draw. Its not as if he is a weak fighter though so we'll see. He's still a really well known fighter that a lot of people love to hate and that always draws a crowd. I'm pretty interested to see who he will fight next, if anyone.
Diego Sanchez vs. Paulo Thiago - welterweight
Even though I wanted Thiago to take this I'm happy to see old Diego is back! After his two recent losses it felt like he had no drive anymore. The first round was interesting. Thiago flipped Diego over him using his feet on his hips when Diego was on top. This was follow up by Diego picking up Thiago, walking him across the ring and slamming him wwe style. The second and third round was not as even. Diego got big takedowns and dominated the ground and pound. In the last seconds of the fight Diego went nuts throwing like 20 punches in 10 seconds, a lot like his fight against Clay Guida. Diego won the unanimous decision 30-26, 29-28, 29-28. I agree that he won,
but where did that 30-26 come from. That was a little off to me.
Jake Shields vs. Martin Kampann - welterweight
This was definitely a wrestling match. Shields went for a lot of takedowns. When he got them he didn't seem to go for a lot of ground and pound, basically maintained the positions. Shields looked really tired towards the end of the second round and into the third but he maintained the same game plan, takedowns. After the fight Kampmann points out that Shields didn't do any damage. But he didn't either, neither fighter had cuts or marks on them. Shields won the split decision. Dana said that if he got this win he would have a title shot, but I'm not sure he is ready for that. If he did the same thing against GSP it would have been a totally different fight and the result would have been way different. We'll see though, first fight in the UFC, nerves may have played a role and also cutting so much weight, he doesn't walk around at 170 and admitted he cut a lot of weight in the days right before the fight.
Brock Lesnar vs. Cain Velasquez - heavyweight championship
drumroll please.... Ladies and Gentleman we have a NEW CHAMPION!! Lesnar walked out to Metallica, I hate that he did that! I love Metallica and I would like to love the fighter that walks out to them, unfortunately that was not the case. As soon as that door locked and the bell sounded, it was on. Lesnar charged at Velasquez like a bull at a matador. Velasquez admitted in the post fight press conference that this threw him off. He has to consciously tell himself to relax and calm down. Lesnar tried to get to take the fight to the mat but Velasquez was showing amazing takedown defence. The one time Lesnar did manage the takedown, Velasquez was back on his feet in literally half a second. Velasquez went on the offensive and was landing some huge hits. He clipped Lesnar with a big knee that opened up a huge cut under Lesnar's left eye. He followed up with some big punches and knocked Lesnar to the ground. When he was scrambling to get up he fell again, twice, right into the cage. Velasquez didn't letup, he kept attacking laying on some major ground and pound. After watching the Carwin fight, Velasquez knew that ref wouldn't call the fight just because he was throwing a million punches, he had to make sure that every punch was throw with intention and caused damage. He was pretty clear he was doing that as Lesnars face was under a pool of blood. Ref, Herb Dean, called the fight just past the four minute mark. Velasquez wins by TKO in the first round! I'm very happy that this fight was called before the first round was over. After seeing how brutal that cut was, even the vaseline wouldn't stop the bleeding, I feel like the Doctor may have called it. I don't want anyone to have reason to call instant rematch. Valesquez will probably have to take on Dos Santos next and I feel like Lesnar will have to take on the winner of the Carwin/Big Country fight in January before he gets a chance to take the belt back.
Overall it was a great night of fights. Even my picks that didn't win lost to guys that I don't hate! There were a couple scores from the judges I didn't agree with but that's probably just my lack of technical knowledge. I'm pretty disappointed with the next card but this one was incredible. It was an amazing night of fights I got to watch with some great people. I'm excited to see who these guys fight next!
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